Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 557 Attracts Two Big Shots
The third year of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, 4053 AD, 1356 AD, the year of Bing Shen, the eighth day of the first month.

At the beginning of the new year, just after the New Year celebrations, the imperial court resumed its work. Lu Jin's first task was to go to Longwan Wharf in Jiankang to inspect the navy and hold a commissioning ceremony for four warships.

Thousands of naval soldiers stood in neat rows by the dock, with several generals standing at the front of the rows. Lu Jin stood opposite them, accompanied by a group of generals and several civil officials.

First, Sang Shijie addressed the soldiers, and then Lu Jin spoke.

"The navy of our Great Ming Dynasty is different from the navy of previous dynasties. The navy should be built on the sea, not on the rivers and lakes in the interior."

"Nowadays, Japanese pirates are rampant in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea, and foreign merchants control the South Sea and the Western Sea. The purpose of establishing a navy is not only to protect the vast sea borders of our motherland, but also to protect our motherland's overseas territories, overseas interests, our fishermen, and the maritime merchants of the Ming Dynasty."

"It is said that a country cannot be stable without agriculture, cannot prosper without industry, and cannot become rich without commerce. So how can we make our motherland prosperous and wealthy? This requires maritime merchants and the navy."

"The soldiers present all come from all over the country. You are all sons and daughters of the people. Perhaps your fathers or brothers work in a workshop or factory, or perhaps your mothers or sisters pick tea and plant mulberry trees in a field."

"But we can't use up all the porcelain, ironware, tea, and silk we produce. We have to find a way to sell them to get money to pay your fathers and brothers to support their families, to help your mothers and sisters earn money to supplement the household expenses, and to allow your hungry wives and children to add a little more oil and a few more slices of meat to their meals."

"But now, there are foreigners of various ethnicities trying to steal our business, and Japanese pirates trying to rob our merchant ships. They don't want our parents, brothers, wives, and children to live a good life. Tell me, what should we do?"

Miao Youzhen, standing in the ranks of soldiers, immediately raised his arm and shouted, "Sink them with the ship's guns!"

"Sink them with the ship's guns!" The other thousand soldiers shouted in unison.

"That's right, we're going to use your ship cannons to sink all the enemies. Now I hereby announce that the Navy ship 101 Luzhou is officially commissioned today, the Navy ship 102 Yangzhou is officially commissioned, the Navy ship 401 Wuwei is officially commissioned, and the Navy ship 402 Dangtu is officially commissioned."

"All ships of the Ming Dynasty navy are equivalent to mobile territory. We hope you will protect the land beneath your feet and, more importantly, the sea borders of our motherland. Captain, present the flag and receive the plaque!"

"Yes!"

As the captain of the 101 Luzhou ship, Wang Zong was the first to step forward and receive the four-colored Ming Dynasty naval flag (red, blue, white, and yellow) and a captain's sword from Lu Jin. At the same time, the first mate and the second mate also received a small plaque from the guards, on which the three characters "Luzhou Ship" were written in gold paint. This plaque was to be hung in the captain's cabin.

Next, the captains of the Yangzhou, Wuwei, and Jiangning ships received the flags in turn and returned to the formation. Sang Shijie then shouted, "Play music, sing the naval anthem!"

The four captains immediately drew their swords and held them upright in front of them, leading all the soldiers in a loud chant.

"On the shores of the Yellow Sea, beside Tiger Beach, young comrades gathered together, embarking on their blue journey to defend the sacred territorial waters of their motherland; dedicated to rigorous discipline, pragmatic and striving for excellence, united and fraternal, forged in the crucible of adversity, letting the brilliance of youth shine in the waves, letting the wings of ideals soar in the blue sky—our cause, our cause on the sea!"

Looking at the neatly arranged ranks before him and listening to the majestic singing in his ears, Chen Youliang, who was standing beside Lu Jin watching the ceremony, couldn't help but swallow hard, his expression momentarily dazed.

He had once fantasized about such a scene. If he succeeded, he would build many large ships and give them some domineering names, such as River Dragon, Mountain Crasher, River and Sea Turtle, River Blockade, etc. But now, after watching Lu Jin's naval ship commissioning ceremony, he felt that his thoughts were extremely shameful.

Look at them, and then look at ourselves. They directly name their warships after the prefectures and counties, and they even have ship numbers. They have uniform ship types and armaments, and they say that warships are the mobile territory of the Ming Dynasty. Everywhere they exude the grandeur of a regular army, making people feel that this is how the navy should be built!

Thinking back to the terrible names he had chosen, he felt a pang of shame and inferiority. No wonder he couldn't become emperor; his vision was far inferior to others.
After the military songs were sung and the commissioning ceremony was over, the captains of each ship led their teams onto the ships and delivered the military flags and plaques. Only then did Lu Jin speak to the people around him.

