At the beginning of the morning light, the Yanziji Military Port in Nanjing gradually woke up from the silence of the night, the sky was flushed with a faint golden red, and the morning glow sprinkled on the ships of the ocean-going fleet detachment of Zheng He's return.

Zheng He's fleet has a total of three ports, limited by the navigation conditions of the Yangtze River, 1,500 or more treasure ships can not actually enter the Yangtze River, so the large treasure ships are left in the Fujian Buzheng Envoy Changle Matoujiang Taiping Port, while the medium-sized ships are mostly in the south of the Zhili Suzhou Prefecture Taicang County Liujiagang as the home port, only some small and medium-sized ships are stationed in the not spacious Nanjing Yanziji Military Port.

The reason why a detachment of the fleet is placed in Nanjing is not to pursue the meaning of the existence of the fleet, after all, there is no war now, but on the one hand, it is to let the students of the Ming Royal Military Academy understand the sailors to learn about water warfare, and on the other hand, to show military prestige, so that the citizens and officials in Nanjing know how majestic the Ming ocean-going fleet is.

Hundreds of ships with slender hulls meandered to shore in the harbor like dragons, their masts towering like the stretched necks of dragons, and the canvas swaying gently in the morning breeze rustling like dragon scales rubbing against each other.

The sailors on board had already begun their daily work, whether at anchor or at sea, and these shirtless sailors shuttled between the deck, some climbed vigorously along the ropes to the top of the mast, checking every detail; Others squatted on the side of the boat, carefully cleaning the deck with water and brushes to make sure it was as smooth as a mirror.

In fact, deck brushing is a common subject in almost all ocean-going fleets, and it is not exclusive to the British, and the Ming also liked to use this to train sailors and officers.

Soon, with the orders of the commanders, the detachment began to get busy, and the fleet slowly set sail from Yanziji, and today there was an important sailor drill, which was regarded as a parade on the river, and the audience was the people of Nanzhili who heard the news.

The huge anchor chains were pulled up by the sailors through the winch with a dull sound, and the sails gradually puffed up in the wind, like the wings of a dragon spreading out and ready to take off.

At this time, on the Xiaguan Wharf in the southwest direction, the crowd was bustling, as if the people of the entire Nanjing City were gathered here.

The merchants, dressed in silk clothes to be beheaded in the Hongwu Dynasty, held abacus in their hands, and discussed possible trade opportunities in a low voice; Hawkers push carts or carry burdens, selling all kinds of snacks and souvenirs; Children weaved merrily through the crowd, chasing and playing, or gazing curiously at the huge anchor chains and rough cables of the warships approaching from the Swallow Rock Pier.

The detachment set out from the Yanziji Military Wharf in Nanjing, and marched all the way to the Xiaguan Wharf in Nanjing, preparing to present a shocking parade on the river for the people of Nanzhili.

With the sound of the horn, the warships cut through the river like arrows from the string, stirring up layers of waves, the sails were hunting, and the sailors on board were in high spirits, they had changed from shirtless to neatly dressed in battle robes.

When the detachment arrived at the Xiaguan Wharf in Nanjing, the people who had been waiting here for a long time burst into enthusiastic cheers, and they flocked to the riverside to see this rare grand scene.

I saw that the warships on the river were gathered, and the flags covered the sun, and the momentum was magnificent.

"It's a pity that there is no treasure ship with two thousand materials."

On the viewing platform, Zheng He said to Jiang Xinghuo with some regret.

"Don't worry."

The river breeze blew Jiang Xinghuo's sleeves, and he stared at the river in the distance, but his mind was somewhere else.

In the past year, as the scale of Qingtian gradually expanded to Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Huanghuai and other political envoys, large-scale massacres and punishments have gradually weakened the resistance of the gentry.

In the past, the gentry were unwilling to back down at all, shouting every day, gambling on the monstrous public opinion, and the court did not dare to do it, but when the butcher's knife fell on their heads, they were immediately willing to give up everything to save their lives.

