Emperor Ming Dynasty

"Is the princess pregnant?"

Upon waking up, Zhu Yixi felt the softness around her, and unconsciously fiddled with Yuanyuan in her hands, and was inexplicably surprised for a while.

After becoming emperor for so many years, even if Annan was taken down and forced to hold a sacrifice to the Taimiao, he did not have so many surprises.

But as soon as the princess was pregnant, she felt different immediately.

Liu Afu lowered his head and stood outside the curtain, a depressing murmur came from his ears, and several white and tender figures could be seen faintly.

"The news from the East Palace came in this way, and the Tai Hospital has also verified it."

Liu Afu said: "It was late at night, and the princess suddenly had morning sickness and her face was pale. After the imperial doctor went to take her pulse, she confirmed again and again that she was pregnant."

"Your Majesty drank too much yesterday, so he didn't dare to disturb you."

"I see."

Unconsciously feeling the fullness and roughness in her mind, Zhu Yixi calmed down: "The queen's reward is ready!"

"I went early in the morning."

"Send my share according to the regulations!"

"Yes!"

, the prince, who will be nineteen after the new year, finally has an heir.

Zhu Yixi thought a lot in his heart.

Throughout the dynasties, the issue of the succession of the second generation has always been the top priority. Even the collapse of some dynasties means that the second generation did not succeed well.

For example, as soon as the real gold prince of the Yuan Dynasty died, Kublai Khan completely reversed the process of Sinicization and began to return to the original barbarism, and then there was a messy battle for the throne.

Not to mention the complete feudalization that was lost, just talk about the Yuan Dynasty. After removing Yuan Shizu and Yuan Shunzong, the remaining nine emperors only had a total of 40 years, which can be described as tragic.

This is also the reason why Zhu Yuanzhang stubbornly carried out the eldest son inheritance system. He was really frightened by the chaotic seizure of the throne by the Yuan Dynasty.

"No, if I teach my grandson, I will love my grandson just like Kublai Khan and Taizu..."

Zhu Yixi immediately reacted.

It's really the bad nature of people.

Back then, Kangxi wanted to establish Hong Xi, the prince's son, but was frightened by the chaos in the Yuan and Ming dynasties, so he had to make his fourth son emperor. In his last edict before his death, he specifically made the heir emperor a prince.

The other sons were not mentioned at all.

Apparently, sons are less important than grandchildren.

"In the early years of the founding of the People's Republic of China, there were many chaos and chaos, and the world was at the beginning of peace. The successors faced an extremely complicated environment, and accidents were very easy!"

"However, I still have a good idea. The sons are all sent out to the feudal clan, so there is no threat..."

Satisfied, the emperor turned over and continued to gallop his horse.

After all, it's winter, so you have to do some exercise to warm up your body.

Needless to say, the joy in the palace, the ruling and opposition parties were also full of jubilation.

The position of the prince is becoming more and more secure.

Liao Palace.

At this time, the King of Liao had just washed and washed. After hearing about this incident, he had no choice but to say: "Send someone to send a congratulatory gift."

"Master, the concubine has already sent it off early in the morning."

"That's fine."

King Liao nodded slightly, sitting on the soft couch with a complicated look on his face.

Even knowing that this position is impossible to seek, who doesn't have a little ambition in his heart?

There was a little bit of hope at first, but now it is completely extinguished.

I really should be ready for Fan.

Because of the East Palace incident, the whole capital suddenly became lively, and all kinds of words and phrases gathered.

But generally speaking, happiness still accounts for the majority.

The stability of the prince's status also means political stability, and this prosperous age can continue to be passed on.

……

The time has come to December.

Qi has entered the dry season.

After devouring the Sulu Kingdom, the Qi State acquired a large number of craftsmen. Although they are not worth mentioning compared to Ming Dynasty, they are barely usable.

Moreover, the Sulu people have more agricultural experience than those savages, and they can even feed back Linzi.

Of course, what King Qi likes the most is that Sulu is an island country, not only has a relatively developed shipbuilding industry, but also has many people who can be sailors.

In this way, Qi State established a shipyard near Linzi City, recruited some craftsmen in Luzon, and officially started the shipbuilding industry.

After all, in Nanyang, relying on maritime trade to make a fortune, Qi can save at least ten years of effort.

After copying his hands, King Qi inspected the shipyards he was concerned about, and looked at the sea ships that were gradually taking shape. He smiled:

"We don't have much else in Qi, but we have everything we need in wood."

"Your Highness, the people of Xiyi let the wood dry, and they can do a lot of our work. According to the previous years, the wood after drying in the shade will have to wait for several years!"

