After hearing this, Zhu Di looked at Zhang Anshi with sharp eyes and said in deep thought: "What should we do?"

Zhang Anshi said: "I think that we can try our best to set up ports all over the world and establish supply stations on various waterways and routes. The next time Eunuch Zheng goes to the Western Ocean, he has a more important responsibility. There are good ports along the way.

The islands and islands must be surveyed, and simple trading posts must be established first to ensure that merchant ships can pass through. After that, troops and horses may be stationed, or officials may be stationed for management according to the situation.”

After a pause, he continued: "If that doesn't work, you can still enfeoff. For example, a prince's concubine can enfeoff islands and ports. Not only can they guard one area, but they can also be restrained by Ming laws and taught to be responsible for the maintenance of ports.

Supplies for trade.”

Nowadays, the Ming Dynasty clan has begun to spread its branches and leaves.

Those princes gave birth to more and more sons, and Emperor Taizu Gao was so partial to his own children that he formulated a bizarre clan support policy.

In addition to the hereditary inheritance of the prince and the enfeoffment of the bodyguards, even the prince's second son and concubines still inherited the title of the county prince and were enshrined, entrusted with fiefdoms and protected as usual.

Nowadays, although princes everywhere have fiefdoms, they also have many sons. How to arrange these people has become a problem.

Zhang Anshi's suggestion is to continue to enfeoff and spread the branches.

Let them occupy the star-studded ports and islands in the world, fight against nearby pirates, protect shipping routes, and thrive.

There are definitely some drawbacks to this approach. From a governance perspective, directly dispatching officials to manage is the most direct way.

But for this era, there are many benefits.

On the one hand, the Ming Dynasty is too far away from ports all over the world. It may take months or even a year or two to convey government orders back and forth. This means that it is impossible for the court to directly control the officials at each port.

, these officials need to be given sufficient decision-making power, even... they are equivalent to local emperors.

In this case, it is better to carry out enfeoffment!

The land was given, the people were given, and a sum of money was given to resettle it, so that the court would not have to support these clansmen, and the land belonged to the clansmen and the princes. They needed to defend it themselves, not only to prevent the natives, but also to

To resist the attacks of pirates.

In addition, they are far overseas, deep in the wilderness, and the only way to get supplies is through merchant ships along the way.

Only by maintaining the port can they ensure that they can obtain supplies from the Ming Dynasty, obtain Ming Dynasty's goods, and even weapons, ensuring that they have an overwhelming advantage over pirates and natives.

Coupled with the enfeoffment, they also had a certain motivation to develop. After all, the more land, population, and wealth they gained, they all belonged to themselves and would be left to their children and grandchildren in the future.

If it is managed by officials, on the one hand, it will not be able to make the accompanying soldiers and officials identify with it. After all, officials will have to be rotated sooner or later, and they will not be able to take root for a long time.

On the other hand, there is no motivation to develop. After all, the wealth, population and land gained are not their own, as long as they don't make mistakes.

After hearing this, Zhu Di nodded and said: "So, the next voyage to the West will require a large fleet?"

"Yes." Zhang Anshi said: "It should be larger than before, and it is necessary to recruit a large number of craftsmen, guards, boatmen and sailors, and at the same time gather clan members and have them set off with the ship. As for how to divide the enfeoffment, it can be based on this voyage.

Determine the route you will take."

Zhu Di fell into deep thought.

In fact, what Zhang Anshi said was simple, but in fact, Zhu Di knew better than anyone else that dividing the clans along the way came with huge risks!

When they arrive at the place, they stay temporarily and let them disembark with their enfeoffed guards, slaves, soldiers, and materials, and start building the port. Maybe in the end, a hundred of them are enfeoffed. After a few years, those clansmen who can persist and survive will be

Maybe there are only fifty.

After all, they are not princes, and they are not setting off with a few guards, but tens of thousands of people.

The imperial court can leave them with a thousand people, which would be good.

Zhang Anshi looked at Zhu Di anxiously. In fact, Zhang Anshi also had his own selfish motives.

The reason why it was proposed to enfeoff the land of the princes, ports and islands all over the world was actually closely related to Zhang Anshi's trade.

What Zhang Anshi wanted was not the trade of the entire Western countries, but the trade of the whole world within the four seas.

This means that the entire Ming Dynasty needs to operate every seaport from Europe to Africa to China and Tianzhu step by step!

And this... is something that will take decades, even hundreds of years, and will remain unshakable as long as the Ming Dynasty still exists.

After all, there will definitely be changes along the way. Maybe a port somewhere is destroyed by an island, or maybe a new power suddenly appears nearby to threaten you.

And once the later emperors of the Ming Dynasty felt that maintaining these was time-consuming and laborious and wanted to discard them, Zhang Anshi's plan might fail.

If you want to completely control the ocean, you need generations of great emperors like Zhu Di, who will not waver in this and will never be discouraged no matter how many crises they encounter.

Even if it suffers a setback, it can still dispatch a more powerful navy without hesitation and use sufficient manpower and material resources to continue to maintain the lifeline on this ocean.

And this... we must ensure that the clan members are enfeoffed.

They are relatives and the same clan of the emperor. If the second son of His Highness Prince Ning is killed by pirates nearby on an island in the Tianzhu Sea, at this time, if the emperor wants to abandon him, he will first go to Lu

Everyone in Prince Ning's palace in the Song Dynasty would share the same hatred and hope that the court would seek justice.

The other vassals, such as the king of Zhao, the king of Han, the king of Zhou, the prince and other clans, would also be saddened by the death of the rabbit and the fox, and desperately hoped that the court would take some action and would never tolerate it.

In this way, rather than enfeoffment, it is better to say that the entire royal family of the Ming Dynasty was organized into a fleet of chain-linked ships.

