Following the waiter, Xu Chai Lao climbed to the deck of the third floor with one foot and one foot, and as soon as he stood firm, he saw a tall figure walking over.

He didn't even see anyone clearly, he knelt down again, and shouted in a trembling voice: "Quanzhou Xu Chai Lao, meet His Royal Highness Taisun." ”

"There is no need to be polite, Governor Xu, as a citizen of the Ming Dynasty, has made great contributions to my Ming Dynasty by spreading my Ming prestige overseas. Get up and speak. Zhu Zhanji came to him and made a look, and Li Liang willingly stepped forward to help Xu Chailao.

Because he kowtowed twice in a row, and he knelt and knocked vigorously, his forehead was bruised, but this injury didn't seem to take him to heart at all, his eyes were full of excitement, and old tears were crossed.

This kind of excitement and excitement is also the expression of most ordinary people when they see him, in this era, to be able to see the emperor with their own eyes, even if it is his grandson, for the vast majority of people, it is a supreme honor.

Xu Chai Lao straightened up and saw Zhu Zhanji's appearance clearly.

Although the grandson is young, he is mature and steady, with high eyebrow bones, and he is not angry and arrogant. His short beard is neatly trimmed, although it deviates from the long beard expected by most scholars, but it can make people feel his compelling momentum even more.

Such a good man, he really deserves to be the emperor and grandson of my Ming Empire, and the heir of the empire in the future!

Zhu Zhanji was a little disappointed in Xu Chailao, as the emperor's grandson, he saw the most top-notch people in this era every day, whether it was an elegant civil official or a majestic general, he saw a lot.

Although this Xu Chai Lao is also a big man, after all, he is a merchant and is in the middle and lower classes of society, so he is much inferior in appearance.

However, he can organize a large fleet and dominate one side, and naturally it is not simply judged from appearance.

Zhu Zhanji put his hands behind his back and said softly: "Come with the orphan......"

Following Zhu Zhanji to the bow of the boat, in the twilight, the mountains and rivers of Luzon turned into a dark silhouette, showing in front of them.

Zhu Zhanji stared at the mountains of Luzon Island for a while, and then asked softly: "From Beiming Street to Daming Street, there are plains full of ravines for two hundred miles?" ”

Xu Chai hurriedly bowed his head and said: "Your Highness, two hundred miles from north to south, one hundred miles from east to west, there are Quanzhou Mansion plus Fuzhou Mansion in size, all of which can be reclaimed into fertile paddy fields. If you cultivate intensively, you can grow three crops a year, and even if the local natives plant them at will, you can also grow two crops a year. ”

Zhu Zhanji was also born in the countryside in his previous life, so he naturally knew that the so-called intensive cultivation was the addition of the procedure of raising seedlings. If you raise seedlings alone, you can harvest one crop of rice in more than three months.

But most of the natives are lazy, and most of the time they just scatter their seeds in the fields and rely on the sky for food.

Even so, the fertile farmland of the Luzon Plain, which is deposited by volcanic ash, can grow more food than they can eat.

Zhu Zhanji nodded and asked, "How many people are there on Luzon Island now?" ”

"This ......" Xu Chai Lao replied: "Your Highness, the local people live in tribes, in addition to the plain area of Daming Street, there are also many tribes in the mountains, and it is impossible to count them at all. Not far from here, there are thousands of people who migrated from the Southern Song Dynasty, who lived in the mountainous areas and did not care about the villain, only occasionally exchanging some daily necessities with the villain. However, in the plain area north of Daming Street, there are now about 200,000 people of all ethnic groups, half of whom are laborers. ”

Zhu Zhanji asked again: "Half of the labor includes women, right?" ”

"Yes!"

"How many people are there in the Southern Sulu Country?"

This time, Xu Chai didn't hesitate for a moment, and replied directly: "More than a million people!" ”

Unlike later generations, the Philippines today is not heavily populated by Luzon, but by the small islands in the south.

Most of the islands here are volcanic rocks, and as long as there is flat land on them, it is very fertile land, and because the mountains are not large, there is no miasma, so it is very suitable for habitation.

