The person who expressed such emotion was the current emperor Zhu Houzhao. The emperor who had sat on the throne for forty-five spring and autumn years was already over sixty years old, but he looked like a forty-year-old man, not at all like his contemporaries.
A sixty-year-old man has white eyebrows and beard.
Sitting beside him was Li Huan, the most noble Duke of Qin in the Ming Dynasty. They had gone through ups and downs along the way. Compared with the emperor who had gone through many vicissitudes of life, Li Huan remained the same as he had been more than ten years ago, as if time had not passed.
There were no traces left on his body.
At this moment, Li Huan, who was wearing a luxurious fur robe, smiled and said: "Your Majesty, we have just left Shanhaiguan not long ago. The land stretching thousands of miles outside the pass is our land of the Ming Dynasty."
Also accompanying him is Wang Yangming, who is the chief minister of the cabinet. Wang Yangming now looks a bit more old-fashioned, but with Wang Yangming's innate cultivation, he can only stay in the position of chief minister for a while.
There has been no problem for twenty years.
At this time, the monarch and his ministers looked at the scene of wind and snow outside the car, with expressions of emotion on their faces.
I heard Wang Yangming look at Li Huan and say: "In recent years, our Ming Dynasty has built railway lines one after another. These railway lines are more important than cement roads. They are like the arteries of our Ming Dynasty connecting the north and the south."
As he spoke, Wang Yangming looked at the vast land of Liaodong outside the car and sighed: "In the past, if the imperial court wanted to use the land outside the military pass, it would have taken several months just to dispatch supplies, soldiers and horses, but now tens of thousands of troops and even
The required supplies can be transferred from inside the tube to outside the customs in at least half a month. Such an efficient transfer speed makes our Ming Dynasty's control over this vast land more and more stable."
With the widespread popularity of railways and the further development of steam locomotives, it can be said that the speed of trains in the Ming Dynasty has been greatly improved. Lands thousands of miles away can often be reached in one or two days, which is a great addition.
This gave the Ming Dynasty control over its own territory.
Zhu Houzhao looked at Li Huan and said: "If I remember correctly, this railway starts from the capital and ends in Jinzhou in the north. It is a thousand miles away. The imperial court personally presided over the construction and connected the inside and outside of Shanhaiguan."
Wang Yangming nodded and said: "What your Majesty said is true. The Beijing-Jinjin Railway was built under the auspices of the imperial court. It started three years ago and took a total of three years. It was officially opened to traffic not long ago. Since then, the connections between the inside and outside of Shanhaiguan have become closer and closer.
Specialty products will enter the Central Plains at the fastest speed through this railway, which can greatly promote the development outside the customs."
Li Huan smiled and said: "In addition to the slightly colder climate, the land in Liaodong is fertile and rich in mineral resources. If the imperial court can develop it, then the Ming Dynasty will be able to rely solely on the land in Liaodong for the next hundred years.
Take off."
The faces of the people present could not help but change slightly after hearing this. Although they knew that Liaodong was rich in products, in their hearts they regarded it as a bitter and cold land, which did not have much value at all. If it were not to strengthen the court's view of Liaodong,
Without the control of the land, coupled with the special products outside the customs, I am afraid that this railway will not be successfully built.
However, now Li Huan actually told them that the land of Liaodong could help the Ming Dynasty take off for hundreds of years. How could this not shock everyone?
After all, Li Huan's credibility has been well known for so many years, and he has never let them down. If Li Huan dares to say that, it proves that this place in Liaodong is really important.
Zhu Houzhao looked at the cabinet and said: "Dear ministers, the cabinet should carefully consider what Li Qing said and put the development of Liaodong on the agenda as soon as possible."
Everyone headed by Wang Yangming nodded in agreement.
The train passed all the way, and it only took a few days to see various passes along the way. As the emperor, Zhu Houzhao even personally entered the Jinzhou City built of cement.
The huge Jinzhou City is an important material distribution center in Liaodong, and it is connected by railways. It has already shown a somewhat prosperous appearance in a short period of time.
Not to mention the many trading companies stationed in Liaodong from the pass, the Jurchen tribes who make a living by hunting in the mountains and forests of Liaodong also gather in Jinzhou City in large numbers and exchange a large number of special products from the mountains and forests for what they need.
Materials.
