For decades, Zhang Zhen believed in the philosophy that "no matter how big a country is, it will perish if it is warlike." In terms of foreign relations, it coincides with Zhu Yuanzhang's, that is, good neighborliness and friendship, persuading others with virtue, being strong but not bullying, and being coercive but not intimidating. Tyrant.
But during the four years in Jiaozhi, Zhang Yan finally saw the wealth of the sea, the wealth of Nanyang, specifically, the wealth of food.
Spices, precious woods, and gems were all playthings in Zhang Yan's eyes. Without these, Ming Dynasty could still live a good life. But the Ming Dynasty was in short supply of food.
Looking back on the thirty-one years of Hongwu, the Ming Dynasty saved 68 floods, 41 droughts, 12 locust disasters, six hailstorms, six tides, and five frost disasters!
Which disaster did not require food relief?
But there is simply not enough food to eat in many places. Countless people have been displaced and have lost their homes and land. They can only go to nearby prefectures and counties to eat. But how long can the prefectures and counties last for disaster preparedness?
By the time the imperial court allocated food from other places, how many people had already sold their wives, daughters, and sons, how many people had lost their parents, and how many people had starved to death!
Zhang Yan had heard about the wars in the late Yuan Dynasty, witnessed the desolation of the floods in the early days of the founding of the Wu Dynasty, walked through the hungry and dying people, and caressed the emaciated people in the mountains who were barely adults. People, know the importance of food and understand that food is the foundation of the country!
There is food in Jiaozhi. There is a lot of food. This food is enough to feed all the officials, enough to feed millions of people, and enough to prevent countless people from starving to death because they cannot afford to eat during the famine!
Emperor Jianwen restored Jiaozhi to the Ming Dynasty. What a wise decision it was!
But just having Jiaozhi is not enough. After all, it is too far north and does not go deep into the South China Sea. For example, in Champa, rice is harvested three times a year, while most places in Jiaozhi can only be harvested twice a year.
It’s unfair. How come you can have enough to eat and your warehouses are full of food, but the kind, simple, and hard-working people of Ming Dynasty have to go hungry?
This kind of understanding and motivation made Zhang Yan realize that war may not be a way to solve problems, and that options that were originally impossible can also be chosen.
When Zhu Yunwen issued an order to Jiaozhi to pay close attention to the dynamics of the Balni Kingdom, Zhang Yan, Han Guan and others made a rational judgment: the emperor wanted the land of the Balni Kingdom.
The Bo Ni Kingdom is located in the center of Nanyang. By occupying Bo Ni, the Ming Dynasty can achieve real control of the Nanyang waters. Whether it is used as a transit station and granary, or as a naval base to guard sea lanes and deter Southeast Asian countries, its strategic significance and practical value are immeasurable.
Zhang Yong is a traditional civil servant, but he has the consciousness of expansion. This has to shock Han Guan, but Zhang Yong's original motivation for supporting expansion is food. It is to feed the people of the Ming Dynasty, not territory or other resources. of plunder.
Han Guan's motive for supporting Zhu Yunwen's expansion was even more simple. After all, a military general who didn't think about opening up territories and protecting his family was not a good military general.
With the support of Zhang Yan and Han Guan, Lin Huan soon had a delegation of 200 people, including officials in charge of farmers and officials in forestry, and of course, more officials from the capital. With the general of the guard station.
Lin Huan was the chief envoy, Tao Rong was the deputy envoy, and Meng Cha and Jiang Chengzhou from Dusi acted as escorts. The group of people and two ships left Aizhou Port and headed straight for Boni Kingdom.
Bo Ni Country is a small and medium-sized country in Nanyang. Small here refers to weak strength. In terms of land area alone, the Bo Ni Kingdom is huge, comparable to twenty-one Hainan Islands and three Jiaozhi counties.
The land here is vast and sparsely populated, and a large amount of virgin forest has not been developed. The south and west are mostly wilderness areas, and the population is mainly concentrated in the north and east.
Bo Ni City.
Huang Senping looked at himself in the mirror. The skin on his face was wrinkled, there were more than a dozen black spots, and his hair was all gray.
This mirror is made of Ming Dynasty, and the hair is clearly visible.
Moving the crutch, Huang Senping walked out of the room and looked at the pouring rain outside, feeling a little heavy.
Since the death of King Hassan at the beginning of the year, the Balni Kingdom has fallen into division. Half a year has passed and the throne is still vacant.
Prince Temangun has been making a lot of moves recently, constantly squeezing out his own people, hoping to exclude the power of the Huang family from the Bo Ni Kingdom. But Temangong seems to have forgotten that if he hadn't helped the Balni Kingdom defeat the Sulu Kingdom, Balni would have already become the territory of the Sulu Kingdom.
At the time of the attack, the king of Balni was still Mahmosa.
In order to show his intention to form an alliance, Mahmosa married his daughter to himself and asked his younger brother Ahmed to marry his sister Huang Yuanli. After Mahmosa's death, his son Hassan became the king, and he and Mahmosa's brother, Prince Temangun, supervised the regency of the country.
The two ministers who oversee the country are still alive, but King Hassan died first.
There is no room for two tigers in one mountain, and Temangun is not a mother. If you want to finally control the Balni Kingdom, you must let your strength speak for itself.
Thunder and lightning flashed across the sky, creating a moment of light.
