The development of Zhanzhou has no particularly significant effect for a while, and Heishui Mingguo, which has embarked on the development of ultra-high-speed channels, will be completely unable to stop for a while. It urgently needs a new outlet.
The gradually improving population quality and booming industry and commerce in the Blackwater Ming Dynasty have promoted the sprouting of early capitalism. The characteristic of this class is the constant pursuit of profits, just like the tireless pursuit of blood by sharks.
At the same time that the Ayutthaya Dynasty of Siam collapsed, a new raw material supply place and a convenient product dumping place once again greatly stimulated the prosperity of the domestic market in the Ming Dynasty.
After the mutual trade with Siam was blocked, the development of Malacca City began to turn slightly downward. It was like making a small jump downward to assist the jump. The second wave of development jump rushed upward to a very high slope.
After a brief pause, the workshops inside and outside the city that were originally suspended immediately began major renovation and expansion.
A large number of finished and semi-finished products were exported to Siam, in exchange for a larger amount of raw materials. After reprocessing, more products were made and carried to all parts of the world by busy merchant ships.
The expanding Blackwater Mingguo is no longer satisfied with the small markets around it.
The Ming Dynasty is world-famous. Whether it is manufacturing porcelain or weaving silk, it is the best in the world. This is absolutely undeniable. Moreover, porcelain is used in large quantities and is the leading commodity exported by the Ming Dynasty.
However, many of the products of the Blackwater Ming Dynasty are not necessary for daily life, and they have not been around for a long time, and have not yet formed a high reputation and popularity in the world.
Now domestic businessmen are eager to open up markets around the world. Heishui Mingguo is now like a patient who is overeating, but although he is overeating, he can vent it out by punching constantly. If he is tied up and prevented from moving, he will soon be erupted in the body. The power was suffocated to death.
Now, merchants from farther away from Tianfang have realized the value of Heishui Ming's goods and gradually become Zhu Ming's trading partners. Although the Ming Dynasty in the east is a kingdom of heaven, some goods imported to Ming are also quite popular. Needless to say, these countries and regions were affected by radiation. Unfortunately, they were not wealthy enough to satisfy the growing business power of the Blackwater Kingdom.
Zhu Ming was in the study room at this time, neither of them were around. He had been with the two girls every day for this month, immersed in the gentle countryside. Although he had never neglected the country's affairs, he still had to exercise restraint at this time and continue to work for the future. Exhausted.
There was a "world map" on the desk. The last part was drawn by a cartographer, but the entire map left a large blank. In this blank, Zhu Ming filled in some other continents and continents based on his memory. islands.
At this moment, looking at the terrain of the Black Water Ming Kingdom, the chokepoint of Fanghai Sea has been secured, and the next step is to develop.
Zhu Ming pointed his finger to the north of Siam: If the three Xuanwei Divisions under the Ming Dynasty continue to develop to the mainland, they will inevitably have a fierce confrontation with the Ming Dynasty. At this stage, it is unwise to expend national power on this.
There are still some scattered large and small islands in the east, but for the many islands, this does not mean much. If we continue to the east, we will reach New Zealand in later generations. To be honest, Lian Zhanzhou is now It has not been fully developed yet, and we do not want to invest manpower and material resources in developing such an island.
Then to the west, a vast Indian Ocean lies in front of and surrounds the Indian Ocean, which is a densely populated area.
Across the sea, the Vijayanagara dynasty and Bangalore were both countries with unified political power. However, because the other party's business is not developed, and it does not have much spending power, this large market is still blank and has the possibility of developing into a business target.
The countries in the Indian peninsula are not not wealthy, but the Vijayanagar dynasty, with its distinct classes, is still using a strict caste system to restrict the development of its own civilization. Therefore, it is constantly being eroded by the Islamic civilization in the north. Those noble superiors People enjoy the best, but the vast majority of poor and inferior people cannot even afford a piece of cloth.
Zhu Ming¡¯s hand was spinning around on the map surrounding the Indian Ocean, and suddenly his finger stopped at a place.
