My Daming New Empire

"Excuse me." Zhu Zhanji stepped forward and supported Zheng He's arm, and said, "I heard that eunuch Zheng wanted to make a name for himself in the Western countries. I was very curious, so I sent someone to inquire about the eunuch's whereabouts. I don't want to see him today."

Zheng He took advantage of the situation to straighten up, and said with a smile, "Your Majesty knows that His Highness wants to find peace, so he asked He to come personally to solve the confusion for the grandson."

Zhu Zhanji looked at the two personal eunuchs beside him. They were about the same age as Zheng He, and they were wearing young eunuch uniforms.This is only one level lower than the eunuch, two levels higher than Jin Kuo and Yu Xian who are beside him, obviously Zheng He's right-hand man.

His heart moved, and he asked: "These two young prisons are so brave, who are they?"

The two immediately bowed and said: "Honor Hou Xian, Wang Jinghong pays homage to His Royal Highness Taisun."

The little eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty called themselves slaves, slaves, but those with higher official positions could also call themselves ministers.

Zhu Zhanji said with a smile: "It must be because he is often on the go, so I have never seen him. Today, I met you and hit it off. I will appreciate it..."

After becoming the grandson, Zhu Zhanji also occasionally came into contact with some foreign ministers and had some entertainment.Therefore, there are also regulations in the palace to facilitate grandchildren to reward servants and foreign ministers.

Zhu Zhanji used the money to make twenty horizontal knives and gave them to others as gifts.

However, he is rather picky. So far, out of the twenty horizontal knives, only nine have been given away.Zheng He got one in spring, so he didn't envy Hou Xian and Wang Jinghong for being rewarded.

He was able to bring them here with the intention of promoting them. Now that his grandson likes them, everyone is naturally happy.

The two took the horizontal knife that Yu Xian handed over, and couldn't help but take a look at it.

"Boldly..." Yu Xian and Jin Kuo hurriedly stood in front of Zhu Zhanji, even Yiqingzi and Xuanzhen who were watching from the side jumped over in panic and blocked Zhu Zhanji.

Only then did the two realize that they had violated the rules, how could the palace let the precious sword out of its sheath.They quickly knelt on the ground, kowtowed and said: "Your Highness, please make amends!"

Zhu Zhanji waved his hand and said with a smile: "It's okay, it's okay, the sword is given to the hero, and I am happy to see the hunting heart. This is true temperament. Forgive you for your innocence. Get up and go into the hall to answer."

Both Hou Xian and Wang Jinghong were Zheng He's right-hand men on his voyages to the West, and they were also heroes who left their names in history. Of course, Zhu Zhanji would not be stingy with rewards, let alone blame them for it.

The two thanked again, and quickly handed the horizontal knife to the little eunuch who was following behind, and followed Zhu Zhanji into the hall.

It was cold winter, and this kind of progress was deep. The hall with high beams was cooler in summer and cooler in winter, and you could feel the bone-chilling coolness when you entered the hall.

There is a rule in the palace that two pots of charcoal can be lit in a hall like this.However, Zhu Zhanji doesn't like waste, and also wants to exercise his ability to resist cold and strengthen his physique.Therefore, only one pot of charcoal is allowed in the morning every day, and most of the afternoon is spent in activities, and no charcoal is allowed.

Zhu Zhanji was next to his seat, and invited Zheng He to sit in the first seat on the left, before he climbed up a special step of the chair and sat down.

There is no way, he is young, and the chairs in the palace are relatively tall in order to set off his status as the grandson of the emperor, so a step must be made.

Everyone didn't laugh at him, but seeing him treat Zheng He so courteously, they were all thoughtful.

Just sat down, but another eunuch reported: "Your Excellency has arrived..."

Everyone got up one after another, and before they went out, Yao Guangxiao had already crossed the threshold and walked in. Seeing everyone bowing, he laughed and said, "I am Master Taisun, not a guest, so you don't need to be polite."

Another Jishou ceremony was given to Zhu Zhanji, and everyone fought again for the seat.

This time, Zheng He never dared to take the top spot in the left hand.He is the chief eunuch of the inner palace supervisor, but he is only at the fourth rank, while Yao Guangxiao's position as a junior teacher is at the second rank, and there are four ranks in between.

What's more, Yao Guangxiao is also the teacher of Zheng He Zhenger Bajing, how dare the students sit on the head of the teacher.

Yao Guangxiao was asked to sit at the top on the left side, Zheng He was with him, and the others sat down in turn.On the right side, Yiqingzi and Xuanzhen also knew who they were, so they vacated the first seat and sat on the lower side.

As for Jin Kuo and Yu Xian, they were responsible for serving Zhu Zhanji and had no seats.

