1653, early December, Shanghai.Three sea ships, in the cold wind, sailed into Huangpu Port.On the edge of the wharf, Zhao Ming was wearing regular clothes and cloaks, leading a large group of officials, gentry and merchants wearing official uniforms and mink cloaks, standing on the edge of the wharf.Donghai Town may have obtained a lot of materials and wealth from maritime trade, and Zhao Ming has never been stingy with his officials.These mink coats, and the mink furs used, were transported from Liaodong Korea and were produced and sent to officials.Compared with the officials of the Ming Dynasty, who led a meager salary and were angry when they looked at the emperor, the officials in Donghai Town were treated much more generously than the army, and they naturally supported Zhao Ming when they saw him.At this time, the music team in the army was playing cheerful music on the side, and the gentlemen and people waved small flags to welcome the fleet returning from overseas.Zhao Ming received the news of the return of the ocean-going fleet to Taiwan from the Military Intelligence Department, and learned from Cheng Bi's letters that the ocean-going trade was not going smoothly and the fleet suffered great losses.However, in order to encourage Zhao Ming's enthusiasm for colonization in the South Seas, he did not mention the loss, but made the Propaganda Department describe this ocean-going trade as an unprecedented success.The Propaganda Department did not mention at all that the fleet was cornered by the Dutch, abandoning the materials on board, throwing all the money and goods earned from two years of trade into the sea, losing course, drifting to Xinmingzhou, and almost not coming back, but emphasizing that the fleet discovered a new continent, expanded the territory of Donghai Town by nearly 10,000 miles, and described Xinmingzhou as a fertile land and a golden land everywhere.When the fleet set sail from Taiwan and returned to Jiangdong, the land of Jiangdong began to build momentum, which aroused great interest among the people, and regarded the long-distance fleet as a hero who expanded its territory and brought great benefits to Jiangdong.At this time, in the sound of military music, the ship approached the dock, Cheng Bi and others stepped off the boat, saw the crowd on the dock, heard the cheers, and all of them were extremely excited in their hearts.Zhao Ming stepped forward with a laugh, held Cheng Bi's hand, and shook it a few times, "Mr.
Cheng, it's been hard all the way!"
”"Da Shuai~" Cheng Bi couldn't help but choke up a little.Zhao Ming patted the back of his hand and smiled: "It's good to come back!"
”"Prime Minister, the carriage has been ready!"
The guard stepped forward and saluted.Zhao Ming immediately pulled Cheng Bi, "Let's go, go back to the city and talk again, Ben Shuai has already prepared a banquet for you to pick up the wind and wash the dust for you." ”At that moment, Zhao Ming, Cheng Bi and others boarded the carriage and entered the county seat of Shanghai in the crowd waving colorful flags and cheering.In the past year, Donghai Town has not participated in the disputes in the world, as well as the internal affairs of the Southern Ming Dynasty, and has acted very low-key, but Zhao Ming and Donghai Town are existences that cannot be ignored by all parties.Whether it was the Manchu court, which regarded Zhao Ming as a fierce rival and a tiger, or the forces within the Southern Ming Dynasty, and even the Dutch and Spaniards, they all sent a large number of scouts to spy on the military situation in Donghai Town and monitor Zhao Ming's movements.In the crowd, Yu Taichu, a Jinyi guard of the Southern Ming Dynasty, watched Zhao Ming's carriage go away, and talked with the people around him in a low voice, "Your Majesty is too cautious, and Zhao Guogong's mind is not on the battle for the storage position." ”A scribe on the side said in a cold voice: "The Zhejiang system is powerful, and the imperial court must reduce the feudal domain and strengthen the centralization of power.Although the town of Donghai was heavily damaged, it controlled the maritime trade, had strong financial resources, and recovered its power quickly, so it must be strictly monitored. ”On the other side, several men immediately disappeared into the crowd when they saw Zhao Ming's carriage walking away.Shanghai County, Governor of the Governor's Line.Zhao Ming set up more than ten tables of banquets in the line to wash the dust for the warriors who returned from sailing.Ordinary sailors and officers and soldiers were placed in the outer hall, while Zhao Ming sat at a table with Cheng Bi, Ji Mengchen and others in the inner hall."
Prime Minister!"
Cheng Bi was a little unaccustomed to Zhao Ming's new title, "I sailed to Malacca and was intercepted by Hongmaoyi, and the caravan could not compete with Hongmaoyi's gunboats, so I could only decide to bypass Malacca, but I didn't want to sail to Xinmingzhou, which the prime minister said." ”The intention of the Longwu Imperial Court to reduce the feudal domain was obvious, and as a feudal town, if it wanted to resist the Longwu Imperial Court and carry out armed secession, it was necessary to reduce the influence of the imperial court.After returning to Jiangdong from the defeat in Jiangbei, Zhao Ming set out to replace the original Ming Dynasty administrative body with the Nationalist Socialist Party, and governed and ruled Jiangdong with Socialist Party politics.For this reason, his title has also changed from Zhao Dashuai of Donghai Town to Premier Zhao.Cheng Bi first described what he had seen and heard about the progress of overseas navigation and trade in the past two years, and then talked about the interception of the Dutch on the way back.Zhao Ming was not surprised, and said to Chen Mingyu and the others in a deep voice: "The interests of ocean trade are huge, and Hongmaoyi will block it, which is in my expectation." ”"Prime Minister!
By blocking our merchant ships and attacking our fleet, the Khmauri is breaking the previous agreement and declaring war. ”Chen Mingyu said with a gloomy face.Zhao Ming didn't answer his words, but asked with interest: "Mr.
Cheng, how is your situation in Xinmingzhou?"
”Cheng Bi said: "Back to Prime Minister, Xinmingzhou has a vast territory, there is no country on it, and there are no powerful tribes, and we have also found gold mines near Liusu, which is simply the land given to us by God." ”Chen Mingyu and the others were a little surprised when they heard this, and said, "You actually found a gold mine?"
”Cheng Bi said: "It's true, Zhang Yida, who stayed in Liusu, has organized a number of prisoners to be mined.It's just that Hongmaoyi also knows where the gold mines are, and Java is not far from Xinmingzhou, and we are separated from Luzon, which is controlled by the Spaniards, and Java, which is controlled by Hongmaoyi, may be difficult to compete with Hongmaoyi.It's been months since I left Xinmingzhou, and the Hung Mao Yi in Java may have landed in Xinmingzhou to compete with us for gold mines and colonies. ”Zhao Ming frowned when he heard this, according to Cheng Bi's words, Donghai Town's stronghold in Xinmingzhou may be facing a crisis at this time, but although he has decided to start a war with the Dutch, the preparations are not yet complete, so he can't act rashly.Zhao Ming asked, "Other than that, what else is there that you don't have?"
”Ji Mengchen, who was sitting on the side, hesitated for a while, and suddenly said: "Prime Minister, during the voyage, I discovered a phenomenon.In the process of sailing south, the convoy probably crossed the Java line, and the North Star would disappear, and if it sailed north, the North Star would reappear.This kind of phenomenon, as I heard before, said that the sky is round and the earth is round, cannot be explained at all, and this kind of celestial phenomenon can only be explained by the theory that the earth is round in the west.However, if the earth is a round ball, how can a person stand on the ball and not fall is really incomprehensible. ”Zhao Ming had a smile on his face when he heard this, and he didn't explain, but said with a smile: "It is said that Xiyi completed the feat of circumnavigating the world more than a hundred years ago.It will be clear that you have doubts in your heart, whether you will also take a round-the-world voyage and confirm your doubts. ”()