The further south you go, the closer you are to the equator, and after entering the equatorial windless zone, there is no typhoon, so it is a paradise for the natives.

However, Luzon Island has a lot of poisonous insects, frequent typhoons, and miasma, so the population is not as large as that of the southern islands.

The reason why the Spanish invasion of the Philippines in later generations was based in Cebu instead of Luzon was mainly because of this reason.

The house that has been built so hard may collapse after a gust of wind, who wants to live in such a place?

Zhu Zhanji pondered for a while and then said: "Lone knows what you have done in Luzon in the past few decades, and you have done a very good job. Over the years, you have gathered thousands of Han people from Fujian, established your own power in Luzon, and broadened the living environment of our Han people, which is a great achievement. ”

Xu Chai knelt down and said excitedly: "Your Highness can understand the villain, even if you die, you won't lose." ”

Zhu Zhanji turned around and helped him up with one hand, where did he dare to let Zhu Zhanji help him, and quickly stood up.

Zhu Zhanji said: "For meritorious people, how can you be willing to die." I want you to live well, for your family, for me, and continue to create immortal fame. ”

"The villain has done his best, and he is dead!"

Zhu Zhanji nodded and said, "In the past, the imperial court did not support you enough, and in the future, you should vigorously support you." What are your requirements? ”

"The villain doesn't ask for anything, as long as His Highness commands, the villain of the Sword Mountain and the Sea of Fire will never frown."

Zhu Zhanji knew that his identity was too high, Xu Chai Lao was in a mood, and he couldn't wait to serve the country with his body, where did he dare to put forward conditions with him. He beckoned to Huang Yuan and Jin Kuo, who were standing on the side, and they immediately walked over quickly.

Zhu Zhanji introduced: "One of these two is the chief eunuch of the metropolitan governor, who is responsible for the trade of the entire fleet, and the other is the logistics garrison of the navy, responsible for the material deployment of the entire fleet. In the past, the imperial court did not support you enough, so you could only try your best to turn around among the various ethnic groups in Luzon, which involved most of your energy. In the future, it will be up to the imperial court to solve your worries, and you have only one task, that is, to try your best to subdue the tribes, so that they can become the henchmen of my Ming Dynasty and contribute to the development of my Ming Dynasty. ”

Xu Chai Lao's face showed a trace of confusion, and he didn't understand Zhu Zhanji's words. But he didn't dare to ask, so he could only look at Huang Yuan and the others.

Huang Yuan's status is the lowest, so he opened his mouth to explain: "Your Highness is going to change Luzon into Luzon Mansion, and set up official offices, guard offices, and water villages in Luzon. And Governor Xu knows the situation in Luzon best, so he is naturally the best candidate for the prefect of Luzon! ”

Xu Chai Lao was surprised and delighted, knelt down and said: "But the villain is not from Jinshi, but just a rough ...... of writing and ink."

Zhu Zhanji said with a smile: "It's okay, as soon as you are a deputy, the clerk will naturally have a lonely arrangement." It is a long-term national policy to set up a government in Luzon and incorporate Luzon into the territory of our Ming Dynasty. Letting you be the prefect is not to make you happy, it is not easy to include the millions of people on the island into my Ming people. Huang Shoubei, you and Governor Xu, no, it's time to call Governor Xu in the future, you talk to him in detail, and I will set up a banquet to entertain everyone later. ”

Huang Yuan smiled and said, "Governor Xu, please come with me......"

Seeing Xu Chai Lao leave with Huang Yuan with some reluctance, Zhu Zhanji couldn't help laughing.

Zheng He's appointment of his governor is not the official sequence of the Ming Dynasty, that is to say, this governor is not recognized by the Ming Dynasty.

Even if he is a governor, when he returns to Fujian and sees a county order, he still has to pay homage.

However, if Luzon is included in the Ming Dynasty and the Luzon Mansion is set up, then the Luzon prefect will be a well-known four-grade official. Because the area of Luzon is huge, it is larger than that of a political secretary in the Ming Dynasty, so even if the tax is very low now, this government must be a mansion.

