Seeing Zheng Zhilong's attitude, Emperor Chongzhen felt a little more satisfied, and his tone was much gentler. He said to Zheng Zhilong: "For the time being, you must first defeat or recruit the Korean Navy and assist in the reconstruction of Dongjiang Town. This is the Navy
The first important task of the Dudu Mansion; then, it was to reorganize all the Ming Dynasty’s navy into the navy, imitating the reorganization of the army. Factory guards should participate, and the relevant equipment, including warships, artillery, etc., would be replaced by the court."
Having said this, he paused and said emphatically with some pride: "Then we will show off our power to the outside world, follow my instructions to expand territory, protect trade routes, and suppress overseas anti-Ming foreigners!"
Is this the true meaning of the existence of Ming warships wherever there is an ocean?
Zheng Zhilong listened and thought so in his heart. To be honest, he was not optimistic about such a scene, he just thought about it.
The reason is that China has never done this in its history.
The most likely time was during the Chengzu period. At that time, the sea was truly the most glorious. However, it did not last long. After Emperor Chengzu was gone, everything was gone.
As a businessman with a pirate background, or someone who lived along the coast of the Ming Dynasty, Zheng Zhilong naturally admired that era very much. And if the current emperor wants to restore the original glory, although it may be short-lived, since he lives in this era, if he does not
If you get involved, you will definitely regret it for the rest of your life.
Is it possible that I just listen to those juniors talking about where they have gone and what customs they have in foreign lands, while I just listen on the sidelines?
When he thought of this, the first thing that popped into Zheng Zhilong's mind was his son Zheng Sen.
When he thought that this kid might be rude in front of him in the future, Zheng Zhilong couldn't hold back even if he had a palace.
So, he immediately reported to Emperor Chongzhen: "The last general to receive an order must do his best to carry out the orders entrusted by His Majesty!"
Zheng Zhilong knew very well that from the moment he was noticed by the emperor, he would never be able to go back to living on the southeastern coast of the Ming Dynasty and quietly making a fortune. No emperor could ignore this kind of thing.
In this case, if you follow the path pointed out by the emperor and have a big fight, it will be another kind of life!
Guangzong honors his ancestors, makes his wife Yinzi, and leaves his name in history together with the emperor!
Thinking about this, Zheng Zhilong didn't even know it, but he seemed to stand up straighter and more energetic.
Emperor Chongzhen could feel it, and he was immediately more satisfied and said with a smile: "In addition, there is one more thing that needs to be entrusted to you. This matter is extremely important to Ming Dynasty!"
"Please give me your Majesty's decree!" Now that Zheng Zhilong has made a decision, he naturally won't be hesitant or unhappy.
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen ordered him: "Send a reliable fleet to South America, which is now ruled by the Francois, to look for a tree called the rubber tree, whether it is a living tree or not.
, or seedlings or seeds, as long as they can be transplanted to my Ming Dynasty and survive, it will be a great achievement, and I will treat them with a title!"
Hearing this, Zheng Zhilong was a little confused, but based on the emperor's words, this matter was very important and even required a knighthood, so he quickly asked: "Your Majesty, where is South America?"
After a pause, he said with some confusion: "In my humble opinion, since this is the place where the Fo Langji people live, wouldn't it be better to let them take them to the Ming Dynasty? It's just a matter of negotiating terms. This point, Mo General
Or you can go talk to them!”
This was a matter-of-fact discussion, not a rejection. Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen was not upset. On the contrary, this was the time to show his erudition.
Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen smiled and said: "South America is on the other side of the ocean, and over there are North and South America. The rubber tree I want is in the southern America."
Upon hearing this, Zheng Zhilong couldn't help being surprised and said: "Your Majesty, only the Spaniards in Luzon know about crossing the ocean now. Even the Francois, they all came from India. This...
If you want to find that rubber tree from South America, I'm afraid... I'm afraid you have to be Spanish!"
At this point, he was afraid that Emperor Chongzhen would misunderstand, so he quickly explained: "Your Majesty, crossing the ocean does not require a boat. You must be familiar with the ocean and know when there will be more hurricanes. It is not suitable to travel, and there is also the wind direction.
The direction of water flow and so on!”
As Zheng Zhilong spoke, he thought of something again, and added in one breath: "Even if there is a steamship, you don't have to worry about the wind direction, but the ocean is too big, and the steamship relies on coal, and the coal will definitely not be enough. In short...
…”
He wanted to try his best to explain to Emperor Chongzhen that sailing on the ocean was definitely different from traveling on land and was full of problems. It was not that he didn't want to go and was looking for excuses.