Gu Yuan limped and followed behind King Qi, with his head held high and his chest held high, quite like a prime minister.

"If the sea trade flourishes, we can sell sugar, spices, tobacco, fruit wine, wild slaves, timber and other materials, and we can earn at least one hundred thousand more a year."

"A lot." Qi Wang said with emotion: "How difficult it is to govern the country."

"We can earn more by setting up our own fleet. At that time, we will go to Tianzhu to do business like those Xiyi people. Ivory and precious stones are scarce."

The position of Qi State is a bit embarrassing, in the south of Luzon, it is covered by a group of islands.

But the Sulu Islands are different. The location is critical. It is close to Borneo and the Spice Islands. There are a lot of ships coming and going. Naturally, it can bring different news.

"Your Highness, there are millions of people in Qin State, and Annan is a land rich in grain. We can go to Qin State to buy grain."

Gu Yuan suggested.

"The boats we have can go to the ocean, and we can sell them to Luzon in Qin Guoliang to make a fortune."

"Hahaha, not bad."

King Qi laughed softly: "When the ship is ready, our mines will be almost opened, and then we will use gold and silver to buy grain, and then go to Luzon to exchange for silver dollars."

"You can also recruit people from the Qin State." Gu Yuan continued to suggest: "There are too few immigrants in the country, and the wild slaves are gradually increasing. After all, the people of the Qin State are more obedient than the wild people."

"If we can recruit more than a hundred thousand, our country of Qi can be regarded as a real nation."

King Qi sighed.

Or the family is too thin.

It would be great if Luzon was regarded as a feudal country, he could wake up laughing at night when he slept.

Looking at the calm sea surface, the white seagulls kept rising and falling, King Qi said softly: "The next state affairs will be left to a few of you."

"Your Highness, are you going back to Beijing?"

"That's right." King Qi said: "Princess, the prince is still in Beijing, and it's not bad for me to come to Qi to stay for the first half year."

"Don't worry, I will come back in the dry season, and I won't be alone then."

With these words, the officials of Qi State were shocked.

It seems that King Qi is about to completely surrender.

This is a great thing.

……

Ceylon, Swallow Castle.

It has been several months since they were transferred to Ceylon, but Prince Zhu's family has developed rapidly.

After the Portuguese showed their good intentions, they brought in a caravan a few days later and established a trading station in Yanbao.

In the beginning, Yanbao could only rely on the deerskin and other animal skins contributed by the tribes on the peninsula in exchange for some salt, gunpowder, and urgently needed iron tools and cattle.

These critical supplies have allowed Yanbao's strength to grow continuously.

The desire for supplies made Yanbao extremely united, and at the same time revealed a hunger and ambition.

In just a few days, they incorporated more than a dozen tribes, large and small, and established a vassal army, and their own people supervised the battle with muskets.

Relying on the crowd model, they conquered the tribes with a radius of hundreds of miles in Yanbao in the first month.

In the second month, the tribes with a radius of two to three hundred miles around Yanbao also began to obey.

As a result, the number of villages controlled by Yanbao reached nearly 2000, and the population exceeded [-].

Zhu Cihong selected the best among the best, and selected two hundred obedient natives from the perspective of their long-term relationship and obedience, and made them the so-called Yan army.

The servant is an officer, and his nephew is a general, but an army has initially been established.

But at the same time, he also established a pro-army, all composed of muskets.

The increase in population has made Yanbao's direct management model unworkable.

As a last resort, Zhu Cihong, as the king of Ceylon, transformed them into prefectures and counties, that is, established a village system.

In other words, it is a local system that is unique to Ceylon.

Taking five villages as one mile, Yanbao appointed him as the head of the village, responsible for managing the five villages, such as tax collection, litigation, and conscription.

On top of it, every five miles, that is, 25 villages, as a township, set up a township head, village elders, and village monks.

The head of the township is a Han Chinese, that is, his heirs, and he has an army of 50 people under his command.

Take charge of the army.

Village elders are in charge of enlightenment and civil affairs, grain requisition and litigation, and they are held by those with higher prestige among the natives.

As for the monks, this is a characteristic of Ceylon.

Because in this place, basically all Tamils ​​believe in the so-called Brahmanism, and their religious thinking is extremely strong.

In order to better govern the country, it is necessary to manage religions, so there are local monks.

Yanbao governs two townships, the township governs five li, and the li governs five villages.

At the same time, in order to divide the natives, Zhu Cihong gave the natives who surrendered in the first month one by one the surname of the Ming people, and allowed them to come to Yanbao for trade.

