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Volume 2 Northern and Southern Empire Chapter 223 Zheng He Returns

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    After the new emperor ascended the throne, the great ministers who had made meritorious deeds were ennobled. Among the civil servants, Wang Tong, Lumi, and Chen Shanli were all granted the title of duke. The rest, led by Masar, led the others as marquises and were rewarded for their merits.

    The military attach¨¦s are led by Zhao Qing, Wang Tie and Chen Sanfu, who is still far away in Ceylon. The others are also shining stars, each with different rewards.

    The rewarded land is basically concentrated in the southern part of Zhanzhou. Zhu Ming is very aware that that piece of land is fertile with water and grass. Even in later generations, it will be the place with the highest concentration of population in Australia. Although it has not been developed yet, in the future, these wise men under him will  General Chen Liang will definitely not say that he cheated them.

    " Then a routine amnesty was issued, but Zhu Ming would not acquit all the pirates indiscriminately. Except for the crime of treason, a very few pirates who had committed the most heinous crimes were not acquitted.

    The Blackwater Ming Kingdom has always been founded on maritime affairs. The existence of pirates not only affects the trade routes of the Blackwater Ming Kingdom merchants and then affects the fiscal revenue, but is also a matter that shakes the country. Therefore, Zhu Ming expected that the punishment for pirates would be strict.  Tighter.

    Except for those prisoners with minor crimes, all slaves were given the benefit of one year's reduction in terms of their terms and their freedom.  In this way, many slaves immediately gained free status.

    Although this move has had an extremely negative impact on many mining workshops in Heishui Ming Dynasty, both government-run and private, Zhu Ming has provided certain subsidies in terms of policy and money.

    Moreover, those freed slaves have become skilled workers after two years of work, but their status as slaves can no longer motivate them to work hard. Today, once they are liberated as people, they can smoothly be transferred to the place where they originally worked.  Employed as regular workers.  When you receive the salary you deserve every month, your work attitude will immediately change, and so will the performance you can produce.

    Next, in the other hall outside the palace, flowing water mats were set up to have fun with the people.  All subjects registered in Heishui Ming Kingdom can have one person from each household attend the enthronement banquet.

    This spectacle is unprecedented, not to mention that low-class people like civilians can participate in the banquet held by the emperor. It is really unheard of. The banquet held in the other hall was like a flowing stream of people, and they ate for three days.  A few leprous people wanted to continue eating and drinking for free, but they had no choice but to leave the banquet at the end.  They had no choice but to return angrily.

    After Cai Cheng and Zhang Jun went to sea, they urged the boatmen to go north quickly without making any stops.  It's not just them.  After the news that Zhu Ming ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor spread to several border areas of the Ming Dynasty through merchants and Siamese, the officials who were guarding them were all so frightened that their faces turned pale, and they quickly sent out eight hundred miles without hesitation.  Send the news to the capital as soon as possible.

    At the same time, the Xuanwei Division in various places began to mobilize their troops. Obediently, if the Han regime wanted to become king and hegemony outside, it would just turn a blind eye. But now that it wants to become emperor, what should the emperor in the capital do?  These officials all felt that a storm was about to come.

    One month later.  The news had already spread to the capital of the Ming Dynasty. When Cai Cheng and Zhang Jun lay down tremblingly under the main hall and reported one after another what happened in Nanyang, Zhu Di was surprisingly not furious.

    After the news from the land spread to the Ming Dynasty.  Jin Yiwei had already used the fastest post horse to hurry up and arrived two days earlier than Cai Cheng and Zhang Jun.

    Zhu Di admitted that when he saw this secret memorial, he wanted to capture Zhu Ming and behead him alive. If he had known this, he should have found a reason to kill him when he was in Ming Dynasty.  Ying Ming also did the thing that caused the consequences of raising tigers.

    After the rage, Zhu Di slowly calmed down.  When Cai Cheng and Zhang Jun arrived today, Zhu Di had completely put his mentality from an outsider's perspective and began to analyze the problem thoroughly.

    His calmness and overall view are also one of the reasons why he was finally able to succeed in Dabao.

    Listening to Cai Cheng and Zhang Jun¡¯s first-hand information about the Blackwater Ming Kingdom.  He did not expect that the Black Water Ming Kingdom had become so wealthy in just a few years.