"Of these four ships, the Luzhou will continue to Lizhou with Mr. Huanzhang this March, and the Wuwei will go to Nanyang with Marquis Mianyang (Chen Youliang)."

"The Dangtu ship is going to Guangzhou to serve. This year, it will first familiarize itself with the routes from Guangzhou to Qiongzhou Island, as well as the routes from the coast of Dai Viet to Champa's Tong Long and Cam Ranh Bay, and the local climate."

"In a few years, when we have more ships, the navy will at least deploy a squadron in Guangzhou to carry out the plan to blockade the 'Da Viet Kingdom,' preventing them from leaving the sea and preventing foreign ships from entering. We will first trap them to prepare for subsequent plans."

"Another 74-gun Yangzhou ship will be stationed in Ningbo. This year's mission is not only to cooperate with Fang Guozhen to continue to crack down on pirates along the Fujian coast, but also to take some time to explore the situation of Pingzhou Island (Taiwan Island), especially the shipping routes from Fuzhou, Quanzhou and Zhangzhou to Pingzhou Island, in order to prepare for the subsequent immigration to Pingzhou."

"Fujian has always been described as having eight parts mountains, one part water, and one part farmland. It is difficult to support such a large population with only the local land. In the future, Pingzhou will also be under the jurisdiction of Fujian Province for the time being. A prefecture will be set up for the time being, and the surplus population of Fujian will be gradually relocated there so that the people of Fujian will have more land to cultivate. When the population of Pingzhou Island increases in the future, we can consider setting up a province."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Chen Youliang had no objections. It was agreed that he would take a gunboat to the South Seas, and it was scheduled to depart this month. The same was true for Wang Dayuan's side. This year, an additional ship would be added to the fleet heading to Lizhou.

Thinking of this, Wang Dayuan reminded him again, "Your Majesty, I think if Your Majesty wants to accelerate the exploration of overseas regions while maintaining the operation of multiple shipping routes, you could consider finding another person skilled in astronomy, geography, and navigation. This would be much faster. Otherwise, relying on me alone is simply too much for me to handle." Lu Jin sighed upon hearing this, "What you say is easy, but where am I supposed to find another talent like Mr. Huanzhang? Someone who understands astronomy and geography may not understand navigation, and someone who understands navigation may not be knowledgeable in astronomy and geography. It's difficult."

Wang Dayuan comforted him, saying, "Our land is full of talented people. I am not some peerless genius. I can still find some if I want to. Perhaps Your Majesty can post a notice to seek out talents. Maybe someone will come looking for them on their own."

Just then, Song Lian, who was standing to the side, looked hesitant and said after a moment's hesitation, "Your Majesty, I know someone who might be of use."

"Oh, who is it?" Lu Jin immediately became interested.

Song Lian immediately introduced, "This man is named Ye Dui, courtesy name Liangzhong, also known as Mr. Simei. He is from Ninghai, Taizhou Prefecture. I have met him a few times. He is particularly skilled in military strategy and is also extremely knowledgeable in astronomy and geography. I don't know if he has ever been to sea, but just based on his expertise in astronomy and geography, he should be more than capable of serving."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin immediately thought of this person: Ye Dui, the one who presented the "Military Affairs One Principle and Three Principles Strategy" to Zhu Yuanzhang in the original history?
This article is extremely famous in later generations and can be called the Longzhong Plan of the late Yuan Dynasty. In the article, Ye Dui analyzed the general situation of the world for Zhu Yuanzhang and proposed a strategic plan of "resisting Li Chahan in the north, destroying Zhang Shicheng in the south, and pacifying Guo Zhen in the east".

As Ye Dui had predicted, things unfolded exactly as he had described. Zhu Yuanzhang praised the strategy as "the plan to conquer cities and territories was exactly as he had planned." After establishing the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang even lamented, "If I had Ye Dui's assistance, I would have accomplished a great undertaking ten years earlier." However, Ye Dui was unwilling to serve as an official for Zhu Yuanzhang and therefore did not take up a government post.

Furthermore, Ye Dui was merely a simple anti-Yuan recluse. He supported anything anti-Yuan, but he was unwilling to participate in the power struggles between various anti-Yuan forces. You can see this in his "Military Strategy: One Principle and Three Aspects," which only mentioned defending the Yuan court in the north, destroying Zhang Shicheng in the south, and pacifying Guo Zhen in the east, but he didn't mention Chen Youliang in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River at all.

In Ye Dui's view, Chen Youliang and Zhu Yuanzhang were both anti-Yuan, while Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen were officials who had been recruited by the Yuan court. Therefore, he had no worries about fighting Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen. However, he would not take sides in the struggle between Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang. He said it was fine for either of them to rule the country, as long as they drove away the Yuan court. In any case, they were both trying to rebuild the Han dynasty.