Thousands of elite troops are stationed in Jinzhou City. In terms of the current military strength of the Ming Dynasty, although there are only thousands of soldiers and horses stationed in Jinzhou City, the Jurchen tribes in the mountains and forests in the four directions are all honest.
Incomparably, no one dares to cause trouble in Jinzhou.
You must know that not long ago, when Jinzhou was prosperous, there were savage Jurchen tribes in the mountains and forests spying on Jinzhou City, and gathered more than a thousand people to try to break through Jinzhou City.
As a result, in that battle, thousands of Jurchens were killed in one battle, with heavy casualties. They all fell to the guns and artillery fire of the Jinzhou garrison.
The Ming Dynasty was able to even manufacture steam engines, which could be considered sophisticated creations in this era, so it was natural that they could also create flintlock guns.
With a large number of flintlock guns and even more astonishingly powerful artillery in the army, almost all of the Ming Dynasty's million-strong army now have firearms, except for the tens of thousands of elite cavalry that still remain.
Facing the astonishingly powerful firearms, how could the Jurchen barbarians, who were still stuck in the age of horseback riding and archery, be the opponents of the Ming Dynasty?
After the Ming Dynasty sent hundreds of troops to completely annihilate the surrounding gathering areas of virgin tribes, it completely shocked the surrounding tribes, large and small, and all of them obeyed the Ming Dynasty's arrangements.
In the cold spring, the emperor returned to the capital by train.
As the prince, Zhu Zaikun is now nearly forty years old, and has been the prince for more than forty years. In these years, as the emperor, Zhu Houzhao has focused more on cultivation and health, so as the prince of the supervising country
He was pushed to the front desk and handled a large number of government affairs.
Wearing a solemn and luxurious attire, Prince Zhu Zaikun hurriedly walked into the Qianqing Palace. From a distance, he could hear his father and Taifu Li Huan talking and joking.
Entering the Palace of Qianqing, Zhu Zaikun saluted Zhu Houzhao, and then saluted Li Huan before presenting a memorial in his hand and saying: "Father, the Thirteenth Brother is reporting that several major Western powers have united in several places at the same time.
After launching an offensive, conflicts broke out in several battlefields in America, Southeast Asia, and India."
Li Huan, who was sitting there, couldn't help but raise his eyebrows when he heard this.
For decades, the Ming Dynasty has been in a stage of rapid development. Likewise, Western countries have not been developing slowly. Especially stimulated by the rapid development of the Ming Dynasty, many things that have been made public, no matter how confidential the Ming Dynasty is, cannot stop some of them.
The flow of things.
Just like steam engines, muskets, and artillery, today's Ming Dynasty's global expansion will inevitably lead to conflicts with Western countries that have traveled half of the world. During the conflict, muskets and artillery will inevitably fall into the hands of Westerners.
Even steam engines are average. Although steam engines are not so easy to be taken away, the Ming Dynasty had already tried to move steam engines onto ships ten years ago and built large steam engines for this purpose.
With improvements from generation to generation, Ming Dynasty began to frantically manufacture these steam engine ships that can travel at high speeds on the sea.
With the launch of a large number of steam engines and ships, the connection between Ming Dynasty and Southeast Asia, America, Penglai Province and even India has become closer and closer.
A large number of vassal kings and clansmen were enfeoffed overseas. If it is said that one generation after another, the relationship between the two parties will naturally not be indifferent. However, once time passes, if communication is inconvenient, it is difficult to guarantee that these territories conquered by the Ming Dynasty will not be independent one by one.
go out.
But now, with the launch of a large number of steam engines and ships, although the vast distances are thousands of miles away, they have all been smoothed out, completely cutting off the possibility of independent travel from these places.
The characteristics of Chinese civilization are destined to be different from Western civilization. No matter how difficult it is for Chinese civilization, which originated from the same ancestor, it will only be unified in the end.
It is conceivable that if someone in an overseas province wants to become an independent country, then with the centripetal force and homology of Chinese civilization, the Central Plains dynasty will definitely do its best to unify the world and unite it.
Under the maritime conflict, the steam engines and ships equipped by the Ming Dynasty would naturally flow into the West. Under the fierce pursuit of Westerners, the West also entered a stage of rapid development.
Although the gap is not small compared to Da Ming, it should not be underestimated.
Of course, neither the emperor nor Li Huan had anything to worry about. With the current size of the Ming Dynasty, even if the entire Western world united, it would not be the opponent of the Ming Dynasty, let alone the constant quarrels between Western countries.