    We have long known that the Ming Dynasty of Heishui solved the problem of refugees and food. Sweet potatoes, a crop grown in the Ming Dynasty of Heishui, were also introduced in the Ming Dynasty.  It is drought-resistant and produces a lot of crops. I heard that the local officials reported that it was very helpful for the food supply. With such miraculous crops, it was really not difficult for the Heishui Ming Dynasty to provide food. However, the wealth of the merchants mentioned by Cai Cheng and Zhang Jun was still eaten by Zhu Di.  Startled.

    Ordinary merchants have three to five ships of various sizes. The small ships specialize in business in the near sea, while the large ships can sail far away. Although the Blackwater Ming Dynasty has many waterways, all kinds of materials are transported by sea. Compared with the Ming Dynasty, it costs less and the materials are more expensive.  Transportation is more convenient.

    At this time, navigation technology was developing, as evidenced by the departure of Zheng He's fleet, and he was desperately dredging the canal in order to move the capital to Peking. At this time, Peking was being built, and Zhu Di slowly had an idea in his mind, whether??Can change water transportation to sea transportation

    After thinking about it in his mind, he started to think about the situation: Heishui Mingguo is so rich, isn't Zhu Ming afraid that those rich people will become disobedient because they are so rich that they can rival the country?

    What he didn't expect was that Zhu Ming did not take the family as his first goal, so he did not deliberately suppress the people's wealth, but instead received unexpected results. It seems that the rich are the first to have money.  The thing is not to think about how to obtain political power to overthrow Zhu Ming's rule, but to constantly expand outwards and think about discovering a new Zhanzhou continent.

    It took more than an hour for Cai Cheng and Zhang Jun to explain all aspects in general. Zhu Di also knew that the Black Water Ming Kingdom had migrated a large number of Jiaozhi craftsmen, and the firearms were no longer as sharp as his own, not to mention that the main force of the Ming soldiers were in the north.  , was not used to the hot and humid weather in the south, as evidenced by the repeated setbacks of his counter-insurgency army in Jiaozhi, and even General Mu Sheng died in front of the counter-insurgency battle.

    What¡¯s more, the rebellion in Jiaozhi has not been put down yet, and he is about to embark on the Northern Expedition. It is true that he cannot mobilize any manpower, so the only force he can use is the sea.

    Zhu Di thought of Zheng He, who had been sailing for nearly three years, and calculated that he should be on his way back. Although the Blackwater Ming Dynasty had developed shipping, Cai Cheng and Zhang Jun made it clear that the largest warship was only twenty feet long. Compared with his own  The lucky boat is much smaller.  It shouldn't be difficult to win when your own sea giant encounters the opponent's fleet.

    With the calculation in his mind, Zhu Di calmed down and said to the two people kneeling below: "Please rise, my two beloved ministers. My beloved ministers are all over Nanyang. They work hard and are really the pillars of the country. They are given the residence of the capital.  The officials will choose the best and the simplest at their discretion."

    Then Zhu Di sent an angel to the Longkou Division station outside the city. At this moment, there were only a few old and weak boats left, but it didn't matter. These people were just acting as messengers and they were going to Guangzhou Port.  Then he went all the way south to look for Zheng He's fleet and convey the emperor's orders.  I want to give that black water Mingguo some color.

    Although there was no need to destroy his country, Zhu Di also knew that the Blackwater Ming Kingdom had found another continent in the far south, but it was too far away. Zhu Di had no interest in it at all. If he got it, it would affect his rule.

    No matter what, Zhu Di¡¯s idea was to make the Black Water Mingguo know better and walk away from Malacca.  When he went to that far south, Quan was considered to be in exile, and he would never affect his subjects in the Ming Dynasty again.

    ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? .

    At this moment, Zheng He had successfully arrived at the holy city of Mecca in his heart during this voyage.  Fulfilled my greatest wish in this life.

    Zheng He was in a very happy mood after completing his wish to return home. On this day, he circled the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent and was about to go to the island of Ceylon for supplies as a routine.

    Zheng He disliked the greed and rudeness of the rulers of Ceylon, but he also knew that the kings of these small foreign countries should mainly win over them and promote the majesty of the Celestial Empire, so he did not do anything else.

    But this day is far away and has not yet arrived at the port.  Zheng He discovered that there were many differences. He had also been to Beloli Port himself.  There are low buildings all the way, but now there is not only a towering lighthouse in the port.  Under the lighthouse, it seems that a regular city wall has been built.

