In the thirty-fifth year of Hongwu's reign in the Ming Dynasty, on the first day of the first lunar month, there was a great meeting.
At this court meeting, first of all, there were surrender ceremonies for the countries defeated by the Ming Dynasty, including Goryeo's Li Chenggui, Japan's Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, Benya Shiri, and the prince of Siam.
For some of them, it should be their first time to come to the capital of the Ming Dynasty and the palace in person.
After arriving in the capital, he also understood the reason for his defeat to the Ming Dynasty.
The splendor of Nanjing City, the majesty of the imperial palace, and the rows of troops.
They feel that they did not lose unjustly.
Especially Benya Shisato and Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, when they took the train, they realized how big the gap between their country and the Ming Dynasty was.
Of course, their country no longer exists and has become a province of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Yuanzhang did not grant them death, but allowed them to live in the capital and allocated some small houses to give them the last dignity.
Such behavior also made envoys from other countries feel the benevolence and righteousness of the Ming Dynasty.
The second thing, which naturally attracted the most attention, was about Dongsheng Shenzhou.
First of all, the plan for the expedition to Dongsheng Shenzhou was announced. The construction of a new route is expected to be completed within a year.
In other words, in the summer of the thirty-sixth year of Hongwu, the expedition plan would be launched and a large-scale migration would be carried out.
In June of this year, a group of advance troops will set off first.
——
In the first month of the Ming Dynasty, Lan Yu's 300,000 troops took advantage of the monsoon and set out for Tianzhu.
After more than ten days of sailing, we finally arrived in the Tianzhu area, the border of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty.
If you read the war history of the Tianzhu region, you will be surprised to find that it is almost a painful history of being beaten.
For thousands of years, the Tianzhu region has been invaded by foreign tribes and has almost never won a victory.
The people who originally lived in the Tianzhu area were short black people, with average height even lower than that of the Japanese, with short heads and thighs, dark skin, wide noses and thick lips, and curly hair.
Fifteen hundred years ago, the white Aryans arrived in northern India from Iran, and then began a war against India.
Obviously, the dwarf black people could not defeat the Aryans. In the end, the Aryans established a caste system, which continues to today's Tianzhu.
Even after the arrival of the Aryans, the Tianzhu region was constantly invaded and beaten, and never won.
This is why Zhu Ying feels that the Tianzhu area is easily accessible.
This is also true.
Lan Yu sent people to the seaside cities to send a message, asking them to surrender to the Ming Dynasty.
After all, it is against morality to go to war without declaring it. As a country of etiquette, we still have to pay attention to this.
Lan Yu, who had already prepared for war, suddenly received news from the front that the cities on the seaside had surrendered.
Sapphire:???
I have prepared my army and am ready to attack. Are you telling me to surrender?
"How is this going."
Lan Yu, who regarded the treasure ship as a temporary military camp, couldn't help but ask.
"Reporting back to the general, we entered the city and had an unimpeded journey. Then we met the city lord and ordered him to surrender, and he surrendered."
Jin Yiwei, who was in charge of translating, replied.
"Is this a surrender? Is it a scam?" Lan Yu asked.
The Jin Yiwei paused for a moment, and then said: "Back to the general, thirty-two of the city lords and ministers in the city have followed the treasure ship, and I would like to ask the general to meet him."
At this moment, Lan Yu was speechless.
A few people went to spread the word, and then brought back other people's city lords and ministers, so what else could they say.
Lan Yu couldn't help but sigh: "When I came here, I asked my grandson what to do with Tianzhu. When my grandson replied to me, he could destroy it easily."
"I thought it was because Taisun was trying to boost morale. I never thought that what Taisun said was the truth."
This is actually because Lan Yu doesn't understand Tianzhu's situation.
Li Jinglong's voyage fleet had come here before. Precisely because this place is a prosperous area on the seaside with many merchants and trading ports, it is very sensitive to the spread of news.
In fact, long before Lan Yu set out, the news that Ming Dynasty was going to start a war with Tianzhu had already spread. However, after the city lord sent the news back to the capital, he still had not received a reply on whether to fight or not.
Saw reinforcements coming.
So he surrendered directly. In Tianzhu, surrender is a normal thing, not to mention the powerful Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty had a great influence in Tianzhu.
Tianzhu is surrounded by the sea on three sides, and maritime trade accounts for the majority of the income of the dynasties in the coastal areas of Tianzhu. And in terms of maritime trade, is there any country in the world with greater influence than the Ming Dynasty?
