Bringing the Railway to Daming

After asking the ship owner, Zhu Xiongying asked the sailor a few more questions.

"Where are you going to immigrate to this time?"

"My lord, we will go to Beiyangdusi first, then turn south to Dongfan Island and Luzondusi."

Zhu Xiongying asked again, "Your fleet should also be engaged in the trade of goods, right?"

"That's right. If this cargo is traded successfully, it will be much more profitable than transporting Japanese immigrants."

"For example, when we go to Beiyang this time, we will also sell some supplies imported from Japan, and then purchase some furs and other specialties from the Beiyang Dusi, and sell them at the coastal ports of Daming, or simply take them to Dongfan and Luzon..."

Seeing that Zhu Xiongying was easy-going, the sailor started talking more.

Zhu Xiongying was not in a hurry. He waited until he finished speaking before asking, "Are there still pirates on the sea now?"

"Of course there are, but far fewer than before, and they're not large-scale. Pirates only dare to rob merchant caravans with small, fewer ships. And even then, they have to be careful not to run into patrolling navy ships, otherwise they'll most likely be wiped out."

After asking the sailors, Zhu Xiongying asked Zheng He, who knew Japanese, to act as an interpreter and asked the Japanese girl and young man a few questions.

It is probably about their original living conditions and why they "emigrated" overseas.

Japanese girls are essentially sold by their families.

However, the young and strong men were not doing well in their own country. They heard that if they helped the Ming Dynasty fight in Southeast Asia, they could not only make money, but also gain land and women and even become Ming soldiers (weisuo troops) if they accumulated enough merits.

Therefore, this young and strong man sold himself to the "immigrant" sea merchant and received five strings of cash. In the first two years of immigration, the sea merchant only needed to hand over these young and strong Japanese men and their deeds to the Luzon governor to obtain six strings of cash and the opportunity to buy and sell goods with the Luzon governor.

But later, officials found that the court suffered too much from this and had to spend a lot of money every year to fill the gap, so they changed the policy.

Today, the young and strong men of Japan are sent to Dongfan, Luzon and Hailong, and are still handed over to the Dusi. They still have the opportunity to trade with the Dusi and its subordinate guards, but the court no longer pays them, and the indentures of the young and strong men of Japan are still in the hands of these sea merchants.

In the future, if Japanese men want to regain their freedom, in addition to accumulating merits under the management of the garrison, they must also save 20 strings of cash to redeem their indentures from the sea merchants.

From this perspective, it seems that "immigrating" young and strong men from Japan still has a profit of more than three or four times, so why does the sea owner say that he can't make any money?
Zhu Xiongying understood after a little thought.

Because after these Japanese men were sent to Southeast Asia, the mortality rate would be high.

These Japanese men were essentially in debt to the merchant. Now that they were dead, the debt was settled. Naturally, the five strings of cash that the merchant had previously given them, along with the shipping costs, were considered a loss.
After questioning, Zhu Xiongying asked Zheng He to send the four people away.

As he pondered the information he had just received, he had already come to realize one fact: the effect of the rice-to-mulberry plantation and immigration policies had been minimal at this point.

If we want Japan's population to continue to decrease and eventually clear the obstacles for the Ming Dynasty to rule Japan, we will probably have to think of other ways.

For example, further increasing the intensity of the war in Japan.

If this cannot be achieved, the Ming Dynasty will have no choice but to take direct action.

But what kind of reason could allow the Ming Dynasty to justify sending troops to Japan?
While thinking about this, Zhu Xiongying glanced at the docks of the port and saw that there were many Japanese and Koreans among the porters. Suddenly, an idea popped up in his mind: Japan should not lack knowledgeable people, and they should understand that everything in Japan today is driven by the Ming Dynasty, right?

If that were the case, if Japan knew that he, the crown prince, was on Tsushima Island, would they be driven by hatred and send someone to assassinate him?
It would be great if Ashikaga Yoshimitsu sent someone to assassinate him.

