During this period, on the one hand, the Javanese Yuan reorganized the army and built warships; on the other hand, scholars were also thinking: The Yuan Dynasty was obviously so tolerant and powerful. It stands to reason that the country should be able to last for a long time, but why did it end so quickly? Already? Only by understanding this issue can we avoid making the same mistakes again.
They believe that the reason for the decline of the Yuan Dynasty is not difficult to summarize, that is, endless civil strife. Whether within the Khan family or between the Great Khan and the Mongolian nobles, there was a long-term lack of a stable system, which could only be maintained by a few outstanding leaders. The slightest disturbance or contradiction will lead to serious conflicts and internal strife, causing greater damage to the already unstable order.
This fragile system was brought by the Mongols. The organization of these people was too primitive and their political skills were too poor, which ultimately ruined the good situation of the Yuan Dynasty.
It can be seen that Dayuan is good everywhere, but these Mongols are not good.
If you want to revive the country's prestige and restore the country's power as it was during the days of Taizu and Shizu, you have to kick out all these guys who can only do bad things. Without the Mongols, Dayuan would be better off.
Therefore, Javanese Yuan called on businessmen and scholar-bureaucrats to unite and establish a more complete Yuan Dynasty regime. In their dealings with Western trading countries, the official country name they used in Latin and Greek was called "The Orthodox Yuan Empire of the Han Nation."
Guo Kang always feels that this theory is a bit strange, and no matter how you look at it, the Javanese Yuan is actually neither orthodox, nor a great Yuan, nor an empire. After all, they are just a federation established by a group of businessmen.
Moreover, not only him, many other people also found it strange. I complained to him when I was off the hook, saying that the Roman attributes of the Holy Roman Empire might be higher than the Yuan Dynasty attributes of the Javanese Yuan Dynasty.
However, Sun Shiwan's entourage told them that the excluded Mongolians here were only the upper-class Mongolian nobles. Of course, maritime merchants did not exclude all Mongols: when the Yuan Dynasty was still there, they frequently purchased Mongolian slaves. To this day, there are still a certain number of Mongolian slaves and soldiers in Java.
This idea also led to some strange results. For example, when the two sides fought recently, there were more Mongolian officers in the Ming Dynasty army than in the Javanese army.
Tuo Huan wonders, is this kind of Yuan Dynasty still called the Yuan Dynasty? However, the Javanese Yuan Dynasty stated that the Yuan Dynasty was not the Yuan Dynasty of the Mongol Khan, but the Yuan Dynasty shared by the Khan and the scholar-bureaucrats.
During the reign of Genghis Khan, the Mongols were still useful; by the time of Xue Chan Khan, many tribes and even clan kings were mainly troublemakers and needed to be taught a lesson; after the emperor, even the great khans and nobles were inferior to each other. Therefore, they should now take care of these Mongolians on behalf of Changshengtian and Genghis Khan, so that they can be worthy of Dayuan.
If you can't get rid of these people, you can only give up. Anyway, it was a matter involving Kublai Khan’s family. He, who claimed to be a descendant of Batu, didn’t seem to have to worry about it...
However, Guo Kang still had great doubts about whether they could help. Because the Javanese Yuan and Ming dynasties have been sworn enemies for decades.
After Vietnam and the Liang Dynasty were defeated one after another, Javanese Yuan had become the biggest threat to the Ming Dynasty in the southeast. Javanese pirates, with the cooperation of local remnants of the Yuan Dynasty and the remaining forces of Zhang Shicheng, Fang Guozhen, Chen Youding and other tribes, frequently attacked the coast and plundered everywhere.
The Ming Dynasty initially tried to cut off their connections through the Forbidden Sea and suppress the pirates' rampage. However, this method is fine for dealing with small groups of pirates, but it is obviously not enough for dealing with forces like Java Yuan that have regular armies.
The Ming Dynasty also tried to relocate coastal people in important areas, and established walls and clearing fields in areas that were convenient for landing. It tried to cut off the supplies of Javanese pirates and force them to leave as soon as possible. However, migration affects the livelihood of local people and causes greater dissatisfaction.
Fishermen and small businessmen who had lost their source of livelihood gathered on the coast one after another, engaged in fishing and black market trade privately, and even actively invested in Javanese dollars. The government has repeatedly issued bans, but they have not been effective, and have only worsened the situation. The Javanese army even openly landed, attacked prefectures and counties, and looted treasuries. He also cooperated with the remaining forces of the Yuan Dynasty in the northeastern region to launch multiple attacks, leaving the court in a state of disarray.
In the twelfth year of Hongwu's reign, the Hu Weiyong case broke out. Someone reported that he had secret dealings with the Champa State, which was an important buffer state between the Ming Dynasty and the Javanese Yuan Dynasty. The incident escalated rapidly and eventually turned into a major case of colluding with the Javanese Yuan to rebel. The ruling and opposition parties received a huge impact.
However, with this major case, the Ming Dynasty finally began to change its thinking. Instead of continuing to torment the fishermen, it tried to attack the supporters of the Javanese Yuan in the middle and upper classes. At the same time, it began to prepare a navy to prepare to destroy the enemy at sea.
The navy is very expensive, and it continues to burn money. When the army is not in use, it can cultivate fields, but even if the ships are left there and not used, they have to spend money on frequent maintenance.
Moreover, a ship often has little effect. At least the size of your navy must not be too different from that of the enemy to be valuable. The investment at one time was not one warship, but an entire fleet.
Therefore, the Central Plains dynasties were often not very enthusiastic about this.
Expanding the navy is often feasible only in two situations: either, the losses caused by the enemy are too great and far exceed the high cost of the navy. Either that or the benefits brought by navy are high, making these costs bearable.
The Ming Dynasty was forced to accept the former. But when the navy was established and needed to be maintained for a long time because of the war, it became natural to pursue the latter to reduce financial pressure.
In fact, ocean trade routes are not only important to Zi Zhang, but also a huge source of wealth for any country. Although the Ming Dynasty was the origin of various finely crafted goods and seemed very wealthy, such a large tax was not a small figure for them. These benefits don't matter when you can't get them. Once you experience them twice, you don't want to let them go.
The second round of war was mainly fought at sea. Although the scale was not as large as the previous one, it involved a larger scope. The Javanese navy of the Yuan and Ming dynasties fought from Ryukyu to Manchuria, and the entire Southeast Asia became a battlefield.
The Ming Dynasty once built a city and garrisoned troops in Managa, trying to block the strait, cut off the Javanese trade channels, and trap them. The Javanese Yuanze circled south to find a new route, and at the same time formed an alliance with the Timurid Empire, defeated the Ming army and regained its stronghold. A few years later, the Ming army sailed south from Jiaozhi, trying to compete for the trade line again...
The sporadic fighting continued until Zhu Yuanzhang's death before it came to an end. However, within a few years of the lull, the successor Tianping Emperor Zhu Biao launched a new war, trying to start from Luzon Island, and the two sides were once again at loggerheads. Strictly speaking, this round has continued until now and is not over.
