At noon the next day, a carriage came to the palace, and the two fathers and sons tidied up their clothes, got into the carriage, and followed them to the imperial city.

Zhu Gaochi hadn't seen the Imperial City for nearly twenty years, and he also felt different from before.

The gates were also widened, and the carriages could enter directly.

After going in and waiting for a while, the eunuch also came over and took their father and son to the Qianqing Palace.

There are many people in the Qianqing Palace, and a large round table is newly placed in the middle, on which various delicacies are being placed.

Zhu Gaoxu was dressed in regular clothes, sitting by the imperial desk in high spirits, and there were three children by his side, all of whom were his children, but they were generally under the age of ten.

"Minister Zhu Gaochi (Zhu Zhanji), knock to see Your Majesty, long live Your Majesty, long live Long live."

The father and son knelt when they entered.

Zhu Gaoxu hurriedly got up and walked over quickly.

I haven't seen each other for a long time, and when both sides saw it again, they both had faint tears.

"Big brother, hurry up." Zhu Gaochu sighed and stepped forward to help Zhu Gaochi.

He has never hated Zhu Di, but never Zhu Gaochi.

Everything is Zhu Di's pot.

"Junki is so big, too?"

"Second uncle." Zhu Zhanji said obediently.

Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but flash a scene from many years ago in his mind, and Zhu Zhanji, who was just able to walk, asked him in a milky voice: "Does the second uncle also want to be the prince?" ”

I really wanted to kick him to death.

"Okay." Zhu Gaoxu smiled and stretched out his hand to greet the children behind him: "Come on, come and see your uncle and cousins, don't walk on the street in the future, you don't know each other." ”

He beckoned a few children over, and they were very polite, and they all paid a visit to their uncle and cousin.

Zhu Gaochi looked at their well-behaved appearance, and felt that Zhu Gaochu had done a good job in educating children.

Not long after the two came in, Zhu Gaoxu's concubines also came.

The family sits together for lunch.

Zhu Gaochi sat to the left of Zhu Gaoxu.

Zhu Gaochi suddenly thought of a question, when they first came in, there were no guards in the palace to search them, aren't they afraid that they will plot against Zhu Gaochu?

couldn't help but secretly admire Zhu Gaoxu, anyway, if he changed his position, he would definitely have to guard against Zhu Gaoxu.

The two brothers haven't seen each other for many years, and they still have a lot to say, but basically Zhu Gaoxu is asking, asking him about the situation in Taiao.

Tai O has been under the rule of the Ming Dynasty for almost 20 years, and after Zhu Gaoxu's continuous immigration support, the local population has exceeded 500,000, which is a lot of progress.

Of course, the biggest reason is that Zhu Gaoxu has good publicity.

In the original time and space, everyone knew that there was a gold mine in Tai O, and people from all over the world, including Europe, went to pan for gold, and in just ten years, the population broke through from 400,000 to 1.1 million, an increase of 700,000.

Now the world has just touched the edge of the great voyage, and the population has not grown so fast due to the limited ability of the open sea.

But with the rise of the Ming Dynasty and the increase in the capacity of the far seas, Zhu Gaoxu estimates that in another ten years, the population of Tai O will exceed one million.

Now Tai O has been found with a lot of gold mines, which is very attractive to gold prospectors.

The Ming Dynasty adopted a tax collection model in the local area, and whoever found the gold mine paid 40% of the tax to the Ming Dynasty, allowing them to mine it themselves, and the use period was 50 years.

Except for the gold mine, the other minerals are owned by the Ming Dynasty, and whoever discovers it can get a reward for the weight, and there is a reward for the same fifty years of minerals.

Zhu Gaoxu did not fully adopt the Ming state, but encouraged immigrants from all over the world to Tai O to increase the local population.

Population is the productive force and the driving force of development.

Zhu Gaochi also mentioned these problems, that is, with the increase of immigrants and foreigners in the Ming Dynasty, there are still many local contradictions.

Foreigners and Akito often clashed, Akito looked down on foreigners, and foreigners wanted to prove that they were better than Akito.

When Zhu Gaochi was talking, Zhu Zhanji had an expression of wanting to say something.

Zhu Gaochu thought to himself that the current Zhu Zhanji must have no interest in playing crickets, but growing up next to Zhu Gaochi in Tai O, it is estimated that he still learns more Confucian classics.

"Junki seems to have some ideas, tell me about it." He said.

Zhu Zhanji was overjoyed and immediately said: "According to Zhanji." ”

"Tai O can be divided into districts, some areas can only be entered by us Han people, and some areas can only be entered by Fan people."

"In this way, the conflict can be greatly reduced, and both sides benefit."

"At the same time, it collects heavy taxes among the Fan, which can be used to develop Tai O."

Zhu Zhanji probably thought about it for a long time, and was ready to show it to the emperor.