This place is very familiar, and in later generations there were two famous products that became famous all over the world - Ceylon.
As early as when he went to Tianfang to seek cooperation with the Tianfang people and obtain their waterway for the merchants of the Blackwater Ming Kingdom, he passed through Ceylon.
This country, known as the Lion Kingdom, is now divided into two. The Sinhalese Kingdom and the Tamil Kingdom are fighting each other on the small island. Although the kingdom is now semi-attached to the Vijayanagara dynasty in southern India, There is still some autonomy.
?The island of Ceylon is like the crossroads where Chinese civilizations meet, and it plays the same role as Malacca, the throat.
Zhu Ming has long known about the gems on the island. He also bought a lot of rough gemstones when he passed here. The cut star sapphire Star of Ceylon is a rare treasure and is now lying in Zhu Ming's private warehouse. , this gem is too valuable, and it has no use yet.
Another treasure of Ceylon in later generations is black tea. Although the cultivation of tea has not spread to Ceylon at this time, the water and soil here are quite suitable for the cultivation of tea trees. Zhu Ming even considered whether the cultivation and processing of tea could be introduced to Ceylon in the future. Ceylon, a large area of ??tea tree planting was developed in Ceylon two or three hundred years in advance.
Zhu Ming slid his fingers between Ceylon and the Strait of Malacca. This is a natural gateway. As long as the navy has the power to block the line from Ceylon to Malacca, it will be equivalent to putting a shackles on the Indian Ocean. Anyone who wants to enter or It's not easy to figure it out.
It was decided that for Zhu Ming, who regarded maritime interests as the most important, he must get this pearl of the Indian Ocean.
Zhu Ming called Chen Sanfu and Luo Minxi, who had accompanied them on the voyage, into the palace, and Zhu Ming asked him about the deployment of the navy.
Now the Black Water Ming Kingdom has focused on trade. Although the navy's shipbuilding has never stopped, no new ship types have been released in the past two years. Seeing Zhu Ming once again pay so much attention to the navy's issues, Chen Sanfu The veteran of the navy, who had been semi-retired to the front line, immediately poured out his bitterness and talked about the various needs of the navy.
Zhu Ming comforted the veteran minister with a wry smile, and told him whether his true intention was to have the navy cross the ocean to conquer such a country. "
After saying that, Zhu Ming¡¯s finger reached the island of Ceylon. The two of them were there during the last space flight, so they are no strangers to Ceylon. The Sinhala Kingdom and the Tamil Kingdom on the island are not great forces. It is easy to say that it is easy to capture this place, but it is also easy. not simple.
Because it¡¯s one thing to capture it, but it¡¯s another thing to be able to hold it.
As the top leaders of the Blackwater Ming Dynasty¡¯s maritime power, the two of them still have a lot of say in this matter.
Originally, Zhu Ming thought that the two of them would be a little afraid of difficulties. As soon as the question was raised, both of them immediately became excited.
After waiting for so long, whether it was to destroy Manchuria or to intimidate Siam, it was the land troops who showed their majesty. It was not easy to see the new continent of Zhouzhou. It was basically an adventure, and there was no combat situation at all.
The people in the navy were all dumbfounded, and now the businessmen were obediently abiding by the rules of the Black Water Ming Kingdom and did not dare to step out of the way, leaving these warships with no chance to show off.
If the navy cannot perform well, the allocated money and food and the quality of soldiers will naturally be inferior to others. Chen Sanfu has been having a headache for a long time. Now that Zhu Ming is finally ready to develop Heishui Ming's maritime interests again, the two of them can only be happy. With both hands raised in approval, how can we talk about fear of difficulties and dissatisfaction?
At midnight, the two of them, together with key personnel in the navy, including Zhao Xin, who had just resigned from Zhanzhou and returned to Liberty City, closed the door to study the specific regulations.
The current maritime power of the Blackwater Ming Dynasty is no longer in the same stretched and embarrassing situation as before. At that time, it would take a long time to decide whether a warship should stay in the port or go out to cruise.
