Chapter 863 Fence

"It takes a process to change the concept, and we allow the ancients to make mistakes," Shen Mo looked at the endless blue sea, and said in a firm tone: "But the West has entered the Age of Discovery for a hundred years, and the great powers have wantonly carved up the world, our generation cannot afford to make mistakes again, we must make changes and re-correct our understanding of the ocean." "Zheng He once said: 'If you want the country to be rich and strong, you can't ignore the ocean. Wealth comes from the sea, and danger comes from the sea. Once the king of another country seizes the sea, China is in danger. Our fleet is invincible, and can be used to expand trade and subdue foreign lands, so that they dare not covet the seas. His words are extremely correct and highly instructive. ”

"It's a pity that there are very few talents with strategic vision like Zheng He, and the imperial court not only retreated from Southeast Asia itself, but also severely suppressed those large Chinese merchant groups, destroying the Chinese merchant network since the Song and Yuan dynasties." Zheng Ruozeng, who was dressed in a Confucian robe and had gray temples, appeared beside the two. The greatest maritime strategist after Zheng He continued to say silently: "In fact, there is no lack of maritime traditions in China, as early as the Tang and Song dynasties, maritime merchants established the maritime Silk Road from Persia to Quanzhou, and by the Song and Yuan dynasties, the Chinese merchant network has spread all over the South and Western Oceans. At the beginning, Zheng He's naval expedition made the West ...... through deterrence and trade The countries of the Indian Ocean, as Europeans called them, became vassals of the imperial court and controlled the trade routes to West Asia, East Africa, and the Indian hinterland. ”

"At that time, the era of Persian merchants monopolizing Western trade has passed, and the Francose will not come until a hundred years later, that is to say, my Ming Dynasty should have a hundred years to control the shipping routes in the Indian Ocean, and then make the Indian Ocean an inner lake of the Ming Dynasty." Speaking of history, Zheng Ruozeng always sighed infinitely: "If this is really the case, the Ming Dynasty will become a world maritime power before Europe opens up new shipping routes, and control the maritime silk and spice roads." The Europeans will not have the opportunity to establish hegemony in Asia and Africa, let alone show off their might on our doorstep. Speaking of this, he sighed heavily and said, "But everything that was logical came to naught with the end of the sea expedition. The navy of the Ming Dynasty was disbanded, and naturally it was powerless to protect its vassals. Less than 100 years after the end of Zheng He's expedition, the Francos arrived, and they gradually encroached on our traditional sphere of influence, and in five years of Zhengde, they completed the occupation of the southwest coast of India. The following year, Malacca fell, and four years later, Khurumus fell, and soon after it annexed Ceylon. So far, almost all of my Ming Dynasty's vassal countries in the Indian Ocean have become the territory of Franco. ”

"In the face of such a situation, the performance of our court is extremely weak. So much so that when Malacca fell, it could only issue an edict ordering the Franco-Rang people to retreat and ordering Siam to send troops, because the Ming Dynasty had no soldiers in the Indian Ocean. Zheng Ruozeng said with great sorrow: "My Ming forces were expelled from the West, and the local people became slaves of the Francois and suffered cruel oppression. As the only Eastern Empire that could stop the Franco, the Ming Dynasty not only did not take on the responsibility of protector, but also lost its military barriers and trade routes at sea, and even its own defense and trade were seriously threatened! ”

"The West has been lost, and we must regain it in the future! But the time is not yet ripe. Although we are not what we used to be, it is not the work of a wise man to be the enemy of the two sea hegemons at the same time. After a burst of angry and stern criticism, Zheng Ruozeng was a little tired, and silently took over the conversation and said: "The top priority is to consolidate Nanyang!" Compared with the Western Ocean, which is far away from the ocean, the South Seas are much more important to us. First of all, it is a necessary passage for east-west voyages, with rich cities and good ports, which can fully undertake the supply and defense tasks of a strong navy. As long as we concentrate our forces and guard this southern gate, then China's 10,000-mile sea frontier in the southeast will be safe and sound, and we will be in an invincible position, calmly meet the challenges of the Western powers, and will also drastically reduce military spending. Moreover, this is our Chinese civilization circle, most of the main subject countries of the Ming Dynasty are here, all the Indochina Peninsula and most of the Nanyang Islands are the subject countries of our Ming Dynasty, and Luzon, Malacca and the old port are still China's overseas territories. If we want to be strong and prosperous, we must reinvigorate the mentality of a great power, regard these vassals as an inseparable part of the country, and make them the impregnable southern gate of our Ming Dynasty. In this way, the sea frontier can be permanently consolidated and invincible. ”

"In addition, the Nanyang was rich in products, and the Ming Dynasty obtained minerals, timber, spices, gold, jewelry, and rice from here. In particular, cassiterite and rice, imported from the South Seas, were crucial to the Ming Dynasty, the former being an important raw material for the manufacture of copper coins, and the latter being a source of food for Fujian and Guangdong. Zheng Ruozeng looked at Wu Baipeng, who had been listening intently, and said with a smile: "Especially the latter point, Wu Butang must have a deep understanding. ”