The prefect of this Shangfu is a justifiable four-grade official. From a white body to a four-grade prefect, if it is in the territory of the Ming Dynasty, it will definitely be opposed by hundreds of officials, and the officials will definitely not use the seal.

But now in the land of overseas barbarians, those officials regard the appointment of officials in Jiaozhi as exile, not to mention this isolated island that is not connected to the Ming Dynasty by land.

Zhu Zhanji brought out so many literati this time, the purpose was to let them hide overseas for some training, so he was not afraid that there would be no place to place them.

When he came back from going to the West, these literati had also been trained for more than a year, and they could already see whether they were talents or not.

followed Huang Yuan to his public room, Xu Chai Lao saw the dozens of documents in his room, as well as the mountains of official documents, and knew that although this garrison was not official, it was definitely a person who was reused by His Highness.

Huang Yuan invited him to his table and sat down, then took out a stack of manuscripts and asked, "Governor Xu, I have some Luzon surveys here, I want to communicate with you first to see if there is any deviation in the data......"

Facing Huang Yuan, Xu Chai Lao was much more comfortable, unlike being at a loss in front of Zhu Zhanji, and had the momentum of a big man.

"Huang Shoubei, please say, the contemptible people know everything."

"In the five years since Yongle, Governor Xu returned to Fujian for the first time, and in the past ten years, a total of about 4,500 people have migrated from Fujian, more than half of whom are young and strong."

Xu Chai Lao nodded and said: "After the sea ban, the people of Dongfan moved back to Quanzhou, Zhangzhou and other places, there are many people and few places, so they always have to find a way for the villagers to live." ”

Huang Yuan smiled and said, "I don't want to settle old accounts with you, His Royal Highness is supportive of what Governor Xu did, so there is no need to worry." ”

Xu Chai nodded and said: "The number is about the same, but over the years, the villagers have started a family and multiplied, and there are hundreds of more children." ”

Huang Yuan asked, "Are most of them married to native women?" ”

"Yes!"

Huang Yuan sighed and said, "It's not easy to leave your hometown. After sighing, Huang Yuan asked again: "Governor Xu now has twelve large ships of more than 2,000 stone under his name, and now the people with combat effectiveness, plus the people hired from the natives, escort and self-protection are about 3,000 people, right?" ”

Xu Chai Lao's power did not dare to expand at the beginning, but after obtaining Zheng He's "feudal official", in the name of the governor, he put the power of the shadows on the table, which also had the meaning of deterring the local natives.

So he was not alarmed by the fact that the court knew his strength and admitted it.

Huang Yuan asked again about the size of the area he now controlled, handed him a piece of paper and said: "This is the material that His Highness ordered to prepare for you, all of which do not need silver, but you must register all the people on Luzon Island as soon as possible, and give everyone a Chinese name, and let them learn to speak Daming official dialect instead of Hokkien." ”

"How can this be done, there are less than 200 people who can speak the official language of the Ming Dynasty under the name of the contemptible people."

Huang Yuan said with a smile: "You take a look at the list first, and we'll talk about other issues later." ”

As soon as Xu Chai Lao saw the first column of the list, five hundred muskets, he was completely shocked......

……

……

At the same time, Zheng He and Zhu Zhen led the right army to the west along the South China Sea of the Ming Dynasty, marching in the direction of Jiaozhi.

Although Cochin borders the Ming Dynasty, it is closer to Luzon from Quanzhou. In addition, it was the trade wind period due north at this time, and the southbound fleet was faster, and when Zhu Zhanji and the others arrived in Luzon, the right army sailed to the Danzhou sea.

Zheng He has been regretting that he underestimated Zhu Zhanji's control these days, and what he thought was a trivial matter has now led to a huge gap between the two.

His power comes from the trust of the royal family, and when there is no trust, his power naturally becomes much smaller. Many things that could have been decided in one word are now a little intimidating.

The most obvious example is that Zhu Zhen, the chief officer of the navy and the chief officer of the Third Fleet, is a little wary of Zhu Zhanji's attitude towards him.

