"My health has been getting worse and worse in the past few years. After careful consideration, I plan to meditate on you. I will rest in peace and enjoy the happiness of heaven for a few years."
In the Yingwu Hall, Zhu Yihai told the prince for the first time the meaning of the Zen position.
"My father was in his prime during the Spring and Autumn Period, so why did you say this? But what did you do wrong when your son was left behind? Please teach me a lesson."
Zhu Yihai stood up and walked to the prince, patted the prince's shoulder, and looked at his increasingly heroic son, "I heard that you have not forgotten to study even when you are the regent. Do you think there is any prince in this dynasty who can be as good as you?
How could he gain the emperor's trust and have such great power?
In the past few years, I have completely delegated power to you without reservation."
Even if they are father and son, the father and son of the Tian family can never be so pure. As long as the emperor does not die, it will be impossible to truly hand over power to the prince. Even if he is always vigilant, once he crosses the line in the slightest and threatens the emperor, he may
This resulted in severe attacks, and many princes were forced to rebel, and many were even deposed, ordered to commit suicide, or even directly executed.
Those are all battles for supreme power.
But Zhu Yihai's trust in Hongjia was indeed far greater than that of other emperors. Even when he directly appointed Hongjia as the prince regardless of objections, there was controversy. He even deposed the third queen Xiao Zhang because of this. These things seemed very important at the time.
It's special, and the emperor's delegation of power to the prince in recent years has shocked many people's jaws.
Many people think this is just because of the emperor's self-confidence, because he is the emperor immediately, so even if he delegates power, the emperor still firmly controls the government, especially the army, and is always loyal to the emperor.
No one can imagine that Zhu Yihai actually did all this because he had judged very early that he would not live long, so he had been planning the aftermath in advance. The princes were young, but Hongjia and Hongchen were older, so it was impossible for him to establish a young king.
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Hongjia's performance was recognized by him, so he did not hesitate to appoint his eldest son Hongjia and fully support him. He even fully delegated power in the past few years, just to allow him to secure his position as soon as possible and avoid future civil strife.
"Your enthronement ceremony will be held on the first day of the first lunar month next year. There is still more than half a year left, which is enough time to prepare."
"Father?"
Hongjia was at a loss, and even had a bit of unknown fear. He knelt down in front of his father and hugged his father's thigh.
"I won't hide it from you. I'm afraid I don't have much time left. While I'm still here, I'll help you succeed to the throne and give you a ride. I'll guard the formation for you and I'll enjoy a few days of happiness."
"My father was troubled by Xiao's illness, so he immediately sent people to search for famous doctors and elixirs in the South China Sea, Tianzhu, Africa and Europe. Now the Ming Dynasty's clipper ships are extremely fast and can sail to the ends of the earth. All the famous doctors and elixirs must be collected
Invite everyone here, and we will definitely be able to cure my father's illness."
"Everything is determined. I know my situation. There is no need to bother like this anymore. Don't make a ridiculous thing about Emperor Shaotian looking for immortals. Emperor Qin, Emperor Wu and Tang Sect of Han are all great emperors whom I respect, but they have something wrong with me.
But they don't support it. They all want to live forever and send people to search for immortality to find the elixir of immortality. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty even died after taking the elixir of immortality from the demon monk of Tianzhu at fifty."
"There is no elixir of immortality in the world. Just do your own thing."
"Sooner or later, this world will be passed on to you. Now I will give it to you in advance."
Zhu Yihai patted his son on the shoulder and said, "Take on your responsibilities. From now on, you will have a heavy burden on your shoulders and many things to do."
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"General Hussar, Admiral of the Nanyang Fleet, and Duke Zhou Rui of the Kingdom of Fujian are here to see you!"
"Your Majesty, Zhou Rui, comes to see my emperor. Long live, long live, long live!"
Zhu Yihai stood up and stepped forward, stretched out his hand to help the old hero up, "I love you, I just came from Hainan. It's been a hard journey."
