The New Year of Yongle in the fifteenth year is less festive and more noisy than in previous years.

The crown prince Zhu Gaochi is far away in Beiping, Zhu Di is high, and Zhu Zhanji is busy going to sea. Even if many clans are in the capital, but because Zhu Guiyan, the son of King Xiang, is now locked up in Taimiao, the members of the clan are now very low-key.

However, because Taisun is about to go to sea, the merchants from all over Daming, plus the officers of the Second Fleet from the north and the transportation team sent by Daming Bank to all parts of the country now, the foreign population of the capital this year has exceeded 100,000.

The noisy New Year became more and more lively at the end, and the homes of the Zhongwei generals who followed Zhu Zhanji to the sea were crowded with people who wanted to enter the fleet through connections.

Whether it is a general, or a soldier, whether it is a civil servant or a businessman, they all see the future in the scale that far exceeds the scale of previous seas.

The opportunity for military generals to make meritorious contributions, the opportunity for civil servants to shine, the opportunity for businessmen to make money, and even those craftsmen who repair ships also want to become fleet logistics personnel, hoping to leave an impression in front of the vulgar.

This kind of hustle and bustle Zhu Di was very clear, and he even felt a trace of jealousy. Before he ascended the throne, he had been a man with his tail between his legs, when had he ever been so beautiful.

He even couldn't wait for Zhu Zhanji to leave as soon as possible, and it was best to go out for two or three years at a time, so that he would have enough time to erase Zhu Zhanji's influence in society and in the army.

He has already made up his mind, although he will not move the structure of the navy, nor will he move the main generals left by Zhu Zhanji, but he also wants to install more of his own people in the navy to prepare for the expedition to Timur in two or three years.

He wanted to control the army in his own hands, but he didn't want Zhu Zhanji's navy to choke his neck.

Although his power will still be passed on to Zhu Zhanji in the future, at least when he can still do it, Zhu Zhanji will not be allowed to affect his prestige.

Don't say that Zhu Zhanji doesn't know his thoughts, even if he does, he can't take care of his plan to seize power at this time.

In addition to being busy with going to sea, Zhu Zhanji also encountered a happy thing this New Year, that is, the compilation team represented by the seventeen-year-old Ma Di finally compiled a mathematics, geometry, and physics textbook suitable for the Ming Dynasty's national conditions.

In the land of China, since the unification of the Qin Emperor, no matter what kind of scholarship is closely related to power.

As a result, no matter what kind of scholarship it is, it is in the service of power.

This influence has also led to the fact that any academic discipline is more focused on results than logic.

This kind of academic reversal of the cart has also led to the difficulty of entry and development.

This is also the main reason for the decline of ancient Chinese mathematics and physics after being ahead for thousands of years.

In mathematics, for example, the emperor needs to know that one plus one equals two, so the ministers and academic researchers will give the emperor a result equal to two.

As for why it is equal to two, no one has ever seriously studied it.

In fact, the most important thing in this discipline is the process, the law of logic, not the result, because many times, the law and logic are more important than the result.

The ministers used the most complicated method to obtain the total tax revenue of the whole country, but they never explored whether there was a more simple way to solve the problem of calculation.

Because it is too superficial, more people will understand, and they will not be able to monopolize the channels for serving the emperor.

After the Song Dynasty, Confucianism desperately suppressed other academics in order to monopolize academic ideas and academic services.

In order to attract the attention of the emperor, in order to make the emperor accept them, other academics are even more eager for quick success, and it is understandable to directly attract the emperor with the result rather than the process.

However, Zhu Zhanji is different, he knows very well that the law of academic development is the most important, and the method of studying this law is called logic, which is the most important.

Therefore, he asked Ma Di and a group of mathematicians, astronomers, and chemical researchers with Taoist priests as the main body to study their scholarship in the way of logical reasoning, from the most superficial content to the esoteric direction according to the law, and recorded them completely.

This is simpler and simpler than the result of giving the emperor and power, but it is the best way to promote it, so that children can learn this kind of scholarship.

Others don't know why Zhu Zhanji did this, but Zhu Zhanji knows very well that this will break the shackles of the entire East in natural science research.