"Hehe, Fujian and Guangdong have many mountains and little land, and they have never been self-sufficient." Wu Baipeng nodded and said, "These places have been eating Nanyang rice for hundreds of years. ”

"In addition to trade, since the Song and Yuan dynasties, there have been a large number of Fujian and Guangdong immigrants who have emigrated to Nanyang, and these overseas Chinese have autonomous status in Nanyang countries, and have arms, and have great economic strength, if the imperial court can treat them with leniency, and treat them as the same as the people in the country, these people will surely reciprocate and try their best to help the imperial court control Nanyang." Zheng Ruozeng finally said: "In fact, since the Renxuan era, the Ming Dynasty has actively operated Nanyang, and Nanyang has become a part of the Ming Dynasty, and it is a vassal of China in terms of economy, culture and politics. The civilization of Nanyang belongs entirely to the efforts of the Chinese, and the countries of Nanyang should also become the territory of the imperial court. If the Europeans had plucked the peaches, we would have become sinners through the ages. ”

"Yes, Nanyang should be ours, but since the mid-Jiajing anti-Japanese rebellion, my Ming Dynasty has no time to take care of here. Annam, Burma, Siam, these powerful countries in central and southern China, bullied the weak with the strong, annexed and fought, the Ming was powerless to stop, and Nanyang returned to its former state of mutual coaxing, which was the most easy for people to take advantage of, and it was also unfavorable to the rule of our Ming Dynasty. Silent and solemn said: "The key to the order of the South Seas is in the Indochina Peninsula, needless to say, now the Ming Dynasty only has the false name of the suzerain, and the relationship between the suzerains and vassals is extremely weak, and it has reached a precarious point......"

"Yes......" Wu Baipeng nodded, he was an extremely wise person, listening to Shen Mo and Zheng Ruozeng's tireless introductions, he knew that he was about to receive a new task.

"I have discussed this matter with Elder Gao and Zhang Xiang repeatedly," Shen looked at him silently and said, "So we set out to Nanyang this time to rebuild the prestige of the Great Tomorrow and restore order in Central and South China." Turning Nanyang into an iron bucket! He said word by word: "In order to achieve our goal, we will garrison troops in the Indochina Peninsula and build the Nanyang Economic Strategy Mansion...... The situation in Nanyang is complicated, there are deep contradictions between countries, and Annam and Myanmar are even more ambitious. ”

"Such a ......" Wu Baipeng pondered for a moment and asked softly: "My lord's works on sea power have been read by the lower officials repeatedly, and I should keep in mind such a principle - a country cannot develop land power and sea power at the same time. Does this mean that Daming will focus on the development of sea power in the future? ”

"Yes, it will take at least ten years for the change of mindset, but we must be ahead of time." Shen Mo said lightly: "In my opinion, the future of the world is in the ocean. If the Ming Dynasty wants to prosper for a long time, it must also shift its focus from land to sea...... After the north recovers the Hetao, Xuanda is also safe, and all that remains is to concentrate on Jiliao, and our homeland security will be guaranteed. That's why when the situation is good, the promise is to pay tribute to each other, just to draw strength and make the Nanyang Jing a little better. ”

Listening to the silent words, Wu Baipeng let go of his worries, nodded and said, "Xia Guan is willing to be this Nanyang Strategy." ”

At this time, the wind has stopped, the sea is calm again, and Da Nang is in sight......

Although they had been fully mentally prepared for the might of the Celestial Empire's army, when the Li Dynasty monarchs and ministers saw the huge sailing ships, lined up, echoing back and forth, like a group of mountains suddenly emerging from under the sea, unstoppable and obscuring the sky and the sun appeared in the harbor, they were still stunned, frightened, and oppressed and about to suffocate.

Even that Zheng Song was so frightened by the scene in front of him that his face turned pale, and his heart was tightly pinched. That feeling of smallness, humility, fear and powerlessness took a big hit to his self-confidence. For the first time in his life, he felt uncertain about the future...... In the face of absolute strength, the weak have no autonomy at all, and can only be at their mercy.

Fortunately, it was still a long time from seeing those warships to actually approaching, and it was enough for the monarchs and ministers to regain their composure. Emperor Tianyou was cramped and uneasy: "I'll still change into a royal dress...... "Due to the impact of psychology, the Ming Dynasty has shown a trend of ritual collapse, which is reflected in the color of the clothes, that is, the phenomenon of encroachment is more serious, and the bright yellow of the exclusive emperor for thousands of years can now be worn openly on the body, as long as it is embroidered with a five-clawed golden dragon on it. Annan closely followed the trend of the Central Plains, and the monarch naturally had yellow and did not wear red, and he felt that the officials of the Celestial Empire must be surprised. But now, feeling the strong pressure, Emperor Tianyou began to worry about whether this would make the other party unhappy, and even blame himself for trespassing.

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Dizzy, I fell asleep while writing, and when I woke up, I sent three thousand first, and then slowly made up for it during the day.