Things in Europe were too far away for the Ming Dynasty.

Even if the fastest sea route is taken, assuming there are no obstacles or accidents along the way, it would still take almost a year for the news to reach the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

There are so many things that can happen in a year, and there is so much information going back and forth.

That is to say, by the time Zhao Yuanhong's request reached the Ming Dynasty and Zhu Ying gave instructions, almost two years had passed by the time Zhao Yuanhong received the news.

With so many large and small countries in Europe, any news has lost its original meaning in two years.

In this case, it all depends on one's personal ability.

The Ming Dynasty can only be regarded as a help to Zhao Yuanhong.

But it is very useful in pulling tiger skins.

The three best-selling luxury goods of the Ming Dynasty were tea, silk, and porcelain.

In this faraway Europe, it can be said to be hard currency.

For some very small countries, a shipload of goods from the East could even far exceed the wealth of the royal family.

The news that Zhao Yuanhong, an oriental nobleman and an official of the distant, mysterious and powerful Ming Empire, had appeared in Europe quickly spread throughout Eurasia.

Especially the Hines family, a wealthy family famous for maritime trade, has spread the word that this distinguished oriental noble is now looking for ocean-going partners.

This made almost all the nobles become very crazy, and they gathered towards Constantinople in large numbers.

After Zhao Yuanhong spent nearly half of his wealth to treat the nobles, officials, and clergy of Constantinople to a sumptuous dinner, he officially assumed the positions of Grand Chancellor and Minister of Finance.

Through the distribution of porridge, the residents of Constantinople also had hope of survival.

Especially when they knew that the current chancellor of the empire was a mysterious oriental nobleman, their eyes began to light up.

The most important thing is that in just one month, Constantinople became very lively and completely free of the previous feeling of depression and dilapidation.

Even some areas are starting to become lively.

These changes were all brought about by Zhao Yuanhong.

There is a secret rumor among the nobles that this oriental noble official has a seal in his hand. As long as he obtains the approval of the oriental nobles, he can travel across the ocean to the distant Ming Empire in the East and be protected by the Ming Empire at sea.

You can also buy a lot of expensive tea, silk, and porcelain from the East at low prices, with no limit on quantity.

We will give you as much as the ship can carry.

Such a thing was enough to drive all the nobles who heard it crazy.

Everyone knows that the wealth on the sea is the most exaggerated. How many nobles are involved in the business on the sea, and the largest buyer and seller in the world is the current Ming Empire.

The imperial gazettes had actually spread to Europe a long time ago along with the maritime merchants, but the distance was too far, and there were so many countries in between, so many nobles just asked for a Chinese translator to listen to the stories.

When the things in the story can become reality, the shock becomes extremely exaggerated.

"You still don't know, right? Why would the Haines family work so hard to give the family wealth to the mysterious oriental nobles?"

"The food delivered to Constantinople these days is enough to feed tens of thousands of people. The Haines family spent a lot of gold coins to buy this food, which has caused the price of food to rise recently."

"I even heard that the Haines family took out 300,000 gold coins to lend to the noble lord from the East."

Some nobles were whispering secret news.

Of course, other nobles showed great interest.

"The Haines family is crazy. Three hundred thousand gold coins is not a lot, but buying so much food is not a small amount. I'm afraid it will cost two to three million gold coins. This will cost all the family's resources. Aren't they afraid of bankruptcy?"

The noble who had spoken earlier immediately said disdainfully: "That oriental noble is a real oriental official. Do you think the people from the Hines family are idiots?"

"They were originally engaged in maritime trade, and their business had even reached the far east."

"It is said that a few years ago, a member of the Haines family saw with his own eyes a commander of an army of more than 100,000 soldiers in the distant Ming Dynasty being extremely respectful in front of this oriental noble. He was truly a powerful figure."

"And the soldiers who came with them are all highly skilled knights. For example, the armor they wear is not something we can make here."

"That is to say, those armors will not be sold, otherwise they will be sold at a sky-high price. These are armors from the East and have great collection value."

"Besides, I heard that this oriental nobleman issued an IOU to the Haines family, allowing the Haines family to use this IOU to exchange a large amount of goods or even gold in the Ming Empire."

"With just one trip to the East, all the investments the Hines family has made now will be rewarded with a huge return."

