In July of the sixth year of Hongji, in fact, a major event occurred.

Just when many people thought that Wang Zhi had been marginalized, they didn't know that Wang Zhi, who had been sitting in the Indochina Peninsula, had never cut off contact with the Forbidden City, and even often received replies from the Son of Heaven.

In these years of obscurity, Wang Zhi not only cultivated batches of elite soldiers, but also established a number of Ming military bases in Nanyang countries.

In view of the fact that more than seventy percent of the world belongs to terra nullius, it is actually a very sudden and easy thing for the Ming Dynasty to expand its territory, and it is enough to send troops and people to occupy the land in the past.

It is only in this era that food and governance are the most severe tests that the Ming Dynasty will face after occupying the territory.

Why did Korea and Annam successively incorporate into the territory of China, but in the end they left China? A very important reason is the distance between the two places, and the frequent interruption of transportation, resulting in poor food supply and easy loss of sovereignty.

Even though the powerful Yuan Dynasty occupied Burma, the two places were blocked by dense forests, and the Yuan Dynasty was unable to break through the layers of geographical barriers to form an effective suppression.

As for military rations, it is also a very serious problem, like the rich land in the south of the Yangtze River, naturally there is no need to worry about military rations, but the garrisons of Annam and Burma need the Central Plains Dynasty to transport grain.

It's just that the cost of grain transported from Jiangnan to the capital can be as high as eighty percent, and the grain lost is an astronomical amount without a canal connecting the two places.

On the other hand, Korea and Annam only need to seize power, so it is easy to cut off the intersection with the Central Plains Dynasty, so as to hold a corner and establish themselves as kings.

Although the Nanyang countries have certain mineral resources, Guangdong is thousands of miles away from the capital, and the Nanyang countries are still separated from Guangdong by the ocean, even if they occupy these small countries, they are isolated overseas.

At this stage, the best development model is to focus on developing itself, suppressing the ambition of crazy expansion, but developing and expanding step by step.

The garrison base in Nanyang communicated with the city of Daming in Luzon, and although the Ming court never invaded any country, it was already the true king of Nanyang.

In particular, Malacca has built a military base and set up a customs agency, and all merchant ships traveling between the South and Indian Oceans are subject to taxes.

It is precisely in this way that under the instruction of Zhu Youji, Wang Zhi did not raise troops to destroy the country, but completely mastered Nanyang by building military bases.

During this period, there were inevitably some discordant voices, but as Wang Zhi sent huge ships and cannons, the kings and tribal leaders of all the Nanyang countries bowed to the Ming Dynasty.

The current sphere of influence has already covered the island of Kalimantan, and in the continuous penetration to the south, in fact, they have also discovered the Australian mainland.

It was only with the Son of Heaven's decree that came from the capital, and Wang Zhi, who received the decree, handed over the affairs in hand, and then led a fleet to leave the South Seas.

The August sea breeze is blowing from the depths of the Indian Ocean.

Wang Zhi, who was wearing a python robe, stood on the deck, looking like a young and beautiful man, with deep eyes at the moment, looking towards the sea to the north.

He was no longer the factory governor of Xichang, nor was he the eunuch of the Indochina Peninsula, but was officially appointed as the first governor of the Indian Ocean by order of Zhu Youji.

Governor of the Indian Ocean, a brand new position in the Ming Dynasty, but with the same weight as the Governor of the East China Sea and the Governor of the Americas, and even more powerful.

It is worth mentioning that this appointment was controversial in the imperial court.

Although Xu Shiying was appointed as the governor of the East China Sea that year, there were also some objections from the imperial court, but Xu Shiying still held the identity of the prince of Dingguo after all.

On the other hand, Wang Zhi was neither a member of the civilian clique nor a core member of the Wuxun clique, but was easily emasculated by the civilian-official clique and the Wuxun clique.

Throughout the ages, except for the eunuchs like Huai'en, who know how to have a good relationship with the civil official group, eunuchs rarely have a positive image, and they are always hated to gnash their teeth.

Wang Zhi's reputation naturally does not need to be said, as the supervisor of the West Factory cracked down on a large number of corrupt officials, and even brought the descendants of the former first assistant Yang Rong to justice.

Even in the Hongzhi Dynasty, after getting the recovery of the Son of Heaven, he slaughtered hundreds of officials in Yangzhou with Wang Yue in one day, and he himself watched Liu Daxia's family being burned alive in Huguang.

Now that he has been given such an important position, and the power of overseas governors is far beyond that of domestic governors, it naturally provokes the eyes of many civil officials, so there are voices of opposition.