"It's not hard, it's not hard." Zhou Rui said quickly. He was led by the emperor to sit down. The emperor personally poured him tea, which made him feel flattered.
"I know Aiqing likes to drink green tea, so I specially brewed this pot of oolong tea with the exquisite Tieguanyin, which is a famous product produced in your hometown. It is a strong-flavor type with a mellow taste and long-lasting fragrance. You see, the tea soup is clear and green in color.
, try it.”
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Zhou Rui picked up the teacup with gratitude.
Zhu Yihai smiled and said: "We are all sons and daughters now, why are we so polite? How is that guy Yanchang doing in Nanyang recently?"
"This ineffective thing has a small ability but a big temper, which made His Majesty laugh. Now he is just messing around in Danmaxi." Zhou Rui said quickly.
Zhou Rui and General Zhou Cuizhi are two brothers. They are both generals in the navy of Shaotian Dynasty in the Ming Dynasty. Together with the Zheng family and the Ruan family, they are the three major generals of the navy. Zhou Rui is Zhou Cuizhi's younger brother, and he and Zheng Chenggong are from the same hometown.
, Zhou Cuizhi’s real name is Zhou Zhi. In his early years, like many of his fellow villagers, he became a pirate because of poverty. Later, he was captured by the government and implicated his family and brothers.
Later, after escaping from prison, he took his younger brother Zhou Rui out to sea to resume his old business. In order not to hurt the clan members, he changed his name to Cui Zhi. He also became famous at sea. In the late Ming Dynasty, he took the ship and people to accept
With the help of Zhoushan Huang Binqing, he went to Zhoushan to join the army to fight against the Qing Dynasty.
Later, he took the initiative to join Zhu Yihai and became an important general of the Navy.
Zhou Rui followed his elder brother and was also loyal and brave. On two weeks, Ruan became a famous naval officer of the Ming Dynasty. Zhou Rui had a son, Zhou Yanchang, who was very handsome. He was rare in both civil and military skills. He first accompanied his father and uncle on the boat, and the young man was already able to dance.
He helped kill the enemy, and later went to the Imperial Academy to study, but he first passed the martial arts examination. Then Zhu Yihai asked him to study in the martial arts hall, but this kid had to take the liberal arts examination, and passed the examination all the way to become a martial arts examination scholar.
This could be regarded as the first civil and military scholar in the Shaotian Dynasty. Zhu Yihai also liked this boy very much, so he directly summoned the boy to the imperial court and let the eldest princess watch from behind the curtain. After obtaining the princess's consent, he proposed to recruit him as his consort.
This boy was still somewhat reluctant. Zhu Yihai didn't care about this and went directly to Zhou Rui. Although Zhou Rui felt that it was not easy to be the son-in-law of the Tian family, how could he refuse even though the emperor had given him permission to do so?
In the end, Zhou Rui agreed, but Zhou Yanchang was unwilling. He had never even seen the princess. He had only heard rumors that the eldest princess had always been in poor health, and capable people always had a temper. Even my words, he
Do not listen.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Zhou Rui went to his brother Zhou Cuizhi. Zhou Cuizhi’s words were always more effective for Zhou Yanchang, but this time Zhou Cuizhi’s words didn’t work either. The angry brothers were
He locked him up, but as a result, this kid actually escaped from prison like Zhou Cuizhi did before, and ran back to his hometown in Fujian. The brothers sent people to arrest him, but when they arrived, they found that this guy had bought a merchant ship from home and went directly to Nanyang.
This made Brother Zhou Rui so angry that in the end he had no choice but to report the truth to the emperor.
Zhu Yihai was not angry about the accident. Not only did he not ask any questions, but he sent a royal guard to deliver a letter to Zhou Yanchang. There was his personal letter, as well as a portrait of the princess, and even a collection of poems by the princess. The princess's portrait was ordered into a picture album, which was
There are many scenes of the princess's daily life, such as writing poems and paintings, playing the piano, even riding horses and archery, practicing firecrackers, hunting, cooking and weaving, etc.