During this time, he has always liked to chat with Zhonghezi, who has recently been valued by the emperor and his grandson, and this Taoist with outstanding medical skills also has a very attractive charm in terms of dealing with people.

Every time I chat with him, Zheng He always feels very comfortable, and all his troubles seem to be answered here.

Zheng He knows that he is a real master, and he has an admirable feeling for helping the world. At the age of seventy-three, he traveled thousands of miles to Jiaozhi in order to find a solution to the miasma.

Zheng He also had a discussion with him about religious beliefs, but Zhonghezi did not have an answer on this aspect.

Zheng He had in-depth studies of both greens and Buddhism, and even had some studies on Taoism because the Ming Dynasty listed Taoism as the state religion.

He was constantly thinking about the differences between religions and researching the teachings of various religions to find the same way out.

Regardless of the religion, there are similarities in righteousness, love for neighbors, almsgiving, love for enemies, fasting, prayer, light, not for lovers of money, no judgment, sincerity and non-deception, and listening to and doing the word.

All religions are similar in all kinds of moral standards, but why does this universal, loving kindness become violent and cruel in the face of different beliefs?

He has traveled to many small countries, and between different faiths, it seems that there is no way to live in peace at all.

The fighting and fighting between tribes and tribes have been endless for a hundred years. Jerusalem has been at war for thousands of years, and Hinduism has nearly wiped out Buddhism in South Asia.

There is only the Ming Dynasty in the world, under the rule of power, so that Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism are one.

But there is only one Ming Dynasty, and in other regions, no regime can unify all forces, and even the powerful have become religious thugs, rather than being able to control religion.

Therefore, Zheng He has always hoped that the forces of the Ming Dynasty can unify the world and allow people in all regions to live in peace, which is the way he believes that peace can be obtained.

Of course, this is just a little personal expectation of him, and he never dares to talk to anyone. He didn't know that if Zhu Zhanji knew that he thought so, he would definitely use him more.

The unification of the world by one country is something that Zhu Zhanji does not dare to dream about. If the current Ming Dynasty had the technology of later generations, this matter would still be possible.

But in this era, backward science and technology have stretched the distance of space, and it is impossible for a country to unify the world.

I am afraid that it will take a year or two from the time of issuing an order from Tianfu to Jerusalem. If you send troops over, if you go by land, you won't be able to go for a year, and how can you effectively manage such a situation.

Unifying the world is nothing more than a dream.

It's like Archimedes' famous saying: Give me a fulcrum, and I can pry up the whole earth.

This sentence seems to be true from a logical point of view, but in reality, it is simply impossible.

Let's not say that the earth is rotating, and that there is no fulcrum in the universe at all, let alone that there is no such big lever.

If all the conditions are met, if such a long lever really exists in the world, and if a suitable fulcrum is found, will Archimedes be able to lift the earth?

If Archimedes could lift the Earth by a millimeter, he would have to move a large arc in space with the end of the lever in his hand, which is about 1×10 (17) km long.

That is, if Archimedes were to lift the earth by one millimeter, and if Archimedes was lifting at a speed of one meter per second, then according to the equation, it would take about 300 million years!

It can be seen that Archimedes, even if he takes a lifetime to carry the lever, cannot lift the earth up a distance as thin as a very thin hair.

Under today's conditions, it is only such a dream to unify the world.

Because neither in terms of time nor space, the conditions for management cannot be met.

Therefore, Zhu Zhanji will think about dividing the feudal system, and then only occupy the territory and develop the population, instead of establishing a sound management system.

However, Zhonghezi admired Zheng He's thoughts very much, because they were all people with a heart to help the world.

They focus on the Tao, not on specific measures or methods.

When they arrived in Cochin, the British Gong Zhang Fu gave them a great deal of face and personally came from Thang Long Mansion to the seaside Hongji Coal Mine to greet them.

This giant coal mine, which stretches for hundreds of miles, is still called Hongji Coal Mine, and it was named by Zhu Zhanji himself.

