Mixed with salted fish in Hongwudang

Chapter 678: Unification of the Country! (End)
Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Li Ming couldn't help but pursed his lips shyly.

He had lived in the shadows in his early years and was not used to being the center of attention.

But now that he has decided to step out of the shadows and embrace the light, he can only force himself to adapt.

"I think this is inappropriate..."

"Potatoes are a very high-yield crop. Even in the Kandhu region, they are not grown. How could this sacred object be given to the Ottomans?"

"This is unfair to the people of Kangdu and will cause a lot of trouble!"

In fact, Li Ming opposed it because of a bigger selfish motive, which was revenge for the destruction of his country.

Everyone in the Grand Council knew about this, so they just listened casually to his reasons.

"Any other reasons?"

"Have!"

"The Ottomans will retain their throne and army. If they no longer have to worry about food, it will be a huge problem for the Ming Dynasty in the future."

"Therefore, whether from a personal perspective or from the perspective of the interests of our Ming Dynasty, I think we should not give the potato seeds to Osman."

"I have finished answering!"

Lan Yu nodded when he heard this, and then looked at Zhang Zongjun.

"Please let Master Zhang speak next."

Zhang Zongjun smiled calmly when he heard this.

"It is not convenient for me to tell you my reasons, but I am firmly against giving potatoes to the Ottomans. Even in the next few decades, I will not let the high-quality potato varieties cross the Tianshan Mountains!"

"This……"

After Zhang Zongjun said this, everyone fell silent.

Zhang Zongjun held a special position in the Grand Council. To a certain extent, he could represent the will of the Emperor and was the Emperor's nail and eyes left in the Grand Council.

Since Zhang Zongjun said it was inconvenient to talk about it, it is very likely that this matter involves Your Majesty.

Although Lan Yu was unhappy, he did not dare to ask more questions and just said it angrily.

"Since Lord Zhang is unwilling to speak, then we will each submit our reports and ask His Majesty the Emperor to make the final decision."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Zongjun immediately stood up and looked at Lan Yu solemnly.

"Duke Liang, I advise you not to report this matter to His Majesty!"

"Once some things are recorded in the daily records, it will not be good for the Ming Dynasty and Your Majesty..."

When Lan Yu heard this, his face changed several times. He then pulled Zhang Zongjun outside and found a secluded corridor to talk.

"Lao Zhang, what's going on?"

"Duke Liang, please don't ask too many questions, and don't report it to His Majesty and make things difficult for him..."

"I think Duke Liang has heard about how I dealt with overseas slaves in the early years, right?"

"There are some things I can't say, but just know that's not all I mean."

"hiss……"

No matter how stupid Lan Yu was, he could hear that something was wrong. In his early years, Zhang Zongjun had castrated overseas slaves, which caused a lot of criticism. In the end, he had no choice but to be banished from the capital.

If according to what Zhang Zongjun just said, this matter was not entirely his decision, doesn't it mean that His Majesty the Emperor also...

Lan Yu didn't dare to think any further and quickly stopped the topic.

"I understand!"

"Non-my family, its heart must be different!"

Zhang Zongjun smiled with relief when he heard this.

"Yes!"

"Duke Liang has hit the nail on the head!"

"Your Majesty once said in the early years that this is all our Ming land, and it is to support our Ming people. As for the people on this land now, we can only let time slowly eliminate them."

Lan Yu was startled when he heard this, but soon felt relieved and even a little excited, thinking that this was the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

If the emperor of the Ming Dynasty does not stand by the people of the Ming Dynasty and only thinks about being nice to the people of other countries all day long, then what kind of emperor is he?
"it is good!"

"This is right!"

"I know what to do. I will tear up this memorial when I get back, and then transfer Ping Baoer back and replace him with someone else!"

Not long after, Lan Yu and Zhang Zongjun returned to the Grand Council chatting and laughing, and never mentioned Ping Baoer's memorial.

Fu Youde lowered his head and thought for a while, then he stopped talking when he saw that neither of them mentioned it anymore. Feng Sheng was too lazy to care about these trivial matters in the first place, and when he saw that no one else was talking about it, he felt even more quiet.

Only Li Ming was a little confused. He looked at Zhang Zongjun curiously, wondering what reason this old man used to convince Lan Yu?
Although Li Ming did not want to give the improved potato varieties to Osman, he hoped to introduce potatoes to the Kangdu area to alleviate the food shortage in the area.