Of course, this situation was very fierce at the beginning, but seeing that the resistance was ineffective, the political envoys of various provinces, especially the Jiangxi political envoys who were mostly officials from the DPRK and China, immediately began to become smarter, and within the scope of the rules, they tried to preserve the land as much as possible by means of transfer and separation, instead of holding their necks to resist the broadsword.

With the temporary weakening of the opposition force, or the hibernation waiting for the opportunity to resist, on the surface, the various new policy measures in China are steadily advancing, and although there are many tedious little things, there is no longer much obstacle, but in fact, for Jiang Xinghuo, there are still things to do.

However, Jiang Xinghuo's attention has gradually shifted away from various domestic affairs and turned to the world.

Jiang Xinghuo was thinking mainly about two things.

The first aspect is that with the northern expedition to Tatar and the thwarting of Timur's expedition, the surrounding geopolitical environment conditions have been initially stabilized, and Jiang Xinghuo through the means of paying salt in banknotes, issuing treasury bonds, and reducing the minting of copper coins, the actual value of treasure banknotes began to rise, and gradually approached copper coins, although there is still a distance, but it is no longer as far away as before. Therefore, the cross-sea expedition to Japan to obtain silver mines has become an achievable thing, and only by obtaining Japan's super-large silver mines can Jiang Xinghuo's long-prepared currency reform be carried out.

The second aspect is closely related to monetary reform, that is, the establishment of the world trade and monetary system with the Ming Dynasty as the core.

With the expansion of vision and the world situation, especially the reconciliation of the two superpowers of the Ming and Timurid Khanates, the opening of direct trade routes between the East and the West has become possible, if the Ming ocean-going fleet can bypass the Cape of Good Hope along the African coastline to Europe and establish supply stations along the way, then regardless of the belated "traverser trio" of sailing to the Americas to obtain potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes will become very easy, and in terms of world trade alone, it can also communicate the trade between the East and the West. So as to build a world trade system with the Ming Dynasty as the core.

As the world's most powerful manufacturing power, the current Ming not only has an irreplaceable market position in traditional fist goods, such as tea, silk, porcelain, lacquerware, etc., but also has an overwhelming advantage in new trade goods, such as perfume, liquor, glass, cotton textiles, etc.

The absolute advantage in world trade, which means that the current demand of all countries in the world for Daming is far greater than the demand of Daming for all countries in the world, and Daming can become the leader of the world trade system by virtue of this advantage.

The continuous grabbing of profits from world trade to form a virtuous circle not only means the continuous growth of the scale of the Ming manufacturing industry, but also means that the Ming can allocate more military spending to the navy to build ships and maintain routes and port construction, and this military advantage will also be positively fed back to trade.

With the two necessary conditions of advantageous trade status and strong route control ability, the Ming Dynasty can force all countries to join the monetary system dominated by the Ming Dynasty in trade, and settle with silver treasure banknotes, so that with the development of the financial system, the Ming Dynasty can continue to use the monetary system to achieve invisible control and crisis transfer to all countries in the world through the dominance based on the "force guarantee + trade advantage".

The control of the world by this monetary system is, in terms of time, very long.

Generally speaking, the first thing to collapse of a world empire is often the "trade advantage", because the technological leadership is not permanent, and the vested interests often carry out industrial transfer to reduce costs, and invest in the financial industry to make easy and quick money, so that the "trade advantage" will gradually lose in both technology and manufacturing. And with the loss of trade advantages, late-developing countries will repeat the rise of this world empire, using the wealth gained from trade to arm their armies in a ship-building race, so that after one or two major wars, often the "force guarantee" will also become less reliable, and after the loss of both, the monetary system will collapse and change hands.

And this time is often calculated in hundred years, one or two hundred is young and easy, and it is not impossible to maintain it well for three or four hundred years, or even five or six hundred years.

