The Ming Dynasty: The most ruthless imperial grandson, Old Zhu begged me not to kill him.

Chapter 414 Northwest Revitalization Plan
Learning these things would only make one a craftsman or a minor official; one could never amount to much. He nodded after thinking of this.

Those who learned what Zhu Xiong Ying taught were from a completely different world than themselves; there were none of them.

Don't worry about what they're thinking. All you need to do is win over those virtuous people who still stick to their principles and bring them under your wing.

So he told his masters about this.

Those people were originally proponents of Neo-Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism.

It wasn't that they particularly liked these doctrines; it was mainly that these students could bring them sufficient benefits.

However, Zhu Xiong Ying advocated the Gongyang School's theory of great revenge and great unification.

This has also led to a strong martial spirit among the people.

This instilled some fear in them. If such a trend were to emerge, it would be extremely detrimental to their rule. Once Confucianism was removed from the core position, their supreme status would be lost, and that was what they truly feared.

Therefore, they were very supportive of Zhu Yunwen's cause and even introduced him to many virtuous people.

Of course, in Zhu Xiong Ying's eyes, their actions were nothing more than those of clowns.

At this time, Zhu Xiong Ying, Zhu Yuan Zhang, and several other cabinet ministers gathered together to discuss matters.

At this moment, the Minister of War spoke up.

"The supplies sent to the front lines have almost all arrived, and their army has stabilized the border. Now, Duke Cao, Li Wenzhong, wants to launch a probing attack on the Northwest. What are your thoughts on this matter?"

Upon hearing this, the Minister of Rites frowned.

He did not want to contend for these places; in his view, the area where the Chagatai Khanate was located was the Western Regions.

This area was indeed in the hands of the Central Plains before, but so much time has passed that these places have very little sense of belonging to the Central Plains. Moreover, taking these places wouldn't be of much use to them.

He thought for a moment, then said.

"Even if we take these places, they won't be of much use. The people above don't understand our language very well anymore. I think we should stop fighting. Even if we take them, there won't be much benefit to be gained!"

The twelfth prince, Zhu Bai, frowned and said something.

"That's absolutely unacceptable! Under heaven, all land belongs to the king, and all people within the realm belong to the king. How dare the Chagatai Khanate provoke us? If we don't teach them a lesson, I'm afraid all the countries in the world will think that our Great Ming is easy to bully!"

"Furthermore, the Chagatai Khanate is located in an important passage of the Silk Road. Only by taking this place can our army travel through here to the northwest, and we can even go to the northwest to trade, which will definitely earn us a lot of wealth!"

At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang turned his gaze to Zhu Xiong Ying, who was standing to the side.

"Zhu Xiong Ying, what do you think of this matter?" Zhu Xiong Ying smiled and nodded after hearing this.

"Our Ming Dynasty is indeed very strong now, but as strong as we are, we are not particularly wealthy. As for the reasons, I believe everyone knows very well!"

"Foreign trade is an extremely important matter. If we can do well in this area, our strength will definitely increase significantly. However, engaging in foreign trade is not an easy task!"

"Putting everything else aside, there are already quite a few prominent families from Jiangnan trading overseas!"

"Of course, it's better to call it trade than smuggling. They made huge profits from this and kept it from the government. I even heard some officials talking about the dangers of the ocean recently, arguing that we have everything now and there's absolutely no need to develop the ocean!"

Upon hearing this, everyone frowned, because they had heard similar remarks many times before, so they were not particularly concerned about matters concerning the ocean.

However, since the Ming Dynasty established its navy, they have witnessed the vastness of the ocean and realized how wrong their previous ideas were. The strength of a nation's power at sea directly determines its strength.

This also caused a significant freeze on the smuggling businesses of these powerful families. If they hadn't spent a considerable amount of money to sort out this matter, it's likely that this issue would have been raised in the imperial court by now.

I'm afraid there aren't many officials in the imperial court these days who haven't received benefits from this.

"Maritime trade is extremely important, as is land trade. If we can open up the Western Regions, we can connect with the countries in the west. Then we can transport our silk, porcelain and other goods to the west. I've heard that some places in the west are quite wealthy, and we can exchange them for more things that are useful to us!"

"We can also take this opportunity to gain a very clear understanding of the situation in those western countries. In that case, it won't be long before we can march to that place. Knowing ourselves and our enemy is the key to winning every battle!"

Everyone nodded in agreement. Indeed, opening up the Silk Road would bring them many benefits, but conquering these countries would not be an easy task.

When Genghis Khan conquered the west, he encountered countries and tribes that were still resisting, and he slaughtered them all and seized all their wealth and food.

This is why he was able to continue to sacrifice and seize a lot of land, but the Ming Dynasty could not do such a thing.

If they were really allowed to carry out a massacre, not to mention those outside, there would likely be great disagreements among their own people.

This was inevitable. After thinking about this place, they sighed, and then Zhu Xiong Ying said with a smile.

"Back in the Tang Dynasty, a Protectorate was established in the Northwest. At that time, they fought many battles with Arab countries. Although the Tang Dynasty's power in the Northwest did not last long before it retreated, it must be said that they won more battles than they lost against the Arabs. If it weren't for the An Lushan Rebellion, which led to the transfer of the most elite troops in the Northwest to the domestic army, this army might have been able to conquer an even greater territory in the Northwest!"

We could even bring the Northwest region under our own jurisdiction, and after that, we could continue our westward advance.

No one refuted these claims.

At this moment, Crown Prince Zhu Biao frowned.

(End of this chapter)