This picture album was Zhu Yihai's idea. It was made like a comic book and showed the eldest princess very well. As expected, the boy Zhou Yanchang changed his mind a little after reading it. After that, he asked the princess to exchange letters with Zhou Yanchang. After going back and forth like this, they got to know each other better.
As he came more and more, Zhou Yanchang completely changed his mind and became willing to be the emperor's son-in-law.
But Zhu Yihai gave Zhou Yanchang a task at this time, asking him to do something in the South China Sea before he could come back to marry the princess.
The task he assigned to Zhou Yanchang was to establish a Ming Dynasty free port, a colony, and a gateway in the Strait of Malacca in Danmaxi.
The three-year period is considered his final assessment.
Now, in the blink of an eye, three years are coming.
Zhou Yanchang's actions in Nanyang were actually all under the supervision of the emperor. He was very aware of Zhou Yanchang's movements there, and he also knew that the Zhou Rui brothers actually supported their son secretly, both from their official positions and from the family.
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This is okay. If you have the resources, you must have the ability.
Zhou Yanchang's ability is quite good. He is worthy of being a young man who licked blood on a pirate ship when he was young. Later he entered the Imperial College, taught martial arts, and was also a Jinshi in both Chinese and martial arts. Although he is a bit young and energetic, he is still very decisive in his actions.
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He originally sailed to Nanyang because he wanted to escape from his marriage and do business at sea. Unexpectedly, the emperor did not blame him and even took the initiative to get involved so that he and the princess could understand and even fall in love with each other, and finally gave him a mission.
At that time, Portugal, the earliest Western colonizer in Nanyang, had already declined. Malacca, an important colony, was captured by the Dutch. At that time, Portugal captured the Kingdom of Malacca and established an important trade transit station in the strait. Later, it repeatedly defeated the powerful Sumatran countries of Asia.
Qi's attack did not expect the arrival of the Dutch, the sea coachmen. Because the two sides belonged to different camps, one was Protestant and the other was Catholic. After a long siege, the Dutch captured the city of Malacca.
While the Dutch established the Port of Batavia in Java, they captured Malacca and controlled the two major straits in the east and west. The Portuguese could only pay high fees for entry and exit.
The indigenous people of those islands in the Southeast Asia gradually formed the Wu tribe after the collapse of the once great powers such as Srivijaya. They moved from Sumatra to the Malay Peninsula and occupied the Malay Peninsula, that is, the Malays, while the Javanese occupied the Malay Peninsula.
Come to the pattern of the islands.
The natives of these islands were almost converted to Crescentism.
The Dutch conquered the Java Islands, but the Ayutthaya Dynasty of Siam also turned five countries including Kedah in the northern part of the Malay Peninsula into its own vassals.
As Malacca was captured by the Dutch from the Portuguese, the Malay Peninsula began to be designated by the Dutch as their own sphere of influence. They intended to have an exclusive monopoly on the spice trade, and even the British were shut out.
For the Ming Dynasty, which had formulated a mercantile trade strategy, this situation was unacceptable. In recent years, the Ming merchant ships had begun to travel across several oceans, sailing directly to the Americas and Europe. The Ming navy was also in North Korea.
Liuqiu, Japan, Annam, Champa, Luzon and other places continue to develop new strongholds, renting some, robbing them, and occupying them. Now they have become a new force in Nanyang.
The Spanish and Dutch both wanted to cooperate and trade with the Ming Dynasty, but also had deep fear, and their control over the Chinese in their colonies became stronger and stronger.
The Dutch did not want the Ming Dynasty to enter the Strait of Malacca and the Strait of Sunda.
Merchant ships from Britain, Portugal and other countries came to the Ming Dynasty to pass through the straits. They had to pay heavy taxes and were even sometimes robbed, which was very unsafe. When merchant ships from the Ming Dynasty passed through the two straits, they also had to pay heavy taxes and were unsafe.
