Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and when the sky was just dawning, the vicinity of the wharf in the capital was already crowded with countless ordinary people who came to see the excitement, and all kinds of voices were intertwined, looking chaotic.

As for the officials and wealthy households, they also got the news early and booked the best viewing spots through various channels.

At this moment, the thirteen treasure ships that are about to sail are quietly docked at the edge of the pier, the largest ship, forty-four zhang long, eighteen zhang wide, the hull has four layers, the shape of the treasure ship is wide at the bottom, the head is raised stern, and the ramming angle is additionally installed in the bow.

In terms of power, it adopts a combination of hard sails and rotating oars, the ship has nine masts, on which twelve sails can be hung, and the shipyard has optimized the structure, so the sailing speed has been greatly improved compared to before.

Every ship is hoisted with the national flag of the Ming Dynasty, and combined with the twenty-five brand-new cannons, it looks majestic.

And all this, Shuntian Mansion Yin Ding Shichang flawlessly appreciated, because as early as a few days ago, after receiving the order of the cabinet, he began to get busy, and at this moment, his eyes were full of bloodshots, and he was listening to the report of his subordinates.

"Your Excellency, the area around the dock has been investigated, and no suspicious people have been found!"

When Ding Shichang heard this, he relaxed a little and immediately asked.

"By the way, are the people of the Five Cities Terracotta Division in place, why hasn't the official seen anyone?"

"Lord Yu, the people of the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division said that they are already on the way!"

When Ding Shichang heard this, he couldn't help but be furious, and all his resentment that he hadn't had a good rest in the past few days was vented on the five city soldiers and horses.

"Damn, it's like this every time, are the people of the Five Cities Terracotta Division deliberately getting along with this official?"

"Or is it that the people of the Five Cities Terracotta Division didn't take this official Shuntian Mansion Yin in their eyes at all?"

"It's grinding every time, last time, and this time!"

"If something goes wrong later, the official must go to them and let His Majesty punish them!"

After Ding Shichang finished scolding, the resentment accumulated in his heart suddenly dissipated a lot.

After Ding Shichang finished venting his emotions, the subordinates on the side plucked up their courage and explained to Ding Shichang.

"My lord, the people of the Five Cities Terracotta Division are responsible for the security of the entire capital, so ......"

It's just that before the subordinate finished speaking, he was coldly interrupted by Ding Shichang.

"The official doesn't care about this, the official only looks at the result!"

When Ding Shichang said this, he looked his subordinate up and down, and asked rhetorically.

"Also, are you from the Five Cities Terracotta Division?"

Seeing this, the subordinate didn't dare to say more, so he had to stand aside stupidly.

On the dock, hundreds of people were judging the thirteen treasure ships docked near the dock.

"This ship is so big!"

"Eh, what's the flag flying on the ship, it's pretty good?"

"Oh, why didn't I see that?"

"Well, there it is, you see."

Looking in the direction pointed by the visitor, I saw that a blue flag was hanging on every treasure ship.

The flag is blue as a whole, and there are thirteen stars embroidered on it, two of the thirteen stars are slightly larger, and in the center of the flag, there is also embroidered a dragon with teeth and claws, and its dragon head corresponds to the sun and moon that exist at the same time on the flag, and the momentum is extraordinary, as if to swallow the sun and the moon in one bite.

Not only the common people, but also the officials and wealthy families were quite curious about the flags flying on the treasure ship, but soon, some officials who knew the news came forward to solve everyone's doubts.

"This is the flag of my Ming Dynasty that His Majesty asked the cabinet to design!"

"Flags?"

Seeing that there was still confusion on everyone's faces, the official then continued.

"The so-called national flag is the flag that represents my Ming Dynasty, you see, the thirteen stars embroidered on the flag represent the two capitals and thirteen provinces of my Ming Dynasty, two of which are slightly larger, respectively, represent the South Zhili and the North Zhili."

After the official's explanation, everyone present also understood the meaning of this flag.

"I heard that this flag was personally designed by Yan Shifan, the elder of the small pavilion, and His Majesty was very happy for this, and he also rewarded him!"

"yes, I heard about it too, and it's said ......"

Just as the discussion was intense, only a shrill voice sounded from a distance: "Your Majesty has arrived!" ”

When the words fell, the originally bustling and noisy crowd suddenly became quiet.