    When did this place become like a fortress?

    Just after Zheng He observed it with the telescope from the Black Water Ming Kingdom, he saw a small boat heading here.

    Turns out to be a Han Chinese!  A man who looked like an officer on the boat approached and shouted from a distance: "Please also ask the fleet of the Ming Dynasty to move to the port of Colombo in the south, where trade is prosperous and supplies are easier!"

    Knowing that he was the fleet of the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He had an absurd thought in his mind: Could it be that the small country of Zuer, trapped in a corner of the South Ocean, had developed into the ocean thousands of miles away?

    Wang Jinghong, the deputy envoy next to him, immediately asked Zheng He in a low voice whether he should force the ship to dock and see what kind of trick he was playing.

    The mature and prudent Zheng He did not do this. Since the other party said to go to Xingang in the south, then go to the south. It seems that this place has become a military port. Even if he forcibly disembarks, it will only cause a fight. If you want to know what happened  The truth is to go where civilians gather.

    So the new port of Colombo received the largest arriving fleet since its establishment.

    Although after tens of thousands of laborers worked hard day and night to build it, the Colombo Port at this time was still unable to face Zheng He's huge fleet. However, Zheng He had seen this situation many times, and the other ships were looking for a shelter.  They anchored in the gentle bay, and only a few of their own ships were anchored in the harbor.

    After some understanding it always proves that?Zheng He's previous guess was that Ceylon really fell under the control of the Blackwater Ming Kingdom. Hearing that the two forces in the south that had just established a foothold on the neighboring continent were making trouble, they also fled behind the scenes.  Not to escape the shadow of the Black Water Ming Dynasty, it seems that Sinhalese and Tamils ??from the island of Ceylon have been transported to the mainland to replenish their supplies.

    Zheng He also had to admire in his heart the courage of Zhu Ming, the helmsman of the Black Water Ming Kingdom, for taking over land so far away from his own homeland.

    And Zheng He also felt a faint worry in his heart. He couldn't explain why, but it seemed that Zhu Ming's ambition frightened people like him.

    And this worry was once again proven to be not unfounded in the evening. Several people who went to the market to replenish food and water returned to the flagship and approached Zheng He with pale faces.

    After speaking for a while, Zheng He's eyebrows furrowed tightly. Several buyers only said that the Han people here might have established another emperor, and they let it slip a few times.

    Zheng He can still be said to have a fair understanding of the situation here. This Ceylon definitely does not have the courage to establish an emperor. The only possibility is the Heishui Ming Kingdom. This Zhu Ming is so bold and dares to call himself emperor.  This move made Zheng He quite embarrassed.

    Should we gather the entire fleet to conquer Ceylon?  No, no, Zheng He rejected his statement in his mind. Let's not talk about whether we can defeat him or not. Even if we do, what's the point? Shoot the man first, shoot the horse first to capture the thief, and first capture the king.  There is nothing in this Ceylon that cannot be the main goal of this trip.

    "Quickly replenish fresh water and food, and we will set off early in the morning." Sooner rather than later, Zheng He wanted to head to the Blackwater Mingguo Free City to see what was going on.

    Twenty days later, Zheng He no longer needed to go to verify everything. Here he met the fleet sent by Zhu Di to look for him.

    This fleet of seven ships lined up in a loose formation, looking for traces of Zheng He's fleet along the way. The new emperor Zhu Ming did not declare a break with the Ming Dynasty, so the escort ships of the Black Water Ming Kingdom were just  Decorated from a distance.  He did not do anything unfriendly to this fleet.

    When the special envoy boarded Zheng He's ship, "" met Zheng He.  He also took out Zhu Di's imperial edict and ordered Zheng He to capture the traitor Zhu Ming and bring him back to Beijing.

    This is the order to start the war.

    Zheng He's fleet found a port on Sumatra Island. After replenishing food, they also submitted a letter of challenge. Of course, I can't control when it will be delivered to your emperor's desk, but from now on,  I'm about to start attacking you.

    ?Caught off guard.  The dozen warships stationed in the Strait of Malacca, including six bird-type warships, were caught off guard. They were originally patrolling in scattered groups of two and two in the strait, and encountered the overwhelming Zheng He fleet.  Even if the artillery is sharp, it will only lead to defeat.

