In Daxing City of Daxing Kingdom in the Gulf of Guinea, Xing Wang Zhu Youqi was carefully studying the colonial distribution map of West Africa in his study room, frowning while looking at it.
Xing Wang Zhu Youqi was the fourth son of Ming Xianzong Zhu Jianshen, the half-brother of Emperor Hongzhi, the uncle of Zhu Houzhao, and the biological father of Ming Shizong Zhu Houcong in history.
In the seventh year of Hongzhi, that is, when Zhu Youqi reached adulthood at the age of eighteen, he went to Luzhou, Huguang, to establish a vassal state, and to establish a king.
According to historical records, Xing Wang Zhu Youqi was one of the Five Great Princes of the Ming Dynasty who had no ambitions, did not like to indulge in pleasure, and loved art and literature. He even wrote his own book, including his own representative work "Poetry of Enji".
It can be said that Zhu Youqi in history was very clear about his status. He did not dare to show the slightest ambition for the throne of Emperor Ming. Of course, even if he had ambition, it would be of no use.
Because the status of his brother, Emperor Hongzhi, was very stable. Not only Emperor Xianzong of Ming Dynasty liked Emperor Hongzhi, but most of the ministers in the court also supported Emperor Hongzhi. Emperor Hongzhi himself was an accomplished emperor, and as his younger brother, he could only do
Bury your ambition deeply in your heart.
Of course, it is also possible that he himself is such a person, no one can tell.
However, history has undergone tremendous changes. The vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty went to sea to establish colonies overseas, established their own vassal states, and lived a carefree life.
This also affected Xing Wang Zhu Youqi. With the encouragement and support of his wife Jiang, Xing Wang Zhu Youqi also came overseas and established a vassal state - Daxing Kingdom.
It's just that King Xing came a little late. All the places near the Ming Dynasty had been taken over by others. Tianzhu and East Africa were full of vassal states and colonies. He couldn't get involved, so he finally came to West Africa.
Here in the Gulf of Guinea, we grabbed a colony and established our own vassal state.
"All the good places are occupied by people. If you want to expand, you can only expand inland, or grab Spanish colonies."
King Xing looked at the area and fell into deep thought.
In the past, when he was an idle prince, he naturally didn't have to worry about these things and could immerse himself in art and literature every day. However, when he came overseas and established a vassal state, he truly understood how difficult it was to govern a country.
Not to mention anything else, it is not easy to govern this small vassal state. The current situation is that there is no money and no people. Even the infrastructure construction here in Xingguo is not available.
Everything is very slow, and the palace of my own is still very simple.
"No money~"
"You can't be a hero for a penny. I didn't expect that a great Ming prince like me would now be worried about money."
"Building ports, building walls, and building cities all require money, but in order to go to sea, the palace's money has been used up. Where can we get the money?"
Xing Wang Zhu Youqian frowned and thought about where to get money. This vassal state is really not that easy to build. Don't look at the prosperity of Ning State, Tang State and others. Only when you get it in your own hands will you realize how difficult it is to be the leader.
"Father~"
At this time, a milky sound sounded, and a little kid walked in excitedly, followed by a maid and a woman wearing gorgeous clothes.
"Hong'er!"
Hearing the sound and looking at his son who came over, King Xing immediately smiled from ear to ear. He quickly picked up his son Zhu Houcong and lifted it up happily.
"Haha, I've gained a lot of weight~"
King Xing liked his son very much.
His eldest son Zhu Houxi died young, and then the women in the palace gave him four daughters in a row. It was not until the fifth that he gave birth to Zhu Houcong in front of him. Naturally, they loved him very much.
Moreover, Zhu Houcong had been very smart and studious since he was a child. No matter what he studied, he was very serious and learned quickly. This made King Xing like him even more, and it hurt him so much.
After playing well with his son for a while, King Xingxing asked his maid to take Zhu Houcong out to play, while he and Princess Jiang prepared to discuss the matter carefully.
"Is the prince worried about money again?"