Huang Senping stopped his crutches and shouted: "If you want to gain more, be prepared to lose more first. Xia Wang, let Ahmed come to see me."
Ahmed is Huang Senping's brother-in-law and Mahmosa's younger brother, while Temangun is Mahmosa's brother. This battle seems to be a battle for the throne between the elder brother and the younger brother, but in fact it is a battle for the throne between the Temangon and Huang Senping families.
Ahmed came, and so did Huang Yuanli.
Huang Senping sat gloomily and said nothing.
Seeing this, Huang Yuanli stood up, poured a cup of tea, and said softly: "Brother, the current situation is not good for us. We always respond passively. Sooner or later we will be driven out of Boni City. I am not worried about leaving Boni City. I am only afraid of Teman." They will also take away our Broken Hand River and Chinatown, and by then, the decades of foundation will be gone."
Huang Senping glanced at Huang Yuanli, then looked at Ahmed. Shen Sheng asked: "What do you think?"
Ahmed was filled with bitterness and sighed: "Temangun has murderous intentions towards me, and many strangers have appeared near my residence. If it weren't for your protection, I might not even be able to go out. Temangun has not made a move on me for a long time. He is worried and worried about the power of the Huang family, but I guess his scruples will not last long. You should have heard the news, right? There is a man named Fang Tianhua When people arrived in Bo Ni Kingdom, they were welcomed by Te Mangun."
Huang Senping stared. It didn't matter who Fang Tianhua was. What was important was that this person brought a team with a large number of people, more than 500 people. The addition of this force to Temangon posed a considerable threat to the Huang family's power.
Huang Yuanli persuaded from the side: "Brother, I heard rumors that Fang Tianhua is a pirate on the sea, the leader of the Qingyuan Pirates, and he once teamed up with Chen Zuyi to attack the Daming Yangjiang Shipyard. Last year, our fleet went to Daming to sell goods. As a result, After leaving Kong, the people who came back said they were robbed by pirates, and I'm afraid it was Fang Tianhua who did it."
Huang Senping's face became solemn and asked: "Can this news be confirmed?"
Huang Yuanli knew that Huang Senping did not want the Ming Dynasty Navy to intervene in the internal struggle of the Bo Ni Kingdom. Zhongshan Kingdom was a lesson learned from the past.
"Unable to confirm at the moment."
Huang Yuanli was a little helpless.
There is no way, no one knows Fang Tianhua, and there is no portrait of this person.
Huang Kesun stood up and said: "Father, regardless of whether Fang Tianhua is the leader of the Qingyuan Pirates or not, Temangun is doing whatever it takes to expand its power. If we wait any longer, we will not only lose the opportunity to strike first, but also the opportunity to fight back. Ability. My son suggested that we make an early decision to deal with Temangun and promote my brother-in-law Ahmed as the king."
It is the consensus of the Huang family that Ahmed should be the king. Huang Senping is already old, so it is naturally impossible for him to be the king himself. In addition, the Huang family is only a force of the Balni Kingdom and does not represent all. The subjects and indigenous people of Mahemosa , has a tradition of supporting the Mahmosa family. Choosing Mahmosa's younger brother Ahmed as king is necessary to maintain the stability of Balni and win the support of other forces.
??????????????? Huang Senping stood up and his eyes became determined: "From today on, organize the people near the Duan Shou River, form an army, distribute weapons, and be ready at any time. Huang Kesun, you personally Go to China Town, and once the police arrive, take them directly to Bo Ni City."
Huang Kesun frowned and looked at Huang Senping: "Father, are you gone?"
"Gone."
Huang Senping said.
Huang Kesun, Huang Yuanli, and Ahmed were a little disappointed. This order was conservative and defensive, not proactive and offensive.
In the final analysis, Huang Senping still did not make up his mind to directly fight a decisive military battle with Temangong.
After Ahmed, Huang Yuanli and others left, Huang Kesun looked at his elderly father and couldn't help but ask: "Father, why don't you just raise troops and fight? With our manpower, strength and prestige, it will be no problem to defeat Temangun!"
Huang Senping looked deeply at Huang Kesun and said seriously: "Child, why is the Broken Hand River called the Broken Hand River? It's because many of us were in danger there and lost our hands. It's easy to live and it's easy to fight, but have you ever thought about it? No, how many of our people will die after the war? Will Balni City be renamed Guantou City? They followed us and settled here, and we should protect them with all our strength."
Huang Kesun gritted his teeth: "Isn't war the best protection for them? If Temangun becomes king, he will definitely not let us go. By then he will have more power, and our losses will be even greater."
Huang Senping waved his hand: "Temangun is not a fool. He will not attack the Huang family and destroy most of the power of the Balni Kingdom. What he really wants to kill is your brother-in-law Ahmed. Of course, neither will I." Allow him to do this."
"Then we wait now?"
"wait."
"When?"
"Wait until we have the strength to win without a fight."
Huang Senping said calmly.
Huang Kesun shook his head. Those old men from the Bo Ni Kingdom supported Temangong a lot, not to mention that he still held an army of more than a thousand people. Now that Fang Tianhua has joined, the situation is not good for the Huang family.
Huang Senping saw Huang Kesun's worries and said softly: "Don't worry, those ministers are not blind and will not see the situation clearly. Besides, Ming Dynasty will not allow our Huang family to be destroyed..."
