Chapter 632: Li Jinglong's Voyage to the West (Happy May Day)
Zhu Ying did not expect that the old man would have the idea of going to the West.
It is true to say that both the old man and Zhu Di essentially want to increase their influence on history. It is not surprising to have such an idea.
In the past, the old man was busy with political affairs and the succession of the Ming Dynasty. Naturally, he would not think about these things. Now he is much more leisurely. Besides, the Ming Dynasty is strong enough, so of course he has to show off the majesty of the Celestial Kingdom.
Of course, Zhu Ying supports such a decision with both hands.
"Since the eldest grandson also thinks it's good, then we have to make some arrangements. Regarding the preparations, let the eldest grandson make the arrangements."
Zhu Yuanzhang said with a smile.
Now the government affairs in the court have begun to become easier, but he always wants his eldest grandson to do more things.
Although the eldest grandson is indeed excellent and manages many aspects in an orderly manner, and there has been no mistakes for the time being, seeing the eldest grandson acting like he is doing nothing every day, Zhu Yuanzhang always feels a little uneasy in his heart.
For so many years, I have been working hard as an emperor. Even Zhu Biao, the boss at that time, had to deal with countless government affairs every day.
As a result, when I arrived at Dasun's place, I spent every day either traveling with Mei or wandering around the capital.
Which wise king in history lived like this?
"Well, since grandpa has spoken, my grandson will personally support this matter." Zhu Ying replied helplessly.
He could sense the old man's thoughts, but he had no choice but to nod in agreement.
"In this tour of all nations, we must bring out the most elite team of our Ming Dynasty. We know that you must be thinking about doing some business, Sun, but these are secondary."
"The first thing is to record the various countries along the route. Not only the topography, but also the customs and customs must be noted in detail. This will also facilitate future dealings."
"As for the voyages to the Western Seas, we must first publish them in the newspapers so that these countries can have a good idea. Don't think that we, the Ming Dynasty, are going to attack them and make a mistake."
Having said this, Zhu Yuanzhang paused slightly: "Dasun, how do you think the candidates for this voyage to the West will be selected?"
In history, it was Zheng He who sailed to the West.
Now Zheng He naturally followed the Yan King Zhu Di to the Japanese Kingdom, and of course it was not his turn.
Zhu Ying pondered for a moment and then said: "Grandpa, do you want to choose from the nobles or from the clan's mansion?"
The choice of people to go to the Western Ocean is very important, because to a certain extent, this represents the image of the Ming Dynasty.
And identity is also the key to this.
Zhu Ying did not mention eunuchs, because obviously no one in the palace could take on this important task.
The reason why it is Zheng He in history is that although Zheng He was a eunuch, due to Zhu Di's difficult relationship, he experienced many things together, which is not comparable to a simple eunuch.
Eunuch is Zheng He's identity, but in fact he is more like a civil servant.
The nobility mentioned by Zhu Ying refers to relatives of the emperor, which is more in line with his status.
Zongrenfu refers to the old man’s sons and grandsons.
The status of prince and grandson will make it easier to communicate when visiting all nations.
Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a while and asked: "Grandson, what do you think of Cao Guogong?"
Zhu Ying was stunned, she didn't expect that the old man was interested in Li Jinglong.
But when I thought about it, Li Jinglong was indeed more suitable.
First of all, in terms of external image, Li Jinglong is naturally noble, has a graceful manner, and is full of etiquette in his conversation.
Such a person will be left to future generations, and he will definitely be a big star. God will really reward him.
Moreover, Li Jinglong is also relatively experienced in both leading troops and trading.
If he went to fight, Zhu Ying would have to think carefully. Whether it was true or false, Li Jinglong's name as the God of War was still a bit deceptive, and Zhu Ying was not sure whether it was talk on paper or a hidden secret.
The voyage to the West was different. It was more about diplomatic relations, and face was more important.
"Cao Guogong is indeed good."
After thinking about it for a while, Zhu Ying also thought it was okay.
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "Okay, then let this boy Jinglong go. We have always been very optimistic about him."
Zhu Yuanzhang had always liked Li Jinglong, his nephew, so when he was thinking about candidates for the Ming Dynasty's overseas voyages, he directly suggested Li Jinglong.
...
"Your Majesty wants me to sail to the West?"
After Li Jinglong heard the news, he was a little confused. He originally thought that he would never be reused in any way.