Therefore, including Ma Di, they don't understand the reason why Zhu Zhanji asked them to compile this simple knowledge, just because Zhu Zhanji asked them to do it, they did it.

The timing of the compilation of this set of textbooks was not very good, because Zhu Zhanji was going to sea.

If Zhu Di doesn't pay attention to this time to promote it, then it will be half the effort, and even deviate from the goal that Zhu Zhanji wants to achieve.

Therefore, although Zhu Zhanji is happy in his heart, he will not promote it at this time, let alone let the national academy learn this course now, and even include it in the topic of the scientific examination.

He can only keep the research team, give them material rewards, and then let them improve the discipline.

Everything will be said after he returns from the sea.

On the night of the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, which is also the first night of the annual lantern festival in the capital, the people of the whole capital are crazy because of the thunder and lightning show on the tower of Chengtianmen.

Zhu Di asked people to use two magnets the size of grinding discs and coils of copper wire the thickness of children's fingers to perform the formation of thunder and lightning on the city gate.

Especially when a samurai with his whole body hidden in an insulated suit, wearing thick insulated gloves on his hands, holding a long sword, and transforming thunder and lightning into various different lines, everyone knelt down and kowtowed frantically.

In addition to this monotonous performance, Zhu Di also had live pigs and sheep, including live chickens, perform.

Electricity is not particularly sufficient, pigs and sheep need electricity for a long time to electrocute, but this somewhat cruel process is even more crazy.

This is in the feudal era, in this superstitious era, including which ministers, all knelt in front of Zhu Di with sincerity.

This made Zhu Di, who was standing on the gatehouse, very satisfied, and as soon as this move came out, no one dared to go against him again.

It's a pity that Zhu Zhanji is leaving. He didn't know if the White Lotus Sect, which was still trying to rebel in Shandong, would also die down because of fear.

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the people and ministers of the whole capital were talking about the emperor borrowing thunder and lightning. No one doubted that if he dared to displease the emperor, he would suffer the consequences of the thunder and thunder in the sky.

The pigs and sheep that were almost cooked by electricity were an example, and no one wanted to die like this.

On the evening of the second day, outside the Chengtian Gate, it was crowded with the people and ministers of the capital, and the performance on this night did not disappoint.

It was sunny for two days in a row, but the emperor let the thunder and lightning "go down" continuously, and no one doubted that the emperor had borrowed the power of the thunder god.

Zhu Di was in a happy mood, and the next day he decided to personally send Zhu Zhanji to the sea, and that night, Wang Yan and a group of his ministers were caught off guard, and they didn't sleep all night, and began to clean the streets and blockade them to ensure his safety.

In Xingqing Palace, except for Zhu Zhanji's current nine children, the others hardly slept.

This trip is no better than the Eastern Crusade, which was originally determined to be four months, and it will end in half a year at most.

However, Zhu Zhanji has already decided to go to Nanzhou and the West at the earliest, and it will take a year and a half at the earliest.

It's been two years, which makes the concubines in the palace extremely reluctant.

During this time, Zhu Zhanji lived up to expectations, and made thirteen concubines pregnant, plus Lan Yan, who was about to give birth to a child, and fourteen offspring would be born in the future.

Nine have already been born, there are still 14 to be born, and 23 offspring have been born, so it can be said that Zhu Zhanji has completed the task of passing on the family lineage very well.

Above him, there is Zhu Di and the crown prince Zhu Gaochi. Below him, there were twenty-three children, so his departure to sea was not opposed by some ministers.

If there is no Zhu Gaochi, only him as the heir, I am afraid that Zhu Di will not rest assured that he will go to sea.

In addition to Ma Xin and Liu Chenghui, who had already been determined, Zhu Zhanji brought two more Zhaoxun and two Fengyi, all of whom had been tested and would not get seasick before they were fortunate enough to go to sea with Zhu Zhanji.

This time, the highest status is the youngest Ma Xin, who is just a good woman.

This is because the princess Sun Xian and Liangdi Hu Shanxiang both have children, and Lan Yan is also pregnant.