Jiang is the daughter of a military general, but she is very virtuous. It can be seen at a glance that Wang Xing is worried about Daxingguo, and the most important worry is naturally money.
Only after I came overseas did I realize how important money is. We have to spend money everywhere, and the bottom is bottomless. If you drop a hundred thousand taels of silver into it, you won't even see the waves.
Originally, Prince Xing's Mansion still had a lot of wealth. After all, he was the younger brother of today's Emperor Hongzhi. When he became a vassal, Emperor Hongzhi also gave him a lot of things.
However, in order to establish his own vassal state, Prince Xing's palace was hollowed out, and then he bought a piece of land in West Africa to build his own vassal state.
"My beloved concubine still understands me~"
"In the early days of the founding of the country, money was needed everywhere, and it was far away from the Ming Dynasty. Everything was expensive. These tens of thousands of taels of silver were poured in, but not even a shadow was seen."
“You can’t do anything without money.”
King Xing nodded helplessly, not knowing how to speak to his beloved concubine.
King Xing knew that his father-in-law was still rich.
His father-in-law was a military commander. In recent years, the Ming Dynasty had been fighting foreign wars and was sure to win every battle. The Ming Dynasty not only obtained a large amount of land and war compensation, but also became stronger and stronger with each war.
For the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, the foreign wars of the Ming Dynasty were also a good opportunity for these soldiers to get rich. Not only could they be promoted for meritorious service, but also every time they won, these soldiers could get a lot of rewards, including land, slaves, and real money.
.
As a senior general, his father-in-law went on many expeditions and received extremely generous rewards. Not only did he have several large plantations in Nanyang, but he also had his own large ranches in the Western Regions, Hezhong, and several provinces in Central Asia. In Nanyun Province,
There is also its own winery next to it.
In addition, it has invested in many commercial banks with many military commanders and the Hongui Group. It has its own gold and silver mines in Huangjinzhou and its own fleet overseas.
It can be said that he is definitely a wealthy owner.
King Xing was able to go to West Africa to establish his own vassal state, which was indispensable for his father-in-law's steady support and important people. His father-in-law was concerned about the military and recruited more than a thousand retired soldiers as the basis for rejuvenating the country.
military force.
When he wanted money, he directly gave King Xing a million taels of silver as starting capital. He also asked for connections, found people, helped buy ships, supplies, recruited immigrants, etc.
Without the support of his father-in-law, he would probably have to go through many difficulties if he wanted to establish a vassal state.
"So, I still have to borrow money from my father-in-law, and I have to ask my beloved concubine to help me speak to my father-in-law."
Prince Xing came to Jiang with a smile on his face, took Jiang's hand and said.
"When the prince is in trouble, I will naturally try my best to help. However, when we came out, my father only gave us one million taels of silver. Now I don't think I have much silver left. Even if I can help us, I'm afraid it will be too much."
Can’t help much.”
"The key is to rely on ourselves!"
Mrs. Jiang was very virtuous and agreed happily. Later she was going to write a letter to her father asking for money. She was still very clear about her family's situation.
In the past, my family was still very ordinary. The status of the military commander was not high and the income was limited. However, since the military reform and the Ming Dynasty's foreign campaigns for many years, the situation has been completely different. As a military commander, my father quickly accumulated a huge family.
Industry.
"Thank you, concubine~"
When King Xing Zhu You heard this, he immediately smiled and thanked him, and then thought for a moment and said: "I also know that we have to rely on ourselves, but our Xingguo has just been established, and we are not very familiar with everything here. It is not easy to make money."
ah."
"I heard that when Prince Ning first started his business, he did it for the purpose of trading slaves. Can we also do slave trading when we rejuvenate the country?"
Jiang nodded slightly. She also knew the situation in Xingguo, so she thought about it and suggested.
"Prince Ning is lucky. He came out early, has no competition, and is in a good position. The slaves he sells are all white slaves. Here in West Africa, they are all Kunlun slaves. Kunlun slaves are good eaters, lazy, and black. In our Ming Dynasty, they are not
It’s not easy to sell, the price is low, and no one wants it.”
