"How could this be possible? Will Her Royal Highness the Princess return home with us?"

The released Zhenla envoys also learned about the affairs between Princess Sultana and the Ming Crown Prince through the notification of the Jinyiwei.

For a moment, everyone was confused and didn't know how to deal with it.

I heard that they have now followed them into the palace, which is no longer a place they can reach.

Amona sighed and said, "It is Princess Sultana's blessing to be the consort of the Ming crown prince."

"Your Excellency the Grand Prince originally wanted to ascend the throne with the support of the Grand General of Lancang. Now if he has the support of Ming Dynasty, no one will dare to compete with the Grand Prince."

"But I don't know whether it is good or bad for the Ming Dynasty to get involved in Cambodia."

Amona is not stupid.

Whether it is Annan or Champa near Angkor, there are princesses who have become concubines of the Ming Dynasty's crown prince.

Looking at Annan today, except for retaining its royal identity, all of its territory has actually been controlled by the Ming Dynasty.

Champa had been at war with Chenla for many years, so naturally they were more familiar with each other.

Uli City in Champa was a famous city, but under the order of the Ming Dynasty's grandson, it became the fiefdom of the emperor's grandson Zhu Yunwen.

This is tantamount to handing over one's own city to others.

Amona shook his head slightly, throwing away all the thoughts in his mind.

What you think is actually not important. Whether it is the Ming Dynasty or the eldest prince, it is not something you can touch.

Along the way, Amona had a good impression of Sultana. She was not as unruly as other princes and princesses. She was very naive and just spoke more directly.

Now that she can marry the grandson of the Ming Dynasty, it can be considered a happy ending.

…

The Sultanah was naturally very excited to enter the palace, but Zhu Ying's mind was now on the Angkor Dynasty.

How to better integrate the Ming army into the Angkor Dynasty is also a technical job.

From a righteous perspective, whether it is Annan or Japan, the Ming Dynasty still occupies the moral high ground.

Annan was a rebellion of Hu Jima, not to mention Japan, which not only allowed Japanese pirates to invade the southeastern coast of the Ming Dynasty, but also killed Ming envoys and challenged the majesty of the Celestial Empire.

It can be said that the country has brought this upon itself, having fallen to the point where it has become a battlefield for the four kings to fight for supremacy.

Now Kyushu Island has basically become a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. Japan itself has given up the idea of ​​taking it back, and all it wants is to stop expanding its territory.

"Well, in the end, the population reserve is too small."

Zhu Ying rubbed his brows, feeling a little annoyed.

It's really frustrating to see the meat right in front of your mouth but not be able to eat it.

Japan, the Northern Yuan Dynasty, and even places including today's Western Regions, Tibet, Annan, and Champa, absorbed a large number of talents from the Ming Dynasty.

It is said that it takes a hundred years to grow a tree, but ten years to cultivate a person.

Education is being widely promoted, but there is still a long way to go before these students can become successful.

The Ming Dynasty's talent pool had become increasingly urgent.

Especially with the prosperity of maritime trade, the status of maritime merchants began to grow. Even after finishing their studies, many students no longer had the idea of ​​taking imperial examinations and were more willing to go out to sea to do business.

The main reason is that the money from overseas business comes too quickly.

With the capital as its center, the Ming Dynasty's economy began to radiate in all directions. No matter how high the taxes in the Jiangnan area were, they were no longer a concern for the wealthy families in Jiangnan.

The income they earned from a trip to the sea could easily pay a year's taxes.

If Zhu Yuanzhang had not issued a strict ban on leaving farmland uncultivated, I am afraid that a large number of farmers would have been recruited and followed him to the sea.

"The situation in the north is good. The Jurchens and scattered Mongols in the East China Sea have been recruited. I think it's time to vigorously develop the black soil."

In Zhu Yuanzhang's mind, money is important, but food is the foundation of everything.

Having been afraid of hunger since childhood, he was most worried about food.

Because his eldest grandson advocated business, Zhu Yuanzhang no longer suppressed merchants, which was considered as his tacit approval of the improvement of merchants' status.

In various parts of the Ming Dynasty, a large number of government-run and private factories were established. For ordinary people, farming was not as good as working.

In the past, the harvest of the previous year might not be enough to pay for three or four months' wages.

And there is no need to worry about natural disasters. You only need to work hard to get enough food and clothing. This is much better than digging for food in the soil.

The loss of farmers will naturally affect the overall harvest.