However, these two aspects are still only Jiang Xinghuo's long-term plan for the world situation, and if they are really put into practice, there is still a long way to go, at least there are a few things that need to be done urgently.

"Is the Majapahit Empire still honest? On the way back this time, did you encounter their fleet south of Newport? ”

Zheng He replied without hesitation: "On the way back this time, we are always on guard against the Majapahit Empire, after all, this is the only existence in Nanyang that can be called an empire, if there is no Ming Dynasty, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is the overlord of Nanyang. The fleet was replenished in New Harbor once, when completely after leaving the strait, a huge fleet suddenly appeared on the horizon in the distance, it is not an exaggeration to say that the mast is like a forest, the canvas is like a cloud, it is the warship of the Majapahit Empire, at that time we were all ready for battle, our ship is bigger and there are artillery, we must have won the fight, but in the end it did not start. ”

"What is their attitude?"

"A small boat was sent with several envoys on board, who were sent by the Emperor of the Majapahit Empire, Vikalamawahana, and they were very respectful, expressing to me the respect of their emperor and expressing their willingness to maintain friendly relations with the Ming Dynasty."

"Strange." Jiang Xinghuo frowned slightly.

After Zheng He returned to China, he stayed in Fujian for a long time, because only the shipyard in Fujian had the ability to repair and maintain treasure ships on a large scale, and these behemoths of 1,500 materials and 2,000 materials had been ocean-going for so long until Nan Tianzhu came back, and the hull of the ship had long been covered with all kinds of algae, snails and all kinds of damage that could not be seen during ordinary navigation, and they had to be erected in the slipway to clean up, and then maintained well.

So Zheng He didn't have time to tell Jiang Xinghuo about his experience of going to the West, but only wrote a letter to communicate twice, but now when he asked, Jiang Xinghuo felt that the attitude of the Majapahit Empire was very strange.

Because the Majapahit Empire is the overlord of the South Seas, this country is from a small country, through the war of the surrounding countries to encroach and expand, and the Majapahit Empire has already in the 30th year of Hongwu in the actual destruction of the main rival Srivijaya Kingdom, the current Sriwijaya Kingdom is just in name only, but in fact, the princes of various places are in their own affairs.

Xingang Xuanfu made Shi Jinqing inherit the king of Liang Daoming, and his decree could not leave Xingang, and Xingang has now lost Chen Zuyi's pirate fleet, and it is the Ming Dynasty that can gain a foothold in the South Seas and resist the invasion of the Majapahit Empire.

In other words, the Ming Dynasty was actually the biggest obstacle to the expansion of the Majapahit Empire.

So why did the Majapahit Empire bow to the Great Ming?

"Do you want us to let our guard down?"

"Not really."

Zheng He said honestly: "Later, we carefully investigated, the Majapahit Empire is now suffering from internal and external troubles, not only is there chaos inside, but there are also enemies outside, and now there is no time to look west." ”

"Let's talk about it."

"Externally, the East Java Kingdom is rising, the Majapahit Empire rules the vast archipelago area with Java Island as the core, and even defeated the Mongols' cross-sea expeditions before, but the empire has been established for a long time, extravagance prevails, and the armament is no longer as before, and the East Javanese are more savage and warlike than them, and have defeated several times the army sent by the Majapahit Empire to quell the rebellion, recruited many other tribes, and through the surrender of the rebellion, the size of the army has become larger and larger."

Jiang Xinghuo nodded and it was not surprising, all the big empires had this virtue at the end of the period, it was nothing more than a Jurchen story.

"What about the internal troubles of the Majapahit Empire?"

"It's going to have to start from the beginning." Zheng He said helplessly.

"Don't worry, I said while watching the parade exercise."

Jiang Xinghuo motioned to Zheng He to look at the Yangtze River, and when the two were talking, the parade had already begun, and now after going around and arranging the formation, the exercise began.