Under the same interests, they may unite briefly, but if they unite for a long time to deal with Ming Dynasty, it is simply wishful thinking.
Besides, it is impossible for the Ming Dynasty to just sit back and watch the other countries unite, right? It really means that the Ming Dynasty will not divide and win over these countries. It will attract a group of countries, fight a group of countries, make friends with distant countries and attack those with short distances. For thousands of years, our ancestors have been tired of strategizing, but they will never do it.
Not out of date.
At this time, after listening to the report from the prince, the Western countries jointly launched an offensive against the Ming Dynasty on several battlefields. Zhu Houzhao just laughed and said: "The barbarians have always been afraid of power but not moral. Since they want to fight, I, the Ming Dynasty, will do the same."
If you are never afraid of fighting, then fight until they are afraid."
Li Huan, who was sitting on the side, nodded and said: "Since they came to the door themselves, then they will take advantage of this battle to completely capture America and India, occupy important transportation fortresses in various places, and completely block these Western barbarians.
The west."
The monarch and his ministers looked at the large world map that was hung in the palace and was several feet in size. It was densely marked with the names of a large number of countries.
Every country is dyed with different colors, and the most eye-catching one is a striking red color. This red color spans several continents, reaching directly to the Southeast Asia in the south, and reaching the Ural Mountains at the junction of Europe and Asia in the north, and even red
Spreading across the Ural Mountains and occupying a large area of the European plains.
However, there are many colors mixed together in this area. The Ming Dynasty stationed hundreds of thousands of troops in the Ural Mountains all year round, and there were wars of various sizes every year.
There are also most of the Americas and the Penglai province that are dyed red across the entire ocean.
It can be said that when you look at it, this red color is so eye-catching on the huge map of the world, which is as vast as tens of millions of square kilometers.
At the end of these red areas, there is a conflict zone between the Ming Dynasty and Western countries. Portugal and Spain in the Americas were forced to retreat by the Ming Dynasty, but they did not give up the vast wealth of the Americas and continued to compete with the Ming Dynasty.
As a rising star, England was eyeing the Indian states that were mostly occupied by the Ming Dynasty, so the two sides broke out more than once in land and sea battles in India.
Located in Central Asia, with the collapse of the Byzantine Empire that once flourished across Europe and Asia, the Ottoman Empire rose with it. Naturally, it came into conflict with the Ming Dynasty, which was in its period of rapid external expansion. The two sides also had constant conflicts in Central Asia.
Across the Ural Mountains, what the Ming Dynasty faced were the Western land powers, the Principality of Russia, France and other Western countries that had been united.
It can be said that looking around, the Ming Dynasty seems to be trapped in the quagmire of war all over the world, with countries competing with it everywhere.
The ministers who had been summoned were looking at the world map with the names of many countries hanging in the hall. It was the first time for some officials to see such a situation map. At a glance, it seemed that the Ming Dynasty was everywhere.
The enemies couldn't help but look at each other.
"Your Majesty, we, the Ming Dynasty, are the sovereign state of heaven. It is not true that we are so aggressive and militaristic..."
Before the official could finish his words, he heard a slight cough. As the chief minister of the cabinet, Wang Yangming couldn't help but frowned when he looked at the newly promoted Minister of Rites.
The emperor who was sitting there ignored the Minister of Rites, but turned his attention to Wang Yangming and said: "Old Wang Ge, now Western countries are provoking our Ming Dynasty everywhere. Although our Ming Dynasty is a country of etiquette, not everyone is the same.
You can provoke them. Since they want to fight, then I will fight with them. I wonder if the cabinet is ready?"
Wang Yangming said solemnly: "Your Majesty, now our Ming Dynasty's treasury is full, both in terms of food, grass, and soldiers and armors. Not to mention the invasion of the coalition forces of several countries, even if it is several times more, I, the Ming Dynasty, will not be afraid."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Houzhao clapped his hands and praised: "Okay."
As he spoke, Zhu Houzhao looked at Li Huan and said, "Li Qing, how about the Fifth Army Commander's Mansion?"
Li Huanran smiled and said: "Not long ago, the Fifth Army Governor's Office urgently recruited one million troops. All the domestic elites have rushed to various battlefields. If necessary, they can recruit another two million. Three million is nothing.
question."