"Wang Zhi has the talent of military aircraft, and it is really a talent to be appointed as the governor of the Indian Ocean today, and this matter must not be discussed again!"

These opposing voices naturally reached the ears of the Son of Heaven, as if they wanted to shake the Son of Heaven's decision, but Zhu Youzhi expressed his attitude very strongly.

After so many years of observation, although he did find that Wang Zhi had certain psychological problems, Wang Zhi was really ruthless to some corrupt officials, but he still had a very high sense of belonging to the emperor and the country.

During the period of presiding over the situation in the Indochina Peninsula, in the face of the remnants of the Li Dynasty, he adopted many gruesome methods, resulting in the remnants of the Li Dynasty no longer daring to rebel.

It's just that he shows a friendly side to the troops stationed in Indochina Peninsula and other places, and he can always safeguard the interests of the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, there is another advantage to using eunuchs as overseas governors.

Eunuchs have stronger loyalty, so they may fail overseas, but they don't need to worry too much about them becoming kings when they grow stronger.

Don't underestimate human greed, once they see the opportunity to establish themselves as kings, no loyal courtier will be willing to put their fate in the hands of others.

Moreover, there is a need for more capable governors overseas.

At home, the Governor can act as an ornament. Even if he does nothing all day, it may not have a negative impact on the overall situation.

Overseas, however, the governor needed not only excellent management skills, but also very strong military command skills.

Although Xu Shiying, who was born in Wuxun, was not satisfactory at first, the current East China Sea Governor's Office has become the absolute hegemon of the East China Sea, and it occupies Kyushu Island, and continues to mine gold on Dongji Island.

Although Wang Zhi was born as a eunuch, he had already proven his military ability through the battle with Wang Yue's Weininghai and his business in the Indochina Peninsula over the years.

On the other hand, the civil officials who keep worrying about the country and the people are not able to write articles, and if the position of overseas governor is given to them, they are not expected to bring surprises at all.

It is precisely in this way that Zhu Youji, after overriding public opinion, also allowed Wang Zhi to be the governor of the Indian Ocean, and he was implementing a very important plan.

A fleet of 10,000 men entered Malacca and entered the Indian Ocean, then made its way north along the eastern coastline of the Indian Ocean.

Due to the abundance of food and fresh water on board, the fleet did not need to be resupplied in the port of Siam, but made its way north.

"Your Excellency the Governor, I don't know what you command?" A burly general strode over and saluted respectfully.

Although Wang Zhi is not liked by the civilian group, his reputation among the military generals is actually very good.

Throughout the life of this eunuch, it can be called wonderful.

When he was a teenager, Wang Zhi had already been reused by Xianzong, and during his tenure as the governor of Xichang, he frantically cracked down on corrupt officials and corrupt officials, causing civil and military officials to be terrified.

The first time he led the army to the expedition, he beat the Jianzhou Jurchen crying father and calling his mother. After joining forces with Wang Yue, he dared to lead the army deep into the steppe, and almost killed Dayan Khan.

The civil official clique finally brought down Wang Zhidou, forced Xianzong to send Wang Zhi to Nanjing, and demoted his official position again and again, so that the power eunuch fell into the mud.

Who would have thought that Hongzhi, the newly enthroned son of heaven, would actually use Wang Zhi, although he was only the position of a eunuch in Nanjing, but later Wang Zhi also participated in many major events.

From Liu Daxia's mouth, he successfully learned the hiding place of Annan's archives, although the news was learned by Wang Zeng in advance and transferred, but it was also a merit of Wang Zhi.

After serving as the eunuch of the Indochina Peninsula for many years, he was now granted a new position by the emperor, and personally led 10,000 elite Ming navies as the governor of the Indian Ocean.

At this time, the sea breeze blew from the west, and swept up the hat belt.

"Lin Cheng, are you ready with your subordinates?" Wang Zhi did not look at the number one general who came forward, but looked at the tunnel in the distance.

"Your Excellency the Governor, if you can't take it, you will apologize with death!" Lin Cheng knew that Wang Zhi only valued the result of things, and he also said seriously.

He turned out to be an insignificant son of a military family in the Nanjing Shenji Battalion, although he was born with excellent arm strength and a little literacy, but his family was poor and destitute, and he had no future at all.

If there is no accident, then he will be like other low-level soldiers in Nanjing, receiving a meager salary every day, and then spending his life in a daze.

It's just that God opened his eyes, and he got Wang Zhi's weight.

Under Wang Zhi's recommendation, it can be said that he has risen all the way. From an insignificant general flag, as if he was hanging in his life, he is now ordered by the imperial court to be the chief military officer of the Indian Ocean, with as many as 10,000 soldiers under his command, and he has a huge ship and a cannon.

