In a sea area of the Malacca Strait in the Southern Ocean, a huge fleet of more than a hundred large ships is heading towards Malacca on the sea.
On the deck of one of the large ships, Liu Jin held several letters in his hand and read them carefully.
The first letter came from the Ming Dynasty. Liu Jin had been on an expedition to Southeast Asia for several months. People from the Ming Dynasty came here almost every day to send news to Liu Jin and convey things inside and outside the court.
A major event has also happened in the Ming Dynasty recently. With the concerted efforts from both inside and outside the imperial court, Emperor Hongzhi issued an imperial edict allowing the Ming Ocean Trading Company to have a certain degree of private armed forces.
Although the imperial court subsequently issued a detailed Code of Arms Management for Ocean Trading Banks, the code stipulated in detail the number of weapons that ocean trading banks could possess, their types were regularly inspected, and they were not allowed to be brought into the Ming Dynasty, among many other strict regulations.
However, this still surprised Liu Jin.
"Sure enough, profit is the source of motivation!"
"If the interests of the officials from the north and the south were aligned, even Emperor Hongzhi would be deceived, and they would actually do it. The emperor would actually allow the emergence of private armed forces."
Liu Jin couldn't help but shake his head.
To be honest, although Liu Jin had such an intention, he wanted to persuade Emperor Hongzhi to open up private armed forces and allow major commercial banks to have certain armed forces overseas.
But Liu Jin felt that he did not dare to mention this matter, because he was afraid that the emperor would remember it, and he might be imprisoned in prison because of this matter that day.
Private armed forces, in all dynasties, have been used to rebel and usurp the throne, and to kill the nine tribes.
Although Liu Jin knew very well that major commercial banks must have a certain amount of armed force, otherwise it would be difficult to quickly colonize and expand around the world.
But Liu Jin was very cautious in this matter.
But he didn't expect that just by mentioning it in Songhu, these people in the south could actually accomplish it. In just a few months, they actually convinced Emperor Hongzhi to issue such a law.
As soon as this code came out, all the ocean trading firms in the Ming Dynasty couldn't help but cheer.
They need this thing so much.
In the past, it was better to go to Korea and Japan. Pirates and bandits in these places had been cleaned up and it was relatively safe. However, it was different when going to Nanyang.
There are many islands in the Southeast Asia, hundreds of countries, large and small, and various forces are complex. Pirates and bandits are numerous, and large and small business houses have been plundered by these pirates and bandits to a greater or lesser extent.
At the same time, on the islands in Luzon, the plantations, gold mines, and silver mines developed by everyone were often attacked by the indigenous people, which caused headaches for the major trading companies.
Well now, the imperial court allows them to have a certain number of private armed forces. With their own private armed forces, these merchants no longer have to worry about these things.
Many small countries in Southeast Asia are very small, but their people are very arrogant and arrogant. They impose heavy taxes on Ming Dynasty merchant ships? They even maliciously extort Ming Dynasty merchant ships.
The major commercial banks have long wanted to teach them a severe lesson.
"As soon as this code comes out? If things go on like this, there may be a second Ming Dynasty overseas."
Next to Liu Jin, Wang Shouren couldn't help but said worriedly after reading it.
He is a scholar of heaven and man, knowledgeable about the past and present, and he knows very well that once this code comes out, and as time goes by, there may not be anything happening here in the Ming Dynasty, but overseas, there will definitely be people quietly establishing their own country.
Since ancient times, there have been many ambitious people in every dynasty.
Overseas places? Far away from the Ming Dynasty. Major trading houses have their own merchant ships? Have their own armed forces? And overseas places? Many places are desolate and inhabited. Even where there are people, most places are very backward.
It doesn't take many people. Wang Shouren feels that even a few hundred people can establish his own power overseas.
As far as Nanyang is concerned, there are too many large and small islands in Nanyang. There are even 70,000 or 80,000 islands if there are not 100,000. Many countries are as small as just one island or a small city.
Wang Shouren found it easy to establish his own power here.
"Wang Shouren, do you think that instead of benefiting outsiders, these overseas places should benefit our own people? Even if someone establishes his own country overseas, that is a good thing. It was also established by me, the Ming Dynasty."
Liu Jin said nonchalantly, he was still planning to send all the princes surnamed Zhu overseas. No matter how hard you go overseas, you won't be able to trouble the people of Ming Dynasty.
"Having said that, it may not be as powerful as our Ming Dynasty now, but as time goes by, it may very well surpass our Ming Dynasty in the future. When the time comes, the princes will rise everywhere, and the war will continue, and it will be the civil war of our Ming Dynasty."