Zhu Yuanzhang could clearly see from the annual revenue details that the annual revenue of the Ming Baochao showed a very high upward trend, but with the large-scale planting of high-yield crops and grain taxes, the increase almost stopped.

Among them, high-yield crops even accounted for the majority. The output of rice and wheat did not decrease much, but it did not increase much either.

So Zhu Yuanzhang naturally focused his attention on the black soil.

"Actually, Grandpa, you don't have to worry too much. The black soil is naturally the key to development, but our Ming Dynasty is not as short of food as you think."

"In overseas areas, especially in Champa and Annan, many businessmen have contracted land and hired people to plant crops."

"The rice yield there is very abundant, with three or four harvests a year, and the taste is better."

"My grandson has already been guiding some big sea merchants to trade in grain. Although it has not yet formed a large scale, they are already continuously transporting grain to our Ming Dynasty."

"Over there on the black soil, it's not just the Han people who can come here. We can also bring in all the ethnic groups on the grassland, even including Goryeo, for joint development."

Food is the foundation, and Zhu Ying certainly would not spend all his energy on simply improving the economy.

Moreover, with the arrival of the Little Ice Age, the difficulty of developing black soil will increase even more.

On the contrary, the Nanyang region is very resistant to the Little Ice Age. After all, it is a tropical region and it can't be that cold.

There is no need to worry too much about food production.

The lifespan of a dynasty has always been affected by climate, and the development of the Nanyang region can to a large extent prolong the Ming Dynasty's national destiny.

As long as we survive the Little Ice Age, the world's population will experience an explosion.

To put it simply, the Nanyang region was the place where the Ming Dynasty survived its tribulation.

As time went by, the 200,000 soldiers who were to escort the Ming Crown Prince to Japan had basically gathered in place.

We'll be able to set off soon.

It was also at this time that Yao Guangxiao, who served as the imperial teacher in Goryeo, received a letter from Zhu Ying.

"I persuaded the Oirat to besiege Timur. It seems that His Royal Highness has not forgotten me after all."

Yao Guangxiao was very happy.

In fact, Yao Guangxiao was not very interested in serving as the imperial teacher in Goryeo.

Lee Seong-gye was no match for Yao Guangxiao at all, which made Yao Guangxiao feel very bored.

Because of the constraints of the three parties, especially when it comes to the issue of Goryeo's ownership, Yao Guangxiao was destined to be unable to dominate alone and could only play a role in restraining others.

Gold, silver, treasures, power and status are just clouds to Yao Guangxiao in his next life. What he wants more is to realize his ambitions.

Yao Guangxiao didn't feel much at all about just conquering Japan.

Mainly because in the expedition against Japan, Goryeo was only a supporting role and the Ming army was the main force, which made Yao Guangxiao feel very insignificant.

Therefore, Yao Guangxiao was very interested in the trip to Wala.

Wei Guang was somewhat reluctant.

"The journey to Wala is long and the mountains are high. I heard that Wala is a land of poor mountains and bad water. The state teacher is old. How about asking His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to have mercy on him?"

Yao Guangxiao and Wei Guang, one is good at literature and the other is good at martial arts.

After several years of getting along, the relationship has become very good.

Wei Guang was worried that Yao Guangxiao's body would not be able to endure such a long journey, or that something unexpected would happen to him after arriving in Wala.

However, few people know that for Yao Guangxiao, forming alliances and moving among various forces is what he likes to do most.

"Thank you for your kindness, General Wei. This is the intention of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and it is also my favorite. After I leave, I will entrust Gaoli to General Yu Wei. Please take care of it."

Yao Guangxiao's words were full of persistence.

Seeing the Imperial Master's words, Wei Guang did not insist on persuading him any further. Instead, he went to the army to select the strongest soldiers to protect the journey.

…

Not long after Yao Guangxiao set out for Wala, Zhu Ying was also preparing to set off.

Perhaps because of some special reasons, Sultana did not get pregnant after two months of farming.

When he heard that Zhu Ying was going to Japan for negotiations, he immediately expressed his willingness to go with him.

The journey was long, and it wasn't a bad idea to bring a beautiful woman along, so he decided to take Sultana along.

As for the Zhenla delegation, after the tribute trade ended, they also returned to Angkor with a large amount of goods.

As the time was about the same, Zhu Ying took the opportunity to take the Zhenla delegation with him as a favor to Sultanah.

The Yangtze River estuary.

Because the Crown Prince is going out to sea, private merchant ships are prohibited from approaching the largest dock.

Amona and other envoys stared blankly at the hundreds of treasure ships as tall as city walls at the dock.