The different types of warships are displayed in turn according to their own positioning and function, some of which are equipped with small and medium-caliber guns, and the muzzles of the guns are raised to the sky, as if ready to fire a fatal blow at the enemy at any time; Some of the warships carried elite teams of jumpers, dressed in light armor and armed with short knives, as agile as tigers descending the mountains, ready to capture the enemy ships at any time.

With an order, the artillery drill began, the artillery on the warship roared in unison, and the deafening sound of artillery resounded in the sky, although it was only an empty bag of ammunition for training, but in the eyes of the people on the south bank of the Yangtze River, every shelling seemed to tear the air, making people feel the cruelty of war.

The most shocking thing is the simulated jumping boat maneuver, which can be called thrilling, these warriors are like apes, they are agile like apes through the hook or board to jump onto the enemy ship, and fight the enemy to the death, every swing of the knife, every charge is full of power and beauty, making people's blood boil.

Obviously, this ship-to-ship parade and water warfare exercise on the river not only demonstrated the powerful strength of the Daming ocean-going fleet, but also stimulated the patriotic enthusiasm of the people of Nanzhili.

As the saying goes-

"Even the poorest patriots in London's East End can't help but puff out their chests at the thought of British wealth and industry."

The Ming Dynasty is destined to become a global empire and is destined to eat the dividends of the Age of Discovery and the Industrial Revolution, so as a spiritual trait of a global empire, it must be deliberately cultivated and guided from the beginning, so that they are proud to have such a mighty army and proud to live in such a powerful empire.

A very obvious negative example is that when Jiang Xinghuo's previous life, the Ming Court decided to stop going to the West and burn all the materials, the ordinary people of the Ming Dynasty were not interested in this matter at all.

This is due to two main reasons.

The first aspect is that Zheng He's fleet is an official monopoly on trade, and the money earned is used to spend on Zhu Di's grand cause, not to mention that the people can't share half a cent of benefits, even the lords and civil officials are not profitable, so since they can't get benefits, and even affect the private smuggling trade, it will be ruined.

The second aspect is the lack of publicity, Zheng He's trip to the West is an extremely great cause, but the Ming court officials did not have much publicity about it, mainly because it was contrary to Zhu Yuanzhang's maritime ban policy, so it could only provide a reason for going to the West in disguise from the tributary aspect, which was equivalent to being a stand, and it was naturally difficult to open his mouth to publicize, and the result of not propaganda was that the people did not know what the meaning of going to the West was.

Under Jiang Xinghuo's planning, Zheng He's ocean-going fleet actually plays the role of a pathfinder and maintainer, and in terms of interests, it is "I make money and others make money".

Zheng He's ocean-going fleet is responsible for opening up shipping routes by force and diplomacy, opening up the market for the Ming Dynasty's maritime trade merchants, and then the merchants in the Ming Dynasty can flock to it, and because the merchants are now even extremely wealthy, they do not have much energy to transport a large number of goods, and Zheng He's fleet has a series of exclusive sales rights for franchised goods, so the profit sharing of private merchants will not affect the benefits of Zheng He's fleet to the "shareholders" of the noble clan and the royal family who originally invested.

On the contrary, the more merchants participated in the shipping routes opened and maintained by the Ming Dynasty, which meant the expansion of the overall trade scale and domestic manufacturing demand, and at the same time, the Ming Dynasty was able to collect more tariffs through the city.

You must know that Daming not only collects tariffs in several cities for local import and export, but also sets up corresponding market shipping divisions in such as Xingang and Manila, which are important commercial nodes in Nanyang.

As long as the current ships cross the Manraka Strait, first, you can't run back and forth without supplies at all, and as long as you replenish, except for the ports of the Majapahit Empire, which has no safety at all, you only choose the ports of the Sriwijaya Kingdom, the Luzon Kingdom, the Annam Kingdom, the Champa Kingdom and other places under the control of the Ming Dynasty for supply, and you have to pay taxes when you enter the port; Second, it's impossible not to sell and buy goods, and in the same way, unless you go to Japan or Korea, you have to pay taxes to the Ming wherever you go.

