Ningbo Mansion, Dinghai Shipyard.

Eight large ships built in the dockyard have been launched and are on trial voyage before they are ready to go to sea, and dozens of ships have been sent to the coastal islands with soldiers to prepare for the resurrection of the robbers.

It is said that it is to prevent pirates and pirates, but it is better to say that Zhu Hao made preparations with both hands, and the training of the giant ship and the island is in full swing.

However, the training is still used in the firearm equipped by the Daming God Machine Battalion.

When Zhu Hao appeared on one of the islands, the trainees had just finished their training and went to the dormitory in groups to eat.

There are 200 soldiers in one battalion, and there are 25 battalions with a total of 5,000 men trained at the same time, and there are six similar islands.

"Lord Zhu."

The person in charge of this island is Wang Zhou, the commander of Lu Wan transferred from Jinghaiwei, waiting at the gate of the camp. This person has a boat in his name, and he is very good at training sailors, but in recent years, Jinghaiwei has no ships to go to sea, and he used to be on shore defense.

"Inside the narrative."

Zhu Hao was followed by Su Xigui and more than a dozen guards and entered the temporary headquarters together.

Wang Zhou was very excited: "My lord, those firearms you gave are very effective, the range can be up to a hundred paces away, and the accuracy is amazing, and the loading speed is also fast, the brothers below feel that with this weapon, there is no problem in fighting the Tartars, let alone the coastal Xiaoxiao widows!" ”

Although the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, especially the hereditary military households, were afraid of the harsh environment in the northwest, they also knew that if they were nested in the coastal land, their grandparents and grandchildren might not want to have any interest for generations, and they were looking forward to making contributions to the northwest.

"If the sailor goes overseas to fight, do you dare to follow?" Zhu Hao asked.

Wang Zhou said: "Why don't you dare? Your Excellency, you just command, the sword mountain and the sea of fire, the brothers have no worries. ”

Zhu Hao nodded.

He does not have many regular troops at his disposal, and he does not ask for the border army to have a war with the Tatars, just these guards along the coast, and he can transfer less than 5,000 soldiers, but what he wants to do now is to conquer the overseas wilderness, and at the critical time, the more armed men, the better.

But then the problem came, he was very worried that the soldiers would mutiny, once this group of people went overseas with him, one by one shouting to return to Daming, Zhu Hao must have enough strength to deter this group of people.

It was to give some weapons to the regular officers and soldiers, but only ordinary muskets, but the more advanced flintlock pistols were to be reserved for those who were undergoing training and weak in combat, or who were temporarily transferred to serve as soldiers, such as craftsmen, farmers, and fishermen.

"Tomorrow we will continue to train, let's not be busy returning to land first, and then go back and practice artillery firing techniques, each big ship is equipped with sixteen guns, let the gunners practice more!"

Zhu Hao is currently waiting for Lu Bing, Guan Jing and others to come back from overseas, so he can only train his subordinates first.

……

……

In late June, the fleet sent by Zhu Hao to the New World finally returned.

Twenty-four big ships, small boats are not counted, this group of people can be said to be the elite of the elite that Zhu Hao was able to mobilize before, many of them were dispatched from Bohaiwei, and the twenty-four big ships brought back a lot of goods.

The Ming Navy Army became a colonizer in a foreign land, and in addition to bringing back goods, there were also overseas people, that is, Indians.

The fleet was divided into two groups, one of which docked at the port of Tianjin and the other entered the port of Ningbo, and the tasks of the two fleets were very different.

The group in the north is to pay tribute to the emperor, and at the same time the sailors and servants requisitioned from the Bohai Perimeter Guards will be sent back to their hometowns to rest, after all, they have not seen their wives and children for more than half a year, Zhu Hao can't directly dispatch this batch of soldiers, he has to calm down the criticism of the people in the court and China first.

The south side is the ships damaged in this voyage, the fleet along the North Equatorial Warm Current and the northeast trade winds brought back to East Asia, basically intact north, the damaged can not be supported, can only be repaired in the nearby Ningbo Port, at the same time, the sailors and soldiers of this fleet are basically the officers and soldiers of Nanzhili and Zhejiang, Fujian Guards, and the people.

When the news of Zhu Hao's return of the sea fleet reached the capital, it caused a very big shock in the court.

This is equivalent to Zheng He's voyage to the West, the imperial court once again sent people to the sea, and achieved fruitful "results", all kinds of rare overseas commodities are very much, loaded in carriages and transported to the capital, there are 200 carriages, this is only the part given to the emperor, and the rest are directly placed in the Tianjin shipyard.

The third day of the seventh month.

In the early days, a steady stream of convoys was already shining in the morning light, carrying tributes into the city.

When Zhu Si met with the ministers in the Fengtian Palace, his face was full of excitement and he boasted to the ministers about Zhu Hao's great achievements.

“…… You've all seen it, right? It is always said that Zhu Hao sent troops and horses to the south to exterminate pirates and pirates, which is an unwise move, now you should know his good intentions, right? Many overseas things are not available in the Ming Dynasty, especially when it comes to grain crops, which can greatly increase the grain production of the Ming Dynasty......"

Zhu Si has been brainwashed by Zhu Hao since he was a child, and he is very yearning for overseas customs and customs, and he was once a broad-minded teenager.

However, after becoming the emperor, his mentality gradually tended to be conservative, and many times he unconsciously magnified the dark side of his heart, which was also caused by the inferiority complex and self-danger in his character.

The ministers just listened to Zhu Si showing off there, and no one took his words seriously, because they didn't think that the wild land could bring back anything valuable.

……

……

The court meeting ended.

