amaotonovel Chapter 1113: Determined to March West
Chapter 1113: Determined to March West
Chapter 1113: Determined to March West
The priest wanted to argue, but Zhu Su felt that there was no need to listen any further. He waved his hand and asked Di Meng to put the priest named Jacob under house arrest.
Then he set off directly, called Zhu Di, and went to meet Zhu together.
At this time, the Shuntian Palace was under construction, but Zhu Su was temporarily living with Xu Da and others in a secluded mansion. He was chatting with Xu Da and Tang He. Seeing that Zhu Su only brought Zhu Di to see him, he found an excuse and went to a side courtyard with the two of them.
"Why, what happened?" Old Zhu glanced at Zhu Di, who looked clueless. "You only brought Old Four, who knew the truth... Could it be that something is related to your secret?"
Now, apart from Zhu Biao who was far away in Yingtian, the only ones who knew about Zhu Su's identity as a time traveler were Old Zhu and the fourth son Zhu Di. So when Old Zhu saw that Zhu Su only brought Zhu Di, he realized that Zhu Su had something secret to find out.
Zhu Di was also suddenly shocked, then he reacted and turned to look at Zhu Su.
"There is indeed one thing." Zhu Su said. Then he told Lao Zhu and Zhu Di about a war that took place at the junction of Europe and Asia and the deviation from history.
"This actually happened..." Zhu Di touched the tiger whiskers on his chin in surprise and said, "I didn't expect that the Ottoman Empire would be defeated."
If Zhu Di wanted to march west, the Ottoman Empire would be the first obstacle in front of his Yan Wang Army. Zhu Di had long been aware of the power of the Ottoman Empire.
It can be said that the peak of the Ottoman Empire was capable of fighting against the peak of the Timurid Empire. Even in history, the battle between Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I and Timur the Great was a battle of equal strength. Bayezid even had the upper hand over Timur in the battle.
It can be said that the Ottoman Empire at that time might have been more powerful than the Timurid Empire. Unfortunately, fate played tricks on people, and Bayezid I was defeated after all, and the Ottoman Empire lost an opportunity to rise.
But in the current timeline, without his arch-enemy Timur, Bayezid I still failed... I can only say that it is really fate.
Zhu Yuanzhang's expression was as calm as an ancient well, but his eyes were slightly fixed. He was silent for a long time, as if he was thinking about something, and then he slowly said: "Is the defeat of the Ottoman Empire more beneficial or more harmful to our Ming Dynasty?"
As soon as he opened his mouth, he hit the nail on the head.
It is hard to say whether the defeat of the Ottoman Empire by the Ming Dynasty was a good thing or a bad thing. In fact, the situation of the Western Church was not good. This period of time should be a period when the Church was splitting and its control over Europe was declining.
The decline of the church's control over the thoughts of the European aristocracy will inevitably lead to the emergence of Renaissance ideas, and the Renaissance in the European world is a necessary driving force for the entire Western world to move onto the fast track of development.
In the original history, the failure of this Crusade further weakened the church's remaining prestige and advanced the process of the European Renaissance by a big step forward.
At the same time, frightened by the threat from the Ottoman Empire, European countries realized that their previous reliance on layers of vassal-like political systems would never be able to fight against the powerful Ottoman Empire from the East. After learning from their mistakes, the monarchs of European countries began to consolidate their power, and absolute monarchy and constitutional monarchy began to emerge in Europe, indirectly giving rise to many European powers in the future.
Now that the Ottoman Empire has been defeated, the prestige of the church will surely rise. The Renaissance thought that has just sprouted in Europe will inevitably suffer a devastating suppression and blow, and the process of advanced monarchy in Europe will also be delayed.
These are all beneficial aspects for the Ming Dynasty and even the entire China.
However, there are also disadvantages for the Ming Dynasty. If the defeated Ottoman Empire fails to recover, it will inevitably suffer crazy revenge from the European Christian Catholic world. These religious countries have always been as cold and ruthless as winter when dealing with pagans.
And according to the words of this man named Jacob, the European Church has even set its sights on Central Asia, preparing to take action against Central Asia and completely retaliate against the Muslims of Islam...
You know, today’s Central Asia is the sphere of influence of the Ming Dynasty, the former territory of the Tang Dynasty, and the homeland of China!
The Ming Dynasty is relying on the three major sultanates to gradually eliminate the influence of Turkic and Mongolian cultures and slowly transform it into a real Chinese land. And now, the church intends to interfere, how can that be possible!
The Catholics and Christians of this era were not easy to deal with! If they were not stopped from infiltrating Central Asia, the three sultanates and concessions that the Ming Dynasty had worked so hard to develop would soon be wasted.
The Anxi and Beiting Protectorates during the Tang Dynasty were eventually reduced to desert and became the land of foreign races, with no Han language heard for hundreds of years... If the Ming Dynasty had allowed the European church forces to run wild, I am afraid that those places in Central Asia would have suffered the same fate.