This is the hegemony of sea power, which has to pay taxes when crossing the strait, taxes on supplies entering the port, and taxes on the purchase and sale of goods.

And this is also the necessity for Zheng He's fleet to establish the sea power of the Ming Dynasty.

To publicize these things well, and the people to benefit from them does not necessarily mean that the people should engage in maritime trade, or even that they need to engage in the manufacture of related goods, but only that they can obtain foreign goods cheaply and improve their living conditions, then the people will benefit, that is, they will support maritime trade and sea power.

This situation in which the people benefit has been felt by the people of Nanzhili with the influx of goods from Nanyang.

Something else may need some economic strength, but there is one thing that ordinary people feel most obviously, and that is the fruits sold in the market. The specialty fruits of the South Seas are transported by a fleet of ships, which are not only delicious but also cheap.

The people of Nanzhili, especially the citizens of Nanjing, can generally afford to consume fruits, and the satisfaction brought by the sweet taste of these cheap new kinds of fruits splashing between their mouths is their most preliminary and intuitive understanding of the sea power of the Ming Empire.

The parade will further strengthen the people's awareness of sea power and their pride in the Ming Dynasty.

This is beneficial to the whole change.

Because only when they know how the reform brings wealth to the country and the people, the people will support the change, and since most industries can benefit from this large trading system, the people will gradually become the actual beneficiaries of the change.

When the entire Ming Dynasty, from the royal family, clans, nobles and other aristocratic classes, as well as some civil officials and merchants, and most of the common people, could benefit from the maritime trade advocated by the reform, even the traditional conservative gentry and landlords were of no avail.

While watching the exercise, Zheng He turned his head sideways and said to Jiang Xinghuo: "The previous emperor of the Majapahit Empire passed away in the twenty-second year of Hajapahit Wulu Hongwu, in fact, the Majapahit Empire expanded and became strong in his hands, and after his death, the current emperor Vikalamawahana, as the nephew and son-in-law of Hajapahit Wulu, did not have the authority of Hajapahit Wulu, and there have been many forces in the country that disobey him. ”

Ha Xiang Wulu is the eldest son of the third emperor of the Majapahit Empire, Empress Tribwana, in the Yuan Dynasty to the tenth year of the Yuan Dynasty by his mother Chan succeeded as the Emperor of the Manjapahit Boyi Empire, and Zhu Yuanzhang is basically the same era of the figure, and Ha Xiang Wulu under the assistance of Prime Minister Gacha Mada, strengthened the centralized system internally, suppressed local separatist forces and rebellions, carried out large-scale expansion externally, and basically conquered the entire Indonesian archipelago, and the sphere of influence can even affect the Malay Peninsula and the Philippine Islands. The reign of Wulu is generally regarded as the golden age of the Majapahit Empire.

"Before, Vikalamawahana wanted to transfer the internal contradictions by conquering the Srivijaya Kingdom, but because of the joint efforts of Chen Zuyi and Liang Daoming, the old port was like a barrier in front of the Majapahit Empire, and if they couldn't beat the old port, they couldn't beat the hometown of the Srivijaya Kingdom, and now the old port has become a new port, and in the hands of the Ming Dynasty, it is even more impossible for them to defeat the Ming Dynasty."

Jiang Xinghuo said thoughtfully: "So since you can't defeat the Ming Dynasty, there are many internal forces that are not satisfied with it, and there is an invasion of the East Java Kingdom in the east, Vikalama Vahana has no choice but to ease relations with the Ming Dynasty, and then give priority to solving internal problems." ”

"Exactly."

After Jiang Xinghuo heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, he knew the complex situation in the Nanyang region, and the peaceful coexistence with the Majapahit Empire, even if it was temporary, was very important for the ocean-going trade of the Ming Empire, which was the same principle as the relationship between the Ming Dynasty and the Timurid Khanate.