Now, the total number of Blackwater Mingguo's warships, not including the warships under various city guards and governors, has exceeded the fifty mark. Although half of them are for military and commercial purposes, which are similar to armed merchant ships, these parts are on the route. It not only transports goods, but also plays a role in cruising routes and combating pirates, and the cost is small.
This part of the armed merchant ships is mainly composed of various types of ships, which have a large cargo capacity but are not flexible. The other nearly thirty ships are all formal warships.
There are relatively few types of warships, namely Bird ships and Sea Shark ships. There are twenty Bird ships and nine Sea Shark warships still in service in the navy.
Compared with two years ago, this number has not increased much. It is a headache for everyone to gather together to discuss: Finally, the leader of the country has handed over the task to everyone. If now he says "I'm sorry, because the leader of the navy has been The investment is too little and this task cannot be completed now.¡±
¡°If something like this really happens, then all the generals sitting here in the Navy could just hang themselves with a hemp rope.
Because there is not much intelligence from Ceylon, we can only draw a basic conclusion now that Ceylon¡¯s maritime power is basically negligible, but the attitude of the Kingdom of Vijayanagar on the other side has to be on guard.
And it needs to occupyOn the Island of Ceylon, it is not possible to rely solely on the navy. At this stage, there is no such thing as a Marine Corps. If the navy is a naval division, then they are all sailors. Things on the shore should be left to the people on land.
So how to transport a sufficient number of soldiers to the island of Ceylon has become a key matter. The most realistic way now is to gather armed merchant ships, and if there are insufficient, mobilize them from the Free Trade Association to use the Black Water Ming Dynasty now The powerful maritime transport capacity is enough to transport thousands of people to Ceylon.
On the second day, Zhu Ming's imperial meeting was held. In addition to the generals from the navy, people from the land, the Ministry of Household Affairs, Wang Tong, Lumi and others also participated.
If you are planning to capture Ceylon, you will be thousands of miles away from the country. How to rule effectively is a difficult problem. Although Zhanzhou is far away from the mainland, Zhanzhou is like a blank sheet of paper for you to draw, but Ceylon is different. You have to face it. To complex local forms.
¡°Prepare all the Siamese slaves sent recently and transport them to Ceylon.¡± Lumi suggested.
This idea is not true. Siam is now under the confrontation between the two major forces, Llanojiadi and Kavatzen. The tribes who do not want to belong to the rule of these two people are still not only captured and demoted as slaves, but also become Siamese exchange gangs. A bargaining chip for Suiming Country¡¯s supplies.
Now the population of Siam has dropped sharply to less than two million households, and looking at this trend, it is likely to continue to decrease.
All this is out of Zhu Ming¡¯s consideration, but transporting Siamese slaves to Ceylon is a good idea.
The Siamese people are helpless. When they arrive in Ceylon, they can only hope to survive if they rely firmly on the Black Water Ming Kingdom. And in order to live a better life, they will definitely assist the Black Water Ming Kingdom to effectively rule the monks in Ceylon. Garas and Tamils.
The Siamese people who were originally suspicious of each other can become a big help by putting them in another environment.
Although Lumi is a native of Nanyang, he is really not good at using barbarians to control barbarians.
This plan has been decided first, and then it is necessary to determine which land troops will be sent to Ceylon.
The Wuyiwei army expansion plan is going quite smoothly. This elite army must be deployed in this attack on Ceylon. Whether to use veterans or new recruits will have to be decided by Zhu Ming.
Since jade cannot be polished, Zhu Ming finally chose the new army of 3,000 Wuyi Guards, and these 3,000 new troops had new designations.
These 3,000 people are organized into the Blue Ling Guards, and they will continue to be supplemented in the future, with 5,000 people being positioned to form one full guard.
The uniforms of this new army are mainly indigo, and there will be a blue feather of a wild pheasant on the helmet. This is where the name Blue Winged Guard comes from.
Zhu Ming particularly emphasized that this attire should not be taken lightly. The most important thing for an army is the soul of an army. This military soul can be condensed in the glorious history of the past, or it can be condensed in the outer clothing, or it can be simpler. It rests on the commander-in-chief of this army.
