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

Chapter 1147 Spice Islands

Chapter 1147 Spice Islands

Then Zhang Yu stated his reasons.

When it comes to the most suitable generals in the Ming Dynasty's Western Expedition Army to look for Zhu Su, it is none other than Zhang Yu, Xu Zengshou, and Yao Guangxiao. However, these three people all hold important positions in the Western Expedition Army and it is difficult for them to spare any time.

The second-level generals, such as Wang Xian, Zhu Neng, Qiu Fu, Mahamu, etc., did not have deep feelings for Zhu Su. This meant that they could not guarantee that they could overcome the long journey and possible difficulties and obstacles, and always remain firm in their belief that they must find the whereabouts of Zhu Su in Lisbon.

And Zhang Fu...is a suitable choice beyond everyone's expectations.

First of all, as Zhu Di's personal guard, Zhang Fu was loyal and reliable, and he risked his life several times to save Zhu Di.

Secondly, as Zhang Yu's eldest son, Zhang Fu is also related to Zhou Wang Zhu Su, who has done great favors to the Zhang family. He will definitely do his best in this matter and will not dare to be negligent in the slightest.

Finally, Zhang Fu was young and not likely to attract attention. If the Ming army had sent a general like Xu Zengshou just to repatriate the captives, this might have caused excessive fear among the Western countries along the way.

It is just right to have a young general like Zhang Fu lead the troops.

As for Zhu Di, Zhang Fu was also a very trusted officer. Firstly, both Zhang Fu and his son were loyal and reliable. As his personal guard, Zhu Di saw everything Zhang Fu did. His bravery and determination were no less than that of his father Zhang Yu.

Secondly, Zhu Di was also clear about Zhang Fu's potential. He knew that in the original history, Zhang Fu would lead the Ming Dynasty's royal army to recover Annan for the Ming Dynasty, and his prestige and reputation in Annan could even stop children from crying at night.

Although Zhang Fu was still young and inexperienced at this time, it was enough to show that he was a good talent. He was definitely capable of taking on great responsibilities.

After some discussion, Zhu Di ordered Zhang Fu to lead a hundred personal guards of Prince Yan, escorting French Count John and a group of European nobles to explore western Europe in the name of returning prisoners of war and demanding ransom.

Zhang Fu was in charge of such a heavy responsibility for the first time, and he couldn't help but be excited. In front of everyone, he signed a military order to Zhu Di, vowing to contact the Ming army in Lisbon for Zhu Di. Zhu Di encouraged him and personally served wine to Zhang Fu.

It was still winter and the army needed to be repaired, so Zhu Di simply sent envoys to write letters to European countries to discuss a ceasefire, stating that the Ming Dynasty would send an envoy to escort the captured nobles of various countries and asked all countries to prepare ransom in advance.

On the other hand, he ordered the army to speed up its repairs and prepare for battle in the spring.

Zhang Fu then escorted a group of captives and set off, using the envoys as a cover, to head towards western Europe. He was carrying the earnest expectations of Prince of Yan Zhu Di, who hoped that he could contact Prince of Zhou Zhu Su to ensure Zhu Su's safety. At the same time, he and Zhu Su agreed to send troops to the European Church at the same time, Zhu Di attacking the Roman Church and Zhu Su attacking the Avignon Church, in order to lay the foundation for the victory of the Ming Dynasty's first great conquest era.

So, are Zhu Su and his fleet really in Western Europe?

……

However, after Zhu Su agreed with Zhu Di to rush to Central Asia by land and sea several years ago, he led the treasure ship fleet and led Li Jinglong, Tie Xuan and others to go to sea. According to the original plan, they were to bypass Southeast Asia and Sindhu (India) by sea to reach Central Asia. While Zhu Di blocked the main force of the Crusaders, he went straight into the heart of Europe from the Persian region, achieving the result that the Europeans could not take care of both ends.