Zheng He's trip to the West not only brought back rich trade results, but also consolidated the position of the Ming Dynasty in the Nanyang region, which was indeed a great achievement.

But this alone is obviously not enough.

"I plan to set up a West Tianzhu company."

"What do you do?" Zheng He was a little surprised.

He had heard about the joint-stock company, and now in Nanzhili and Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian, many businessmen have done it, but in Zheng He's view, it doesn't seem to be a big deal except that the distribution of interests is clearer and more grounded.

"The West Tianzhu Company, as the name suggests, is a company that trades west of Tianzhu."

Jiang Xinghuo clasped his hands, looked at the exercise that had entered the end on the river, and said: "The initial funder of the company is the same as the person who funded the West, the royal family, the clan, and the nobles, the purpose is to strip your fleet of non-military attributes, or sometimes you can hang two brands, which is not only the ocean-going sailor of the Ming Dynasty, but also the trading ship of the West Tianzhu Company." ”

"In my vision, the West Tianzhu Company is mainly as a 'black glove' institution of the Ming Dynasty in the West, authorized by the Ming Imperial Court, and while carrying out commercial activities, it also undertakes the task of colonial expansion and plunder, and obtains wealth by establishing its own trade network and colonies in the West."

"At the same time, when the West Tianzhu Company grows bigger, it can achieve profitability through the cycle of 'expansion-trade-colonization-re-expansion', then it can continue to issue additional shares to sell through the platform of Daming Bank, and the sale of treasury bonds is a reason, through the collection of funds by wealthy businessmen and ordinary people to obtain the capital of continued expansion, rather than by the Ministry of Household and internal funds to allocate funds, so that the country's financial pressure can be reduced through financial means, and attract people who are interested in this to go overseas."

"It's a good idea."

Zheng He quickly figured it out, he said: "But there is still a problem, to solve the Kingdom of Ceylon, the Kingdom of Ceylon is stuck in the place between the entrance and exit on the west side of the Manraka Strait to the South Tianzhu, the entire country of this island country is maintained by collecting taxes and fees for merchant ships, and the fleet of the Ming Dynasty wanted to collect tolls at the beginning, if it wasn't for the fact that they were frightened by the fact that the scale was too large, I am afraid that the small fleet would really collect the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty Now the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty are not out of the Manraka Strait, but they have to think about it later." ”

"I told you, if you change the king, you will destroy the royal family of Ceylon if you can't do it, as for the future."

Jiang Xinghuo rubbed his eyebrows and said: "The Kingdom of Ceylon is not a problem, the main thing is to deal with the hundreds of states in Nantianzhu, and Nantianzhu is the main trade object. Divide the world into four trading regions, the western Mediterranean is a trading area; The Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman Turkish Empire, the Mamluks, the Aries Dynasty, the Timurid Khanate were a trading area; The Northern Tianzhu represented by the Delhi Sultanate and hundreds of Southern Tianzhu states are a trade area; To the east of the Manraka Strait is a trading area. ”

"The road has to be taken step by step, the food has to be eaten one bite at a time, the envoy of the Timurid Khanate is about to arrive in Nanjing, the Ming and the Timurid Khanate have now lifted the state of war, and when the peace trade agreement is signed, then you will be able to safely sail and supply further west at sea. I heard Fu An say that the emperor of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, Bayezid I, wanted to get along with the Ming Dynasty very much, and Bayezid I should be about to return to China when the time comes, and it is estimated that he will be able to send an envoy to the Ming Dynasty next year, and he will be able to arrive the year after tomorrow? ”