···
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April passed and summer came in a flash.

Mannar, no, it should now be called the capital of Qi - Qidu.

This name is very common and there is no profound meaning behind it. The immigrants all know that it was the king who insisted on choosing it.

The water-powered mechanical clock in the Qi Palace (formerly the City Lord's Mansion) rang eight times. It was exactly eight o'clock in the morning, but the heat was already unbearable.

However, in a large courtyard near the Palace of King Qi, the clear sound of a group of children reading could be heard.

"In May, the locusts are rustling their legs; in June, the sedges are fluttering their feathers. In July, they are in the wild; in August, they are in the house; in September, they are outside the house; in October, the crickets are crawling under my bed..."

Zhu Gui got up early today, a rare occasion. The weather was unbearably hot, so he went out for a stroll and thought of visiting the "Qidu No. 1 Primary School" which had just opened a few days ago.

Although he was a little eccentric, he was influenced by Zhu Yuanzhang and the Ming Dynasty's customs, and he knew how important education was to the country.

Therefore, seeing that the war had stopped and it was unlikely to start again in a short period of time, he began to deal with various internal affairs - opening a school was one of the many internal affairs.

This "First Primary School of Qi Capital" was established by him in imitation of the Great Hall and the First Primary School of the Capital. Currently, it only accepts his sons and the descendants of all the civil and military officials of Qi State who are of the seventh rank and above.

His eldest son, Zhu Xian'an, was eight years old and had studied in the Daihondo for more than two years. Although he was not as naughty as he was when he was a child, his grades were average. Even he could see that his eldest son was a mediocre person.

The second son, Zhu Xianjiong, was six years old. He seemed smarter than the eldest son, but he was weak and sickly since birth. He did not dare to take him out to sea and temporarily stayed in the Ming Dynasty.

His three daughters were healthy, intelligent and cute, but unfortunately, daughters were just daughters after all.

Zhu Gui listened in the yard for a while and saw that several classes were teaching the recitation of traditional classics such as "The Book of Songs" and "The Analects of Confucius", but only one class was teaching mathematics, so he frowned.

After class, he called all the school principals and teachers together to give them a lecture.

"I didn't understand it before, but now I see why you have arranged so many courses on literature and even Confucian classics. Don't you want our Great Qi to develop science?" The principal of the First Primary School is temporarily served by the aide Kong Jinwen. This man is from the Kong family of Quzhou and is a distant branch of the Southern Kong family. He is in his early fifties and is also considered a famous local Confucian scholar.

Upon hearing this, Kong Jinwen said, "Your Majesty, science is certainly important, but our Qi State has just established itself in a foreign land, and the surrounding areas and even those under our rule are all filled with foreign languages ​​and customs."

"I believe that the most important thing at this moment is to let children remember Han culture and not forget their roots. Only then can we talk about science, technology, and other things that can directly enhance national strength."

It is obvious that although Kong Wenju was a Confucian scholar, he was not completely ignorant of science and technology, otherwise he would not have been accepted into Zhu Yuanzhang's court.

When Zhu Gui heard his words, he felt that there was some truth to them - he didn't want his descendants to not be able to speak Chinese, or to not understand the Chinese classics.

But after watching so many videos from later generations, the importance of science and technology to the country has taken root in his heart.

He then said, "Even if what you said makes sense, we can't neglect science too much. We should add some math and science courses. No objections!"

At the end, Zhu Yu deliberately emphasized his tone.

Kong Jinwen exchanged glances with several Confucian teachers, all of whom felt a little helpless, but still agreed.

After returning to the "royal palace", Zhu Yu handled military and political affairs for a while, and then he couldn't help but want to take off his thin silk shirt and wear only his underwear.

But from time to time, his subordinates would come to report or discuss military and political affairs, and he couldn't just go there without any clothes on - although only a few months had passed, he was much more stable now than when he was at sea and when he captured Colombo.