    With the help of the ship's speed, all the flying birds escaped and retreated to Sanfu Island. However, those old or small warships were unlucky. They were all sunk by Zheng He mercilessly, and the crew were all captured and imprisoned as imperial prisoners.  .

    News reached the Blackwater Ming Kingdom that Zheng He¡¯s fleet was about to arrive, and the situation suddenly became tense as if it was about to explode.

    Zhu Ming knew that Zheng He might come back, but he didn't expect it to come so soon, but he didn't have much fear in his heart.  All of his Sea Shark ships are back, and two more have been launched.  Eleven sea shark ships, plus the same number of maneuverable bird ships.  Zhu Ming did not think that he would be at a disadvantage in the battle with the heavy and inflexible Fuchuan.

    The Fu Ship is suitable for boarding battles in the cold weapon era. It has rough skin and thick flesh, and carries many soldiers. However, naval battles under Zhu Ming's new mode are completely different. Whoever has more artillery and who is more maneuverable is the king.

    Under the leadership of Luo Minxi and Zhao Xin, the Blackwater Ming Dynasty battleship fleet met Zheng He's fleet thirty miles outside Chuancun Harbor.

    Although Zheng He¡¯s fleet was huge, with nearly a hundred large and small ships, less than half of them could actually be used in such naval battles.

    They do not have much advantage in terms of numbers, and the warships of the Black Water Ming Kingdom are all armed to the teeth. Compared with many Zheng He warships that are only equipped with a small number of ballistae, they are much stronger.

    So when more than 20 warships from the Black Water Ming Kingdom appeared in Zheng He's eyes, this brave general who had experienced hundreds of battles couldn't help but feel nervous. The opponent's fleet was in order, but the formation was a bit weird.

    Seeing the opponent's two long snake formations lined up, Zheng He was a little unsure. He said that the Black Water Ming Kingdom's artillery was sharp, but with the formation of the opponent's fleet, not only the first ship at the head of each row could attack.  Do you gain yourself?

    Although I was doubtful in my heart, under Zheng He's order, the well-trained sailors and soldiers immediately pushed the cannons and loaded them with thick guns.To load the crossbows, the most majestic treasure ships Changning, Anji, and Qinghe were at the front of the queue.

    Zheng He¡¯s fleet was arranged in a well-defined fish scale formation. After being entangled in this way, they could quickly take advantage of the number of ships. Several ships would approach and board the enemy ships.

    Who knows that the Blackwater Ming Kingdom fleet is still three or four miles away, and Luo Minxi, the commander-in-chief of the ship, has already ordered the ship to turn to the northeast with the wind.

    The flexible Black Water Ming Dynasty warship turned very quickly. After many journeys across the ocean, the sailors were also very skilled in sailing and steering. As the leading flagship, the Julang, turned around, the ones following behind  A long string wound into a large arc.

    "They want to run away?" asked Ma Huan, who was writing notes on the side.

    Zheng He didn¡¯t reply, but his solemn expression showed that he didn¡¯t see it that way.

    Zheng He's fleet was still charging forward at full speed, while two-thirds of the battleships of the Blackwater Ming Kingdom fleet on the opposite side had turned around at this time. There were two rows of battleships, with the bird ship in front and the sea shark ship behind, staggered to each other.  some distance.

    While Zheng He and others were still puzzled, on board the Julang, the flagship of the Ming Dynasty in Blackwater, Captain Li Cunyi suggested to Luo Minxi to fire immediately. Except for the two warships at the end of the crane, the entire fleet had already turned around and occupied  Got the shooting position that starts with the T.

    This is the T-letter strategy that Zhu Ming clearly explained in the internal training manual. Future naval battles will be dominated by artillery. In battleship and artillery duels, whoever captures the T-letter will win.

    "Fire!"

    "Fire!"

    The order to fire was passed down layer by layer through semaphore, and the Blackwater Mingguo warships lined up in a row fired their guns one after another. For a moment, the firelight on the side of the Blackwater Mingguo warship was shining, and the blue smoke was lingering.

    One after another, red cannonballs flew towards Zheng He's fleet. The distance was just right for the ship's artillery to unleash its power. Zheng He's bow cannons only had three or two small cats firing, roaring, and those few cannonballs did not know where they landed.  went.

    "The hundreds of artillery shells fired by the Blackwater Ming Dynasty fleet fell into Zheng He's fleet like rain, and the largest naval battle of this era began.

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