Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 1022 Fengming Scenery
In order to avoid the crowded crowds when entering the city, Yang Shiqi arranged a boat for Zhu Su to enter the city. Zhu Su boarded the boat at the outer city dock, and the boat sailed down the Qinhuai River, passed through the tall water gate of Yingtianfu, and slowly sailed to the dock of the inner city.

It was already dusk, and the afterglow of the setting sun on the bow of the boat no longer had much warmth. Instead, the fragrant Qinhuai River breeze, the painted boats with colorful lights on, the singing of the singing girls, and the laughter of people passing by the river made Zhu Su feel very warm.

Near the wharf is the Confucius Temple. The Imperial College and the Qinhuai Twelve Towers stand along the Qinhuai River. The Confucius Temple was built near the Imperial College. There was a surge of people at the entrance of the Confucius Temple. In Zhu Su's opinion, it was more lively and charming than the Confucius Temple in Nanjing City in later generations. The roadside was already full of small vendors taking up seats, and pedestrians and porters were shoulder to shoulder.

The vendors shouted to sell seasonal goods, and used their shrewd eyes to look for buyers, and from time to time they showed off and boasted about the things in their baskets in an attempt to attract customers. Occasionally, when they succeeded and facilitated a transaction, they would smile, silver and copper coins would clatter, and both buyers and sellers were beaming with joy.

The businessmen and travelers who are looking around for partners, some are confident, some are anxious, and some are timid and cowardly. They look even more funny when facing the inn waiter's attentive attitude when he invites them to rest.

The officials who stood with their hands behind their backs looked around with solemn expressions until they saw their colleagues. Then they smiled and exchanged greetings with them. The soldiers of the Five Cities who occasionally passed by put their swords on their waists and looked at them with stern eyes. Sometimes, some hooligans who were originally arrogant saw them and acted like mice seeing a cat...

Occasionally, scholars in Confucian robes would walk along the road, calling their friends and gathering together. From time to time, one of them would pat his chest and point his finger with heroic spirit, as if he was expressing his views generously. The others would also express their own opinions and make comments, looking very happy...

A beautiful picture of incomparable harmony and prosperity appeared before Zhu Su.

"Your Highness, is there anything wrong?" Yang Shiqi, who noticed that Zhu Su was looking at the scenery along the way, asked Zhu Su with some surprise.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing." Zhu Su came back to his senses, shook his head, and said with emotion: "It's just that I stayed in Annan for too long, and I just arrived in the capital, so I have some emotions."

"After seeing the desolation of Annan and the beautiful scenery today, who could have imagined that a few decades ago, China was still in desolation and the Han people were in dire straits."

"I really hope that my Han family will prosper forever, and the Han Dao will last forever."

Yang Shiqi turned his head, looked at the magnificent scene in front of him, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty is wise and powerful, our Han family is full of talents, and the Ming Dynasty's national destiny is far superior to that of previous dynasties."

"Our Ming Dynasty will prosper forever."

Zhu Su smiled. There is no dynasty that can prosper forever. But if what he did could make the prosperity of the Han Dynasty last longer, it would be worth it. Accompanied by Yang Shiqi, he got on the carriage and headed for the imperial city.

In the imperial city, Emperor Hongwu Zhu Yuanzhang and Crown Prince Zhu Biao were still meeting with ministers in the Jinshen Hall. Upon hearing that Zhu Su had entered the palace, the old man's frowned brows relaxed, he grinned, and uttered a word.

"Xuan!"

"Your son Zhu Su pays homage to the Emperor. May your Majesty live forever..." Zhu Su strode into the hall and was about to perform the great ceremony between an emperor and his subject, but was signaled by Old Zhu to be supported by Zhu Biao.

Old Zhu laughed and said, "Our Old Five is back."

"Everyone present is a family member, so there is no need to be bound by these conventional etiquettes."

When Zhu Biao helped him up just now, Zhu Su had already greeted Zhu Biao privately, and then looked up at the minister who was being summoned by Zhu Biao. Sure enough, the person in front of him was Tie Xuan and Tie Ding Shi. When he saw Zhu Su, Tie Xuan was excited and bowed to Zhu Su according to the rules of hierarchy.

"Dingshi, you have changed a lot. I almost couldn't recognize you." Zhu Su looked at Tie Xuan for a long time, then smiled.

When he went to Fengming Island, Tie Xuan was not even an adult yet and had a childish look on his face. But now, Tie Xuan is as tall as Zhu Su, with a dark face and a beard, and looks much older than Zhu Su.

