Today's Ming Dynasty is very powerful. This power is not only reflected in the military aspect, but also the comprehensive national strength from top to bottom, which is currently unmatched by any country in the world.
Of course, this doesn't mean much to other countries.
Because even the Ming Dynasty before Zhu Ying entered the palace was the same when compared to other countries.
The Ming Dynasty itself stood at the pinnacle of the world. As for the peak that has now increased by countless times, it is of little significance to other countries. Anyway, it has been incomparable to them.
The reason why Wilkin put away his arrogance was because of his respect for the majestic city of the capital, rather than his respect for the Ming Dynasty.
Because in his previous perception, Samarkand was the richest and most majestic place in the world, but seeing Nanjing with his own eyes now shattered his perception.
The Ministry of Rites has a special carriage to receive them, and envoys from big countries like Wilkin can also use the roads on both sides of the royal road.
Wilkin, who was sitting in the carriage, was admiring the prosperity of Nanjing City while chatting with Zhang Jian in broken Chinese.
"I once thought that Samarkand was the greatest city under the blue sky. Today, when I arrived at the capital of the Ming Dynasty, I realized that there is a place more fertile than Samarkand. It is a pity that His Majesty the Sultan cannot come in person. I think His Majesty the Sultan will definitely like it.
Come to this majestic and rich city."
Wilkin had a smile on his face, but his words were all aggressive, and he did not say clearly that only our Sultan, the Sultan, is qualified to rule such a rich city.
Of course Zhang Jian heard the edge here, and said without changing his expression: "Our Ming Dynasty is rich all over the world, with thousands of cities, and more than two million elite soldiers and generals. Today's prosperous Ming Dynasty is only possible because of your wise Majesty and Taisun's benevolence."
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"However, there are some young people who do not know the destiny and try to provoke the Ming Dynasty, such as today's grassland."
Having said this, Zhang Jian paused for a moment, then smiled and said: "The capital is indeed the richest city. There is no other city in the world like the capital. In the Tianjie Temple, there are many envoys from all over the world like the envoys.
Sir, they have lived here for a long time and don’t even want to return to their own country.”
"Every year, kings from many countries come to pay homage to my Ming Dynasty. If the sultan of your country also wants to come, my Ming Dynasty will naturally welcome them. I think if your majesty and grandson know that your sultan has come, they will also be very happy.
"
These words made Wilkin feel very uncomfortable.
What he meant before was that the Sultan has taken a liking to this city and will sooner or later lead an army to capture it.
Zhang Jian first clicked on the grassland, and then alluded to the kings of other countries coming to pay homage. This meant that Timur should surrender to the Ming Dynasty and pay homage to him like other kings.
Then the two talked about other aspects, but Wilkin also didn't get any benefits.
In terms of talking nonsense, how can he compare with Zhang Jian, an old fox? To be able to hold this position, he must have some real ability.
When Zhang Jian's son clashed with the concubine, it did not affect Zhang Jian's official position. This was also because Zhang Jian was indeed able to get things done.
Although Wilkin arrived in Ming Dynasty, he is not able to enter the palace directly now.
According to the rules, if there is no important matter when visiting a foreign minister, he will only be allowed to enter the palace at the court meeting.
It's currently early June, so Wilkin will have to wait until the end of June.
This rule was set by Zhu Ying, and it was also a blow to other countries.
In fact, Jinyiwei had known the intention of each country's envoys when they came to the capital of the Ming Dynasty very early. If there was any important matter, it would naturally be brought to the palace for decision.
Wilkin is not in a hurry, his credentials have been submitted, and now he is eager to know more about the capital.
The main purpose of coming to Daming this time is to get the secret train recipe.
If he can get the secret of trains, it won't be a problem even if he stays here for several years.
After settling in Tianjie Temple, Wilkin began to wander around the capital city.
And he was obviously not alone, and he quickly found a connector.
It took Wilkin three days to find a shop.
There was no way. Although he had obtained the exact address before coming here, the capital was too big, and it was impossible for Wilkin to entrust the Ming government to help him find it. There was no one he could trust, so he had to find it himself.
Already.
Since the news of the train reached Samarkand, Timur began to collect intelligence about the Ming Dynasty.
Under Timur, there were many businessmen working for him, and they were the best helpers.