As long as Kangdu can grow potatoes in large quantities, he is confident that within ten years, he can turn Kangdu into the richest place in the world.

But no one else mentioned this matter, let alone him, a newcomer to the Grand Council. He could only wait for an opportunity to do so later.

Li Ming studied in the Grand Council for a few days and thought that his future life would be like this. However, ten days later he suddenly received a telegram from Nanjing, which pushed him to a height that he had never dared to dream of.

His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty actually approved his strategy for pacifying the Western Barbarians and asked him to personally take charge of the matter!

At the same time, his position was also improved accordingly. The court assigned him a mansion and entourage, and his daughter-in-law also received an imperial edict.

All of this shows that he has entered the upper echelons of Ming officialdom, and also indicates that his fate is tied to that of the Ming Dynasty.

The first decision Li Ming made after taking power was to allocate 200 kilograms of gold to repair the Byzantine Cathedral and the Vatican in Rome.

Although the two hundred kilograms of gold were not enough to repair the two cathedrals, they were still extremely valuable to the declining Vatican.

Because Boyi IX could use this to show off to the countries in the Western world that he had gained the support of the powerful Ming Dynasty and no longer had to fear the threats from the mad King Charles VI of France!

Pope Boyi IX immediately declared the Ming Dynasty as the protector of God in the Vatican and preached the kindness and benevolence of the Ming Dynasty to the people of the West.

Boyi IX's remarks soon spread to France, causing dissatisfaction among French nobles.

In their impression, there are no good people coming from the East.

Whether it was the pagan Ottomans or the Mongols of earlier years, they were all their nightmares.

However, at that time, there was a serious power struggle within France, and it was difficult to form a unified voice. Therefore, troops were not sent to capture Boyus IX immediately, but they chose to continue to fight for the position of regent.

Relatively speaking, Henry V of England was much more normal. He expressed his dissatisfaction with the Pope at the first opportunity and spread the rumor that the Pope had accepted benefits from the Ming Dynasty in an attempt to drag the entire West into an abyss of no return.

But Henry V's remarks were soon drowned out. In order to show peace and goodwill, the Ming Dynasty began to provide relief to disaster victims, repair churches, and provide free medical treatment to the poor throughout Europe.

This series of measures, coupled with Boyle IX's propaganda, made Henry V's opposition seem like a clown.

Not only did Henry V fail to shake the Pope's position, but he was boycotted by his own people because of his remarks against the Pope and his actions to smear the Ming Dynasty.

But Henry V still did not give up. He kept on spreading the Ming threat theory and secretly training the army.

Henry V's efforts were not in vain. After two months of hard training, his country finally faced the attack of the Ming fleet.

London falls, Henry V is captured...

After Henry V was captured by the Ming army, there was no more opposition in the whole of Europe. All the poor people oppressed by the European nobles were looking forward to the arrival of the Ming army.

Because they heard from missionaries that with the arrival of the Ming army, they would no longer have to endure the exploitation of their lords and could live a good life through their own hard work.

Li Ming made plans for the whole of Europe for several months and finally sent troops when winter came.

As soon as the Ming army set out, all the countries it encountered along the way surrendered without a fight, and many local people even cheered along the streets to celebrate the arrival of the Ming army.

The Ming army did not disappoint them and gave them the leftover food for free.

Under Li Ming's command, the Ming army took only one month to fight from the Ottoman Empire to the English Channel, completely incorporating the whole of Europe into the Ming territory.

Even if some small countries resisted, they would be destroyed under the powerful firepower suppression of the Ming Dynasty.

The remaining countries either surrendered voluntarily or were forced to surrender by the people.

In short, whether they like it or not, they have in fact become vassal states of the Ming Dynasty.

When the good news reached the capital, civil and military officials cheered and rejoiced. The historians' eyes lit up with excitement, and they were extremely thrilled to have witnessed history.

The people of the capital were also very excited. Tens of thousands of people spontaneously gathered outside the palace and shouted "Long live the emperor" in the direction of the palace.

Zhu Yunhuan listened to the cheers of "Long live the emperor" outside the palace and stood quietly in front of the huge map.