After serving the hot tea, Zhu Zhanji took a sip of the boiled milk with sugar, and then said: "A while ago I joined the army in Beiping, and learned some geography knowledge, only then did I realize that besides my Ming Dynasty, there is also a little girl." Bang. After returning to Beijing, I heard that Eunuch Zheng was going to sail to the west next spring to show our country’s prestige, so I wanted to chat with Eunuch Zheng on a whim.”

Zheng He clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty entrusts He with such a heavy responsibility, and He is terrified. Over the years, he has also conducted detailed investigations of Western countries. His Highness has the heart to seek knowledge, and he will try his best to solve the confusion."

Zhu Zhanji nodded and asked: "I don't know how many ships, how many people and horses, and how much will it cost when I go to sea this time?"

"Returning to Your Highness, this time there are five lucky boats, 37 large ships of two thousand stones, and twenty warships of one thousand stones or less. Five guards were dispatched from the coastal guards, with a total of 5000 people. In addition to the inner guards, Jin Yiwei, There are a total of about 7000 Honglu Temple attendants. There is still half a year before the trip, but the number is roughly the same. The cost of building the ship is not counted, only the salary and barter preparations are estimated to cost a million taels of silver."

Zhu Zhanji nodded and asked, "How can the eunuch earn back the expense?"

Zheng He was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to answer.Yao Guangxiao said with a smile: "Your Highness doesn't know something. This trip to the West is to show off our country's prestige. The court is not a merchant. How can it be for the purpose of making money?"

Zhu Zhanji knew that people nowadays don't have any economic awareness at all. Zheng He's voyage to the West was the first large-scale voyage in human history.

Not counting the cost of shipbuilding, one voyage would cost millions of taels of silver.

The current early Ming Dynasty is no different from the late Ming Dynasty. Western silver did not flow in. The Ming Dynasty was short not only of gold, silver, and copper, but also of everything.

Officials are paid in kind, and they have no money to pay. They don't want to develop trade, and they just play some fake.

Pointing to a pot of coral on the mahogany table in front of him on the left, he said: "This thing grows in the sea in Nanyang, and it is worthless, but in Daming, it is worth a hundred taels of silver. A bolt of Ming silk is three taels of silver, and brocade is only five For two times, you can exchange for the same weight of gold in Nanyang. Why not barter, wouldn’t it be easy to recover the cost of expenses?”

Everyone was dumbfounded, and it was still Yao Guangxiao who said: "I am a big country, how can I be a merchant, not to mention that I can exchange the same weight of gold, but it is just rumors, not credible. In Siam, Nanzhang and other countries, the value of silk is only five dollars. Liufan, why wait for so much gold?"

Zhu Zhanji didn't argue, he was just talking nonsense, and if he said too much, he would reveal his truth.So I asked Yu Xian to bring over a disproportionately large half of the map of Asia, pointing in the direction of India, and said, "Is there Tianzhu in this voyage to the West?"

Zheng He nodded and said, "I want to go to this country."

Zhu Zhanji pretended to be curious and said: "I listened to the story told by the emperor's grandmother. This is the hometown of Buddhism and the country of gold."

"Yes!"

Zhu Zhanji smiled and said: "Eunuch Zheng, I have a task for you."

Hearing Zhu Zhanji calling himself alone, Zheng He immediately knelt down and said, "Please speak, Your Highness."

"I want to know the surrounding countries of Ming Dynasty, what each country produces, what has more and what has less, what my Ming has and what my Ming doesn't have, and I need to find out more about what minerals are in each country. Those who are unable to dig, our Ming You can assist in the excavation. Also, apart from specialty products, countries will definitely lack many products. This time I go to sea, I will bring more of my Ming Dynasty’s rich products in exchange for my Da Ming’s scarce things. Remember, don’t use useless things..."

①The eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty called the emperor the emperor’s grandfather, but this title sounds too awkward nowadays, so they directly refer to him as the emperor and your majesty.

(Second more ask for tickets)

Chapter 12 First Voyage to the West

Zheng He knelt down and was equal to Zhu Zhanji, looked up at Zhu Zhanji and asked: "Since it is a scarce thing in my Ming Dynasty, how can I distinguish it as a useless thing?"

Zhu Zhanji said: "Animals that I don't have in Ming Dynasty are owned by other countries. If horses, sheep and pigs are bigger than ours, they can be transported back and domesticated. Other animals that cannot be ridden or eat meat are useless."

"I understand."

Historically, the political role of Zheng He's voyages far outweighed the economic role.

A few of the auspicious animals brought back were okay, but many tropical animals were brought back for a while, and then all of them died.

a waste of resource.

With such a large fleet, more than 2 people, and a cargo capacity of 60 million tons, you can make a lot of money just by bartering.

I can't interfere with the fleet's decision now, but I have to plant a seed in everyone's heart first.

He wants everyone to know that going west is not only a loss of money, but also more money can be transferred back.