The main members of this newly built Blue Ling Guard are separated from the Wu Yi Guard and are of the same origin as the Wu Yi Guard. However, if you want to be different, the easiest way at this stage is to start with dressing up. There is one The bright and easy-to-recognize appearance makes everyone proud of their military uniform.
It took Zhu Ming a long time to explain this to everyone. After he finished speaking, it was already noon. Naturally, Zhu Ming, the big boss, treated everyone to a royal meal and then continued the discussion.
This most important transportation matter still requires Wang Tong, the leader, to consider how to allocate ships from the national situation. If the transportation capacity is really insufficient, it may be necessary to recruit private ships.
The most trouble-free thing is that the navy is dispatched. All sea shark-type ships are dispatched. For such an ocean battle, the bigger the tonnage, the better. The bird ship will be deployed according to the situation. Zhu Ming¡¯s suggestion is to dispatch five The rest of the ships have the important task of patrolling the Strait of Malacca and making temporary dispatches. Although there are still small ships for local defense, they are of no great use.
¡° Later, Zhu Ming also recruited the Tianfang people¡¯s comprador in the Free City. Alimotu took Zhu Ming¡¯s line, which provided the Tianfang people with a stable source of goods and made the route in the East much more stable and safer.
So Ali Motu has now been promoted to the clan elder in the family, and now he no longer has to travel far across the ocean to help. The person who is now in the Blackwater Kingdom is a young man named Ibsin.
The Tianfang people are a member of the Islamic world. Although there are many attacks among them, they are still quite united when facing foreign enemies.
This Ceylon also belongs to the hostile side of the Islamic world. Now the Islamic world is trying its best to invade the Indian peninsula. Only a few countries such as the precarious Kingdom of Vijayanagar and the two kingdoms on the island of Ceylon are left on the entire peninsula. Although the thorny bends The business between the Yue family and the Ceylonese people is not good, but if you can have some influence on Islam,Li, this family is still willing to do something.
Zhu Ming would not be stupid enough to tell Ibsin to capture Ceylon. He just told Ibsin that the Kingdom of Vijayanagar has been unwilling to trade freely with the Blackwater Kingdom and needs Ibsin to use it widely in the Islamic world. He wanted to use his connections to see if he could persuade the Bahmani Sultanate and the Delhi Sultanate in the north to jointly put pressure on the Vijayanagar Kingdom in the south. The Blackwater Kingdom would then dispatch a fleet to harass its long coastline.
Ibsin was extremely interested in this suggestion. It was in the Blackwater Kingdom that his predecessor had good luck and was appreciated by the powerful people in the family. After coming to the Blackwater Kingdom, the trade volume also continued to grow, allowing him to obtain The above value.
"If Zhu Ming can be persuaded to blockade the Kingdom of Vijayanagar at sea and capture the last fortress on the Indian peninsula for the Islamic world, then his achievements will be enough to answer not only to his family, but also to Allah.
The two people with ulterior motives hit it off immediately. Ibsin promised that he would immediately leave for the Indian Peninsula to unite. After saying this, he hurriedly got up. It can be seen that he takes this matter very seriously.
That's good. It would be enough if the Sultanate can be persuaded to put pressure on the Vijayanagar Kingdom so that it has no time to pay attention to what is happening on the island of Ceylon. As for the indigenous people on the island of Ceylon, although they are fierce, But it¡¯s not in Zhu Ming¡¯s eyes yet.
After several days of planning and coordination, only now did Zhu Ming have a chance to breathe. And his two newlyweds also understood Zhu Ming's fatigue. There was no jealousy in this period, but everyone wanted to see the harem. Those who fought among themselves were disappointed.
With these two considerate wives, Zhu Ming suppressed the idea of ??getting married again.
"Master, are you going to go on an expedition in person again?" Jin Zhu asked while squeezing Zhu Ming's shoulders.
Embarrassed to answer, Zhu Ming could only nodded. For this, he must be in debt to them again.