Autumn, six years after the liberation.
The rice fields on both sides of the Yangtze River are golden.
The heavy ears of rice bent down.
Plump ears of grain herald a bumper harvest in autumn.
Ever since peace prevailed in all directions and the Ming Dynasty had unified the world.
In Jiangnan and the two lakes, the weather is really going well, the country is peaceful and the people are at peace, and a peaceful and prosperous era seems to be coming.
In fact.
Although Emperor Zhu has been on the throne since he ascended the throne.
The scholar-bureaucrats were tormented by changing methods.
However, the living standards of the people below are still a little higher than those in the pre-Qing Dynasty.
The main reason is naturally because.
There are fewer people in Han Dynasty.
these two years.
The main task of the Ming Dynasty was to immigrate to the Northeast and Southeast Asia.
People in Guangdong, Guangdong and Hunan who had no enough food to eat were moved to Borneo and Java Island in large numbers.
Most of the extremely poor people in the Central Plains and Liangjiang were mobilized to invade Guandong.
With these two pressure relief valves.
The Ming Dynasty was quite stable internally.
Although the local gentry caused troubles from time to time.
But as long as ordinary people can still eat.
Basically no one dared to go against the imperial court.
not to mention.
The Ming Dynasty now firmly controls the sacred land in the southeast.
In addition, the Ming Dynasty's finances did not rely much on land taxes, but relied on various financial methods close to modernization to maintain the operation of the court.
The army is now at the beginning of the country's rebirth. The first generation of generals are still there, as are the veterans below.
When you are most capable of fighting.
The emperor above him was the Guangfu Emperor Zhu Daohua, whose authority almost surpassed that of Ming Taizu.
in this case.
Even if what Emperor Zhu did was indeed a bit excessive.
But no one dared to use their heads to test whether Emperor Zhu's gun was accurate enough.
At this moment.
The great emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
He was standing on the deck of a steamer, with a dozen young people standing beside him.
Secretary Luo Jinyue stood quietly next to Emperor Zhu.
Emperor Zhu was talking to two frightened young people on the other side.
"Zheng Yi, Zhou Jihai, your trip to the North American continent has been fruitful. It's no wonder that you are granted the title of Marquis based on your achievements!" Emperor Zhu said with a smile.
"Thank you Lord for your grace."
"I feel ashamed that I can't deserve the title of marquis for my humble merits."
The two said hurriedly.
The two men who were awarded the title of marquis for their great contribution to the route to the New World and the map of the Gold Mountain area (Vancouver) have aroused heated discussions in the court and among the people in recent months.
Be a Marquis!
This is the dream of many people.
The result was given to two navigators so easily?
This is really a bit too hasty.
but.
There are rumors among the people.
It was because of the discovery of a large gold mine in Jinshan that Zheng Yi and Zhou Jihai were granted the title of marquis.
Although no one knows the purpose of Emperor Zhu's granting marquisships to Zheng Yi and Zhou Jihai, whether he also wanted to publicize Jinshan and arouse people's interest in Jinshan.
Even if Emperor Zhu's original intention may really be just to reward merit - in Emperor Zhu's view, opening up a shipping route to North America is such a great contribution that he is definitely qualified to become a prince.
contributions from both of them.
Comparable to Zhang Qian's journey through the Western Regions.
It's nothing to be granted the title of Marquis.
But other people did not attach as much importance to the North American waterway as Emperor Zhu did.
so.
After the two became marquises.
There was an urban legend in the Ming Dynasty - Jinshan was full of gold!
So Emperor Zhu immediately granted Jinshan to the second prince as his fief!
At the same time, the second prince, who is five years old this year, is also the first prince to be awarded the title of prince.
He was granted the title of King of Qin, and in the future he would use Jinshan as his capital to establish a new Qin Kingdom in North America.
Even the Prince of Qin's Mansion has been opened to recruit a group of non-eldest sons of nobles who are about the same age as the second prince. They will join the second prince in developing the new Qin Kingdom in the future.
These six princes all got a Japanese king, but this one belonged to a foreign vassal, not a direct vassal.
The second prince granted him the title of Prince, and also granted him the title of Jinshan. This convinced many people.
This Jinshan, even if it is not really filled with gold, must be an extremely rich place.
Otherwise, how could Emperor Zhu grant the title to his son?
"I say you can afford it if you can afford it. However, Jinshan is desolate now. If we don't increase the number of immigrants as soon as possible, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold on to this treasure land!"
Emperor Zhu said.
"What the emperor said is absolutely true. When I was in Jinshan, I explored south and discovered the Spanish forces. In addition, there were white adventurers in the United States nearby, and there were many fierce Indian tribes near Jinshan. They They are a nomadic tribe similar to the Mongols.”
Emperor Zhu nodded.
This Indian. In fact, this name is a bit too "Eurocentric".
The indigenous people of the entire New World are called "Indians".
It’s almost as ridiculous as naming the entire ethnic group and race of the entire Eurasian continent “Eurasian”.
In fact.
There are many tribes and ethnic groups among the indigenous people of the New World. From north to south, there are so many tribes that they cannot be generalized.
Some Indian tribes are weak, while others are very fierce.
Especially the nomadic Indians who chased bison in North America.
That one is quite fierce and capable of fighting.
Therefore, whether the Ming Dynasty can gain a foothold in Jinshan.
The essential.
It’s the population!
Only with a large enough population can we guard the Ming Dynasty's only stronghold in North America!
Just as the three of them were talking.
The steamer slowly entered the harbor.
This port is not a big port, but a river port on the edge of the Yangtze River Estuary.
It was a port built after a factory called "Yifan Shipyard" bought the land.
On the harbor dock.
A large ship docked quietly on the shore.
The shape of the big ship is a bit strange.
The hull is wide and long.
Hanging on the three masts is a hard sail that combines Chinese hard sails and Western soft sails.
This kind of sail type that combines Chinese and Western styles is actually not uncommon.
But the strangest thing about this ship is the stern part.
There is actually a huge chimney, which is also covered with iron sheets. Since the ship does not draft much, the propeller in the stern part of the ship can be vaguely seen.
This is actually a large ship that combines steam engine power and sails.
This kind of combined power ship has been used in the Ming Dynasty Navy several years ago.
But this ship does not look like a warship. The full cabin is designed to carry people and cargo.
"Your Majesty, this is the No. 1 New Continental Merchant Ship."
The one who was speaking was Jiang Yifan, the owner of Yifan Shipyard, who was standing next to Emperor Zhu.
Jiang Yifan is one of the first batch of graduates from Daohua University.
After graduation.
Many graduates of Daohua University either went to work in the royal consortium or went to local governments to become scholar officials.
But like Jiang Yifan, there are also many people who start their own businesses.
And now Jiang Yifan is obviously one of the first batch of graduates to start their own business.
More than three months ago.
Emperor Zhu ordered various shipyards to bid for a ship type that could be used to travel between the two sides of the Pacific.
The requirement is that it can be used for both people and goods, the speed must be fast, the load capacity must be large, and the operation must be as simple as possible, requiring less operating manpower.
This requirement really embarrasses many old shipyards.
And finally.
It was Jiang Yifan's Yifan Shipyard design that won the bid.
(End of chapter)