This was a very unique hermit, comparable to a late Yuan Dynasty version of Zhuge Liang.

Lu Jin did remember such a person, but he never intended to recruit him. Firstly, he only knew that Ye Dui was good at military strategy, but Lu Jin himself was not bad either. Lu Jin also knew the course of history. The strategies he formulated were better than Ye Dui's. He seized various strategic windows and developed rapidly. He pacified the world in three years, so he did not need to use Ye Dui.

Secondly, Lu Jin was unaware that Ye Dui was also an expert in astronomy and geography. If he had known earlier, he would have summoned him long ago.

As for Ye Dui, this timeline didn't offer Lu Jin any "Martial Arts Principles and Three-Point Strategy," mainly because Lu Jin fought too quickly. Before he could offer it, the world had already been pacified, leaving him no chance to make a move.
It is now January of 1356 in the Gregorian calendar. In the original history, Zhu Yuanzhang had only crossed the Yangtze River less than half a year ago, and it would have been 12 years before the founding of the Ming Dynasty. However, in this timeline, Lu Jin's Ming Dynasty had already entered its third year of establishment. With such a large time difference, it's no wonder that Mr. Ye was slow to react.
Lu Jin immediately asked, "Since this person is such a talented individual, why didn't Mr. Jinglian recommend him to me before?"

Song Lian immediately cupped his hands and explained, “Your Majesty is unaware that this man is actually a recluse. He is unwilling to serve as an official. If Your Majesty were to recruit him to serve as an official, he might not necessarily be willing to come. However, if he were to explore overseas like the Marquis of Bowang, I estimate that he would probably not refuse, after all, this is different from ordinary officials.”

Lu Jin nodded, and then said, "Then I will not personally recruit him. Instead, you should write a letter, and I will send someone to deliver it to him to see if he is willing to come."

“Yes!” Song Lian replied immediately.

A few days later, Song Lian's letter was delivered to Ye Dui's home by fast horse. After all, Taizhou in Zhejiang is not far from Nanjing, and given the efficiency of the imperial court, sending a letter was quite quick.

As Song Lian had predicted, Ye Dui agreed without hesitation after receiving the letter.

In his letter, Song Lian mentioned that His Majesty had sent Wang Dayuan to Lizhou to search for superior seeds. Such a wise and benevolent ruler is now in dire need of talents who are well-versed in astronomy and geography. You must come. Even if it is not for the emperor, but for the sake of the people, you should contribute your own strength.

Moreover, this voyage envoy is different from ordinary court officials. He doesn't have to go to the court every day, but instead goes out to sea to travel around. This should suit your taste, sir.

In his letter, he also described Wang Dayuan's haul from this voyage: various rare and excellent breeds, and a vast amount of gold and silver, all of which were extremely useful to both the imperial court and the people. Wouldn't you like to go and see for yourself?

Ye Dui was indeed very excited after reading the letter. Of course, it wasn't because he could become an official, but because there was a vast continent called Lizhou on the other side of the earth, which was tens of thousands of miles wide and had many magical things. This made him very curious and interested.

The Earth is round, a sphere. In ancient times, ordinary people might not have believed or known this, but for those who were well-versed in astronomy and geography, it was no secret. The celestial sphere was like a chicken egg, floating in the void. This was an astronomical concept that had already matured in the Han Dynasty. The Song Dynasty even produced astronomical instruments such as the water-powered armillary sphere and the celestial globe. Ye Dui could not possibly have been unaware of this.

Now that there's an opportunity to explore the other side of the Earth, how could he possibly let it pass? In Ye Dui's eyes, this is practically a publicly funded trip—spending the court's money to broaden his horizons, why not go?
In this era, people don't have many opportunities to travel far and broaden their horizons, let alone such an opportunity to go to another part of the world and broaden their horizons. So Ye Dui agreed without hesitation.

However, he was not young anymore, already 49 years old this year, and with a large family to support, he might not be able to return for a year or two after this long journey. Therefore, he needed to make some preparations. So he told the messenger that he would spend the Lantern Festival with his family and would set off for the capital after the sixteenth day of the first lunar month.

The messenger didn't urge him upon hearing this, only saying that the Yuanwang ship would set sail no later than March, and if the gentleman wanted to go, he should arrive in the capital in February. Ye Dui readily agreed, as this would give him more time.

In the second month of the lunar calendar, just as Ye Dui was about to arrive in the capital, Lu Jin also held the "Emperor's Personal Plowing" ceremony in Jiankang to encourage the people of the world to start spring plowing and set an example for the world.

This matter happened to attract another big shot, Mr. Wang Zhen himself, the author of "Wang Zhen's Agricultural Book" from Shandong, who actually came from Shandong to visit him.
(End of this chapter)