I didn't expect such a sudden reversal today.
Before that, he knew that he seemed to have offended his grandson because he was too close to King Zhu Di of Yan.
Since being recalled to the capital, although he has served in the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion, he no longer has real power at hand.
After the reform of the military system, the power of the Commander-in-Chief of the Fifth Army was almost eclipsed by Taisun.
Students from the Ming Military Academy are constantly infiltrating into the guards, starting from the capital and spreading throughout the country. Even in remote places, they cannot escape.
And from the beginning, students at the military academy had two paths, either to the capital, or to start in a remote place.
In the blink of an eye, the Ming Military Academy has been established for four years.
In four years, more than 10,000 seniors have graduated.
These more than 10,000 people are not very impressive, and no one controls the military power. Even the most outstanding small group, which can reach the level of a thousand households, does not even have a commander.
But just like this, with the loyalty of a large number of middle-level officers, Zhu Ying's power was greatly extended.
Previously, the Fifth Army Governor's Office was in charge of training and production.
Don't underestimate the name of training. The loyalty of soldiers to their generals is often reflected in training.
When there is no war, illiterate soldiers will naturally obey the general's orders.
But now the training of the army, according to the decree of His Highness Taisun, must learn from the new training methods of the Ming Military Academy. Even the commander of the guard station has no power to interfere.
This makes these seniors who graduated from the Ming Military Academy have a low status, but they control real power in every guard post, and a large number of soldiers are loyal to them.
The glory of graduating from the Ming Military Academy shrouded the ordinary recruits, and it felt completely different when ordinary recruits heard that their instructors had graduated from the Ming Military Academy and were considered disciples of His Highness the Grand Sun.
In terms of production, the Fifth Army Governor's Office has gradually lost control. Since the policy of separation of military and political affairs was implemented, the division between military households and soldiers has become very obvious.
In the past, the commander in the guard station was in charge, but now the production aspect is slowly being separated.
In this way, the two major powers of the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion were transferred. Except for commanding troops in combat, the power was no longer in their hands on weekdays.
People like Li Jinglong, who holds the title of Cao Guogong and serves in the Governor's Mansion of the Fifth Army, have no official duties at hand.
It seems that everyone can still receive their salary even if they have nothing to do, but they don't care about these salaries.
With such silent means of moisturizing things, there was no chance for resistance.
After Li Jinglong got the news, he thought about it and asked to see his grandson the next day.
"Your Majesty, Li Jinglong, pays homage to His Highness the Grand Sun."
"No gifts, just a seat."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
In Kunning Palace, Zhu Ying looked at Li Jinglong's behavior and conversation, and not only sighed in her heart.
Every time I see Li Jinglong, I can't relate him to the idiot in history.
Today's aesthetics are not girly aesthetics. Li Jinglong is truly a man of strength. His body cannot be described as a burly man, but he is also very strong.
When he was a child, Li Jinglong was almost like Zhu Di, growing up in a military camp in a serious manner.
Zhu Ying found it strange that he was surrounded by rude men, including Zhu Di, so why did Li Jinglong have extraordinary literary talent and not have the aura of violence in the military camp at all.
Maybe some people are born like this, no wonder Zhu Yuanzhang valued and liked them.
"Grandpa has already sent someone to inform you about the voyage to the West. I wonder what you think about this matter."
"Originally, you didn't come to my place today, so I wanted to have a chat with you. Grandpa also said, let's see what you mean first. After all, this long journey is thousands of miles away. I don't know how many years it will take to get back.
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"In the next few years, you will almost have to live at sea. If you don't want to go, it doesn't matter. Just say so."
Zhu Ying took the lead and said, this is what the old man meant.
If Li Jinglong is resistant to this matter, then look at the candidates separately.
This is because the old man misses his nephew Li Wenzhong and doesn't want his nephew to work too hard.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. My great-grandson values him. I also love things at sea very much. When I heard the news yesterday, I was so excited that I tossed and turned and found it difficult to sleep."
"I stayed up until dawn and couldn't wait to see His Highness. This is for the purpose of patrolling all nations."
"I have loved traveling around the world since I was a child and seeing the local customs and customs. I am really overjoyed to have this opportunity."
What Li Jinglong said is true. He really likes to jump around. Maybe this has a lot to do with his childhood experience. Others think that fighting in the north and south is very tiring, but Li Jinglong enjoys it.