Immediately afterwards, whether it was a high-ranking official or an unknown citizen, they all knelt on the ground in unison.

Jiajing rode the dragon chariot, his eyes swept over the people on both sides of the road one by one, his expression was deep, and he didn't know what he was thinking, while Lu Fang followed Jiajing's dragon chariot respectfully.

Behind Jiajing's dragon chariot, they followed closely the five members of the cabinet, and at this moment, the expressions on their faces were the same as Lu Fang's, their faces were full of respect, the difference was that they were all looking at the ground intently.

After a while, the dragon chariot marched to its destination, and Jiajing, supported by Lu Fang, got down from the dragon chariot.

Next, I don't know who shouted Banzai, and then the atmosphere of the scene was quickly activated.

"Hooray, hooray, hooray!"

Everyone present looked solemn and bowed three times in the direction where the emperor was!

Seeing this situation, Yan Song and the others looked at each other with a look of surprise on their faces, and their expressions seemed to say: "What's the situation, this has never been rehearsed before!" ”

But soon they reacted and fell on their knees with the people.

Jiajing was dressed in a bright yellow dragon robe, just quietly looking around at the hundreds of people kneeling at his feet, for a long time, only to see Jiajing retract his gaze and say slowly.

"Well, get up!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After receiving Jiajing's consent, many people at the scene slowly got up from the ground.

Then, I saw Jiajing stepping on the steps, looking at the many subjects in front of him, and said loudly.

"Today is the official departure day of the round-the-world fleet, and I am here to see them off in person!"

Jiajing's voice fell, and Gu Yan, who was the commander of the fleet not far away, felt extremely flattered, he didn't expect that he would actually receive this honor and be able to let the emperor personally send him off!

Although the cabinet had sent someone to inform him before, what was happening in front of him was too illusory for him to suspect that it was a dream.

Immediately afterwards, Gu Yan pinched his hand very hard, and the pain from his hand told him that all this was true!

Gu Yan knew that his mission this time was not only to complete the circumnavigation of the world, but more importantly, to find the two crops called sweet potatoes and corn described by His Majesty.

As long as they find these two crops, the people of Daming will no longer have to go hungry!

When Jiajing said this, he seemed to feel something, and then added.

"There is a way, change is passable, change is strong, change is prosperous, change is decay, change is life, change is death!"

"Everything is always changing, and the policies of the imperial court are the same, changing with the specific situation."

"Earlier, my Ming Dynasty had two major troubles, one was the Japanese in the southeast coastal area, and the other was entrenched in the north, harassing the Tatars on the border of my Ming Dynasty from time to time.

"Now, the southeast coast of the Japanese has been eliminated, and the imperial court has also lifted the sea ban, and it is foreseeable that the sea trade will become more and more prosperous, and the life of the common people will be better and better!"

"This is the promise I made to you as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty and as your father, and I, the Ming Dynasty, will officially make changes at this moment!"

Jiajing's words fell, and the atmosphere at the scene suddenly reached a climax, and hundreds of people were moved by the emperor's words to weep bitterly, and as before, they knelt on the ground and shouted long live.

After the atmosphere at the scene dropped a little, Jiajing waved his hand, signaled everyone to silence, and then stretched out his finger and pointed to the flag hoisted on the treasure ship.

"I know that many of you are curious about this flag."

"Now, I can tell you clearly that this flag is the banner that represents my Ming Dynasty, and it is also the banner that represents hundreds of millions of people in the Ming Dynasty!"

"The cabinet will soon issue a corresponding resolution, and at the entrance of the government, this flag representing my Ming Dynasty will be hung, this flag is not only a symbol of the Ming Dynasty, but also a symbol of you."

Jiajing then turned his gaze to the thirteen treasure ships docked near the dock and said loudly.

"They are all heroes of my Ming Dynasty, and they are the people who are about to make great contributions to my Ming Dynasty, and their achievements will be enough to go down in history and be sung by future generations!"

In this way, in a warm farewell, the round-the-world fleet officially set off.

——

Many historians are arguing about when the Ming Empire began to enter the Age of Discovery.

In my opinion, the Ming Empire officially entered the Age of Discovery, which was marked by the moment when Emperor Jiajing officially sent a fleet of ships around the world overseas in February 1561, which announced the arrival of a new era. ———— Stavrianos, General History of the World

(End of chapter)