Although the Nanyang Navy fleet established a fortress and military port on Natuna Island, it could not directly control the strait, so the Ming Dynasty had actually long planned to acquire a territory in the Malacca Strait.
It's just that the territory is owned by the owner, especially the Dutch who have long regarded Johor and other countries surrounding Malacca as their vassals, and they cannot allow others to interfere.
At that time, there was the Sultanate of Johor in the southeast corner of the Strait of Malacca. After Malacca was occupied by the Portuguese more than a hundred years ago, Sultan Mahmoud Shah fled to Bintan Island in Johor and used it as a base to try to recapture Malacca. However, he counterattacked the capital several times.
It did not succeed, but instead invited the Portuguese fleet from Goa, India, to destroy Bintan Island. Mahmoud Shah fled in panic to Ganpa, Sumatra, and died soon after.
After his death, his eldest son Alauddin II gave up the title of Sultan of Malacca and founded the Johor dynasty with the royal lineage of Malacca, with its capital in old Johor. While his brother Mushafasa went to Perak to establish a new dynasty of Perak. It turned out that
The area ruled by the Malacca dynasty was divided into two, and Malacca was completely occupied by the Portuguese.
However, in addition to facing the Portuguese colonists, the Johor dynasty also had to face the powerful enemy Aceh across the strait. The three parties had been attacking each other for many years, and Johor always had the upper hand. Aceh even burned the capital several times, and the sultan was kidnapped.
Humiliating incident.
Zhou Yanchang wandered around Malacca for more than a year. He was not in a hurry to do business. In the name of doing business, he traveled to the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra Island, Java Islands, Guinei Islands, etc., not only interacting with Dutch and other colonists, Western businessmen, but also with
The indigenous people travel to various countries and even have contact with the Baba Nyonya (Peranakans) who immigrated from the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, and have gained a good reputation in the local area.
He finally settled on Tamasi, which belongs to the Kingdom of Johor, but is a very large island. However, there is only a not-so-wide strait away from the peninsula, and the conditions and resources are good in all aspects.
He needs an opportunity.
Under his planning and with the approval of the emperor, he seconded the Jinyi Guards, the Nanyang Navy and others to cooperate, and successfully planned a coup in the capital of Johor. The old Sultan Abdul Challis Shah was assassinated by the minister Tun Abdul Challis, and then he supported
He appointed his son-in-law, and the young prince Alauddin ascended the throne.
But originally the throne was supposed to be inherited by the eldest prince Ibrahim, but when his father died, not only was he not inherited the throne, but he was exiled to the Guinei Islands.
The Nei Islands are actually just south of Tam Masik (Singapore).
Tun Abdul Zalli was originally pro-Dutch. After he appointed his son-in-law to the throne, he appointed himself Prime Minister and took over the power. In fact, Zhou Yanchang secretly participated in the planning of his coup. He deliberately instigated him to kill the king and seize the throne, which not only provided him with intelligence support.
, and even provided weapons and mercenaries. After the matter was completed, it was originally agreed that Dan Maxi would be leased to Zhou Yanchang to build a merchant house and open a port.
However, Tun Abdul Challi, who was pro-Dutch, was stopped by the Dutch, so he reneged on his promise and only leased the small island of Zhangqi Mountain in the southeast of Singapore to Zhou Yanchang. It was only a small island covering an area of about 6,000 acres. Although it also had some
Shui Sen Yan and others are very different from Dan Maxi.
The main island of Danmaxi is larger than Zhoushan Island, and this is what Zhou Yanchang wants.
Seeing that Tun Abdul Zalli went back on his words, Zhou Yanchang was not polite. He first pretended to compromise and accepted Zhangqishan Island, took people to the island, built a dock and a small fortress there, and recruited Baba girls from the islands.
The Bugis, Arabs, etc. came, and soon more than a thousand people gathered.
Turning around, he secretly contacted Yin Bo LaXin, the eldest prince who was exiled to the Yi Nei Islands, and sent mercenaries to secretly protect him. He blocked several assassinations by the prime minister for him. After gaining his trust, he proposed to him.