When Zhu Di was going to Japan to become a vassal, Li Jinglong wanted to go with him, but Zhu Yuanzhang refused.
Being able to visit all nations now is of course a dream come true.
Especially recently, exotic beauties are particularly popular.
This is of course because of Zhu Ying's relationship.
A concubine Na, and the concubine Dan who was recently canonized, have a great influence among the nobles.
Things like aesthetics are always the same, and the concept of beauty, no matter what type it is, is at the same level.
Exotic beauties give people a sense of curiosity.
In the capital, the price of exotic beauties is now very high, and many nobles take concubines just for the exotic charm.
When they started chatting, they would say: This is the same as His Highness Taisun.
When a person becomes very influential, his preferences will become the preferences of many people. This is similar to the concept of celebrities in later generations.
For example, if celebrities of later generations bring goods, some items may be very ordinary and ordinary, but if the celebrity says that he likes them and that they are useful, they all think they are useful.
Zhu Ying's current status and influence can only be described as unparalleled. Everything that involves His Royal Highness the Grand Sun's private life is the biggest talking point in the entire capital, not to mention the canonization of concubines.
The original Princess Ananya of Champa could be said to have been sent by a small country, but anyone who knew a little bit about Princess Sultana of Zhenla would know that she was the one chosen by His Highness the Grand Sun himself.
What's more, I recently took it with me to Japan.
Of course, Li Jinglong's marriage was arranged by Empress Ma, so she had never taken a concubine. She only had a son and a daughter, but now she suddenly had the idea of taking a concubine.
The woman in the family is not a tigress, it’s Li Jinglong who doesn’t want to take a concubine.
In Li Jinglong's heart, he was a scholar himself, and he was ordered to travel around the world. How could he refuse such a good thing?
"Since Cao Guogong thinks it's good, it's naturally the best. Speaking of which, the only relatives left in our old Zhu family are Cao Guogong."
"My grandfather mentioned this many times when he was talking about his voyages to the West. Therefore, when it came to promoting our country's prestige on the voyages to the West, the first thing that came to mind was my cousin."
Zhu Ying said with a smile, and the title was changed from Cao Guogong to a private relative.
At that time, Li Jinglong's father, Li Wenzhong, saw most of the founding heroes killed due to the Hu Weiyong case, so he repeatedly sent remonstrances, which made Zhu Yuanzhang very angry.
Therefore, he was directly sentenced to prison. Later, Empress Ma persuaded him to have dozens of relatives of Lao Zhu's family. In the end, only his nephew Li Wenzhong was left. If he was executed, all the relatives of Lao Zhu's family would be gone.
Li Wenzhong's mother is Zhu Yuanzhang's second sister, Zhu Fonu.
When she was a child, Zhu Fu's daughter often helped her parents' family, and she was also very kind to Zhu Yuanzhang and loved him very much.
The key is that Zhu Fu's daughter did not enjoy the blessings of Zhu Yuanzhang, and the Red Scarf Army did not revolt until the year she died.
Love the house and the crow, Li Jinglong is very happy in the palace.
Zhu Ying himself had no grudge against either Zhu Di or Li Jinglong. Taking back the military power of the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion was the general trend and was not intended to be against Li Jinglong.
This was what Li Jinglong knew in his mind.
When Li Jinglong heard the title of cousin, his eyes immediately trembled, knowing that this meant that his grandson no longer remembered his past.
But he did not dare to entrust him with anything, and immediately said: "I will definitely not betray the trust of your majesty and grandson."
Zhu Ying said with a smile: "This voyage to the West, the first thing is to go to Nanyang. Yunwen has always been very close to his cousin. This time my cousin's first stop is Champa. I think Yunwen will be very happy to come."
"When the time comes, I will pick out some novelties that are only available in the capital, and my cousin will take them with me. Don't say that I, the eldest brother, don't care about him."
"The weather in Nanyang is hot, and winter is like summer. Let's wait until this year's New Year's Day is over before setting off."
"During the recent period, my cousin has to go to the navy to get acquainted with it."
"If you get seasick, you have to adapt in advance."
Li Jinglong said: "Thank you for your concern, His Majesty the Grand Sun. I have been pretty good at water since I was a child and can adapt to life at sea."
"I will definitely bring my great-sun's concern for cousin Yunwen."
Putting Zhu Di aside, the relationship between Li Jinglong and Zhu Yunwen is actually very good.