The map of the Ming Dynasty at this time had already become a behemoth that included the Eurasian continent and the Arctic in later generations. Outside of this red land, there was also a huge golden continent, which was also hoisted with the red flag of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yunhuan looked at the map filled with red flags, and a great sense of pride rose in his heart. He had finally reached a height that Genghis Khan had never reached in his entire life!
Next, it’s time to rule this vast area!

Same writing!
The cars are on the same track!
Unified currency, unified weights and measures, unified...

When Zhu Yuanzhang learned that the Ming army on land and the Ming army on sea had joined forces at the western border, he came to the palace very excitedly. When he saw his eldest grandson standing alone in front of the giant map in a daze, Zhu Yuanzhang walked up to him with interest and joked.

"Ni Sun, what are you thinking about now?"

Zhu Yunhuan shook his head bitterly when he heard this.

"Don't worry about it. With the current population base of the Ming Dynasty, it would be great if we can occupy all these places!"

"The next few decades of our rule will be based on one national policy, which is to recuperate and increase the population."

"I will increase the population of Ming Dynasty fivefold during my reign!"

Old Zhu secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this. He was really afraid that his eldest grandson would become obsessed with this game of conquest.

"What a great saint!"

"I really didn't make a mistake about you. I'm glad you have such self-control!"

After praising Zhu Yunhuan, Old Zhu couldn't help but look at the vast land below Europe.

"Grandson, why don't you fight in this area?"

Zhu Yunhuan looked at the African region in later generations, pondered for a while and said.

"We can't take this place. This is a park that my grandchildren will leave for future generations to learn about the diversity of species."

"Uh uh..."

Old Zhu was completely speechless after hearing this. He thought that this grandson was too arrogant. He wanted to use a piece of land that was larger than the Ming Dynasty as a park?

"Isn't this where they get the black slaves they bring over from the sea?"

"Yes……"

When Old Zhu heard this affirmative answer, he immediately understood in his heart that the reason why this rebellious grandson did not attack here was probably because he used this place as a slave breeding base, right?
However, the slave shortage in Ming Dynasty is indeed quite large. Every day, there are hundreds of cargo ships loaded with slaves at the port, selling slaves from various countries to Ming Dynasty.

Some of these people were bought by workshop owners to work as slaves, some were bought by landlords to farm the land, and some were bought by other princes to reclaim wasteland.

It is said that Zhu Zhi bought a lot of them in recent years, a total of 50,000 to 60,000, and he threw them all into the bitter and cold land of Liaodong to open up wasteland.

Just as Old Zhu was speculating maliciously about Zhu Yunhuan, Zhu Yunhuan suddenly said depressedly.

"Grandpa Emperor, I only thought about how to conquer these places, but never thought about how to govern them."

"Now that there is such a large area and such a large population, how should my grandson rule them?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at his eldest grandson in surprise.

"You are not governing Kang well, are you?"

Zhu Yunhuan shook his head when he heard this.

"no the same!"

"Kangdu wants to set an example for the Western world, so that they can know our benevolence and righteousness."

"Now the whole West belongs to us, why are we still pretending like that?"

Old Zhu was also confused when he heard this, because he had never thought about this kind of question.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang had a similar experience. When he unified the country, he felt the same confusion and for a while he didn't know how to govern such a huge country.

Fortunately, with the assistance of Liu Bowen, Li Shanchang and others, they were able to barely hold on.

"Grandson, one person's plan is short, but ten people's plan is long. Why don't you ask for advice from the ministers?"

Zhu Yunhuan shook his head again when he heard this.

"no!"

"The civil officials in the court are all Confucian disciples. I am afraid they will apply Confucianism to these foreign races."

"Grandpa Emperor, let's talk privately. I never wanted to make life easier for the people in the West. I just wanted to use our Ming people to replace the races in the West little by little."

"hiss……"

When Zhu heard about his grandson's ambition, he felt a pain in his teeth, thinking that this grandson was really bold. When he fought against the Northern Yuan Dynasty, he didn't even dare to think about this. He only wanted to attack the Northern Yuan Dynasty while winning them over, so that they would gradually be used by the Ming Dynasty.

But when it came to his eldest grandson, he never thought of leaving him a chance to live.

"Grandson, it's not right for you to think this way. I haven't figured out why it's wrong yet..."