Although this expedition to Baigu Kingdom was an ocean-going operation, he knew that this operation could only succeed and not fail. It was not only the battle between him and Wang Zhi for the right name, but also the war for the Ming Dynasty to defend its glory.

No matter how many soldiers they have, no matter how many war elephants they have, they must destroy the White Ancient Kingdom, and it will become the new home of the Indian Ocean Governor's Palace.

"How is the matter that the miscellaneous family explained? Everything is going well, right? Wang Zhi turned his head to look at Lin Cheng and asked with great importance.

Lin Cheng knew what Wang Zhi was referring to, and immediately raised his eyelids and said, "Your Excellency Governor, please rest assured, this matter has been done!" ”

Since the Ming Dynasty opened the sea in an all-round way, more and more Ming maritime merchants galloped on the sea, and the merchant ships active in the South Seas became more and more.

At the beginning, the Ming maritime merchants were mainly active in Luzon Island in the east of the South Sea and Champa in the west, but with the deepening of trade, the eastern route has reached Java, and the western route still goes out of the Strait of Malacca after making a detour in Siam.

In human exploration, nature inevitably takes some detours, but as long as the exploration continues, then the right path will be found.

Since some people bravely crossed the Strait of Malacca to the Indian Ocean to bring back a large amount of gold, more and more Daming maritime merchants chose to go to the Indian Ocean, which is also the beginning of the gold rush era in the Indian Ocean.

As the sun sets on the sparkling waters of the West Sea, a large merchant ship is slowly approaching an ancient port from the south.

Due to the proximity of India to the Mediterranean, there were contacts as early as the centuries BC, and there was trade and cultural exchange between ancient India and the Roman Empire.

Trade between the two civilizations was very frequent, mainly through the Maritime Silk Road and the Land Silk Road.

India's exports to Rome included silk, spices, pearls, precious stones, ivory, etc., while Rome exported metalwork, glassware, jewelry, etc., to India, and this trade fostered economic prosperity and cultural exchanges between the two civilizations.

Culturally, Buddhism in ancient India spread from India to Central and Western Asia within the next few centuries BC, eventually reaching the Roman Empire.

It was the land trade links between ancient India and Europe, as well as the trade activities of the African continent, that led to the existence of many ancient ports in India.

In recent years, Daming maritime merchants frantically flocked to India, because the ceramics and silk of Daming have already let Indians know about this large country in the East, but will not make Indians feel too abrupt.

An ancient seaport on the east side of India has become more and more prosperous, attracting even many Arab merchants to trade here.

It is worth mentioning that although the Spanish had discovered the Cape of Good Hope in previous years and knew the seas through the east, they were not able to overcome the storm and the pirates came to India.

On the contrary, it was the Ming maritime merchants who took the lead and became the most active maritime group in India.

When he saw Huang Yu, a Daming maritime merchant, appear, the Arab with a turban wrapped in a turban stepped forward and hugged enthusiastically: "Ah...... My dear friend of Daming, I am here every day for you to come! ”

"You're looking forward to our Ming spices, right? You can rest assured, our Ming businessmen will do what they say! Huang Yu naturally knew the other party's plan, but the conversation changed: "A few of my Nanyang servants have some problems, I don't know if you have Langzhong here?" ”

"Langzhong? If your servant is sick, there is holy water in India! The Arab merchant was very unfamiliar with the title, and immediately reacted.

"Forget about the holy water in India, you just need to provide a few of them with shelter and food and shelter, and I will pay you gold coins!" Huang Yu waved his hand and refused, so he made other arrangements.

When the Arab merchants saw Huang Yu take out the gold, they couldn't help but say approvingly: "My dear friend of the Ming Dynasty, you are so good to your servants, it is their honor to follow a master like you!" ”

"I also consider myself a good host! Since you have just admired the holy water so much, then I will give you two more gold coins, and I beg you to give them a try of the holy water of India! Huang Yu was in a good mood, and immediately increased the gold coin authenticity.

The Arab merchant's eyes lit up slightly, and he immediately hurriedly agreed.

The faces of the five Annanites were flushed, their bodies were covered with terrible red spots, and their bodies had begun to show symptoms such as coughing and moaning, while the people were already in a state of confusion.

Since it was a person arranged by the noble Ming merchants, the Arab merchants did not dare to slack off, and immediately arranged personnel to take care of these sick servants, and even decided to take them to the Holy River for baptism.

As for the spice trade, they had already brought a large amount of gold.

Although they had to pay a large sum of gold to the Ming merchants, the spices were now monopolized by the Ming merchants, but they still made up to ten times the profit when they shipped them to Europe. (End of chapter)