When Tie Xuan heard Zhu Su call himself his teacher, tears welled up in his eyes. He knelt down and bowed to Zhu Su, saying, "I will never forget your kindness and teachings, my dear teacher."

"Master, you seem to have lost a lot of weight. I dare to ask you to take better care of your health."

Seeing the deep affection between Zhu Su and Tie Xuan, Old Zhu nodded with satisfaction. He smiled and said, "You two don't have to stay here anymore."

"Come on, ask the kitchen to get some food. You must be hungry after all the hard work, Lao Wu."

"Biao'er and Dingshi, just stay here and have dinner with us." Seeing Zhu Su returning, Old Zhu was very pleased and wanted to give a banquet to Zhu Su and his companions in Jinshen Hall. Zhu Su had no objection.

Soon, the imperial kitchen presented the meal. Perhaps because it was a special banquet, it was much richer than what Zhu Su usually ate. Zhu Su was really hungry. The palace was not much different from his own home, so he ate heartily. Zhu Su and Zhu Biao laughed at him. Zhu Biao said with a distressed look, "It's a long way to Annan. I'm sorry for your inconvenience, my fifth brother."

"Slow down, don't eat so fast. Father can't do without you."

"It's like a starving ghost reincarnated." Old Zhu also laughed and scolded, his eyes showing kindness. "Is Annan really so bitter and cold? Do you dare to treat even our son harshly?"

"Annan's hospitality was quite good. But after seeing the scene in Annan, all the delicacies from the mountains and seas no longer tasted good." Zhu Su said. After swallowing the food in his mouth, he told Old Zhu about what he saw and heard in Annan. Everyone present was his own people, even Tie Xuan, who was considered a loyal minister under the Zhu family, so there was nothing to worry about.

"The people are poor, civil unrest is frequent, there are external and internal troubles, but the ruler is still living a life of debauchery and has no regard for the government and the people."

"...Has the Kingdom of Annan really fallen to such a level?" After listening to Zhu Su's narration, Zhu Biao put down the bowl and chopsticks in his hands and said solemnly.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, with a mixture of compassion and anger in them.

"Hey, it's okay for a country to have mediocre rulers, but those wealthy families are so high and mighty, and they look a bit like the former Yuan Dynasty." Old Zhu also sneered. Unlike Zhu Biao, who was concerned about the suffering of the people and regretted that the Chinese survivors of Annan had fallen to such a state, Old Zhu was more concerned about the sharp class contradictions in Annan and whether there were any aspects that were beneficial to the Ming Dynasty. "We heard from the Jinyiwei that you took in those poor children and supported them in studying and taking the exams."

"It seems that you want to use these poor families as a base and use them to win the hearts and minds of the people for our Ming Dynasty?"

"But in my opinion, the strength of the Annan nobles is still strong. If they want to rely on the poor families, I'm afraid those poor families don't have enough capital to stand up."

"Your opinion is profound." Zhu Su flattered. Indeed, the strength of the poor families in Annan was too weak. Although the gentry had controlled the government for many years, the contradiction between the poor families and the gentry was far from being a dead end. This can be seen from the Ming Dynasty's expedition to Annan: In history, the Ming Dynasty, which had achieved righteousness, first received the support of the gentry who opposed Hu Jinyi, so it was able to go smoothly in the early stage. After the intention of the county Annan was revealed, the gentry supported a puppet descendant of the Chen family as the monarch to resist the attack of the Ming Dynasty.

However, the poor and wealthy families still had no sense of existence in this process, and even appeared as the knives in the hands of the gentry.

It was not until later, under the repeated attacks of the Ming Dynasty, that the power of the nobles was greatly damaged, and the poor began to rise. The poor tycoons, led by Le Loi, took the lead in the anti-Ming war. Later, when Xuanzong retreated to the north, these people happened to take advantage and naturally became the new nobles in power in Annan.

It can be said that if the Ming Dynasty had not intervened to weaken the power of the gentry, the poor families in Annan would have had a long way to go if they wanted to overthrow the rule of the gentry.

"I know that the humble family of Annan may not have enough strength to help the Ming Dynasty overthrow the noble families. However, helping people in need is much easier to win their hearts than adding icing on the cake."

"Annan has been independent of China for a hundred years. As a county of the Ming Dynasty, Annan must rely on local forces. Rather than relying on those corrupt nobles, it is better to rely on these poor families who are now helpless."

"We don't necessarily need them to fight against the nobles... As long as they can take the initiative to submit to our Ming Dynasty and help our Ming Dynasty govern Annan in the future, that will be enough."