Zhu Yunhuan didn't care about what Old Zhu thought. He just suddenly missed Zhang Zongjun. If this old bastard was around, he would definitely be able to come up with a good idea for him.

"Someone, send an urgent telegram to Kangdu, asking Zhang Zongjun to return to Nanjing as soon as possible..."

Before Zhu Yunhuan could finish his words, he was interrupted by Old Zhu.

"Why did you ask him to come back?"

"Let him give me some advice!"

"It's a simple idea. Why don't you use the same methods we used on Tusi on the Western world?"

"What?"

Seeing that his eldest grandson still didn't understand, Old Zhu couldn't help but break it down and explain it to him.

"First, ennoble them and acknowledge their right to rule. Then recruit their children to study in the Imperial Academy, assimilate them, and use them as hostages."

"If this continues for several generations, they will get used to the Ming Dynasty's enthronement. Once someone declares himself king, those chieftains who accepted the Ming Dynasty's enthronement will not only not help him, but will also unite to fight him, thinking that he has broken the rules..."

"Then, every few years, we would summon the chieftains from all over the world to come to the Ming Dynasty to pay tribute, so that they could see the majesty of the Celestial Empire. Then, they would not dare to act rashly for decades..."

Under Zhu's instruction, Zhu Yunhuan quickly understood Zhu's methods of governance.

The so-called "natives ruling the locals" was just a transition for Zhu Yuanzhang. While he recognized the legitimate rule of the chieftains over the local area, he also spared no effort to immigrate local people, build cities, and radiate to the surrounding areas with the cities as the center.

In the words of Lao Zhu, we have few people now, so of course we have to rely on the governance of the chieftains. When the local Ming people are more numerous than the aboriginals, we can change the chieftains to officials and set up county magistrates to govern the area for us.

After hearing the methods of this top politician like Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yunhuan could only admire him.

"Thank you, Grandpa Emperor, for clearing up my confusion. Now I know what to do!"

After Zhu Yunhuan finished speaking, he walked out of the hall confidently and accepted congratulations from the officials and people of the capital.

Old Zhu sat on the threshold of the hall and smiled as he declined Zhu Yunhuan's invitation to ride in the same carriage.

Old Zhu didn't want to steal the limelight from his eldest grandson, but how could Zhu Yunhuan enjoy it all to himself?
"Grandpa Emperor, this is not just my grandson's glory, it's the glory of both of us!"

After Zhu Yunhuan said this, regardless of whether Old Zhu agreed or not, he went forward and forcibly dragged Old Zhu up, then stuffed him into the sedan chair and sat him down, and then he sat down himself.

"You rebellious grandson, you don't want us to have peace at all!"

Although Old Zhu complained, he was already as happy as if he had eaten honey in his heart.

When Qin Deshun and Wang De saw the two emperors, one old and one young, sitting down, they shouted "Arise" in unison.

As the two men called out for their departure, thirty-six strong men in brocade robes lifted the sedan chair and crossed the Danchi, passed through the crowded square of the Imperial Palace to receive the worship from all the civil and military officials and the common people of the capital.

"Long live His Majesty the Emperor!"

"Long live His Majesty the Emperor!"

"Long live the Ming Dynasty!"

　Finish this testimonial
　　To be honest, I never thought that this book would take so long to write, let alone be so long.

　　Even before I published the book, I hadn’t thought about achieving any success. I had thought I’d be satisfied if I could get a few hundred orders and write for a year and get a badge of excellence.

　　I never expected that the first time I ordered a high-quality product, it would receive 10,000 orders a few months later!

　　Although I was very satisfied with the results, I also found many problems in the writing process. For example, I couldn't write large scenes or war scenes, and the emotional scenes were written as if they were child's play.

　　In general, this book has many shortcomings, and the latter part is seriously padded, but you still tolerated me.

　　I would like to express my gratitude here!

　　I will take a few days off and maybe have an operation during this time.

　　It was originally scheduled for June, and I was almost going to go through the hospital admission procedures. But when I asked how long it would take to recover after the operation, I ran away from the hospital.

　　I won’t reveal the specific cause of the disease because I’m not the kind of person who likes to play the victim.

　　The next new book has basically been confirmed, it may be set in the Song Dynasty or the Qin Dynasty.

　　Interested readers can leave a message in the chapter: Do you like the Song Dynasty or the Qin Dynasty?
　　
　
(End of this chapter)