When the Crown Prince goes to sea, of course the Ming navy needs to go all out.

All the large and newly built treasure ships, also known as treasure ships, were pulled out.

There are also 100,000 naval forces waiting, and 100,000 soldiers accompanying them, totaling 200,000 troops.

Among them, there were a large number of horse ships that transported tens of thousands of war horses.

This means that there will be another 10,000 cavalrymen accompanying Zhu Ying to Japan this time.

With 200,000 troops, plus the hundreds of thousands of troops of the four feudal lords of Japan, if they win by force, they can easily sweep away Japan.

This put tremendous pressure on Japan.

"Oh my God, there is such a tall ship. I thought it was a city on the seaside." Sultana's eyes lit up.

For Angkor, the Ming Dynasty was not that worried about its land troops, but the navy was completely different.

The Angkor Dynasty was located on the sea, so maritime trade was naturally developed.

If the Ming navy attacks Angkor, it can directly blockade all the waters of the Angkor Dynasty.

And Angkor could not resist at all.

Sultana immediately started to have some thoughts in her mind.

As long as she could give birth to a son, she could really inherit the Angkor dynasty.

Amona and other Cambodian envoys left in shock. He was responsible for conveying the news to Angkor, especially about Princess Sultana becoming the Crown Prince's consort.

When Zhu Ying sailed into the sea for Japan, the Japanese side naturally received the news in advance.

It was rare that the whole of Japan fell into peace at once, and the four princes gathered at the port near the coast of Ming Dynasty to welcome them.

"Hey, fourth brother, long time no see. I heard that you recently found another silver mine. It seems that you have made a lot of gains."

When Zhu Gang saw Zhu Di, he never stopped talking and immediately started to mock him.

Zhu Di was not going to indulge Zhu Gang and counterattacked: "Of course, it is not as good as the third brother who got two mines. But I heard that the third brother's mines are short of manpower recently, and he is now catching Japanese slaves everywhere, which takes a lot of effort."

"Especially half a month ago, we were tricked by the Japanese warriors and lost a lot of soldiers."

"If you ask me, Third Brother should not go too far. At least let these Japanese slaves have enough food while they are working. Otherwise, how can they have the energy to mine?"

"Third brother, you say so, right?"

Zhu Di's ridicule made Zhu Gang very angry, but he had no chance to refute.

Zhu Gang himself had a brutal character. When he was in the Ming Dynasty's vassal state, it would be an understatement to say that he took human life lightly. Now that he had moved to Japan, and most of the people under his rule were Japanese, he took things even less seriously.

It was because of the Chamber of Commerce that some extremely cruel methods were not used, but the Japanese people were never treated as human beings.

The Japanese nobles under his command were even more unlucky. Almost all the local daimyo were slaughtered by Zhu Gang.

When Zhu Di mocked Zhu Gang.

Zhu Chong looked at Zhu Di with some displeasure.

Why did he feel that the fourth brother was speaking in a veiled way about him?

As far as killing was concerned, Zhu Chong felt that he was fine, as he had only massacred the people of a city.

You should know that when the second concubine Deng was around, Zhu Chong was even more brutal in his vassal state.

Even compared to the third brother, he is inferior in many ways.

"Second brother, I wasn't talking about you just now." Zhu Di saw that his second brother Zhu Chong had a bad look in his eyes, and hurriedly explained with a smile.

Zhu Di didn't want to provoke his second brother as he was already a sworn enemy of his third brother.

In Zhu Di's heart, his second brother was simply a replica of Chang Yuchun, who never took human life seriously.

The guards under his command followed suit and acted ruthlessly.

In addition to his second brother's status as the clan leader, Zhu Di was somewhat wary.

If it weren't for the fact that Zhu Chong and Zhu Gang died early in history, there would be no mention of Zhu Di's Jingnan Campaign.

The second and third brothers alone could easily suppress him.

The key among them are Zhu Chong and Zhu Gang, who have a good relationship with Zhu Yunwen.

"Okay, I don't want to get involved in the little things between you two. My nephew will be arriving soon. Everyone should behave themselves and not make things difficult for him." Zhu Chong did not bother with Zhu Di.

In fact, in terms of military affairs, Zhu Chong had seen the strength of the fourth brother.

To be honest, his development in Yancheng is much better than that of himself, including the second and seventh brothers.

In this, Zhu Chong even saw the shadow of his father.

Zhu Yu had no say at all.

In terms of strength, Zhu Yuanzhang belonged to the second echelon among the princes of the Ming Dynasty. When his three brothers spoke, he could only listen.