What does it mean to send a daughter to the palace to be the companion of the emperor's nephew?
Zheng Zhilong couldn't believe his ears. He quickly turned to look at Shen Tingyang and found that Shen Tingyang was just like him, completely petrified.
"What? Not willing?" Zhu Youjian's tone was already a little serious, "Are you worried that Tea Girl won't become the great nephew?
Let me tell you clearly, this matter depends on what my nephew wants... I also chose Wu Xiang's daughter Wu Sanmei, who is also a four-year-old girl. Including your tea aunt, there are only two little girls accompanying the great nephew, childhood sweethearts, two little girls... Oh, it should be the childhood sweetheart, and the future great nephew will be chosen from the two of them! "
What? Zheng Zhilong opened his mouth wide. Is there half a chance that Tea Girl will become the empress of the Ming Dynasty?
Zheng Zhilong's good friend Shen Tingyang was not petrified this time, but was filled with envy and jealousy... He also has a little girl of several years old who is very pink and tender. She must be prettier than Zheng Zhilong's daughter. ——Just look at Zheng Zhilong’s dark face and you will know that his daughter must not be pretty! But why can't my daughter enter the palace?
Thinking of this, Shen Tingyang turned his attention to Widow Xu - he sent a lot of money to Widow Xu! Why didn't you help at the critical moment?
Widow Xu had a look of helplessness, because she frequently blew the air on Zhu Youjian's pillow, and also mobilized the three accompanying Mongolian concubines and the girls from the Ma and Qin families to take turns to go to bed to blow... But it was no use ah!
Zhu Youjian said that the emperor's nephew's marriage is his own decision!
You have to like the rebellious little brat Zhu Cixi!
Widow Xu was speechless when she said this. The emperor's nephew was only five years old, he knew nothing!
Besides, Zhu Cihong had never met Wu Sanmei and Zheng Chagu before, so why did he make the decision on his own?
"Zheng Youqi," Pang Tianshou reacted quickly and started to remind the dumb Zheng Zhilong, "Why don't you thank me quickly!"
"Your Majesty Zheng Zhilong thanks the Lord for your kindness!" Zheng Zhilong reacted and quickly paid homage!
Zhu Youjian smiled and waved his hand, "Pingshen, Pingshen... Yiguan, don't be too busy thanking me, I have better things to tell you!"
besides?
Zheng Zhilong murmured in his heart, I didn't give many gifts to Long Live Lord... They were just 500 Xiamen-made turtle dove guns, 6 English-made 12-pound Hongyi cannons, and 10 horses from Tianzhu A large buck-eared ocean horse with a handle bought from the country, and finally 50,000 taels of silver were added.
Except for the 10 ocean horses, which cost a lot, the rest of the turtle dove guns and red barbarian cannons were not expensive. They cost several thousand taels of silver together. Including Malaysia and silver, the cost of these gifts is only fifty or sixty thousand taels... With this amount of money, I actually bought "half a princess" - and the other half depends on Zheng Chagu coaxing the little girl. Brother's ability!
But even if you can't win the crown princess, this "deal" has already made a lot of money. Did you think there are other benefits?
"First officer," Zhu Youjian looked at Zheng Zhilong's dark face and smiled, "Shen Tingyang told me that you want to be the naval admiral of the Ming Dynasty... and you want me to send an imperial envoy to fight with the Red Army. Shao Gui meets to discuss business?"
"Long live Lord, I have 20,000 navy officers and men under my command, and they are all willing to serve the imperial court... But I am just a guerrilla, and I have no way to arrange for my brothers." Zheng Zhilong said, "But Long live Lord, I don't have to send out military pay. I can raise my own military pay. , and don’t want a penny from the imperial court.”
What a beautiful idea! Next to him, Shen Tingyang gritted his teeth gently and thought to himself: Armed with 20,000 troops and still supporting himself, this is a feudal prince in a separate state, and the emperor will not agree to it!
Zhu Youjian smiled at this time and said: "An admiral is nothing...but I can't give it to you in vain."
Not for free? Zheng Zhilong said in his heart: Are you selling your official position? The emperor himself sold his official position?
Zhu Youjian said: "Official, I know that you have made huge profits from maritime trade and roadblock collection. You are the richest man in the Ming Dynasty at a young age."
What does it mean to collect money on the road? Zheng Zhilongxin said: It sounds like being a pirate... I have never been a pirate, I am just an honest businessman who collects protection fees.
Zhu Youjian added: "Nowadays, the benefits at sea are huge, and it is enough to make a country strong. I am greedy and want to get a share of the pie."