"Yes." Old Zhu nodded and agreed with Zhu Su's statement. After all, in his opinion, no matter how powerful the Annan nobles were, they were just local tyrants in a province. At most, they could be killed and eliminated. The powerful dragon of the Ming Dynasty would not be able to suppress them.

The biggest problem is still how to win the loyalty of Annan. If we can make the common people loyal to the Ming Dynasty and then promote them to govern Annan, we can indeed eliminate a large part of the hidden dangers for the Ming Dynasty.

"I wonder why your Majesty summoned Ding Shi. But what unexpected events occurred in Fengming Island?" After talking about Annan, Zhu Su became curious about Tie Xuan's entry into the palace.

Old Zhu thought for a moment and said, "Fengmingzhou is your fiefdom in the future, and you should know these things."

"Dingshi, tell Laowu what you just said to us. Laowu is the most knowledgeable about the affairs of various countries. Maybe he has some clues."

"Yes." Tie Xuan immediately stood up and saluted. Then, facing Zhu Su, he briefly repeated what he had just reported to Zhu.

It turned out that after the Ming fleet established a foothold in Jinshan Fort, Tie Xuan, Mao Xiang and Zhang He used Jinshan Fort as a base and began to expand the Ming's influence in Fengmingzhou.

Thanks to the help of the indigenous inhabitants, the Yindian people, and the increasingly mature route from Daming to Fengmingzhou, Daming's expansion was particularly steady. Under the auspices of Tie Xuan, they used the gold, silver, and medicinal materials in Fengmingzhou to attract merchants, raise all kinds of manpower and materials, and then divide the land into plots to allow these merchants to go to various parts of Fengmingzhou to open up wasteland and build cities. The Daming army was responsible for ensuring the safety of the merchants, while the indigenous people were responsible for guiding the Daming people, farming, identifying medicines, etc.

This business model has been very successful in the past few years. The advanced technology of the Ming Dynasty and the mobilization and organizational capabilities of Tie Xuan and Zhang He have been a dimensional strike in the New World. The momentum of Ming Dynasty's development is unstoppable. Many Fengmingzhou native tribes that dared to oppose Ming Dynasty were either annexed by Ming Dynasty or completely expelled and eliminated.

Technologies such as cement helped merchants to quickly build one garrison and fortress after another. In today's Fengming Island, the Ming Dynasty already has nearly seventy fortresses and settlements, scattered across the west coast of Fengming Island.

"However, since last year, settlements of forts have been looted one after another. By the time we left Fengming Island, seventeen forts had already been destroyed," said Tie Xuan.

"Was it done by the indigenous people of Fengming Island? Have you found out the truth?" Zhu Su asked.

"Commander Mao Xiang once led his men to the east to hunt down the culprit, and finally discovered that to the east, there was a country established by indigenous people. The Yindian people who surrendered to us also confirmed that there was indeed a huge indigenous country in the east."

"Indigenous countries..." Zhu Su frowned. He knew that in history, when Europeans colonized the New World, there were indeed several powerful indigenous countries in the New World, such as the Aztec Empire and the Inca Empire. Although the Aztec Empire and the Inca Empire may not have existed in this era, it cannot be assumed that there were no countries established by the native indigenous people in the New World at this time.

But even so, it is impossible that those merchants from the Ming Dynasty chose to build a city without any defensive measures. As far as Zhu Su knew, most of the merchants who went to Fengmingzhou recruited many rangers and guards. Even if they could not deal with the natives, it should not be difficult to hold out for a while and wait for the support of the Ming Dynasty regular army. How could they end up being robbed?
Tie Xuan's next words answered Zhu Su's doubts. "Afterwards, Commander Mao designed an ambush to attack a group of indigenous troops who came to rob them."

"And among that army, we found iron armor and weapons."

"Iron armor and weapons?" Zhu Su frowned even more tightly.

Ironware, this kind of thing should not appear in the hands of the natives of Fengmingzhou. You know, even hundreds of years later in history when Europeans colonized the New World, there was still no indigenous people in the New World who mastered the smelting technology of ironware.

The reason for this is that the New World is so rich in various metal veins that it is like a treasure mountain. Among them, copper mines are especially abundant. Nearly half of the 24 largest copper mines in the world discovered in later generations are located in the New World. The rich copper resources make the local indigenous people more inclined to use copper mines that are easy to smelt to forge red copper, or simply use bone and stone tools. The sparse population density also makes their civilization progress slowly, and they are far from reaching the level of being able to smelt iron tools.

(End of this chapter)