Especially in recent years, the Ming Dynasty has continued to develop its maritime trade business. A large number of Ming Dynasty products are sold all over the world. Tianzhu, as the second stop, has also made a lot of money due to the resale of the Ming Dynasty products.
The place where Lan Yu arrived was called Odisha. It was one of the areas ruled by the Eastern Ganga Dynasty. It was composed of more than seventy tribes and had a population of about three million.
During this period, the population of Tianzhu was very close to that of the Ming Dynasty, and even had a vague tendency to exceed it.
According to historical trends, Tianzhu's population now reaches more than 94 million people.
In fact, there are more than the Ming Dynasty.
Of course, Tianzhu is now in a state of fragmentation, with twelve ruling powers including the Delhi Sultanate.
For example, the current state of Odisha belongs to the Eastern Ganga Dynasty in name, but in fact it is similar to a vassal state.
Sapphire's 300,000-strong army sounds very powerful, but in terms of population, it may only be about the same as Orissa's troops.
However, the soldiers of Tianzhu country are famous for their low combat effectiveness.
To put it simply, it is a mob.
This is why they surrendered directly to the Ming army.
They felt that it was impossible for them to defeat the Ming Dynasty's army, even if they had more than 100,000 troops to defend the city.
Sapphire soon took over the nearby large city.
After entering the city, Lan Yu discovered that the city lord had hundreds of thousands of troops under his command.
However, those soldiers were all skinny, short in stature, and had no energy at all. They were far inferior to the soldiers of Siam and Chenla, and there was no comparison with the Ming army.
"Cao Zhen, sometimes I feel something is wrong. We captured this place so easily?"
"I thought it would take some time to fight. Even if it's not as long as Siam, it can't be won in a few days."
"Today seems to be only the third day of the first lunar month. If we had set off a few days earlier, wouldn't we be able to spend the New Year's Day in this city?"
"I just learned that there are more than 700,000 people living in this area. I wondered if the translation was wrong, but it is true."
Lan Yu couldn't imagine that this was a big city with a population of hundreds of thousands, and he captured it without spending a single soldier.
Tianzhu is weak, but he can't be weak like this.
Cao Zhen replied: "These soldiers are too poor and can only be used as logistics. They can only make up the number of people when charging into battle."
"There is no shortage of food in the city, and a lot of money is used to build temples. The people also feel resigned to the situation."
Lan Yu nodded: "Then let's fight first, and then we'll see if there's anything we can fight."
——
Zhu Ying didn't know about Tianzhu's situation, but he always had the impression that he was fighting against the five scum. Anyway, anyone could win, and it was a simple difficulty.
In fact, Zhu Ying really didn't think about how to manage Tianzhu.
Because the population of Tianzhu is too large, it is not weaker than the Ming Dynasty. Other countries that invaded Tianzhu in history basically did not change the caste system. This is one of the reasons.
It is precisely because of the caste system that a few people are able to rule such a large population in Tianzhu.
Zhu Ying is also worried. If the caste system is eliminated, there are nearly ten million people. The Ming Dynasty is still separated by the sea. Can it be controlled?
So Lan Yu led the army to Tianzhu, and Zhu Ying did not arrange for enlightenment, or rather he did not dare to arrange it.
If Tianzhu is civilized and there is a version of Tianzhu where the prince and general Xiang Ning has some kind of talent, then he will really be causing trouble for himself.
For the time being, Tianzhu can only be used as a food and reserve base to better attack the Timur region.
Let’s take a look at the matter of education first.
Anyway, even in later generations, the caste system in Tianzhu has not changed at all.
Today is the fourth day of the first lunar month.
Zhu Ying changed the court meeting again.
After the main meeting on the first day of the first lunar month last year, the small meeting was held on the seventh day of the first lunar month.
However, in Zhu Ying's opinion, the court meeting actually had little relevance during the first lunar month, so after this court meeting, the court simply stopped until the 16th day of the first lunar month.
We might as well wait until the Lantern Festival is over before we start preparing for the court meeting.
Of course, although there is no court meeting, all yamen still go to work as usual. Even on the first day of the first lunar month, at least the Public Security Department yamen still needs people to be on duty.
Xiao Wen Cheng is seven years old this year.