However, the person in charge of the harem is Liu Chenghui, in addition to Ma Xin, she is the oldest and proficient in medical skills, and the most important thing is that she and Zhu Zhanji have been out once, and Zhu Zhanji admires her ability very much.

In the face of the internal supervisors and ministers, she was generous, and in the face of the other women in Zhu Zhanji's custody, she could also manage it well, and she would not be jealous.

In Zhu Zhanji's heart, she is similar to his wife Gracia in her previous life, she is a very capable helper.

Although Sun Xian was a little jealous of Liu Chenghui, she didn't take her seriously, so she didn't particularly target her.

Because she is the princess, there are Liangdi, Liangyuan, and then Chenghui first, and their status is still a lot worse.

What's more, her self-confessed henchman is Hu Liangdi, who is now highly praised in the palace, and only Hu Shanxiang can have an impact on her status as the concubine.

Although Hu Shanxiang behaves dignifiedly, generously, and has a noble grandson, she gave birth to a daughter, and she gave birth to the eldest son, so as long as she does not make mistakes, her status is as stable as Mount Tai.

Now she has not only given birth to the eldest son of the grandson, but also is pregnant again, so now, her most important task is not to be jealous of anyone, but to take care of her body and raise two children.

The infighting in the palace is naturally unavoidable, but there is the mother-in-law of the crown princess Zhang on top, and Zhu Zhanji's hardcore ally Zhaoyi Guifei, the lord of the harem, in the middle, and Zhu Zhanji's most respected Xue Shanggong in the middle, so Zhu Zhanji's harem can't be messed up.

On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, although it was seven o'clock in the morning, the winter days were short, and it was only slightly bright at this time.

Zhu Zhanji first took his two younger brothers Zhu Zhanjun and Zhu Zhanyong and other clans to the Sheji Altar in the southwest of the imperial city to worship the heavens, and then to the Taimiao Temple in the southeast to worship the ancestors, and then returned to the Fengtian Hall and bid farewell to Zhu Di in front of the civil and military officials.

The farewell ceremony in the palace was not long, and after leaving the Fengtian Palace, Zhu Zhanji took his two younger brothers to bow down to the tearful Zhang family, and then boarded Zhu Di's imperial chariot.

The drums are contending, solemn and solemn, the gates of the palace city and the imperial city are opened, and the honor guard formed by tens of thousands of people forms a long line of send-off outside the Chengtian Gate.

The people of Ying Tianfu have long known that on this day, Taisun will go to sea, and the streets that the travel team passes through are crowded with water on both sides of the road.

The procession followed a strict order, with the honor guards of the Jinyi Guard and the Inner Supervisor first, and then the imperial chariot where Zhu Di and Zhu Zhanji were sitting. Behind the imperial chariot was the location of the clan, and then the motorcade of civil and military officials.

Behind them was the chariot of the envoys of various countries, not counting the guard of honor of the guards, and they also pulled out two or three miles.

It wasn't until noon that the convoy arrived at the Yuejianglou Wharf.

Set up the guard of honor, and hundreds of internal eunuchs, under the leadership of Wang Yan, read out the "Book of Taisun Going to Sea", and with their dissemination, tens of thousands of people around the wharf also heard this holy decree clearly.

Then Zhu Zhanji led the clan and subordinate senior officials to bow down to Zhu Di and say goodbye, and when they got up, Zhu Di personally took Zhu Zhanji's hand and accepted the kneeling of tens of thousands of people at the scene.

was about to board the ship, Zhu Di also revealed some true feelings at this time, and said with emotion: "This trip is thousands of miles away, and the wind and rain are unpredictable. My grandson should put his body first, and I will wait for you to come back safely in Yingtian. ”

"My grandson should put state affairs first, open up territory for my Ming Dynasty, and dedicate thousands of miles of rivers and mountains to the emperor."

The drum music sounded, and the wharf sounded the Wuyi in the Qin Fengzhang of the Book of Poetry and National Style, which is also a popular military song for more than a thousand years in ancient times.

How can you say that you have no clothes? with the Son. Wang Yuxingshi, repair my spear. Enmity with the Son!