Because in the series of battles after returning to Mannar from Colombo, Qi Fan suffered a lot because of his arrogance and incompetence. He also encountered many setbacks. In addition, Zhu Yuanzhang's unified reprimand and guidance through telegrams finally made him improve a little.

After a while, Chief of Staff Zeng Mingshen came to discuss military affairs with him.

"Your Majesty, the three cities of Zhuangwu, Gaoyu, and Buqi each only have one thousand garrison troops and two thousand vassal troops. The military strength is ultimately insufficient. I suggest that you send at least one thousand vassal troops to each of the three cities."

It is now July. After Qi Fan returned to support Mannar City, he fought intermittently for more than a month with several Sinhalese troops led by the second Sinhalese prince, and finally captured three small fan-shaped cities to the north of Mannar (a miniature peninsula).

During that month, although the Qi army won victory after victory, the non-combat casualties in the army increased significantly as the weather became hotter.

The staff advised Zhu Gui to stop the war. In addition, Zhu Gui had some preparations for establishing a vassal state in tropical regions. Therefore, by May, the Qi vassal state was mainly defensive.

By June, the Sinhalese people, who had become accustomed to the local climate, were no longer willing to fight, and the war was temporarily stopped.

At this time, Zhu Yu heard Zeng Mingshen's words and said in confusion: "There is no need to send more troops, right? The weather is so hot, the Sinhalese people have stopped fighting, and the three northern cities are not under much pressure."

Zeng Mingshen said, "Your Majesty, what if the Sinhalese launch a surprise attack one day?"

Zhu Yu thought about it, nodded, and said, "Then do as you say. Send an additional 1,000 vassal soldiers to each of the three cities, and 500 soldiers from the guard camp to each city. In addition, let the generals defending the city be more vigilant."

"Yes."

After discussing this matter, Zeng Mingshen was about to leave, but Zhu Yu said, "Military Advisor, I still have something I need your advice on."

"Just tell me, Your Majesty."

Zhu Yu said, "The weather on this island is too hot. I've seen those Sinhalese nobles, both men and women, only wearing a narrow strip of silk covering their chests. Many men even go shirtless."

"Why don't we follow the local customs and dress like the locals?"

Zeng Mingshen was shocked when he heard this and said hurriedly, "Your Majesty, absolutely not! We are here to fight a large force with a small number of people. What we fear most is being assimilated by the natives. We can't even get them to wear Chinese clothes and learn our Chinese language and customs, so how can we take the initiative to learn their attire?"

Zhu Yu: "But this weather is too hot. I can't stand it."

Zeng Mingshen said, "Your Majesty, my Han family's clothes are already spacious and cool enough... Your Majesty should prioritize the great cause of the future generations."

Zeng Mingshen left after giving his advice.

After careful consideration, Zhu Yuanzhang finally did not dare to imitate the Sinhalese clothing - it was not that he attached great importance to Zeng Mingshen's advice, but he was worried that Zhu Yuanzhang would send a telegram to reprimand him after knowing about this.

They might even send a large army to capture him and bring him back to the Ming Dynasty, allowing him to return to the throne.

Zhu Yuanzhang had "threatened" him in this way after he reported on his plan to return to support the battle of Mannar.

In the study, two maids kept fanning Zhu Yu with fans, but it was still difficult to make him feel cool.

Just when he couldn't help but want to take off his clothes and go shirtless, some clothing styles of later generations that he had seen in the video suddenly flashed through his mind, and his eyes lit up immediately.

He immediately shouted, "Someone come!"

Eunuch Zhao Bing came in and asked, "What are your orders, Your Majesty?"

"Go find me some tailors and ask them to bring their clothes-making tools."

Zhao Bing didn't ask why, just responded and went to find someone.

About a quarter of an hour later, the three tailors arrived at the palace of King Qi with their tools. (End of this chapter)