It is said that even a seven-year-old or an eight-year-old dog would be disgusted. Little Wen Cheng is indeed very naughty and mischievous now.
Zhu Ying once didn't understand why the old man had a special preference for his eldest son. Shouldn't everyone take care of him?
Now Zhu Ying understands a little bit. He now has nine children, seven boys and two girls, and it can be said that he can no longer take care of them.
Many times, some children may not be seen even for more than half a month.
Except for the eldest son, Xiao Wencheng, and the eldest daughter, Xiao Yuting, who can enter and exit Kunning Palace at will, the other children are not allowed to enter and exit at will.
This is a rule and something that cannot be helped.
You can't always have a group of children making noisy noises everywhere.
And those who see them often will naturally have deeper feelings.
Moreover, several concubines, such as Princess Sultana of Chenla, Princess Xiangzi of Japan, and Princess Ananya of Champa, are already pregnant again.
As a grandson, it is naturally impossible for him to use any contraceptive measures. No matter how many children he has, there is no possibility that he will not be able to support them.
Therefore, it is always born.
This is actually a controlled relationship, otherwise Zhu Ying would already have more than a dozen children by now.
"Your Highness, those two concubines from the Western Regions and Concubine Jade, Your Highness should be more favored these days."
"It's been so long and I'm still not pregnant, I'm afraid it's easy for people to gossip about me."
A large family was admiring the snow in the back garden, while the children were building snowmen on the ground. Next to Zhu Ying were ten concubines.
Ye Yueqing came over and whispered to Zhu Ying.
Although the sisters Amila and Ibaidi from the Western Regions and Zuo Xiaoyu from the Liyuan have been serving me, there has been no movement in their stomachs until now.
As the saying goes, mother is more valuable than son. As time goes by, there will inevitably be some gossip in the palace.
As the concubine, Ye Yueqing was responsible for managing Zhu Ying's harem, so she specifically spoke to Zhu Ying.
"Well, I will pay attention to it. Let them take turns sleeping in the next few days."
Zhu Ying also understood that something must have happened.
However, as a grandson, in fact, it is best not to fight for some situations in the harem and leave them to Ye Yueqing to handle.
If he were to leave, bigger problems would easily arise.
As the saying goes, three women have one drama, and now there are ten concubines in the harem. How can they live in harmony with each other? There will always be some disputes.
What Zhu Ying wants to do is sometimes just express a meaning.
Now there are only three people left without children, so Zhu Ying should take care of them more.
Ye Yueqing continued: "About Dongsheng Shenzhou, I am now quite yearning for it. I heard that the territory over there is very vast. It is not even comparable to the Ming Dynasty, or even bigger."
"I don't know what your highness is thinking. It should be based on the policy of dividing the kingdoms into feudal states and settling on the Dongsheng Shenzhou, which will be combined into a kingdom of vassal kings."
"If that's the case, I'm afraid we need to divide the place properly."
"These are His Highness's children. Who wants to be like an idle prince and live a life of ignorance? Your Highness should have made plans in advance."
Zhu Ying nodded.
As the number of children increases and they grow older, he needs to consider these things first.
According to the current situation, if we let go of creation, hundreds of children and thousands of grandchildren will really not be a big deal.
It is also because of the relationship between the great grandson that he is worthy of ten concubines. In fact, now there are more people who want to offer concubines.
Not only inside the Ming Dynasty, there were also a lot of countries outside.
Even a few days ago, Zhao Xiucai, who was far away in Europe, wrote a letter saying that princesses from many countries there wanted to come to the Ming Dynasty.
For Europe, due to the long distance, it usually only takes two or three years for a letter to arrive.
Because the Ming Dynasty's products sold well and the Ming Dynasty was strong, Zhao Xiucai did well in Europe.
I heard that I have already married a European princess.
Now Zhu Ying cannot take care of places as far away as Europe for the time being, and his main target is Timur in the Middle East.
Only when Timur gets it done can he turn his attention to Europe.
Naturally, this is probably more than ten years later.
Zhu Ying's current plan is to boil Timur to death.
Because of Timur, even though the current Timur empire has a lot of problems, it can still be considered at its peak.
According to Zhu Ying's calculations, after Timur is killed, Tianzhu will basically have done the same. By then, it will be much easier for the Timur empire to fall into pieces.
Now it is meaningless to forcefully send a large army to fight Timur. Instead, it will be a waste of Ming forces.