"Grandfather, this Maritime Trade Office has given me some ideas," Zhu Xiong Ying said seriously. "The trip to Japan earned the Imperial Treasury 40,000 taels of silver. The fleet that went to Southeast Asia brought back 30,000 taels of silver and over 40,000 taels of silver worth of spices."

Old Zhu immediately smiled, not only because he had earned nearly 100,000 taels of silver, but mainly because his grandson was promising and capable.

Zhu Xiong Ying continued, "Japan and Southeast Asia may seem like wild and uncivilized places, but they do have some good things. I had someone search carefully, and it seems that Japan has an inexhaustible supply of silver."

Old Zhu was taken aback for a moment, then asked, "Ying'er, what do you mean by this?"

“Since the Han and Tang dynasties, Japan has had many exchanges with our Central Plains dynasties. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, we earned a lot of silver from there through the Maritime Trade Office.” Zhu Xiong Ying began, and continued, “That place is still under maritime prohibition, and some powerful ministers control the government and fight each other.”

To talk about the shogunate or something like that would require further explanation, so let's just say 'powerful ministers' to make it easier for Zhu Yuanzhang to understand.

"The next time I go to Japan, I want to send someone to investigate," Zhu Xiong Ying said earnestly. "I plan to send the Imperial Guards there to investigate, look around, and look for gold and silver mines."

China is a vast country with abundant resources, but some mineral resources are really not good. The island nation lacks coal, but it seems to have once had one of the world's largest silver mines.

Moreover, copper mines were very scarce in China, especially during the Ming Dynasty. However, copper mines were plentiful in Southeast Asia.

Old Zhu was silent for a moment, then said, "Do you know that during the Yuan Dynasty, they once wanted to attack Japan?"

Zhu Xiong Ying nodded. Kublai Khan and his vassal state Goryeo had attacked Japan twice, which seemed to be the first time in the island nation's history that it had suffered an invasion. It is said that the origin of the term "divine wind" was that during a critical period of the war, a typhoon caused heavy casualties to the Mongol army.

“Taking that place won’t do us any good,” Old Zhu said earnestly. “We’ve told your father before that we were worried you would be like Emperor Wu of Han, who was so warlike that you made the people suffer.”

Zhu Xiong Ying didn't care and said with a smile, "Grandson will definitely not fight a battle that brings no benefit. If there are silver mines over there, we will go and fight. At that time, I am currently training the navy, which is for these kinds of things. Moreover, I have found out that there is turmoil over there, with two factions of powerful ministers in opposition, and the country is weakening."

Old Zhu nodded. He was naturally aware of some of the things Zhu Xiong Ying had done, and he also knew some of the intelligence.

Zhu Xiong Ying continued, "And little Japan dares to call itself an emperor? If my grandson conquers that place, let my second uncle become a king."

Old Zhu's face hardened, and he said irritably, "We know you dislike the policy of vassal kings, but if we send your second uncle to that barbaric land of Japan, what will the people of the world think of you? If you treat your relatives and elders so harshly, how will you govern the world?"

"Grandfather, if we move the capital to Xi'an, where will Second Uncle's fiefdom be?" Zhu Xiong Ying was not afraid and argued logically, "Besides, in our Central Plains, Second Uncle is only a prince. If he goes there, he will be a king, a feudal lord!"

Old Zhu was a little surprised and looked at Zhu Xiong Ying, saying, "Continue to tell us about it."

"What I'm thinking is that my second uncle also has a guard. As long as the remnants of the Northern Yuan are wiped out, there won't be too much fighting," Zhu Xiong Ying said with a smile. "When I'm free, I'll go fight Japan and Korea. My second, third, and fourth uncles, and even my fifth uncle, can become princes. If they don't want to go, they can stay here and be princes."

Old Zhu laughed and said, "Then we definitely won't go to the wilderness. It's no use becoming a savage king."

“Your Highness, I will definitely reduce the power of the princes in the future, and I will probably grant them favors.” Zhu Xiong Ying was not afraid and continued, “But once we get there, as long as we submit a memorial confirming our allegiance and paying tribute, I will not care what my second and third uncles do.”

Old Zhu was somewhat tempted, though he knew his sons were not exactly easy to deal with.

Moreover, what Zhu Xiong Ying said was actually similar to his idea of ​​granting fiefdoms and establishing kingdoms, except that Zhu Yuanzhang (the Ming emperor) intended to enfeoff princes within the Ming territory. However, Zhu Xiong Ying's idea was to conquer the surrounding small countries and directly appoint his uncles as kings.

Old Zhu was somewhat tempted, but this was a serious matter. "We remember how rude the Japanese were. Those Japanese pirates harassed our borders, and we sent envoys to them right after the founding of our nation. Those arrogant fools didn't even apologize! To claim the throne? That's a grave crime!"

With the charges established, if a fight really breaks out, then there will be a legitimate reason for the attack.

But then Old Zhu suddenly remembered something and said, "You just mentioned Goryeo, is that right? Do you remember what happened with Emperor Yang of Sui?"

Zhu Xiong Ying immediately said, "Of course I know those things, but those were originally the four commanderies of my Han Dynasty. This time, Goryeo should also punish us for the Tieling Guard incident."

The reason for this is that when Goryeo was in turmoil in the Central Plains, the Goryeo people repeatedly sent troops. After the recently concluded Northern Expedition, Emperor Zhu issued an edict demanding that Goryeo return the northern and eastern/western territories of Tieling, but Goryeo outwardly complied while inwardly resisting.

Zhu Xiong Ying continued, "Grandson, have you heard that those people in Goryeo are two-faced, refusing to return the territory of our Great Ming, and even daring to launch an expedition, discontinue the Hongwu reign title, and abolish Han clothing in favor of non-Han clothing? These people have ulterior motives and must be punished!"

Old Zhu chuckled, pointed at Zhu Xiong Ying, and said, "You silly child, you just want your imperial uncles to become vassal kings guarding the four barbarian tribes for you. What reason, what excuse, you just want their land!"

Zhu Xiong Ying didn't care at all and said with a smile, "Inner sage and outer king, but I'm not here to cultivate myself, I'm here to be a good emperor in our Great Ming territory. I don't care about those around me. As long as it's good for our Great Ming, that's enough."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!