Zhu Si separately summoned the six Shangshu and Pavilion Elders and Hanlin Scholars in the Qianqing Palace, and it was not enough to blow it in front of hundreds of civil and military officials, but also to endorse Zhu Hao in front of these top civil ministers.

Liu Chun asked: "Your Majesty, since the southeast coastal defense is basically stable now, why don't you recall Master Zhu to Beijing earlier and stay in the Hanlin Academy?" ”

The person who hopes that Zhu Hao will come back the most, or the person who thinks about Zhu Hao's career the most, is Liu Chun.

It's a pity that his words didn't get much recognition.

More people want Zhu Hao to stay where he is cool, if Zhu Hao comes back, the power structure of the court will definitely be broken.

Zhu Sidao: "Jingdao is stranded in the south and is ready to go to sea again, I have agreed to let him go, you don't need to persuade him again." As for the follow-up, when he returns from the sea, I will urgently transfer him back to Beijing for 800 miles, and as for whether he will enter the Hanlin Academy, or take charge of the six departments, or put him in the northwest for appointment...... Let's talk about it. ”

The emperor's meaning, he not only had the intention of transferring Zhu Hao back, but even made many preparations.

Among them, there is probably only the article of transfer to the northwest for appointment, which the ministers are more willing to accept.

But it's better to stay in the south.

Yang Yiqing came out and asked, "Your Majesty, the minister wants to ask, where did those tributes come from?" Ryukyu? Or is it the Wa Kingdom? Or the South Seas? ”

Zhu Si smiled: "Could it be that there are only these few places overseas?" Haven't you heard of Penglai Wonderland? ”

This kind of rhetoric made the ministers present want to hit people when they heard it.

What about Penglai Wonderland, isn't it better to be a fairy directly?

What about dreaming in broad daylight?

"Ladies and gentlemen, I want you to know that Jingdao has the ability to support Sheji, don't have any prejudice against him, and as for when he will be transferred back, I will consider it as appropriate. Please also don't have any thoughts of fighting with him, he regards fame and fortune as dung, and what he thinks is just to maintain the eternal existence of the Ming Dynasty, which is really an example for people. ”

Zhu Si probably understood that Zhu Hao's return would make the courtiers nervous, thinking that powerful ministers like Qian Ning and Jiang Bin would make a comeback, so he desperately vaccinated this group of people.

……

……

The Inner Court meeting lasted for a long time, but apart from talking about Zhu Hao's exploits in going to sea this time, he didn't say anything nutritious.

When they came out of the Qianqing Palace, when several ministers walked to the palace gate, they got together in twos and threes, and exchanged heads and ears.

Zhang Zuo followed out and sent off a while, so he asked others to do it for him, and then he went back to talk to Zhu Si.

"Your Majesty...... A list of tributes has been delivered. ”

Zhang Zuo smiled and handed the booklet to Zhu Si.

Zhu Si took it and looked at it, and said happily: "It's full of dazzling, but what are they?" ”

"The slave doesn't know."

Zhang Zuo smiled and pointed to one of the items on the list, "But it is mentioned here that some barbarians were brought in the fleet, but most of them were put in Jiangsu and Zhejiang for coastal wasteland reclamation, but sixty people were sent to the capital." ”

"People from overseas? Monkeys? ”

Zhu Si asked with wide eyes.

Zhang Zuo said with a smile: "Huang Jingang went to see it, and said that there were some women in strange costumes, who were also yellow-skinned and black-haired, and there was not much difference between them and the people of the Ming Dynasty, but they didn't understand my Daming language, did you give it to Your Majesty...... Send it over? ”

Zhu Si suddenly became interested and asked, "Is this ...... Wouldn't it be less secure? In case they ......"

Zhang Zuo's face was embarrassed.

Said that you want to send a woman to you, you can see one or two exotic customs, just listen to the meaning of your words, you want to send a group of people? If you have to face it alone, the danger is still quite high.

"Your Majesty, why don't you let Huang Jin choose one or two people to come over and give you a look?" Zhang Zuo asked.

"Hmm."

Zhu Si smiled, "But it stands to reason that it should be similar to the Tartar woman, right?" may not even see it, how can it be compared to my Ming beauty? ”

He said this, but the curiosity in his heart was great, and he didn't care what kind of valuable goods the tribute he sent was now, as if this was the only thing that could make him interested.

……

……

Cabinet duty.

When several cabinet ministers came back, Jia Yong said as if he had lost his temper: "Zhu Jingdao is nominally going to Jinghai, but he sent people to the sea to go to the South Seas, which is a move to deceive the world and steal his name, which is not good for my Daming Society!" ”

In recent decades, the Ming Dynasty has made it clear that it no longer has plans to go to sea.

It is said that the charts of Zheng He's voyage to the West have been burned by the courtiers, and no one knows whether Liu Daxia did it.

Wenchen's attitude is surprisingly consistent, don't do things that hurt the people and money, and don't provoke the people of overseas countries, it is better to govern the Ming Dynasty with peace of mind, everything is contrary to this purpose is unacceptable.

Several people looked at him.

Fei Hong frowned and asked, "You want to impeach Zhu Jingdao?" ”

Jia Yong stiffened his neck and said: "Your Majesty did not punish and drink, but praised it a lot, and let Zhu Jingdao continue to go to sea, so set a bad precedent, how can it be reasonable not to participate in the impeachment?" ”

Liu Chun said with a smile: "Your Majesty didn't say it all, my Daming fleet Yang Fan is overseas, Weijia is all over the world, and I have brought back so many tributes, I really shouldn't be too demanding." ”

Jia Yong looked at Liu Chun and said, "It's understandable that you speak for him, but I won't!" When I turn around, I will go to the Hanlin Academy and the Six Departments to find someone to jointly impeach Zhu Jingdao for the deception and stealing his name! ”