However, before he could explain clearly, Emperor Chongzhen smiled slightly and said, "You don't need to say more. Since I want you to send someone, I must have thought about these things."
After finishing speaking, before Emperor Chongzhen could recover from his surprise, he turned to the eunuch on duty, Gao Shiyue, and said, "Push out the screen!"
"Servant, you obey!" When Gao Shiyue, who had always acted like a clay Bodhisattva, heard this, he immediately heard the news. He immediately accepted the order, commanded the two chamberlains, carried a screen from the side hall, and placed it on Zheng Zhilong's bed.
before.
Zheng Zhilong was a little curious. He looked at a huge map hanging on the screen. He had never seen this map before. He just glanced at it and couldn't recognize what it was.
While he was staring at the map curiously, he saw that Emperor Chongzhen had already walked down and came to the screen.
This frightened Zheng Zhilong to take two steps back quickly, not daring to rush into the emperor.
Emperor Chongzhen pointed at the map with his hand, and then said to Zheng Zhilong: "This map is the world map. The North and South America I just mentioned are here..."
When Zheng Zhilong heard this, he was very curious and watched the emperor pointing at the map and talking at the same time.
"When did the emperor understand the situation on the other side of the ocean so clearly?" He was very shocked in his heart. As the first person on the Ming Dynasty, he knew very well that if he wanted to get such a map
, I am afraid it will take a generation, or even several generations of energy, to come up with it.
Even Zheng Zhilong thought of a possibility. Could it be that Emperor Chengzu started doing this at that time and it was slowly passed down?
After all, Emperor Chengzu only went westward at that time and never went eastward.
Those ink dots that represent the ocean are a huge island. However, the ocean is so big that if you want to know that there is such an island, it may be a coincidence. However, there are so many dots on the map, it is definitely not a coincidence.
.In other words, our ancestors traveled all over the ocean and spent countless lives to get such a map, right?
At this time, Zheng Zhilong was even more shocked than when he saw the steamship. Because he knew that such a map was absolutely priceless!
"Let me tell you the basic situation in America first!" Emperor Chongzhen had already seen the shock on Zheng Zhilong's face, and he was happy in his heart, so he continued to say to Zheng Zhilong, "This is the Spanish colony, that is, they occupied the place.
Driving the locals to help them summon wealth and then transport it back to the mainland, and this is the territory of the Francois..."
On the map, they are all marked with different colors, making them easy to distinguish.
Zheng Zhilong listened to the introduction and immediately understood the situation in the Americas. He even knew that this side is the Pacific Ocean and that side is the Atlantic Ocean. Relatively speaking, the distance from the mother country of the Western Yi to the Americas through the Atlantic Ocean is longer than that of the Ming Dynasty.
closer.
But even though he knew the situation in America, Zheng Zhilong still felt embarrassed. Because the most important thing was not the Western Yi people in America. After all, in his eyes, as long as they were Western Yi people, there was a possibility of trading. No need to
Force can also achieve the goal. The most important thing is, how to cross the Pacific and how to come back?
Perhaps Emperor Chongzhen guessed what he was thinking, and gestured with the long lines in the Pacific Ocean with his hand, and said to Zheng Zhilong: "See, here is the Pacific Warm Current, which flows in the direction of the arrow. From here to the Pacific Ocean
, it will be much easier when you come back from here. This is what the Spaniards in Luzon do!”
When Zheng Zhilong heard this, he was immediately shocked. He understood what the emperor meant. The lines with arrows on the Pacific Ocean turned out to be the direction of the current. This is definitely the most important news for navigation.
!
When did the imperial court touch all these streams? There are so many, it is really unimaginable, absolutely unimaginable!
At this moment, Zheng Zhilong suddenly overturned his previous thoughts. It was impossible to get so much information about any plan that started from the time of Emperor Chengzu!
This is definitely a map obtained by Emperor Taizu using immortal magic. Otherwise, it would be absolutely impossible to explain the details of this map!
He was shocked, but Emperor Chongzhen continued to show off. He heard him say to Zheng Zhilong: "As for the hurricanes in the Pacific, there are general patterns. I will give you a detailed report. You will even follow the route I gave you.
Regarding navigation, I will give you some information about the local situation soon. No matter what, I asked you to choose people to go to South America, just to ensure that they can come back safely."
Having said this, his expression became a little more serious and he said to Zheng Zhilong: "The reason why I don't leave this matter to the Folangji people is because this matter is not only very important to the Ming Dynasty, but the sooner we get the rubber tree, the better."
Okay, and someone needs to go and verify the matter of crossing the Pacific in person, so as to prepare for the Ming Dynasty's large-scale trip to the Americas in the future!"