eldest son of Ming dynasty

The emperor summoned Fan Yuchang, the young official, for Lu Song affairs.

Luzon Island is today's Philippines. It is recorded in the history of the Ming Dynasty:

Luzon is a small country in the Southeast China Sea. Produce gold. Pay tribute in the third year of Yongle. In Jiajing, he arrived again. They traded with the people of Zhang and Quan, and the number of people living there was tens of thousands.

"Zhangjun Chronicle" also records: There are Lusong and Sulu countries in the East...

In fact, Zhu Houzhao knew that this was the Philippines later, but at this time there were a bunch of small countries in the Philippine Islands, and Luzon was one of them that occupied Luzon Island.

The Philippines is a country where three-quarters of the country is mountainous, and there are active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes. Although it is recorded that gold is produced, it is still far behind the "treasure island" of Japan.

However, in the Age of Discovery, the ports on the ocean themselves had the function of 'stations', and islands were connected to each other in a line, which was also part of the Ming Dynasty's coastal defense.

This is a value.

The second one is Manila Bay.

The Ming Naval Academy has already discussed this topic. From a military perspective, it is best to choose a place on land that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, or to guard key arteries.

What about at sea? How to conduct military defense on an island like this? There is a more critical question here, that is, how to defend the military port?

Especially since the Ming Dynasty has begun to expand outward, build ports, and protect shipping routes, this issue becomes even more important.

In fact, this question is not difficult to answer.

Needless to mention conditions such as water depth, there is another important condition for a military port, which is "a small mouth and a big belly."

To put it simply, it is a "concave" shape, with the bottom butt touching the continent and the gap above facing the ocean.

Unfortunately for the people of Luzon, the Port of Manila has such a terrain.

In fact, the important military ports in the world such as Portsmouth Port, Pearl Harbor, Port Arthur, Qingdao Port, etc. are all small in size but big in belly. Especially at Pearl Harbor, the sea water is 'cut' into the land like a chicken claw, and the inside and outside can only be connected. Through a narrow 330-meter-wide waterway, how could we get in without the air force?

This is similar to a pass on land, you have no other way to go.

What's even more amazing is Qingdao Port. In addition to its small mouth and big belly, its "concave" shape has two mountains protruding from both sides, which is more conducive to defense.

Manila Bay does not have such perfect conditions, because the Port of Manila is not connected to mountains, but to the largest central plain in the entire Philippine Islands...

The key is that it's flat, and there are two major freshwater rivers running through it...

It doesn't matter if there is a river. The climate here is hot and rainy all year round, with annual precipitation reaching 2000 to 3000 mm.

It can be said that it is very suitable for growing rice. As long as the planting technology is reached, it can be grown three times a year...

So there is a reason why there are so many Chinese immigrants here.

Therefore, since we found this place a few years ago and started building a port in Manila Bay, the genetic changes of the Ming Dynasty's farming civilization have been being stirred, induced, and teased...

Moreover, the Luzon Kingdom itself paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty. Even if it did not pay tribute, it still had physical means to make him surrender.

This is basically a voluptuous naked beauty, dancing in place all the time.

Who can bear it?

Zhu Houzhao does not have this data. Even if he sends people to survey, it will be difficult to achieve results with the current technical conditions. In fact, the Central Plains Plain in the north of Manila Bay is about 190 kilometers long from north to south and 110 kilometers wide from east to west. It covers an area of ​​about 2 square kilometers and more than 2000 million acres of arable land.

Of course, this is theoretical data, and we all know that it is not a simple thing to talk about from a raw place to a familiar place. Moreover, this is not as vast as Henan on the mainland, which has hundreds of millions of acres of cultivated land.

But for the island, it has been extremely difficult.

Fifty years later, Spain began to extend its claws here, and later the Americans fought with the Spaniards here just to compete for this place. The reason is naturally that not only the terrain is good, but also the words "rich products" can be said.

However, Zhu Houzhao did not use the name Manila Port. Manila? Han people can't understand it.

Luzon Port is also not good, and it seems to have something to do with the current Luzon Kingdom.

So it was named Shitang Port.

Shitang is the situation of the South China Sea islands described by the Song Dynasty. The so-called east is thousands of miles of Changsha and thousands of miles of stone ponds, which are vast and uniform in color.

In fact, this is not what he is talking about, but people in the Ming Dynasty couldn't figure it out. Zhu Houzhao took the beautiful meaning of "Ten Thousand Miles of Stone Pond", which is like a fertile field thousands of miles away.

After using it wrongly, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty didn't notice it, but they all thought it was good, especially the 'Wanli', which was very good, as if it had been injected into the DNA sequence.

And this Shitang Port is not constructed and operated by Daming Nanyang Trading Company. After all, there must be some balance.

Furthermore, although the Luzon Kingdom has little say in this matter, it is close after all, and many people live here, so there are many matters that need to be coordinated, and the administrative color of the Shaofu is more suitable.

At present, the first phase of Shitang Port has been built, and Ming merchant ships and military ports can dock for supplies.

There will be a second and third phase after that, because this is not only a transfer station, but also has so much food to be transported, and two super large granaries have to be built in the military port.

But there is a problem. Planting rice and raising livestock, where Ming people eat and drink spicy food, will always attract some bold and greedy people.

It's not the official government. The officials from top to bottom of Luzon would not dare to give them ten courages. Moreover, they live a good life and there is no need to mess around. But these losers cannot govern their own people well.