This sea route has been traversed. When Zhu Su came to support Zhu Di and fought against Timur the Lame, he had led the Ming army through this sea route. Moreover, this sea route mostly runs along the coastal waters, and Zhu Su led the Fengmingzhou treasure ship fleet this time, which was larger in scale and more experienced in navigation than the last time he came to support Zhu Di.

According to common sense, no accidents should have occurred.

However, there are always unexpected events, and the sea is full of dangers. If you are not careful, no matter how invincible your fleet is, you will lose people and ships. This voyage should have been a sure thing, but an accident happened.

When the huge fleet was repaired and left the port of Wuqu City in Annan, everything went smoothly when it arrived at the Spice Islands.

In the original history, the Spice Islands were one of the direct reasons for the great voyages of European countries. Westerners coveted this place and fought each other to colonize it. This place is rich in spices that are very scarce in both the East and the West. The Ming people in the East used spices to season and cook delicacies, and the Europeans in the West used spices to preserve food and make aphrodisiac drugs. The spices here, whether shipped to the East or the West, have a lot of profit. Some of these spices are even more expensive than the same grams of gold.

At this time, this place has been occupied by the Nanyang Navy of the imperial court and the Ming merchants supported by the imperial court. Today, the Spice Islands are full of ports and colonies of the Ming Dynasty. Because of the great reputation of China, most of the indigenous countries here do not oppose the arrival of the Ming Dynasty. Most of them are hired by Ming merchants and become spice workers of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty's assimilation and appeasement here are also advancing by leaps and bounds. Many indigenous people have begun to imitate the customs of the Chinese people and even regard themselves as Chinese.

Of course, such a place that can be called a sea of ​​gold and silver is bound to have disputes. Pirates are rampant here, both in the East and the West. However, thanks to the popularity of martial arts novels in the Ming Dynasty, the people of the Ming Dynasty are full of martial virtues. Many escort agencies and sects have emerged in the green forest. They regard themselves as the greatest heroes and are determined to do great things. In life, they are hired by merchants or government officials to protect goods and maintain order. Many green forest sects on the southeast coast are also mostly hired by merchants to go out to sea, becoming the main civilian force to maintain order in the southeastern islands. They are enough to deal with ordinary small pirates.

As for some of the big pirates who became powerful, they had to rely on the imperial navy of the Ming Dynasty patrolling all over the country. Most of these big pirates came from Southeast Asian countries, and were the remnants of the Ming Dynasty who were unwilling to surrender. For example, the Chen pirates who were entrenched in the surrounding islands were said to be from the Annan royal family. After the Annan region was recovered by the Ming Dynasty, this branch of the Chen family drifted to the sea, claiming to be descendants of the Annan Chen family, and gathered the remnants of the Annan who were unwilling to surrender to the Ming Dynasty, and raised the flag to rob Han merchants, making many Ming Dynasty merchants miserable.

Zhu Su led the treasure fleet to the Spice Islands and destroyed this bandit group while replenishing supplies in the Spice Islands colony. Later, it was discovered that the so-called Chen pirates were actually supported by a Ming merchant. This man held the imperial permit, but he disliked the heavy commercial taxes. He thought that the emperor was far away, so he asked his men to pretend to be Chen, rob and do the high-profit business without paying taxes.

Zhu Su absolutely could not tolerate such overseas merchants who were out of the control of the court. So Zhu Su ordered people to go to the island where the merchant was stationed, take down the merchant's head, and send a letter to the islands with his crimes, warning the merchants not to be greedy just because this place is far away from the mainland of the Ming Dynasty. Then he sent a letter to Yingtian Prefecture, asking his eldest brother, Emperor Yiwen Zhu Biao, to kill the merchant's nine clans. Commercial taxes are now the top of the Ming Dynasty's finances, and merchants must not be out of the control of the court. This matter must be handled strictly by law, so that it can deter all merchants in the world and let all merchants in the world know that merchants cannot be without morality. Above money, there is also the glorious law of the king.

This memorial urging Emperor Yiwen to execute the nine clans of the evil Shang family also became the last news from King Zhou Zhu Su.

(End of this chapter)