This is the bad thing that can happen.
Zhu Su explained the ins and outs of this to Old Zhu in detail. Old Zhu frowned slightly and pondered carefully.
After a long while, he finally said, "We don't want to abandon those places in the west."
"Biao'er ascended the throne, and our Ming Dynasty just granted a few fiefs in the west. Now they are taken away by others. Where will Biao'er and our reputation be?"
"If we allow the missionaries to preach, we won't be asked to go there immediately," Zhu Su said. "But our Chinese influence in the west is already weak. If we allow the Western barbarians to preach, I'm afraid that after a few generations, the people sent there won't even be able to speak Chinese."
"That's even more impossible!" Old Zhu blew his beard and glared. You know, he also gave his sons fiefdoms to the western territories. For example, Zhu Tan, who ranked tenth, was destined to the former capital of Timur, Samarkand, now the Ming concession.
"If the descendants of the tenth master can't even speak Chinese after a few generations, or even become barbarians... we can come back to life even in the grave!"
"Besides, didn't you say that the Western Barbarians and the Muslims have always been incompatible? If we allow them to preach and they start fighting, how can we manage the Western land?"
Zhu Su nodded, thinking that what Old Zhu said was right.
Apart from anything else, there are many Muslim nobles among the three sultanates. If the Ming Dynasty, as the suzerain state, allows Western churches to preach, it is also a big problem whether these Muslim nobles will revolt.
Given their religious fanaticism, it is possible that they would launch a coup d'état, try to break away from Ming control, or even attack Ming concessions.
"Fourth Brother, what do you think?" Seeing that Zhu Di was stroking his beard and thinking deeply, Old Zhu asked Zhu Di.
"Father," Zhu Di said. "I think this thing can help the Ottoman Empire defeat the Ottoman Empire, although there are pros and cons."
"But for our Ming Dynasty, there is only one way."
"Oh?" Old Zhu's eyes flickered slightly, and then he said, "They just sent an envoy, and you think it's time to fight?"
"Why did they send envoys? Isn't it because those damn Crusaders won a victory in the west, became arrogant, and set their sights on our Ming Dynasty?" Zhu Di said disdainfully.
"The trade routes of these Western barbarians are all controlled by our Ming Dynasty. It is impossible for those Westerners not to know how profitable these trade routes are."
"The three sultanates in the west are important nodes on the Silk Road along our Daming Road. They must be coveting it. In the early years, they had tried every possible means to obtain the trade route to Fengmingzhou, but they had to give it up because it was too far away. Now there is a trade route with gold flowing, and they can't resist it."
Old Zhu and Zhu Su both nodded. Western countries coveted the benefits of the trade route, and this had been evident many years ago.
One of the reasons why Timur the Lame was able to rise to prominence was because he controlled this trade route full of gold and had an endless supply of wealth... If there was a chance to control the Silk Road, the Western countries would certainly not be willing to let it go.
"If the Ming Dynasty was right in front of us, it would be fine. But now, the Ottoman Empire has fallen, and the trade route has been delivered to them. The Ming Dynasty is still far away, and the only ones guarding this trade route are the three sultanates that were half-crippled by the Ming Dynasty." Zhu Di continued to analyze. "I guess they have already started."
"They sent people here, maybe just to test the Ming Dynasty's attitude, or maybe to deceive us... That priest even stole the Zhenwu Temple, which shows that this Xiyi Religion is not a good thing!"
Zhu Su was at a loss for words at Zhu Di's generalization. To be honest, the reason why Jacob the priest stole the incense from the Zhenwu Temple was because he had run out of money and could not move forward...
If it had not been for the time of changing customs and eliminating crime, he might have just been beaten up by the people and would not have even had to go to the authorities... Of course, in the eyes of these missionaries, believing in Zhenwu Emperor was also a pagan religion, and stealing some incense money from a pagan god was not a big deal.
"Yes. That's true... and we think that hindering the benefits of the Renaissance is, to be frank, just speculation. What you said, Old Fifth, is no longer counted. If the Ming Dynasty does not take any action, these Western barbarians may gain power even faster." Old Zhu stroked the tiger whiskers on his chin, and his appearance was no different from Zhu Di.
"Instead of hoping that the enemy will lose consciousness on their own, it is better for us to do it ourselves... Since they now think they are invincible, we should suppress them ruthlessly and teach them who is their boss." Old Zhu smiled viciously.
"Only in this way can they behave themselves. Otherwise, even if our Ming dynasty gives titles to meritorious officials everywhere, won't we be bullied by those Western barbarians?"
"Dad, what you said is exactly what I want!" Zhu Di said excitedly.
He had always hoped to march west, but due to many reasons, he was unable to do so for several years...Now, Zhu Yuanzhang's golden words can be said to have expressed his long-cherished wish!
(End of this chapter)