He made a proposal to make him the Sultan of Johor and revealed his identity as an envoy of the Ming Dynasty.
The eldest prince was also forced into a desperate situation. He saw that there was no reason not to accept the thick rope that Daming handed over, and the two parties hit it off.
Although Zhou Yanchang was young, he was indeed very capable. He also had the Jinyi Guards and the Nanyang Navy secretly assisting him. He also wooed Tan Masik's hereditary vassal of Johor, Tian Meng Gong, and successfully persuaded him to join.
They quickly welcomed the eldest prince to Singapore Island.
The prince recruited his own military officials there, and then officially ascended the throne as the Sultan of Johor, and issued a proclamation claiming that Tun Abdul Zalli had committed regicide.
Immediately afterwards, he officially declared his surrender to the Ming Dynasty, became a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, and requested the Ming Dynasty to send a fleet to station for protection.
This prince still had some influence, and with the support of Zhou Yanchang and others, he also won the support of most of the Singapore Islands and the Nei Islands, and quickly made Singapore the new capital.
Zhou Yanchang also obtained a special status. Not only did he become the deputy marshal of the navy of the Kingdom of Johor, he also received a Ming Dynasty license to establish a trade port in Singapore.
The Ming Dynasty rewarded the Sultan of Johor with 5,000 silver dollars every year, and gave Singapore's original Temengong Abdul Rahman 3,000 silver dollars every year.
When the Kingdom of Malacca was destroyed by Portugal, the Sultan fled to the Riau Islands and sent his bodyguard to command Teem Meng to rule the territories on the mainland, namely Johor and Singapore. Later, Johor was established and Teem Meng became a vassal of the Riau Islands.
It actually rules the Riau Islands and Singapore.
Tian Meng Gong is a hereditary lord, and he is also an important force supporting the eldest prince. However, his strength is not strong, and he also hopes to embrace the thick legs of the Ming Dynasty. The main reason why Zhou Yanchang persuaded him in the first place was that he supported the eldest prince after he ascended the throne.
The eldest prince will marry his daughter as the queen and appoint him as the prime minister. Secondly, the Ming Dynasty will open a port in Singapore, and then Tian Meng Gong's territory will become more lively.
Moreover, the Ming Dynasty gave Tian Meng Gong three thousand silver dollars every year.
Three thousand silver dollars is not a small sum, not to mention that after the bustle here, there will be more benefits in being near the water and on a first-come-first-served basis.
In this way, Zhou Yanchang supported Yin Bo Lahim as the Sultan of Johor, and then signed the Singapore Treaty with the Sultan of Johor and Tian Mengong, and Singapore officially became a colony of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhou Yanchang's father Zhou Rui, the admiral of the Nanyang Fleet, also immediately sent a squadron south to Singapore. By the time the Dutch reacted, the raw rice had been cooked, and Singapore and the Riau Islands had risen.
The Ming Dynasty fleet has been stationed under the Ming Dynasty Riyue Banner, and construction of palaces and fortresses has begun there.
The Netherlands sent people to Malacca and Batavia to protest, but the Ming Dynasty would not pay attention. In the end, the Dutch had to acquiesce to the Ming Dynasty's entry into Singapore, but they did not recognize Yin Bolahim as the Sultan of Johor, and only called him the Sultan of Riau.
But no matter what the Sultan is called, Zhou Yanchang and Ming Dynasty will not care. What Ming Dynasty wants is to obtain a real territory in Malacca and station troops here to protect the interests and safety of Ming Dynasty's maritime trade. Others are at odds with each other.
With this base camp, the Ming Dynasty immediately reversed the previous dilemma of being restricted by the Dutch in entering and exiting the strait. Zhou Yanchang even directly turned Singapore into a free port, recruiting merchant ships to dock here for supplies, and even processing, manufacturing and storing spices here without imposing taxes.