"However, the Ottoman Turkish Empire is not important, if we want to deal directly with the Western countries, we have to bypass the Ottoman Turkish Empire and the Byzantine Empire, so after getting the Kingdom of Ceylon and the Southern Tianzhu Kingdoms, your main task is to continue to advance westward, win over the Mamluk Dynasty and the Aries Dynasty, especially the Aries Dynasty, now Timurid Khan's internal strife, the centrifugal force of the Aries Dynasty is very strong, and then go around the coastline in a large circle to the southernmost Western Kingdom of Spain, there is a court envoy of the Kingdom of Spain, Claviyo, I'll come with you when the time comes. ”

Zheng He had a world map in his mind, so he had no objection to Jiang Xinghuo's long-term plan, and he immediately asked, "What about Japan?" ”

"The Japanese side is already arranged, and it will take time to gather intelligence and plot against the hostile daimyo of the shogunate, and there are still many domestic reform policies that need to be continued."

Jiang Xinghuo calculated the time, after a year of war, now there is no external trouble in Daming, now it is the autumn of the third year of Yongle and it is about to be winter, and the next year is the fourth year of Yongle, and the most important thing in the fourth year of Yongle is, of course, the dust of the dispute between the princes and the prince.

Moreover, this year, not only is the army tired, but the consumption of logistics and supplies is very, very serious, after all, more than 100,000 people went to Saibei and were transferred to Guanzhong, which is very amazing.

In addition, the past two years have been the golden period for expanding the scale of reform and cultivating internal strength, so all conditions do not allow for another large-scale war.

Therefore, Jiang Xinghuo felt that the timing of the cross-sea expedition, combined with the experience of the Mongols who "must not cross the sea with a typhoon in autumn", the spring and summer of the fourth year of Yongle were too hasty, and it was not easy to use troops in winter, so it should be more appropriate for the spring and summer of the fifth year of Yongle.

As for how long it will take to fight across the sea, Jiang Xinghuo is not sure.

Because there has been no large-scale war between the Ming Dynasty and Japan, not even a few hundred years ago, there is no very accurate reference for the war between the two sides, and even if it is a reference, only Jiang Xinghuo's Wanli Anti-Japanese Aid Dynasty in his previous life can be used as a reference.

It is not advisable to carve a boat to seek a sword, and it is obviously inaccurate to compare the combat effectiveness of the two sides with the Wanli Anti-Japanese Aid Dynasty It is obvious that the Japanese shogunate army has just finished fighting the Northern and Southern Dynasties to end the civil war, and its combat effectiveness is not necessarily worse than the Japanese army under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but now the Ming army, which has experienced the battle of Jingyan and the tempering of the southern and northern wars, is definitely several grades stronger than the Ming army in the Wanli era, which is undoubted.

Therefore, Jiang Xinghuo's conclusion is that once the war starts, the Ming army will definitely have the advantage, as long as it can make adequate preparations for logistics, intelligence, and sea crossing, unlike the Mongols who were stupid enough to cross the sea in the autumn and were blown by a typhoon, at least there would be no problem in landing and developing in depth to the Japanese archipelago.

But having said that, in terms of population and military strength, Japan is, after all, the top five countries in the world today and the second in the entire East Asia, and now the actual ruler of Japan, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, is a generation of heroes, and there are not a few generals under the shogunate who can conquer the habitual war. Strategically contempt the enemy, tactically value the enemy.

Therefore, to what extent the war will be fought, and how long the Muromachi shogunate will be able to resist, Jiang Xinghuo is not sure.

He can only estimate at worst, once a tug of war is formed in Kansai, it is normal to fight for three years and five years, and this means that Daming must continue to invest and make adequate preparations in advance.

Of course, having said that, it is not impossible for a wave of decisive battles to end in a year, after all, the Japanese also like to engage in "joint battles", although they are a great name and a feudal system, but there is no tactical tradition of gradual resistance, but they like to decide the winner in a reckless wave, which must be very in line with the mind of the Ming Dynasty.

So Jiang Xinghuo calculated the time and said to Zheng He conservatively.

"Just go west, and when you first arrive in the west and come back, you'll be in time for the sea crossing."

(End of chapter)