No one is allowed to jump off the ship. We are all descendants of Emperor Taizu Gao. Even if the royal family is thousands of miles away, being bullied on a forgotten island somewhere, the Ming Dynasty even includes all the vassal states all over the world.

As well as hundreds of thousands of princes and vassals scattered all over the country, no one can pretend to be blind.

It is no longer a forgotten island, it has given the entire Ming clan a sense of family connection.

The ancients had the concept of kinship. The emperor was the head of the entire clan and had unshirkable responsibilities. If the royal family could humiliate and kill at will, then... the etiquette would really break down.

So despite the fact that these clan members may fight to the death for the throne, once the blood relatives no longer have the threat of competing for the throne, it becomes their duty to defend the clan and maintain the bloodline.

Rather than saying it is enfeoffment, it is better to say... Zhang Anshi hopes to turn these princes into hostages and tie them up one by one all over the world.

Zhu Di thought carefully for a long time and then said: "Let's make a regulation. I'm afraid the kings will also criticize this matter."

Zhu Di obviously also thought of this. For the kings, they were constantly expanding their vassal territories in the West. Even if their eldest son could inherit their own prince title, those second sons could still get some favors.

of.

But if the enfeoffment is to be carried out thousands of miles away, it would be strange for the vassal kings not to blow up the situation.

Zhang Anshi smiled and said: "Your Majesty, this is actually why I made this suggestion. On your Majesty's side, entrusting the guards and craftsmen to the princes will definitely be a drop in the bucket. It would be a mercy to have hundreds or even thousands of them."

"But the vassal princes are not worried about their sons, and I'm afraid they will also find ways to increase their population. In this way, at least 2,000 people can be gathered, which is enough to establish a foothold. But if all the ports in the world are controlled by the imperial court,

Bear, then...the manpower and material resources required..."

Zhang Anshi paused and then said: "Besides, it will definitely be difficult at first. But once we can establish a foothold and establish a port, the number of merchant ships will definitely increase day by day, and the constant flow of merchants will inevitably bring taxes and a large amount of money.

Commercial goods! Isn’t it a good thing for the princes? Of course, this is difficult after all, but why is it not difficult for Taizu to start a business as a commoner? "

Zhu Di looked at Zhang Anshi with burning eyes, he seemed to be persuaded.

Zhu Di nodded and said: "This matter... needs to be handled with caution. In the coming spring for the Western Ocean voyage, the size of Zheng He's fleet will need to be expanded. The required manpower and ships must be processed in time, as well as medicines and weapons.

, food, we will also step up our efforts first. As for the situation of the clan members..."

Zhu Di pondered and said: "Order Shu King Zhu Chun, Zhang Qing, and Zheng He to discuss and handle it as appropriate. The prince will take the lead in this matter."

After Zhang Anshi heard this, he quickly said: "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

Zhang Anshi was in a great mood.

Although it is said that it should be done with caution, in fact, it is considered a blessing, but now His Majesty still needs to test the reactions of the kings.

Now it is led by the prince, King Zhu Chun of Shu, Zhang Anshi and Zheng He. These are not ordinary people. Let these four people make a decision. In a sense, it actually means that this matter must be carried out.

After Zhang Anshi came to court, he happily followed the prince Zhu Gaochi.

Zhu Gaochi glanced sideways at Zhang Anshi, but said with a wry smile: "You are experiencing ups and downs again and again. I'm afraid it won't be long before letters and reports from the kings will come in an endless stream."

Zhang Anshi smiled cheerfully and said: "So...if you have more children, if you have more children...you can take up space, and you won't feel bad even if you lose it. Unlike me...just one or two, they are very valuable."

Zhu Gaochi looked at Zhang Anshi with a look of helplessness, but he said: "Tomorrow I will go to the palace to invite Uncle Shu Wang. He has been in poor health recently. Let's discuss it with him first."

Zhang Anshi looked at Zhu Gaochi gratefully and said, "Brother-in-law, thank you for your hard work."

In fact, Zhang Anshi also understood that the King of Shu was quite popular in the clan. Now, although he is no longer the governor of the left, he is still in charge of the clan mansion!

The responsibilities of this clan are not only to take charge of the clan roster of the emperor's nine clans, but also to compile jade certificates on time, recording the names, concubines, titles, birth and death dates, marriages, posthumous titles, and burials of the clan's children. Secondly, they are also responsible for reporting the clan's requests.

Report to the emperor; introduce talented people; record the crimes and faults of the clan, etc.

As long as the King of Shu is willing to support, the matter will be more than half successful.

The two chatted for a few more words, and when they arrived at the palace gate, Zhang Anshi and Zhu Gaochi parted ways, but went to the imperial prison without stopping.

Here, Zhang Anshi was obviously very interested in those two Europeans.

After entering the cell, Zhang Anshi sat upright.

Erdan and Donkey Ball also seemed to feel Zhang Anshi's majesty. They both stood opposite Zhang Anshi with their necks slightly hunched, looking uneasy.

Zhang Anshi smiled and said: "Just to observe my Ming Dynasty, you risk being captured by my Ming Dynasty. In my opinion, you two are not only bold, but also ignorant."

Erdan hurriedly said: "Your Highness, we have all been honest..."

"You are dishonest." Zhang Anshi said bluntly, then stared at Erdan, and continued: "It was just not convenient for me to talk about it when I was in the palace, but now that I am here, it is hard to talk about it."

Erdan and Donkey Ball's expressions changed slightly, but they said nothing.

Zhang Anshi said: "I hope we can be honest. You came with the ship this time, and you obviously know the situation of my Ming Dynasty. I... you can also ask about it. I am a well-known virtuous king here, and you

These foreign monks are always kind and kind."
To be continued...