When the port was opened, the island of Singapore, which originally had only a thousand people, now had more than 10,000 people, and the foreign trade volume was as high as 8 million. But this year is the third year since Zhou Yan went to Nanyang, and it is also the second year since they opened the port in Singapore.
The population has reached 100,000, and the foreign trade volume has reached 20 million silver dollars.
Penang Port on the west side of the strait has a long history, but only has a trade volume of more than 8 million. It is directly left behind by Singapore. Even Malacca is greatly affected.
The Dutch implemented a heavy tax policy and even often pretended to be pirates to rob merchant ships. Now that the Ming Dynasty has opened a port in Singapore, it not only built it as a free trade port, but also sent a military fleet to escort it. As long as the ships departing from Lion Port, they will fly the flag of the Ming Dynasty.
, the strait can be unblocked. If any pirates dare to attack, the Ming Dynasty Navy will pursue them to the end. If those ships pay an insurance premium, if their ships are robbed, Lion Harbor will also be responsible for compensation.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! In just three years, Zhou Yanchang went from sailing on a ship to becoming the governor of the Dragon Tooth Gate of the Ming Dynasty and the deputy admiral of the Nanyang Navy. It is indeed a legend.
Although there is strong support from Ming Dynasty behind this, it still requires sufficient ability.
Nowadays, the entire Singapore Islands and the Riau Islands, including the Argentine Gate Islands to the south, are included in the Argentine Gate Governor's Palace, and the Kingdom of Johor has even become a new vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.
As early as the Yuan Dynasty, people were sent to the Dragon Tooth Gate to look for elephants. Later, the Dragon Tooth Gate sent envoys to China. This Dragon Tooth Gate was called the Dragon Tooth Island, a small island in the Linga Islands. Later, the Yuan Dynasty navigator Wang Dayuan
When it first came to Singapore, it was called Dan Masi. Zheng He's navigation chart called it Dan Masi, and the name of Lion Harbor was also recorded.
Singapore has always been a good trading port and has been a trading port between China and the Malay Peninsula for a long time.
There used to be a very powerful Sengapura dynasty here, also translated as the Singapura dynasty, but later Siam and Majapahit in Java competed for control of Singapore, which hit the place hard.
Later, the Sultanate of Malacca incorporated Singapore into its own territory, and later became the fiefdom of its Tian Mangong, and once again became an important port.
But after the Portuguese occupied Malacca, they sent a fleet to burn down the stronghold at the mouth of the Singapore River. Since then, Singapore has been weakening day by day. In the end, there were only a thousand people left, and there were no longer ships for trade.
Zhou Yanchang opened the port again, and with the help of the powerful Ming Dynasty, it quickly became an important trading port of the Ming Dynasty in Southeast Asia. Countless Ming ships and Ming goods went south, making it populated by the Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, British, Aceh, etc.
Siam and others were envious of the speed and prosperity.
But they can only watch and have no choice. After all, the Ming army's giant ships and cannons are no weaker than the Dutch. Their castle cannons and Ming red-coated soldiers are far beyond the Dutch. The Dutch are not willing to lose.
As a trade rival, Ming Dynasty did not have much confidence that it could win.
"This boy's performance is pretty good. I'm very satisfied with this result. The three-year appointment has been completed ahead of schedule. Let him come back quickly and officially marry the eldest princess in the autumn. If he waits any longer, the princess will take a boat to Nanyang.
I'm going after him."
Zhu Yihai knocked on the table and said, "Zhou Yanchang has made great contributions to the country. I grant him the title of Marquis of Min'an, a world-wide title, and a real title of 800 households."
"Another small island in the Longyamen Islands was given as a hereditary fiefdom."
Zhu Yihai took out a map, circled a small island next to Xinji Island in the southern part of the Longyalin Islands, and rewarded his son-in-law.
"Now that the situation in Japan is stable and the Anton camp will be cancelled, I have another important role in success. How about you take over as the admiral of the East China Sea Fleet?" Zhu Yihai asked Zhou Rui.