Many people couldn't help but twitch their mouths when they heard Li Huan open his mouth to announce the expansion of the million-strong army. If compared to the past dynasties, this would definitely be a militancy. I'm afraid that before Li Huan could finish his words, hundreds of officials would attack him.
Already.
But now no one has come forward. Although Li Huan's words are exaggerated, everyone present knows very well that considering the terrifying national power of the Ming Dynasty, what Li Huan said is really not an exaggeration.
After decades of development, regardless of the private households, the Ming Dynasty had 43.2 million households in the imperial household registration alone, with a total of 345 million Dingkou.
Remain.
With such a large population, if we really want to go to war, it won't be a problem to mobilize tens of millions or even tens of millions of troops.
The fifty-second year of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty
A war that lasted for several years came to an end. In this battle, the Ming Dynasty used its majestic troops and advanced weapons on all fronts to defeat the coalition forces of various countries.
In the vast American land, Spain and Portugal were completely defeated, and the entire American land was controlled by the Ming Dynasty.
In the land of India, the British were defeated, and the whole of India was included in the embrace of the Ming Dynasty, becoming another shining pearl in the crown of the Ming Empire.
As the eldest son of the Duke of Qin who directed this battle, Li Zong was conferred the title of Duke of Chu by the emperor, and was granted the title of Marriage to Princess Tiannan, the legitimate daughter of the royal family, who would rule India forever.
Li Sibing, the second son of the Duke of Qin, suppressed the rising Ottoman Empire and expanded its territory thousands of miles away. He was decreed by the emperor as Duke of Yan and ruled Central Asia forever.
A large number of lieutenants and generals who have made great achievements on various battlefields have been promoted to official positions. In a short period of time, the imperial court has had six more princes, eighteen marquises, and one hundred and eight uncles. As for the rewards distributed,
Silver is worth tens of millions.
However, this reward was nothing compared to what Ming Dynasty gained from the world war that lasted for nearly ten years.
According to Western practice, since the war is defeated, it is natural to cede territory and pay compensation.
Faced with Ming's aggressiveness, the negotiators sent by Western countries could do nothing except anger and endless grievances. They could only sign their names on each treaty honestly.
More than a dozen powerful Western countries signed treaties to cede territory and pay compensation. Through these treaties, Ming Dynasty obtained a huge amount of 200 million taels of silver and 10 million taels of gold.
In the seventy-third year of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty, the eighty-eight-year-old Zhu Houzhao summoned hundreds of officials to pass on the crown prince Zhu Zaikun in front of the Qianqing Palace.
He received the emperor's seal, announced it to the world, ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, changed his reign name to Yongjia, and honored Zhu Houzhao as the Supreme Emperor.
In the first year of Emperor Yongjia's reign, he issued a general amnesty and established a cabinet headed by Zhang Juzheng. He continued the policies of the Zhengde Emperor's era of emphasizing agriculture and commerce and vigorously developing industry, which made the Ming Dynasty develop rapidly and prosperously.
The twelfth year of Yongjia in the Ming Dynasty
The centenary-year-old Emperor Zhu Houzhao of the Ming Dynasty set out from Tianjin Wei Port on the treasure ship Zhengde Emperor, carrying the Duke of Qin Li Huan, the former chief minister of the Ming Dynasty Wang Yangming and other honorable old ministers from the Zhengde era to begin a journey around the world.
Above the vast Indian Ocean, the sun is rising in the sky, and the rays of light cover the ocean, which is spectacular. Emperor Zhu Houzhao, dressed in brocade clothes and with slightly gray hair, looks at Li Huan and Emperor Shicheng's eunuch Chu Yi, who are standing next to him.
Pointing to the land in the distance, he laughed and said: "Li Qing, Chu Qing, thanks to your help, I am what I am today. Look, these great mountains and rivers stretch for thousands of miles, and they are all my territory of the Ming Dynasty.
All that the sun and moon shine upon is the land of the Han Dynasty. I am worthy of my ancestors of all ages and worthy of my country!"
Chu Yi, who was standing with his hands behind his back, looked as if he had met him for the first time in the past. He was about thirty years old and stood with Li Huan. Hearing Zhu Houzhao's words, he couldn't help but smile at each other.
PS: The book is finished, a thousand words are said, and Li Huan’s story has come to an end. A new book is being prepared, so stay tuned. Don’t rush to take it off the shelves yet. Pay attention to the new book announcement.