"The Emperor of Zhou divided the princes and kings among themselves, and eventually he had the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period, and the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period. With the current trend, it is very likely that this will be the case in the future."
&-->>
nbsp;Wang Shouren thought for a while and said.
"Then have you ever thought that if we don't do this, we will most likely be limited to the one-third of an acre of land we have now. For all of us Ming people, our land has not expanded."
"Allowing the emergence of private armed forces, in the future, major commercial banks will be able to rapidly expand around the world and bring more land into the hands of our descendants of the Ming Dynasty. Even though there will be many problems in the future, at that time, our Ming Dynasty will
The land occupied by our descendants will also be the most extensive."
"The key now is to find ways to occupy as much land and resources as possible. The more resources and land we have, the people of Ming Dynasty will no longer have to cling to the original bit of land."
"The world is a big place. If we don't occupy it, others will naturally do it."
Liu Jin smiled and said that all dynasties have been constantly suppressing signs of this. What they are afraid of is division and rebellion.
This is where the emphasis on literature over martial arts comes from.
There are still benefits. Basically, a unified dynasty will be formed, which can often be stable for a hundred or two years. However, due to excessive suppression of military generals, this has led to a sharp decline in its own power, and it has become increasingly ineffective in external affairs.
The other is to increase the power of the civil servant group, resulting in an imbalance between civil and military affairs, gradually losing the desire for external expansion, and immersing itself in the dream of a superior country.
Little did they know that the world has already ushered in tremendous changes. If we don't seize the opportunity, in another hundred or two hundred years, the world will be completely divided by the Europeans. By then, not even a hair will be left, and we will be left behind and beaten.
If it comes to force, are the Ming people really not good at it?
This is obviously nonsense. History has proven time and time again that the people of Ming Dynasty are definitely the most capable players on Blue Star.
Liu Jin believed that as soon as this code came out, all the major business houses in the Ming Dynasty quickly transformed into ferocious beasts, quickly tearing off pieces of fat all over the world.
"Perhaps you are right. The world is very big and there are too many places for us descendants of Yan and Huang to thrive."
Wang Shouren looked at the sea around him, thought for a while and nodded.
Traveling south and north, I have been to Japan, Korea, the northern prairie, and even the Beihai, Liaodong, and now I have come to Nanyang.
Having seen too many places, he knew that the Ming Dynasty was not as good as everyone boasted. There were many other worlds outside the Ming Dynasty, many rich places, but the key was that there were still few people there.
Liu Jin did not lie. The world outside the Ming Dynasty is really big and rich.
"Guo Ye has arrived in Australia."
Liu Jin smiled, picked up another letter and read it.
This letter was sent back from the fleet heading to Australia and South Golden Continent. The fleet led by Guo Ye had arrived in Australia very smoothly not long ago.
Liu Jin was not surprised at all by this.
Traveling to Australia is almost effortless.
Although there is still a certain distance between Australia and Nanyang, there are many islands connecting the two, and islands of various sizes are scattered throughout this sea area.
The Nanyang Province has been sending people to Australia to explore and establish colonies on the islands along the way. It will be too easy to go to Australia.
For Guo Ye's fleet, the real difficulty lies in reaching the South Golden Continent from Australia.
This is a very long voyage, and there are almost no islands to replenish supplies and fresh water along the way. In addition, the waters at the southernmost tip of the South Golden Continent are notoriously dangerous waters in the world. These places are the real test.
"What does the letter say?"
When Wang Shouren heard this, he immediately asked for a map. After looking at it carefully, he found that Australia was really big, a huge continent, and its area was no smaller than the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty.
"The letter said that Australia is a vast and sparsely populated country with only a very small number of indigenous people. It also said that there are many very rare animals in Australia. They have sent people to capture some and prepare to transport them back to the capital to present to His Majesty."
"In addition, the letter also mentioned that there are a lot of corals and pearls in the waters north of Europe. Maybe this can be used to attract people to Australia."
Liu Jin handed the letter to Wang Shouren. Australia is a land given by heaven. It has nothing and is rich in resources. Such a place must be occupied. In the future, whether it is used for sheep herding or mining, it will be very difficult.
Not bad.
Of course, Australia, this place, must seem to be a boring place at first. Most of the places are deserts. Only the southeastern coastal areas are not bad. There does not seem to be anything attractive.
That's why Guo Ye wrote to Liu Jin and mentioned that there are corals and pearls in Australia, and they rely on these two things to attract people to Australia and then develop Australia.
Liu Jin, who came from a later generation, knew that Australia had a lot of iron ore, gold, and silver, but it was difficult to find them in the vast desert.