Originally, Timur united with Bei Yuan to steal the Ming Dynasty's secret train recipe, but Bei Yuan suddenly disappeared, and the Tatars who usurped the throne were caught off guard by the Ming Dynasty before they even started talking.
Under such circumstances, it was impossible for Timur to ask for help from the grassland. Now that the grassland had too much to take care of itself, how could it help him.
Fortunately, Timur had made two preparations, otherwise it would have been completely dark.
"Greetings, sir."
"No need to be polite."
It was not difficult for Wilkin to connect, and the two began to communicate in Farsi.
Little did they know that they had already been targeted by the Jin Yiwei.
In fact, even if Wilkin knew, there was nothing he could do. He had to come and understand the situation, otherwise he wouldn't even know where to start.
Word of Wilkin's actions quickly reached Zhu Ying.
After Song Zhong reported the news, he asked in a low voice: "Your Highness, do you want to control the person for interrogation? Our secret agent does not know the specific content of their conversation."
Zhu Ying shook his head and said: "No need, I just came here for the train. Let's arrest them after these envoys leave."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Zhu Ying only meant so much to these envoys sent by Timur.
Can a train be stolen casually? Even if the manufacturing method is given to them, can they really make it?
Unless the entire scientific research department is moved to Samarkand.
This kind of technical barrier is not something that a military country like Timur can study thoroughly.
And they don't even have a research center.
The gap between civilizations can already be described as a chasm.
Zhu Ying has already read Timur's credentials. Generally speaking, Timur now feels that the Ming Dynasty is very powerful and he seems unable to defeat it, so he chose to submit to the Ming Dynasty and called himself a minister.
He also brought some treasures as apology.
It is said to be a treasure, but it is worth several thousand coins in total.
Naturally, for Ming Dynasty, it was still Timur's attitude.
At this stage, the distance between Ming Dynasty and Tamerlane is too far. No matter who launches the expedition first, he will definitely be the one who suffers.
National war is somewhat unrealistic.
The ultra-long supply line is destined to be impossible to have a large-scale force, and insufficient force will not pose a threat.
Timur sent troops before, but they could only wander around the western regions of Tubo, and it was not enough to truly enter the territory of the Ming Dynasty.
The most they can do is unite with the grassland to attack the Ming Dynasty. Now that the grassland has been occupied by the Ming Dynasty, there is no other way.
Of course, this is also because the Ming Dynasty showed strong combat effectiveness on the grassland battlefield.
War is never a matter of looking at a country's paper data, as it is not affected by many factors.
When Timur defeated Khwarezm, the Persians were equally weak, but they also won the victory.
For Timur, the richness of the Ming Dynasty did not deter him, but rather gave him greater fighting spirit.
Zhu Ying also wanted to fight Timur, but it was too difficult.
Theoretically, the train can be built to the Timurid border, but this is obviously not something that can be completed in a few years or even decades.
The reason why the direct train to the north-south highway of Daming Border Gate could be built so quickly is because there was an official road before.
Zhu Ying had already started preparing train tracks along the official road a few years ago.
Secondly, there are many towns and villages on the road from the capital to the border. This is the interior of the Ming Dynasty. Building train tracks can help nearby people and save a lot of manpower.
Not to mention the Timurid border, even reaching Tubo is an extremely exaggerated journey.
In terms of distance alone, the journey from the capital to Tubo is nearly three miles to the grassland border, and there are not so many nearby people to help, so all the people have to be mobilized from various places to get there.
The cost spent here is already at least ten times higher than the cost of going to the grassland railway track.
And if you go to Timur territory, it will be dozens of times.
Money is still on the one hand, and the loss of manpower is completely immeasurable.
This is even more exaggerated than Qin Shihuang's construction of the Great Wall. If it is done forcefully, it is really likely that the Ming Dynasty, which is now at its peak, will quickly fall.
Of course Zhu Ying could not do such a stupid thing.
Zhu Yuanzhang was very unhappy with Timur's behavior in sending envoys.
If it were before, he would still be happy, but after learning about Timur's actual situation, it was completely different.
"This lame man really thinks that we are so easy to fool. He sends beggars with tributes of several thousand treasures, and wants me to give his businessmen special privileges. It is simply a fantasy."