How can you say that you have no clothes? With the Son. Wang Yuxingshi, repair my spear halberd. Work with the son!

How can you say that you have no clothes? with the Son. Wang Yuxingshi, repair my armor soldiers. Walk with the son!

In this majestic singing, Zhu Zhanji took the lead in boarding the pontoon bridge built by the horizontal boat and walked to his flagship treasure ship parked in the middle of the river.

The whole boarding operation lasted for half an hour, and everyone got into their boats, and then the salute was fired.

In the sound of the salute, Zhu Zhanji's flagship raised the imperial flag, the national flag, and the military flag of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Zhanji has been standing on the deck of the flagship, waving to the people who saw them off on the shore.

When everyone boarded the ship, the three hundred sailors on the flagship wrangled five winches together, lifted the iron anchor of thousands of pounds, and the other sailors began to raise the sails, then adjusted the direction of the sails, and officially set sail.

Less than half of the fleet departed from Ying Tianfu was mainly generals and envoys of various armies.

The navy of the First Fleet of the New Jiangkou Shuizhai will join the ranks of the sailing, but these people are still only a small number, and there are only 300 ships.

When the fleet arrives in Ningbo, there will be a large number of merchant ships, transport ships, and soldiers from the Second Fleet, and the number of ships in the fleet will reach 700.

Another group of ships was in Quanzhou, where there were about 200 transports and warships, and the last group was the nearly 100 transports currently waiting in Jiaozhi, and they were responsible for transporting grain.

The 100,000 people who went to sea this time need at least 200,000 catties of grain a day, and according to the calculation of two years, they will need more than 10,000 catties, nearly 100,000 tons.

The fleet will transfer 50,000 tons of grain from Jiaozhi alone on this trip, and then other countries will also sell grain to Daming to make up 100,000 tons.

Moreover, Daming also reached a grain purchase agreement with Bangge Thorn, Taoshan and other countries, and they have prepared food for Daming's fleet, just waiting for the arrival of the fleet.

In other words, it will not be until Jiaozhi that all the ships will join, which is almost enough for the thousands of ships that will go to sea this time.

With such a large fleet, of course, it is impossible to sail together. Just because these ships are clustered together, and there is a safe distance between them, I am afraid that it will really form a city on the sea.

The fleet will be divided into the front, middle, and rear armies, and each part will travel two or three days apart, so the main purpose is to protect against typhoons.

Although Si Tianjian and the young army, including fishermen recruited from various coastal areas, were able to observe the weather, they were divided into three groups and stretched for thousands of miles for safety.

Everyone was busy before departure, but when they really got on board, most of them were idle except for those who were on a sailing mission.

Zhu Zhanji's flagship has been refitted again, and for the sake of safety, the hull has sacrificed cargo capacity and carrying capacity, and all parts have been strengthened a lot.

With a length of 44 feet and a width of 18 feet, this treasure ship is the largest sea ship in the world today. The length of the equivalent meters is 151.18 meters, and the width is 61.6 meters. The ship has four layers, 9 masts on the ship can hang 12 sails, the anchor weight is several thousand catties, it takes at least 200 people to set sail, and a ship can accommodate 1,000 people.

If it is to transport grain, such a ship alone can carry more than 4,000 tons at once, of course, this is only theoretical. Because of the wooden structure, for safety, the cargo capacity generally does not exceed two-thirds of the theoretical capacity.

However, because Zhu Zhanji's ship did not care about the reinforcement of the cargo capacity and carrying capacity, the actual cargo capacity was less than one-third of the original, and all the weight and space were used for the reinforced watertight compartment and iron bars.

The iron bars reinforced inside and outside the hull alone are 20,000 meters long and weigh more than 200 tons.

And a total of three such ships were prepared this time, just to prevent damage on the way.

All of the sailors on this ship are carefully selected Navy soldiers, who can only operate on the lower two floors.

The aft third and fourth floors have also been modified to be more luxurious and comfortable.

The fourth floor is where Zhu Zhanji and several of his women live, because Zheng He is also a eunuch, so he and Zhu Zhanji can also live together.