A few days ago, Zhu Feng, the second son of Duke Cheng and the current governor of Luzon, reported: ...In March of the 20th year of Zhengde, a mob riot broke out in Luzon. King Suleiman only had three thousand soldiers and it was difficult to control the situation.

Zhu Houzhao met Fan Yuchang and said without waiting for him to say: "I summoned you today to inform you about the Luzon riots. Although I have instructed the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the specific situation is still unclear, and the Shaofu also Be prepared if the situation deteriorates. Fan Yuchang, let me ask you, how much silver has been invested in Shitang Port now?"

"His Majesty, at the end of the 19th year of Zhengde, including the facilities of the pier, a total of more than 1.60 million silver." Where is the geometry of grain in Shaofu? "

"Two million eight hundred thousand stones."

"So much?" Zhu Houzhao's face became solemn and he said fiercely: "If there is any loss, it will not be a trivial matter. It must be foolproof."

Fan Yuchang nodded, "I mean the same thing. Your Majesty, King Suleiman II of Luzon has never known restraint, so he simply took this opportunity to establish someone else to eliminate future troubles forever."

"I will call someone to discuss this matter in detail today. Just wait here." Zhu Houzhao raised his arm and pressed it, then turned back to look at Zhang Cong, Zaihe and Zaiyan who were kneeling.

Zaihe's heart beat, and his head lowered.

His father squatted down and said meaningfully, with more ups and downs in his tone: "Boss, if you become the emperor in the future, what will you do in the face of such a situation?"

This is a test.

Zaihe's heartbeat quickened, "My son... I will definitely do things impartially, and I will never let a treacherous minister run free in the court!"

"You are saying that Zhang Cong is a treacherous minister. But he is a minister who has been the chief minister for six years and a cabinet minister for more than ten years. If someone consults with you, you will... kill him?"

"No, but I will definitely find out the truth."

Zhu Houzhao patted him on the back and did not continue to ask.

It wasn't that he was satisfied with his answer, but that this guy really couldn't say anything. In fact, it seems to have been like this all along. After all, the child Zaihe received royal education, so these questions can be answered superficially.

It's a pity that there is only the surface.

The same thing happens if I keep asking, what else is there to ask?

What's more, he was a little annoyed because Zaihe didn't have to fight like this with Zhang Cong, and Zhang Cong didn't care about him. So this child was actually encouraged to kneel here by Qingliu from behind!

Although it is hateful for Qingliu to use his son in this way, people cannot be used as spearmen in the court!

"Get up! Go back to the house!"

Zaihe suddenly raised his head, "Father! Everything I said is true!"

Zai Yan, who was kneeling next to him, also fainted. This was completely different from what he had expected.

But how could this happen? Zhang Cong is the chief assistant and hiring people is such a big deal. How could his father remain indifferent?

"Father! What the eldest brother is talking about was reported by the Qingzhou Prefecture Magistrate. A batch of smuggled official banknotes has been seized in Qingdao Port, and the Ministry of Revenue has approved it. These official banknotes did not go through customs normally!"

Zhu Houzhao couldn't understand his second brother. In the past, he only thought that he was the eldest brother who always followed him. But vaguely, I felt that this child would be different from his elder brother.

"I have my reasons for doing things. If you can't figure it out, it's your business. Don't talk any more. You two can go down."

Zhang Cong's expression remained calm, but he sighed in his heart.

The emperor took care of his face like this, but there was a price for it.

The emperor gave the order, and although the two princes were dissatisfied, they had no choice but to take a few steps back, then turned around and left.

Zai He was also very impatient. As soon as he walked far away and was still in the palace, he immediately lost his temper at Zai He, "Didn't you say that? This incident has a great impact on Zhang Cong and may even shake him." The foundation! But what about now? My father didn’t even say a harsh word! My uncle came over and said that we were confused and you were the only one who was awake! It’s fine now! Zhang Cong is not down, Chen Chaorui is fine, and it made me shit!!”

It's really indecent for royal people to say shit, shit.

Zai Yan also knew that he was in the wrong and apologized: "Brother, please don't be angry. I was reckless and didn't think carefully about this matter. I just apologize to my eldest brother."

"Humph!"

Zaihe didn't have any means to punish him, so he just walked away!

Zai Yan frowned as she looked at his back, and looking back, she saw the words "Fengtian Palace" shining brightly on the red wall and black tiles.

"It's still a bit naive."

This time, Zhang Cong's methods completely exceeded his expectations. This lesson should be remembered.

And on the other side,

Zhu Houzhao pulled Zhang Cong away to avoid Fan Yuchang, and then returned the memorial that he had been rubbing for a long time to Zhang Cong without saying anything.

When Zhang Cong resigned and took two steps,

He suddenly smiled and asked: "Mr. Zhang Ge, is it really true that the smuggling of official silver is 10 million taels?"

Zhang Cong's heart trembled and he was about to kneel down, but the emperor left directly after asking.

In an instant, he realized that he had to do what was written in the memorial, and he had to accomplish it, and he also had to recover the smuggled official silver, not to mention all of it, but it would be close to 10 million taels. Crossover.

After returning home, Zhang Cong sent someone to tell him: "The emperor has already acquiesced in the memorial to the elimination of the clan after the fifth generation. Please go to the imperial censor to submit it."

The subordinates of Lord Chief Assistant trembled when they heard this. Why is it such a terrible thing that offends so many people?