Zhu Yuanzhang said to Dasun angrily.
In Timur's credentials, of course, there is more than just surrendering, which is not necessary for the current Timur.
After all, Timur's empire is now at its most powerful. The entire Central Asia is under Timur's control, and its territory is still expanding.
Timur, who had put aside his thoughts about the Ming Dynasty, was now sharpening his sword and preparing to march into the Ottoman Empire.
In the past two years, Timur captured all the emperors of the Ottoman Empire. If Timur had not wanted to conquer the Ming Dynasty and forcibly conquered the Sultan of Delhi, he would have already reached the gates of the Ottoman capital.
Because of the distance, the Ming Dynasty could not pose a direct threat to Timur. Even if the plan of uniting the grasslands failed, Timur could actually ignore the Ming Dynasty completely.
The reason why he was willing to proclaim himself a vassal again was because Tamerlane put forward many additional requirements in this letter of credence.
Since the Ming Dynasty opened the sea, coupled with Zhu Ying's support for maritime trade and the construction of domestic modular factories, even if it has not yet reached the true era of large-scale navigation, it is undeniable that the products of the Ming Dynasty have impacted the world's maritime trade.
Very big.
Central Asia is far away from the Ming Dynasty on land, but very close from the sea.
Luxury goods such as porcelain, tea, and silk that came out of the Ming Dynasty were first sold in Central Asia.
There is no doubt that Ming products are well sold in Central Asia and even around the world.
However, Ming Dynasty has great restrictions on the purchase of foreign goods. It is not that foreign businessmen can buy as much as they want in Ming Dynasty. There is a qualification issue involved.
It is precisely because of this restriction that Ming merchants were able to earn more profits from maritime trade.
Compared with foreign businessmen, Ming businessmen obviously have more ‘qualifications’.
Fundamentally speaking, Zhu Ying set such rules in order to increase the trade surplus, so that money from all over the world continued to flow into the Ming Dynasty.
Timur attaches great importance to the development of business, and the merchants of Samarkand provide Timur with the largest tax every year.
Therefore, Timur naturally agreed to the demands of the Samarkand merchants.
The condition attached to his credentials was that the Ming Dynasty should give Samarkand merchants more benefits, more purchasing rights, and even complete opening up.
If it were before, Zhu Yuanzhang might have agreed, but after gradually understanding the benefits of sea trade over the years, how could Zhu Yuanzhang agree.
With the collection of intelligence in Central Asia, Zhu Yuanzhang naturally knew that Timur was a lame.
Listening to the old man's complaint, Zhu Ying said: "Timur took advantage of the long distance to surrender, but in fact he wanted benefits."
"A name of surrender will not cost Timur anything, but it will bring him more taxes and cultivate more soldiers."
"He knew we couldn't do anything to him, so he became a little unscrupulous, but now he should be taught a lesson."
"The prince of the Tughluq dynasty of the Delhi Sultan is now living in our Ming Dynasty. In the Uzbek area, there is also an army of the Delhi Sultan's royal family. Maybe we can help this poor prince and save the Delhi Sultan from Timur.
Take it back."
"The Eastern Chagatai Khanate has always had contacts and exchanges with our Ming Dynasty. I think they are also willing to contribute some efforts to the restoration of the Tughluq Dynasty."
"Timur is still attacking the Golden Horde at this time, so the Sultan of Delhi will not have much strength left. Losing the Sultan of Delhi will also be a blow to Timur."
"Chenla in Nanyang is now in our hands. Sun'er wants to control the Siam Peninsula first, so that our Ming Navy does not need to pass through the Strait of Malacca and can directly station troops on the Siam Peninsula and directly enter Nanyang.
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"On the other side of the South Sea is Tianzhu. Tianzhu is extremely wealthy. It is also because of this wealth that their combat effectiveness is low."
"By taking Tianzhu, our Ming Dynasty can garrison hundreds of thousands of troops, and then we can approach Timur."
Tianzhu was India in later generations, and now Timur is close to the west of Tianzhu.
Zhu Ying wanted to capture Tianzhu first, use Tianzhu as a springboard to establish a military base, and then attack Timur.
As for whether Tianzhu can be conquered, this was not in Zhu Ying's expectation.
Just because of Tianzhu's "tropical laziness", their army is completely like paper.