Zhu Gaoxu said with a smile: "What Zhan Ji said is also a feasible way. ”

Zhu Zhanji was overjoyed.

But I heard Zhu Gaoxu say again: "But I am very open, and I want to achieve unity among all ethnic groups in the end." ”

"The other overseas places that are occupied now are not distinguished, all of them are Han in Yi, and Yi in Han."

"If the distinction is too obvious, it is easy to cause greater contradictions."

Zhu Zhanji's ecstatic expression froze, and he had no choice but to say, the second uncle is wise.

Zhu Gaochu summoned Zhu Gaochi to Beijing this time, of course, there was something wrong.

Ask him if he would like to go to North and South America.

"What?" When Zhu Gaochi heard about North and South America, he thought of the map he bought yesterday, which was farther away than Tai O.

"It's not forced, the eldest brother won't go, Gao Xu will send someone else."

Zhu Gaoxu said: "I plan to send a fleet over, first in Brazil, Mexico, and the beautiful country of three strongholds. ”

With the development of the shipbuilding and navigation industry in the Ming Dynasty, the advent of the Age of Discovery is getting faster and faster, and Zhu Gaoxu wants to be one step ahead of others and set up three strongholds in these three places.

Considering that these places are too far away, Zhu Gaoxu chose those who are willing to live there permanently, preferably with his whole family, and live there for life.

In this regard, the Ming court also gave enough benefits, after the past Tuntian is their own, how much you can tun, it is all yours, the specific tax is customized by the local government, can not exceed two percent, tools and seeds are provided by the Ming court, transported from the sea.

Zhu Gaochi quickly heard something important, and after basically going, he probably won't come back much.

The local government has a great deal of autonomy, and the imperial court really can't control such a far place.

And the imperial court has a lot of support for the previous batches of people, and all kinds of tools, materials, seeds, and those that can be shipped by sea will be shipped by sea.

"How long will it take to get over there?" Zhu Gaochi asked at this time.

"We will first transport a large number of supplies and personnel to Nuergandu Treasury Island (Sakhalin), from which we will cross the Bering Strait, enter the Gulf of Alaska, and reach the western waters of North America."

"It's about 13,000 miles."

"The imperial court organized several fleets across the Pacific in previous years, and only one failed."

"At the current speed, if it is not a full headwind, it will reach the west coast of North America in about three or four months."

Zhu Gaoxu said in a deep voice: "Let's go step by step, first go to the west coast of North America, take root, establish a stronghold, and then go to South America." ”

"I plan to spend three to five years slowly establishing a few bases in North and South America."

"In three to five years, there may be steamships coming out, which will greatly shorten the time to cross the Pacific Ocean, and the dominance of my Ming Dynasty may also reach North and South America."

Zhu Gaochi couldn't help it, this made him open up the wasteland in another continent again, just like he did in Tai O back then.

"What is there in North and South America? Why did Gao Xu have to occupy it? Isn't the current land of the Ming Dynasty big enough? ”

Zhu Gaoxu thought about it and said with a wry smile: "I have thoughts." ”

Zhu Gaochi didn't understand what he was thinking, but he sighed, got up, took a few steps back, and knelt down: "The minister obeys the order and is willing to go to Nanbeizhou." ”

Zhu Gaochi actually didn't want to stay in Daming, no one in the country knew him anymore, so it was better to go farther away.

"Okay." Zhu Gaoxu was overjoyed and hurriedly helped him up: "It's even more difficult for you to go here than to Tai O, but no matter what, the whole Ming Dynasty is supporting you." ”

Again, you have just returned from Tai O, and you will live in Beijing for more than a year, and then set off at the end of next year in winter, and you will have more time at sea and wind.

At the end of the seventeenth year of Hongxi, the Ming Dynasty officially began to send colonial fleets to North and South America.

This time, the team was led by the experienced Hong Bao (Zheng He's fellow countryman, Zheng He's deputy envoy of the fleet).

The fleet is far beyond the unprecedented, all of them are treasure ships of more than 3,000 materials, there are more than 300 ships, more than 10,000 tons of various cargoes, and more than 20,000 people.

Daming has been preparing for more than a year.

Hong Xi spent 17 years recruiting manpower, and then transported and stored materials to the reservoir island of Nuergan.

Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Zhanji stayed in Beijing for more than a year, and often studied considerable experience and materials from North and South America.

They prepared until the eighteenth year of Hongxi, when they first went to the reservoir island, and then followed the huge fleet across the Pacific Ocean to North and South America.

The first stronghold of the Ming Dynasty was located in the old Jingshan in later generations.

In the winter of the eighteenth year of Hongxi.

The cold current here is like a knife, and the frozen people are shivering.

But fortunately, Daming is now more effective in keeping warm, and everyone is on the ship, and the matter of carrying materials is handed over to the officers and soldiers of the local guard station.