More importantly, their taxes are only [-]%.

For other tribes, it is [-]%.

Yan Jun was also selected from these tribes.

The huge gap, as well as the preferential treatment, made this group of natives have a greater centripetal force towards Yanbao.

At the same time, it also made the natives feel uneasy, making it difficult to collude and threaten Yanbao.

Although there were only 2000 people, Zhu Cihong managed it in an orderly manner. As expected of a person who participated in the boy's test, he had a deep understanding of the grassroots of the Ming Dynasty.

In the center, Zhu Cihong is also generous.

He appointed his second younger brother Zhu Ding as Dingguo Duke, and his third as Yongguo Duke. They arranged a village as their direct management land, and they collected taxes and consumed them.

The third child is dissatisfied: If the emperor is far away today, why doesn't the eldest brother make us princes?
Zhu Cihong was not used to them, and said directly, although this place is thousands of miles away from Daming, don't forget that there are Portuguese people nearby.

Once they know that we don't have a deep connection with Daming, or even abandoned, then it will be dangerous.

He even asked the two not to change the original name of the club, which is still Zhu Ding and Zhu Yong.

And he himself has always been called the king of Ceylon, Zhu Ci.

As the Chinese New Year approached, the whole Yanbao became lively.

After cracking down on many tribes in a row, Yanbao not only solved the problem of women shortage, but even owned a large number of slaves.

There are no more than a hundred men, women and children together, but there are more than two hundred slaves, and the number continues to increase as time goes by.

The reason for the increase is naturally the requirement of reality.

Cultivating land naturally requires a large number of slaves. It is impossible for the Zhu family to do it themselves, right?

Zhu Ci was dressed in sackcloth, with his hair tied up, and with a few personal guards behind him, looking at the bustling market under the growth, he couldn't help feeling a lot of emotion.

Behind him is Yanbao, where the family lives.

The tall buildings do not start from the ground, but come step by step.

"Going to the market like this, I am afraid that we will soon be able to gather enough ivory and furs to trade with the Portuguese."

"Brother, your method is better." Zhu Ding couldn't help admiring: "We only need to spend some sea salt, it's really very profitable."

At this time, the youngest Zhu Yong also caught up. Seeing the two brothers chatting, he couldn't help shaking his head:
"Second brother, the magical functions of the market are not limited to these."

"The ones who can come to our trade are all relatives. They can sell enough salt and food to other tribes and earn more money."

"As time goes by, their centripetal force towards Yanbao will become stronger."

The relatives refer to the tribes conquered in the first month when Yanbao was established.

Selecting troops and trading are their prerogatives.

They are located near Yanbao fifty miles and are the best scouts.

"That's right." Zhu Ci nodded, "We use the salt boiled in seawater, the harvested grain, and the brewed wine to exchange for the furs and ivory of the natives."

"These furs and ivory are then exchanged for Portuguese gunpowder and iron, and the cycle repeats."

"Without half a year's effort, it will definitely grow and grow, and then it will be able to attack the Kingdom of Jaffna."

"Only by winning the Kingdom of Jaffna will we be able to gain a firm foothold, and the King of Ceylon will be worthy of his name."

Yanbao is located in the old part of Portugal, the Marna Peninsula, hundreds of miles away from Jaffna Kingdom on land, and less than two hours away by sea.

If it weren't for the Portuguese pressing down, the people of Jaffna would have been impatient.

That's why Yanbao is eager to strengthen its strength and recruit those natives to form the Yan army.

Thinking of this, Zhu Ci said solemnly: "I married some natives for you. Although they are a little darker and shorter, they are the daughters of tribal chiefs."

"Treat them well, and it is best to have children."

Zhu Ding and Zhu Yong looked at each other and could only obey.

Almost every man in Yanbao took two or three concubines from the natives. Although they couldn't understand the language, they didn't delay their intercourse every night.

On the bed, too, is politics.

In sparsely populated Swallow Castle, this is an essential move.

"Brother, it's better to get some Han people over..."

Zhu Yong couldn't help but said: "I'm afraid that in a few years, the bloodline of the Zhu family in Yanbao will be in chaos."

"Wait until we defeat the Kingdom of Jaffna."

Zhu Ci said in a deep voice: "Those Portuguese are very greedy, they can sell anything, as long as we can afford the price, wouldn't some Han people do whatever they want?"

The two brothers were satisfied.

If some Han people can be bought with money, then the Kingdom of Ceylon will be considered stable.

The three of them stood on top of the wall. Below was a market with hundreds of people, and in the distance was thousands of acres of arable land.

Everything is so full of life.