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

Chapter 1114 Resolution

Chapter 1114 Resolution

"But..." Zhu Di was excited, but Old Zhu changed the subject.

"I don't think your brother will easily agree to such a big thing as sending troops to the West. After all, that place is too far away, and they just sent people here to say hello and ask if they can preach."

"We are the great Ming Dynasty. We can't just send out troops to fight over such a small matter."

“There is no righteousness.”

"You don't have to worry about your status." Zhu Su said.

"It has been nearly two years since the Battle of Nicopolis. These two years have been enough time for the Crusaders to reach into the territories of the three sultanates."

"I think it will take some time before the messengers from the three sultanates seeking help will reach our Ming Dynasty."

"What I am worried about is that the journey to the west is long, and if we have to send troops from the Ming Dynasty, the cost will be huge."

"Our Great Ming is now building schools to enlighten the people and popularize education. We have also decided to move the capital and are building a large-scale project in Shuntian."

"These are more urgent matters than the Crusaders far away in the West. If the imperial court still insists on going on a long expedition, it will inevitably suffer heavy losses."

When 10,000 men go to war, 30,000 to 40,000 civilians are often needed to provide logistics for the army. This is only the case when fighting in the Central Plains. This ratio increases exponentially with the distance of the journey.

If we want to send troops to support the three sultanates and stabilize the situation in Central Asia, the number of baggage and civilians needed is so huge that even with the current national strength of the Ming Dynasty, it would be difficult to do so.

"I have already thought about this proposal." Zhu Di said.

"In order to march west, our Yan vassal has been preparing for many years. Now we have 30,000 soldiers and more than 20,000 auxiliary soldiers."

"These auxiliary soldiers are all herdsmen from the grasslands. They are soldiers on horseback and civilians on foot. Taken together, these 50,000 people are enough for us to kill those damn Crusaders in one go."

"In addition, with the efforts made in recent years, Yan Fan now has hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep. These cattle and sheep are enough to serve as military rations and to support our army's expedition."

"In this war, there is no need for the Ming Dynasty to take action. The Yan Clan alone is enough to sweep across the West!"

Zhu Di's face was full of pride.

only……

"You rebellious son, when did you actually gather tens of thousands of soldiers in your own fiefdom...Are you planning to go to the west to fight for the throne, or are you thinking of waiting for me to die and then going south to compete with your elder brother for the throne?" Old Zhu stared at Zhu Di with his tiger eyes and looked at him unkindly. When Zhu Di said that he could gather "30,000 soldiers", Old Zhu's face had already become dangerous.

When Zhu Di said that his people were enough to "sweep the West", the old Zhu looked at Zhu Di with a scrutinizing look. At this time, the old man waved his palm like a palm leaf fan, and the thirty-year-old Prince of Yan, Zhu Di, still jumped up high as if by reflex, and retreated several meters in the blink of an eye.

Seeing that the bastard was running so fast, Old Zhu had no choice but to put down his slap. After all, he was old and there was no way he could catch up with his fourth son who was as naughty as a monkey.

"You have been wanting to go west for the past few years. I don't know how many times I have told you that you need to rest and recuperate."

"It has taken a lot of effort for the Ming Dynasty to stabilize the grasslands. We must rely on the cattle, sheep and fur trade to manage the grasslands well, so that those poor herdsmen on the grasslands can survive without having to rely on horseback shooting and plundering."

"Only in this way can we pluck out the claws and teeth of the grassland people, and only in this way can we educate them and make them become like the people of Han land."

"This is the fundamental plan of our Ming Dynasty! This is China's century-long plan! But what about you?"

"Fifty thousand usable grassland soldiers? That means fifty thousand troubles! What did I tell you? Tell me! Do you have any inappropriate thoughts in your mind by keeping these fifty thousand soldiers?"

Although Zhu Di retreated as a reflex, he still knelt down quickly when he heard the old Zhu's stern voice and said, "Dad, I definitely don't have such treasonous thoughts!"

"These 50,000 men are truly prepared by my son for the Western Expedition... Now that the throne has been returned to my eldest brother, everything in our Ming Dynasty is thriving. It seems that our Zhu family is about to create an unprecedented great cause."

"If my son does something so treasonous and causes internal strife in the Ming Dynasty, wouldn't he become an eternal sinner for China?"

"If something happens to the Ming Dynasty at this critical moment, wouldn't the newly acquired grasslands, Japan, Korea, Annan and other places all take the opportunity to escape from the control of the Ming Dynasty? Wouldn't this be a stupid thing that would make relatives sad and enemies happy?"

Hearing Zhu Di's sincerity, Zhu Di's face lightened up a little. Zhu Di quickly struck while the iron was hot and said, "Besides, my son, you are not raising these 50,000 soldiers like the grassland warriors of the past."

"Most of the grassland warriors in the past were like tigers and wolves. In order to keep them fierce, their tribal leaders often did not prohibit them from looting, and even encouraged them."

"But the tens of thousands of soldiers that my son has trained, apart from the fact that they need to practice horse riding and archery like the grassland people, are no different from the training formations of my Ming soldiers. My son has also set up civilian supervisors in the army to do political and educational work for these grassland people every day, telling them that they have to fight for their current prosperous life and that they should be loyal to the emperor and love their country."

"In comparison, these people are closer to our Great Ming China than ordinary herdsmen... They will only fight for China, so how could they do such a treasonous thing?"

Zhu Di continued to speak earnestly. Judging from his expression, Old Zhu already believed it 70%.

After all, this cannot be faked and you will find out once you check.

"Hmph, even if you dare to have unreasonable thoughts, our Ming Dynasty's millions of border troops are no pushovers. Well, get up." Old Zhu said.