In order to be afraid of the loneliness of several women, and also for Zhu Zhanji's enjoyment, he also built a wooden swimming pool ten meters long and five meters wide on the deck of the fourth floor.

The third floor was occupied by the eunuchs who served Zhu Zhanji and the herald, and they cut off the passage of the sailors to the third or fourth floor of the stern, which was not an emergency, and they could not come to the back at all.

Originally, his two younger brothers, Zhu Zhanjun and Zhu Zhanyong, were also placed here. But these two little guys were a little afraid of Zhu Zhanji, and there were also several twelve or thirteen-year-old little guys in the clan, so the two of them went to live in a boat with those clans.

There is no fourth level in the bow of the ship, only the third level, which is also the command center of the entire fleet, from which all important orders will be transmitted.

In addition to Zhu Zhanji's guards, Huang Yuan also lived on the second floor in front of the flagship, and after the ship sailed, everyone else was idle, but he was still very busy.

The logistical arrangements were quite cumbersome, the whole fleet was divided into three battalions, each of which was divided into seven or eight parts, and the thousands of ships of the entire fleet were divided into almost thirty parts.

The logistics of each part, the maintenance of the boat, the transmission of information, are very energy-consuming.

In addition to him, the trade team of the internal supervisor is still busy, and now a large number of transport fleets are still in Ningbo and Quanzhou, and there are only a small number of transport ships behind their current fleet, and the arrangement of these fleets, the number of trade in each region, needs the arrangement of these people.

In addition to them, the Advisory Department headed by Sun Lin also began to get busy. Before departure, they arranged for liaison eunuchs on each ship to monitor the situation of each ship.

Every day, there will be information gathered to them, and they need to collect, count, and record every piece of information.

And this kind of work will continue to go on forever.

Sun Lin thus held a lot more power. It can be said that Sun Lin has changed from the third person accepted by Zhu Zhanji to the second person, second only to Jin Kuo, the chief eunuch.

This made Li Liang particularly envious, when he followed Zhu Zhanji's side, he was originally second only to Jin Kuo. But Jin Kuo is twenty years older than him, so he has always wanted to compete for favor.

But since Jin Kuo came back from Ningbo, he not only brought back the shrewd and capable Sun Lin, but also promoted the smart and clever Liu Wan, which has infringed on his interests.

Now his foreign aid is only Yu Xian, who served as the envoy of Ningbo City, Yu Xian was his most favored eunuch before, and he was sent to Ningbo because of lust.

His original position was also very stable, but since he did something wrong and wanted to intervene in the struggle of his ministers, he was taught a hard lesson.

Now he can only continue to keep a low profile and serve Zhu Zhanji wholeheartedly. He knew very well that if Jin Kuo didn't go, he wouldn't have a chance to suppress Sun Lin and them anymore.

Because Sun Lin's reuse relied on his own ability, not just relying on Zhu Zhanji's favor like him.

Summoning the close generals, Zhu Zhanji held a short meeting, arranged the three-day itinerary before arriving in Ningbo, and returned to his luxurious cabin along the passage above the side of the ship.

Liu Chenghui is arranging a group of maids to place various items, the ship is bumpy, and some unnecessary decorations are collected into the box.

Ma Xin felt very new about life on the ship, this was her first long-distance trip in addition to the journey from Suzhou to Beijing, so she was also in a good mood.

Seeing Zhu Zhanji coming back, she ran over happily, pulled Zhu Zhanji's shirt and asked, "Your Highness, the ship has already sailed, and the soldiers who raised the sails have also gone down, can the concubine go up to the deck to have a look?" ”

Zhu Zhanji said dotingly: "Go ahead." The boat is bumpy, be careful not to fall. ”

Everyone else is envious, but they know very well that the Ma family is now supported by Zhu Zhanji. In terms of the power of relatives alone, almost no one can compare to Ma Xin, so they don't dare to compete with Ma Xin.

(Finally going to sea, I need to think about the plot in the back, how to arrange the plot in a somewhat boring itinerary, so that everyone can watch it exciting.) ）