It only took a little more than a month for the fleet to pack up the supplies and start leaving the port.

Zhu Gaochi was in the heated cabin, reading the information.

Daming has now installed steam power on some of the ships, but the current power is not enough to drive the boat, and the main function is to provide heating, which makes the ship extremely warm in winter.

While reading the information, Zhu Gaoxu would look at the heating pipes in the room, and he didn't understand how Gao Xu's head grew, which he could figure out.

Judging from the data, the Ming army mobilized more than 300 large sea ships this time, all of which were new ships built in the last five years, and the ability to cross the sea was extremely strong, and the Ming Dynasty had organized several crossings of the Pacific Ocean in the past few years, except for one failure, the rest were successful and accumulated experience.

More than 300 large ships had a full load capacity of 20,000 tons, and the actual load was 12,000 tons.

Another 25,000 people.

Among them, the Ming army plus sailors was 5,000, 10,000 Han people, and 10,000 Fanyi people of various ethnic groups.

Most of these Fanyi people were people who were plundered by Mongolia and the northwest after the Ming Dynasty reported it.

Of the 10,000 Han Chinese, half were light offenders from all over the country.

Therefore, the composition of more than 20,000 people this time is complicated, and it is far more than the first batch of people in Tai O that year.

The accompanying Ming army was even more selective, and the orphans in the Ming army were selected first.

Secondly, choose those who are willing to leave their hometowns and stay away all year round.

Other parts of the Ming Dynasty have implemented conscription and retirement systems, but North and South America are too far away and may not be able to retire once a year.

Therefore, the selection of soldiers was also determined after a long time.

Zhu Gaoxu also put a lot of effort and energy.

The commander of the army will be the commander Xue Cheng, Xue Cheng's father is Xue Xun, Xue Liu's fellow village, and Zhu Gaoxu, who later took refuge.

Xue Cheng was only twenty-six years old, and he was originally just a thousand households in a certain guard in Jiangnan.

At this time, the whole army chooses to come to North America, and those who are willing to come can be promoted to three levels in a row and become commanders.

In the Ming army, there were more than 30 thousand-level registrations.

After the assessment, Xue Cheng was finally chosen.

And below Xue Cheng, all the commanders and acquaintances, commanders and ministers, and thousands of households are all from the previous Ming generals who were promoted to the third level.

The other Ming soldiers doubled their salaries per person, and after working for another five years, they could apply to return to the Ming Dynasty.

When he returned to the Ming Dynasty, he either continued to serve as a soldier, and all officers were promoted to two levels.

Or go back to your hometown and become a magistrate.

In other words, the first wave of more than 5,000 Ming troops, when they returned to Daming five years later, all of them would be officers or local officials.

This is Zhu Gaoxu's preferential treatment for the pioneers, and five years later, the second wave of the Ming army will not have such preferential treatment.

And after five years, it will be a year to return 1,000, so that it will be gradually rotated, and then it will be used for another five years to replace all the original five years of veterans.

Of course, in five years' time, many people may not come back and choose to go to South America or elsewhere.

Anyway, the first batch of more than 5,000 people must have been taken care of by the imperial court, and those who have families can enjoy tax exemption treatment at home.

At that time, the number of applicants exceeded 100,000, mainly in the northwest of the country.

These men were recruited from far and wide, and after three months of training in Nuergan, they crossed the Pacific.

Because most of them were recruited from the northwest, many of them had never crossed the sea by boat.

Therefore, at this time, Zhu Gaochi's biggest concern at present is to ensure the integrity of the personnel.

Fortunately, after the first few trial voyages of the Ming Dynasty, from the sea near Alaska, although the weather is relatively cold, but the downwind time is relatively long, and there are islands everywhere along the way, you can dock at any time.

As long as you keep warm, it is relatively safe.

The most important thing is to avoid the extreme cold and avoid hitting the ice.

They set out from Reservoir Island in February, approaching Alaska in March and April, and the weather was much warmer, effectively avoiding the season when the ice was at its highest.

These are the lessons that the Ming army summed up with blood and tears in the past.

After Alaska, it approached the territory of Gala, and the Ming army did not occupy this side for the time being, and continued to the south.

This will be able to walk along the west coast, and it will be much safer, and you will find the old Jingshan Mountain along the way.

Zhu Gaochi was lucky, and with his previous experience, the entire fleet had not been at sea for more than 15 days, and had successively followed the shore or island, effectively ensuring the survival rate of the fleet.

When they finally came to Jiujing Mountain, they only lost three ships, and most of the people on board were rescued, and some supplies were lost.

In May of the eighteenth year of Hongxi (1424), the huge ship of the Ming Dynasty came to the old Jingshan Port in later generations.

In the past few years, the Ming army has come here one after another, and they also helped build a small port.

The influence of the Ming Dynasty officially came to North America.

(End of chapter)