The current strength of the Ming Dynasty is definitely far from that of Zhu Yunwen's era. Moreover, there are many generals, and Zhu Biao and Zhu Xiongying are both talented and ambitious. They will never do something stupid like Zhu Yunwen did and start a rebellion. Even if Zhu Di really wanted to become the Yongle Emperor, he would never succeed.

This was a test, but also a suppression. If he lived a hundred years, he would be most worried about Zhu Di.

Zhu Di stood up in a somewhat embarrassed manner. Seeing his appearance, Old Zhu felt a little soft-hearted, so he turned his head to look at Zhu Su and said, "Old Fifth, what do you think of letting Old Fourth's people go to the west?"

Facing the inquiring look of Zhu, Zhu Su thought for a moment and said, "As long as 50,000 people can reach Central Asia, the three sultanates will provide logistics and food."

"Plus, we can also recruit Ming Dynasty's vassal troops there. I think we can gather 100,000 men. It will definitely be enough to fight against the Crusaders."

"Speaking of expeditions, our Central Plains army is indeed inferior to the nomadic army. The nomadic grassland army under the command of Fourth Brother is indeed the most suitable for this expedition."

When the nomadic army marched, they would bring many cattle and sheep with them. Cattle and sheep could be used to transport baggage, their milk could be used as a source of water, and their meat could be used as military rations. This was indeed a thousand times easier than recruiting civilians in the Central Plains.

That is why, from ancient times to the present, most of the armies that have been able to fight from Asia to the European continent are nomadic armies, such as Genghis Khan Temujin and Attila the Scourge of God. Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan, was granted a fiefdom in the western half of the grassland, so it was appropriate to send troops from there.

Old Zhu thought about it, but shook his head and said, "Not enough. Although we can gather 100,000 people, if a war breaks out, it will be a battle for our Ming Dynasty to establish its prestige in the West."

"This battle must not only be fought, but also won. We must be fully prepared."

"...Since the envoys from the three sultanates have not yet arrived, we can make preparations in advance. We must ensure that this battle is successful, and it would be best if we can subdue and scare those western countries."

"It would be best if we could take advantage of the situation to set up a few concessions in the west and expand the territory of our Ming Dynasty to the west. Doesn't our Ming Dynasty still have a letter from the British king declaring his loyalty? It would be best if we could take down that damn Britain as well."

"Didn't they later claim to be the Sun Never Sets? That name sounds good..."

Old Zhu stroked his chin and fell into daydreaming.

Zhu Su was embarrassed... Old man, you really have the guts to imagine. Do you know where Britain is located...

Oh, by the way, he has the Kunyu World Map, and he really knows it.

Conquer that remote place...Do you want to steal this name for fun?

"Who knows? That damn church doesn't dare to challenge the Ming Dynasty at all, and the three sultanates haven't sent anyone to ask for help." Zhu Su said.

"If that's the case, then find a reason." Old Zhu said. "Aren't those countries forbidden to have trade with our Ming Dynasty?"

"Use this excuse to force them to open... open the market!" Lao Zhu thought for a while before he came up with the right words.

"Now we understand that these barbarians are all dogs. If you don't slap them a few times first, they won't know how to wag their tails at you!"

Opening up the market... The Opium War, right? Zhu really learned a lot from the great powers. Zhu has mastered the tricks of the great powers to perfection.

But if this is true, then the Western countries are also quite wronged... You know, although they officially banned trade with the Ming Dynasty in order to prevent the flow of gold and silver to the Ming Dynasty, in fact, due to their weak control over the country, such a ban had no effect at all.

The products of the Ming Dynasty were all in great demand in the West, including porcelain, tea, silk, etc. If any noble family did not have them, they would be regarded as country bumpkins.

For the sake of these precious Ming Dynasty goods, most nobles simply treated the country's ban as nonsense. Some emperors even banned Ming Dynasty goods openly, but secretly bought them on a large scale to satisfy their extravagant and licentious lifestyles... It can be said that Ming Dynasty things have been tied to "high-end" and "face" in Europe. Which noble would be willing to lose face and follow those thin and boring decrees?

However, it did have some impact... Because of the official ban, pirates began to appear in Europe to rob Ming merchants' cargo ships. Some pirates even had official backgrounds in a certain country.

The "reason" that Lao Zhu mentioned mostly referred to seeking justice for those Ming merchants who were attacked.

After having a general direction, Zhu ordered someone to report the situation here to Zhu Biao in the form of a secret report from the Jinyi Guards. The first purpose was to let Zhu Biao prepare to welcome the possible envoys from the Sudan and the three countries. The second was to ensure the chance of victory, which required careful discussion and planning by the ministers in the court.

Zhu Di's army was on the grassland, where resources were scarce after all. How to support Zhu Di's army, what kind of supplies to support, and how much to support were all issues that the court needed to discuss.

It is impossible to let Zhu Di lead the grassland troops alone. The Ming Dynasty must also send troops. Moreover, the grassland is not completely stable yet. After the Prince of Yan led his troops to the west, how to stabilize the western grassland is also an issue that the court needs to consider.

Zhu Biao attached great importance to this. If the concession colonies in Central Asia were damaged, the Ming Dynasty's strategy of expanding its territory would inevitably be damaged. Now that the strategy of expansion has become the national policy of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Biao could not take it lightly.

Although there was no way to tell everyone about this inference for the time being, Zhu Biao also gathered a few confidants to discuss how to send troops to Central Asia or even Europe, which was a more prudent topic.

Then, several months later, envoys from the three sultanates who came to the Ming Dynasty for help finally set foot on the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)