How do you want a piece of the pie? Zheng Zhilong thought to himself: Isn't it inappropriate for the royal family to do the business in person by blocking the road to collect money? He will be regarded as a pirate emperor!
"I know that today's world has entered the so-called Age of Discovery," Zhu Youjian continued to talk. "The Galen merchant ships of the West can set up huge sails and travel tens of thousands of miles, either for trafficking or plundering. , not only made huge profits, but also expanded their territory overseas.
However, our country, the Ming Dynasty, closed its doors to itself, did not seek overseas profits, did not learn Western arts, and did not compete with other Western countries for unclaimed land. It is a pity that we obviously want to prepare for Japanese and foreign invaders, but we are actually tying our own hands and feet and missing the opportunity in vain... "
This emperor knows a lot!
Zheng Zhilong and Shen Ting were both people who had opened their eyes to see the world. They were both secretly surprised after hearing Zhu Youjian's words.
Zhu Youjian continued: "Nowadays, there are many disasters in China and the people are short of food. We really can no longer guard the little land left by our ancestors.
Therefore, I want to spread my country's prestige to the four seas, expand my land in all directions, and colonize people in foreign lands... However, our country has been closed to the outside world for a long time. Most of the officials and people among the people do not know how big the world is, and few people have learned the art of navigation.
Therefore, if we want to go to sea and expand our territory, we must first learn from the barbarians and learn their skills. Only in this way can we develop a large navy. With a navy, our Ming Dynasty can sail to foreign lands. If you want to learn foreign skills and develop a navy, you must first open up trade. By building a commercial market at the gateway, you can learn about the world, attract talents, develop industries, and build a navy! "
It turns out that Zhu Youjian also wanted to be a great colonizer expanding overseas territories like Nizi!
However, Zhu Youjian's ideas were not exactly the same as Nizi's. Nizi's colonial expansion route focused on commerce and profit. Businessmen were at the forefront, and the court's investment was relatively small. Therefore, when the traitor was in power, he could start the overseas colonial movement regardless of the fact that the domestic war was still going on. In fact, the colonization of many European countries at the same time was also carried out in this way. There is no saying that colonization must first be settled at home.
For example, the Dutch, who have now sneaked to the doorstep of the Ming Empire, are fighting an Eighty Years' War with the Spanish Empire - because the Netherlands previously belonged to the Spanish Empire, this Eighty Years' War was actually a civil war. .
However, the Dutch did not wait until the victory of the War of Independence before setting out to explore the world, and the Spanish Empire also did not give up its colonial undertakings when it was at war with the Netherlands.
This is because the current European colonial movement has a relatively high commercial component, and most of the enemies encountered overseas are weak, so there is no need to devote all the country's efforts to fighting overseas.
In addition, for commercial colonial groups, fierce conflicts within the country (sometimes not necessarily civil war) are also helpful for them to obtain low-cost mercenaries and pioneers. If we really want peace and prosperity for our country, where can we hire people to go to sea?
However, Chongzhen's economic calculations were not as accurate as those of the rebellious son. His colonial ideas were generally feudal - the purpose was not to make money, but to send his sons overseas to build a country, and by the way, he would organize some beggars who could not afford to eat to follow him. go together.
What he did was actually to use the national power of the Ming Dynasty to open up a feudal country for his son - the cost of colonization was borne by the country, and it was his son who benefited... Of course, spending the country's money does not have to be counted. Too sophisticated, and colonization with the purpose of establishing a feudal country will certainly not go for profits. Therefore, Zhu Youjian had to make close and distant contacts, and at the same time, he had to build a navy that could effectively support overseas colonial missions.
However, Zhu Youjian still borrowed some unruly methods, such as using commercial markets as the basis for running a navy. The navy is always inseparable from maritime activities. Especially in the 17th century, almost no country that did not go to sea could run a good navy. of. If a country based on land and people wants to control maritime power, it must open and close trade and at the same time support large port cities. Because a large port city will definitely develop an advanced shipbuilding industry, it will also become a gathering place for sailors and navigators from all over the world.
Therefore, in Zhu Youjian's calculations, the prerequisite for overseas colonization is a large navy, and the prerequisite for a large navy is the opening and closing of commercial cities.
In his plan, his empire will focus on the development of the four major seaport cities of Tianjin, Shanghai, Fuzhou, and Xiangshan Island.
Among the four seaports, Shanghai and Xiangshan Island are the largest ones! Zhu Youjian planned to hand over these two commercial capitals to Shen Tingyang and Zheng Zhilong.
