Six years after the liberation, autumn.

The rice paddies on both sides of the Yangtze River are golden.

The heavy ears of rice bent down.

The plump ears of grain herald a bountiful autumn.

Since the Quartet was pacified, the Ming Dynasty dominated the world.

Jiangnan and Lianghu are really smooth and peaceful, and a peaceful and prosperous era seems to be coming.

In fact.

Although Emperor Zhu has been on the throne since his accession to the throne.

Toss the doctors who change the law.

However, the living standards of the people below are still a little higher than those in the former Qing Dynasty.

The main reason is naturally because.

There are fewer people in Handi.

These two years.

The main work of the Ming Dynasty was to emigrate to the Northeast and the South Seas.

The people who did not have enough to eat in the two lakes were migrated to Borneo and Java in large numbers.

Most of the extremely poor people in the Central Plains and Liangjiang have been mobilized to break into the eastern part of the country.

With these two pressure relief valves.

Inside the Ming Dynasty, it was quite stable.

Although the local gentry made some trouble from time to time.

But as long as ordinary people can still eat.

Basically, no one dares to go against the imperial court.

Not to mention.

The Ming Dynasty now has a firm grip on the southeast.

In addition, the finances of the Ming Dynasty did not rely much on the field tax, but relied on various financial means close to modernization to maintain the operation of the imperial court.

The army is now in the beginning of the country, and it is the first generation of generals who are still there, and the veterans below are still there.

The time when you can fight the most.

The emperor above is Zhu Daohua, the Emperor of Guangfu whose authority almost exceeds that of Ming Taizu.

In this case.

Even what Emperor Zhu did was indeed a bit excessive.

But no one dared to use their heads to test whether Emperor Zhu's gun was accurate enough.

At this moment.

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Standing on the deck of a steamer, there were a dozen young men standing beside him.

Secretary Luo Jinyue stood quietly next to Emperor Zhu.

And Emperor Zhu was talking to two young people on the other side who were sincerely afraid.

"Zheng Yi, Zhou Jihai, your trip to the North American continent has been fruitful, and it is easy to be crowned a marquis with this credit!" Emperor Zhu said with a smile.

"Thank you, Lord Long."

"The minister is a marquis with a small merit, and he is ashamed."

The two hurriedly said.

The two who were awarded the title of Marquis for their contribution to the route to the New World and the map of the Jinshan area (Vancouver) have aroused heated discussions among the people in the court in recent months.

O Marquis!

This is the dream of many people.

It turned out to be so easy to give to two navigators?

This is a bit too hasty.

But.

There are rumors among the people.

It was because of the discovery of a large gold mine in Jinshan that Zheng Yi and Zhou Jihai were able to be crowned.

Although no one knows the purpose of Emperor Zhu to give Zheng Yi and Zhou Jihai the title of marquis, whether he also wants to publicize Jinshan and arouse people's interest in Jinshan.

Even if Emperor Zhu's original intention may really be just to reward merit - in Emperor Zhu's view, opening up a shipping route to North America is a great contribution, and the marquis is absolutely qualified.

The contribution of both of them.

It is comparable to Zhang Qian's passage to the Western Regions.

What is it to be a marquis.

But the others didn't attach as much importance to the North American shipping route as Emperor Zhu.

So.

After the two were crowned marquis.

In the Ming Dynasty, there was an urban legend - the place of Jinshan was full of gold!

Therefore, this Emperor Zhu immediately gave Jinshan to the second prince as a fief of the second prince!

At the same time, the second prince, who is five years old this year, is also the first prince to be crowned a prince.

He has to be crowned the king of Qin, and in the future, he will take Jinshan as the capital and establish a new Qin state in North America.

Even the Qin Palace's mansion has been opened, and it is necessary to recruit a group of noble non-eldest sons who are about the same age as the second prince, and they will go with the second prince to open up the new Qin State in the future.

These six princes all got a Japanese king, but this one belongs to a foreign domain, not a pro-domain.

And the second prince was crowned the prince, and then sealed to the place of Jinshan, which made many people convinced.

This mountain of gold, even if it is not really full of gold, must be a place of great abundance.

Otherwise, how could Emperor Zhu give his own son?

"I said you can afford it, but now the mountains are desolate. If we don't enrich immigration as soon as possible, I'm afraid this treasure land will not be able to hold it! ”

Emperor Zhu said.

"What the emperor said is very true, when the minister was in Jinshan, he explored the south and found the power of the Spaniards. There were also white adventurers in the United States, and there were many fierce Indian tribes near Jinshan, who were nomadic tribes similar to the Mongols. ”

Emperor Zhu nodded.

This Indians. In fact, the name is a bit too "Eurocentric".

The natives of the entire New World are called "Indians."

It is almost as ridiculous as naming the entire Eurasian continent as "Eurasian people".

In fact.

The natives of the New World have many tribes and nationalities inside, from north to south, there are many tribes like cattle hair, and they must not be generalized.

Some Indian tribes are weak, while others are fierce.

Especially in North America, nomadic Indians chase bison.

That's pretty fierce and you can fight.

Therefore, can the Ming Dynasty gain a foothold in Jinshan.

The essential.

It's the population!

Only a large enough population can defend the only stronghold of the Ming Dynasty in North America now!

Just as the three of them were talking.

The steamer slowly sailed into the harbor.

This port is not a big port, but a river port on the edge of the Yangtze River estuary.

It is a port that was built after a factory called "Ilfan Shipyard" bought the land

On the dock in the port.

A large ship leaned silently on the shore.

There is something strange about the shape of the big ship.

The hull is wide and long.

Hanging from the three masts is a stiff bony sail that combines Chinese hard sails and Western soft sails.

This combination of East and West sail types is not uncommon.

But the strangest thing about this ship is in the aft part.

There was a huge chimney, still wrapped in iron sheets, and since the ship did not have much water, the propeller at the stern could be faintly seen.

It turned out to be a large ship with steam engine power and sails.

This kind of combined-powered ship has been used in the Ming Navy for several years.

But this ship does not look like the shape of a warship, and the full cabin is designed to carry people and cargo.

"Your Majesty, this is the No. 1 ship of the New World type merchant ship."

The one who was talking was Jiang Yifan, the owner of the Yifan Shipyard who was standing beside Emperor Zhu.

Jiang Yifan is one of the first graduates of Daohua University.

After graduation.

Many graduates of Daohua University either went to work for the royal consortium or went to work as local officials.

However, like Jiang Yifan, there are many people who come out to start their own businesses.

And now Jiang Yifan is obviously the best among the first batch of graduates who came out to start their own businesses.

More than three months ago.

Emperor Zhu ordered shipyards to bid for a ship to travel between the two sides of the Pacific Ocean.

The requirements are that people and goods are used for both purposes, the speed should be fast, the load capacity should be large, and the operation should be as simple as possible, and the operation manpower required should be less.

This requirement is really difficult for many old shipyards.

And eventually.

It was Jiang Yifan's design for the Yifan shipyard that won the bid.

(End of chapter)