Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 580 Tie Xuan asks for orders
Zhu Su was silent, just looking at this huge treasure ship.He didn't know how this ship compared to Zheng He's treasure ship in history, but with the resources and technology possessed by the Ming Dynasty in this era, this was already the most advanced ship that could be built today.

If such ships cannot successfully conquer the sea, Zhu Su himself has no idea how to discover America.

"Third brother, going to sea is the general trend in the future." Zhu Su pondered for a long time before answering Zhu Fan's question. "Shipbuilding is really wasteful. Yungong and I have been planning for several years, spent all our wealth, and didn't even dare to use the treasury. Fortunately, we got some profits from the gold and silver mountains in Yingzhou, and my father allocated treasury to help, so we can continue to maintain it. This shipyard.”

"At this point, the nobles in the DPRK still feel that shipbuilding is too expensive and the requirements are cumbersome. On the cabinet records, there are memorials impeaching Longjiang Shipyard for wasting people and money every day, requesting that the shipyard be closed down and the sea banned directly to end the matter."

"However, the ocean is there. If we don't take it, barbarians will take it in the future. If we don't fight bravely, future generations will suffer because of it. It is naturally much simpler to follow the footsteps of our ancestors. But it is always just If you know how to follow the footsteps of your ancestors, how can you achieve something that your ancestors have never done?"

"I'm still young, and my father still supports us to open up the sea. If it doesn't work once, just ten times, if it doesn't work ten times, just a hundred times... we will eventually find the America."

"I was just saying something, but you used this big reason to suppress me." Zhu Fan smiled. It was known from Zhu Su's words that this younger brother was extremely sure of the existence of this so-called America.

But why?Even the Western Yi had never set foot in this America, and there were no books or documents about it. Why would this brother and father waste so much money and food to build such a large ship for the sake of the vague and unknown America?

It can't be the father... you want to imitate the First Emperor, right?Zhu Fan felt a little wary in his heart.

"Your Highness, we have the ship, but what should we do about the candidates to go to sea?" Xu Yungong asked. "What is being said to the outside world now is that our Ming fleet wants to restart the Maritime Silk Road and use this trade route to supplement the national economy. But it certainly cannot be just for this reason to recruit sergeants."

"And leading figures also need to consider carefully. After all, America is thousands of miles away from our Ming Dynasty..."

Zhu Su rubbed his eyebrows and felt quite a headache.Frankly speaking, the manpower to go to sea is indeed an unavoidable problem in searching for America.It should be noted that the sky and earth above the sea are vast, and even the soldiers who are most loyal to the Ming Dynasty may have their morale weakened by the sea.Not to mention that the sea is inherently difficult and dangerous, and a route that has never been discovered before needs to be explored. Only the soldiers sent out must work together to make it possible.

If the soldiers are deceived that they are going to the West to develop trade, when the soldiers realize that they are going in the wrong direction, riots will definitely occur.And after arriving, this part of the soldiers will still have to stay in the wild land of America, open up land for settlement, and become enemies of the natives...

Therefore, the leader of the fleet must have absolute loyalty, an extremely tenacious will, and must have extremely strong skills.

They also need to explore around, explore the American environment, travel to and from the Ming Dynasty, and transport people who are willing to immigrate... People are also a big problem. The Americas are no better than those in Yingzhou and Sanhan, and there are a large number of people who have bathed in Chinese enlightenment. , in that area, except for a small number of indigenous people with extremely backward civilization, there was no human habitation at all.If you want to colonize such a place, you must transport the population from the Ming Dynasty itself before you can truly establish a foothold in that American land.

But the Ming Dynasty's own population has not yet recovered, so where will the excess population come from to be sent to the colonies?Without a population, even if the fleet successfully reaches America, it will not be able to truly occupy this unclaimed land. "The Navigator is well versed in maritime affairs and can be the leader of the fleet... But after all, he is a military commander and does not know the people's livelihood. If he wants to take root in America, he needs a learned scribe... Otherwise, I will go there myself. North America is a place. No one knows about it, and the expedition to North America was originally proposed by me. If I go there, there will be less discussion in the DPRK."

"How does this make..." Xu Yungong and Zhu Fan began to admonish.Zhu Fan said: "Or, should we wait a little longer? After a few years, we can select the right person. There is no need to rush."

"Time waits for no one..." Zhu Su shook his head slightly.He also knew that in a few years, when the Ming Dynasty would become richer and stronger, and the land of Yingzhou, Sanhan, and Lingbei would be further integrated into China, the Ming Dynasty would be able to better promote its maritime industry.However, problems in a country often arise one after another. The time is right at this time. If new problems arise in a few years, going to sea will be delayed again.

At this time, the overall situation of the Japanese country has been decided. Many famous names are still frightened by the remaining power of the Ming Dynasty to destroy the shogunate and dare not make a big war. They can only allow the Yingzhou Xuanwei Division to encroach on the Japanese country; the forces of the Sanhan Xuanwei Division and Li Chenggui have become tug-of-war. In a short time, The situation on the Korean Peninsula will not change much; Yesudie'er on the grassland is busy integrating other tribes and is temporarily unable to invade the south.If Ming does not go to sea to colonize at this time, when war breaks out, Ming will be even less able to use its resources.

And the expedition to North America was also to make Ming Dynasty rise faster.Nowadays, the most scarce resource of the Ming Dynasty is its population. If the divine seeds such as corn and potatoes can be retrieved from the Americas, the Ming Dynasty's strength will undoubtedly expand at an extremely fast rate within decades.

Only a sufficient population can support the Ming Dynasty's fundamental national policy of "pioneering and enterprising" and have sufficient spare capacity to immigrate to foreign frontiers and colonize the New World.To ensure the population, food reserves must be indispensable.

From this perspective, the expedition to America was also an unavoidable threshold on the future development of Ming Dynasty.

I told Lao Zhu about this, and Lao Zhu was also quite embarrassed.On the one hand, he firmly opposed Zhu Su's personal voyage to the sea, but on the other hand, he also felt that there was no suitable candidate in the court to take the lead in this expedition to America.

The father and son discussed it for a long time, but still had no conclusion.Zhu Su had no choice but to leave the palace and return home full of worries.The disciple Tie Xuan who came with him opened the curtain for him. When he lowered the curtain, for some reason, he seemed hesitant to speak.

"Huh? Tie Xuan, what's the matter with you? Why don't you speak up? Could it be that my father and brother at home are ill?" Zhu Su asked.

But after hesitating for a moment, Tie Xuan lifted up his clothes and knelt down directly at the entrance of the palace. "Master, Xuan has been blessed by Master's teachings a few years ago. Your Majesty has never been able to repay you for your kindness."

"Now Master and Your Majesty want to open up the Americas. Although Xuan is not talented, he is willing to be a pioneer and devote himself to our great Ming Dynasty. I hope Master will agree!"

After saying that, he leaned over and knocked heavily on the ground.

(End of this chapter)