In this era, no matter where it is, as long as the name violates the emperor's name, it must be changed. During the scientific examination, even if the king's name is written, it must be added or subtracted.

But Zhu Zhanji didn't care about this, and deliberately expressed his willingness to use his own name to name it, so that it would be famous for eternity.

Zhu Di didn't care about Zhu Zhanji's little quirk, he only thought he was messing around. He named this coal mine Hongji Coal Mine, but he just smiled and shook his head, and obeyed his wishes.

Although this coal mine is large, Jiaozhi is located in the south, and there is not much use for coal.

Now the most common thing is that the ships from Guangzhou come to pull coal, because there are more small traders in Guangzhou Province, and it is more convenient to use coal stoves to set up stalls than to use firewood.

However, now, according to the information provided by Taisun, the Ministry of Industry has discovered an iron mine with rich reserves and high taste in Changjiang, Danzhou.

Although the road is still in the period of leveling, the Hongji Coal Mine has begun to build a kiln for coking, and a large amount of coke has been stored to prepare for transportation to Danzhou.

This iron ore mine is known as the largest rich mine in Asia.

Although China has a large land and abundant resources, the reserves of iron ore are not high, and the grade of iron ore is even lower.

Taking Daye Iron Ore as an example, the average grade is only more than 40 percent, while the Ma'anshan Iron Mine has a grade of only 36 percent.

However, the lowest grade of Shilu iron ore is more than 40 percent, the average is about 55 percent, and the highest is 69 percent.

Such an iron mine, of course, made Zhu Di overjoyed, and ordered the Ministry of Industry to start work day and night to build a cement road leading to the sea.

When this road was repaired, it was when a large amount of coal from the Hongji Coal Mine was transported to Danzhou.

Also because of the continuous discovery of Iwami silver ore and Danzhou iron ore, Zhu Di no longer has any doubts about the map of "Magellan".

One of the important tasks of Zhu Zhanji's trip to the West this time was to find two giant gold mines at the southern tip of Nanzhou (Australia).

Zhang Fu has no regrets that Zhu Zhanji did not come to Jiaozhi in person, because Zhu Zhanji did not go through Jiaozhi when he went, and he would pass by when he came back.

And they often corresponded with each other, and they didn't break the contact.

He came to Hongji Coal Mine to greet everyone, in fact, mainly to welcome Zhonghezi. For this master, who is deeply valued by Zhu Di and wants to solve the scourge of miasma, Zhang Fu does not dare to slack off.

Because almost all of the rebellions in Cochin have been extinguished, and society tends to be stable. Nowadays, the biggest obstacle hindering the development of Cochin is the miasma in the mountains and forests.

If Zhonghezi can solve this scourge, let Zhang Fu be willing to provide him.

And Zhonghezi didn't want to rest after arriving in Jiaozhi, but after two days of adjustment, he took the four hundred soldiers arranged by Zhang Fu into the mountains.

Zheng He and Zhang Fu are also old friends, and at the time of the Jingjing, Zheng He, who was only four years older than Zhang Fu, had little personal friendship with him, but they respected each other quite a lot.

Now that the fleet has a lot of materials to be loaded and unloaded, Zheng He will also stay in Jiaozhi for a few days, and the two will take advantage of this time to inevitably raise a glass to celebrate each other and reminisce about the old days.

Zheng He knew that Zhang Fu had a close relationship with Zhu Zhanji, and wanted Zhang Fu to turn around on his behalf, but he was unwilling to expose himself and annoy Zhu Zhanji, so it was inevitable that there would be some gains and losses.

It's a pity that Zhang Fu is now in high spirits, and he is busy with affairs, until Zheng He left, he didn't see Zheng He's abnormality.

When he left from Cochin, standing on the huge bow of the ship, blowing the warm sea breeze, Zheng He finally thought about it and threw away this frustration.

I am dedicated to the Ming Dynasty and the Zhu Dynasty. Even if His Highness is a little annoyed with me now, as long as I work hard, I will be able to make His Highness understand my loyalty after all.

Now, it's time for me to behave well, why bother to be so ashamed of myself for these knots?