"The key is that there are many people doing the buying and selling of Kunlun slaves now, including Spaniards, Koreans, Japanese people, and other colonial trading houses and vassal states. We can't sell them at any price."
King Xing shook his head slightly, the slave trade was not that easy.
"Where's the gold, silver and ivory?"
Jiang asked again.
"We haven't discovered gold or silver mines yet. The trading volume of ivory is too small and we need a lot of money. It will be difficult to sustain it in a short period of time."
"Building ports, building cities, cultivating fields, recruiting immigrants, etc., all are money. Now if you want to attract immigrants, you must not only give them land, but also match them with women, at least white slaves.
Even one or two people are not very attractive. After all, it will take at least two to three hundred taels of silver to attract one person to immigrate to our country."
King Xing worriedly counted with his fingers. The more he calculated, the more worried he became.
When Xingguo was first established, what was most needed was not only money, but also population. Even with the care of the people in his fiefdom and his father-in-law, up to now, Xingguo's population is only just over 10,000, and this is still a waste of money.
After paying a huge price and offering many good conditions, he managed to attract more than 10,000 people to follow him to West Africa.
"You men, you can't understand even one woman, yet you still need a few~"
Hearing King Xing's words, Jiang was also filled with contempt, but after thinking about it, she said: "It would be good to marry more women, and have more children. In more than ten years, the population will be larger. Otherwise, it will attract more people."
No matter how much money it costs to immigrate here, it’s better to buy more female slaves to give birth to children.”
"My dearest concubine, I think so too, so I have reached an agreement with some trading companies and plan to purchase tens of thousands of female white slaves to distribute to my people in Xingguo."
"Just don't let a few barbarians enter the palace when the time comes."
Jiang rolled his eyes at Prince Xing and said calmly.
"How dare I? It's enough for me to have my concubine."
King Xing immediately smiled apologetically and said, "There is nothing I can do. The Princess of Heaven and Earth is the biggest."
"I'm thinking, things are in chaos in West Africa now. The Koreans, Persians and Spanish are fighting, and the pirates are raging again. Can we take advantage of this opportunity to make a profit, or expand our Xingguo? After all, Xingguo is
It's too small. If we don't seize the opportunity now, it will be difficult to expand when Conner grows up."
"Your Majesty, what you said makes sense. I also think that our Xingguo is too small. If we have a bigger place, we won't be able to do anything. When it comes to Conner, other vassals will be very big, and our Xingguo is very small. This won't work.
."
"But if we want to expand, we can only grab the Spanish territory."
"What's wrong with the Spaniards? We're still afraid of them."
"It's not a question of whether we are afraid or not, but we in Xinguo don't even have a few warships, and we don't have many people. Spain has a strong army in West Africa and is not easy to mess with. The Koreans lost their navy in the battle at Yanshan Port.
Almost exhausted."
"What's more, what should we use to rob? We have no money and no one."
"My lord, why don't you write a letter to the emperor? He is your brother, and he has always taken great care of the clan, so he will definitely support him. It can be anything from a few million taels of silver to a few warships."
It’s not difficult.”
"I have thought about this too, but the emperor also has the same difficulties as the emperor. There are too many princes asking for money and things from him, and I don't want to cause any trouble to him."
"How old is the prince? He is still thinking about these things. Other vassal princes will not think like this. They have all come out to establish vassal states, and they will be separated from each other in the future. The Ming Dynasty is so powerful. Why don't you do a better job in rejuvenating the country?
He is worthy of being the younger brother of the Emperor."
"My concubine is right. I will write a letter back to the Ming Dynasty and ask the emperor for some money and some things."
"That's right. We have nothing to do to rejuvenate the country now. We are waiting for things to be revitalized. As an elder brother, he should help us no matter what."
"Face is not worth much money. When we have money, guns, cannons and ships, we can rejuvenate the country and expand rapidly. If we miss the good opportunity now, we will have no chance in the future."
"I'm telling you, my father's money is all for his grandson, so you have to make more progress."
"I know, I know~"
Please remember the first domain name of this book: ._