Such words made all the nobles who heard them feel their blood boiling.

It was as if everyone saw that several years later, the Hines family brought back countless teas, porcelains, silks, and other goods that were equivalent to gold from the far East.

By that time, the Hines family would become the wealthiest family on the European continent.

"I wonder if the Eastern nobleman still needs help. If I can get an IOU, I will go to the far East with the Hines family."

"Then the family's wealth will definitely be multiplied tenfold."

One noble sighed subconsciously.

The speaker may not mean it, but the listener may take it seriously.

Some powerful nobles began to make their own plans.

As a result, a large number of nobles entered Constantinople and wanted to meet with the Eastern nobles.

These nobles were often surrounded by a large number of servants and guards, making the entire Constantinople lively.

Places with many people will naturally attract more people to do business.

Constantinople seemed to have been revived all of a sudden.

When the second noble who received the IOU from Zhao Yuanhong appeared, it immediately caused a huge sensation.

Of course, some people were worried that their efforts would be in vain, so they sent people to the sea to find out Zhao Yuanhong's background, especially the merchants who had been to the East.

When Zhao Yuanhong was in Annan, he was already very famous and held great power.

As a maritime merchant, it is imperative to know such big figures.

When the nobles confirmed that Zhao Yuanhong was the former great figure of Annan, they no longer had any hesitation.

Moreover, as the news came out, it directly shocked the European continent.

The Ming Empire in the far east has formed the world's most powerful ocean-going fleet, which is now on its way from the South China Sea to the West China Sea. Their final destination is most likely to cross the Arabian Sea and arrive at the Persian Gulf.

This news came from the Ming Dynasty Gazette.

In other words, when this news was seen, the Ming Dynasty's ocean-going fleet had already set off.

The palace bulletin recorded in detail the strength of this ocean-going fleet.

"Is the Ming Empire really that powerful?"

The price of the Ming Dynasty's Capital Gazette, which was originally not taken seriously, suddenly soared because of Zhao Yuanhong.

It has now become something that cannot be bought even with a hundred gold coins, compared to the original twenty gold coins.

However, the above description of the scale of the fleet, especially the size of the treasure ships, made everyone who heard it feel incredible.

Is there really any empire that can build such a huge ship, especially when there are two hundred of them in this ocean-going fleet from the East?

This is unbelievable for all the nobles in Europe. Many people even think that the difference in numbers on both sides caused problems in the size conversion.

But after comparing them in many ways, I found that the exchange ratio and size were correct.

There were even great nobles who went to ask Zhao Yuanhong.

"Sir, can the Ming Empire in the far east really build such a large ship?"

Zhao Yuanhong looked at the great noble who had provided him with a loan of one million gold coins, and explained with a smile, "This is called a treasure ship in our Ming Dynasty. It relies on the wind direction of the ocean to gain leverage. It is as high as a city wall and extremely powerful. It really exists."

"Treasure ships like this are being built in large numbers in Ming Dynasty shipyards every day. Perhaps in the near future, you will be able to see them with your own eyes."

With Zhao Yuanhong's explanation, these nobles had a clearer understanding of the prosperity of the distant Ming Empire.

Such a powerful empire seems to be incomparable even to the Byzantine Empire during its most powerful period.

What followed was that more nobles madly integrated into Constantinople.

Manuel II was in the attic of the Holy Palace, looking at the nobles who were queuing not far away to meet his chancellor.

He picked up the expensive drink in his hand and took a sip.

"I seem to be seeing the empire at its most powerful time. Lord Zhao is really the man sent by God to save Byzantium."

He spoke softly to his wife beside him.

The wife next to him also smiled and nodded with satisfaction.

Thanks to the funding provided by Zhao Yuanhong to the royal family, Manuel II now not only had new clothes, but also had plenty of fine wine and food to enjoy.

Even though all the power was concentrated in the hands of him, the imperial minister, he didn't care at all.

At least his wife was already wearing silk from the Eastern Ming Empire.

The royal family regained its initial respectability.

As for power, he never had much control over it.

…

Zhu Ying didn’t know about the situation in Europe yet. Currently, Zhao Yuanhong’s letter was still on the way to the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

The war between the Ottoman Empire and the Timurid Empire is what the Ming Dynasty is most concerned about right now.

In fact, the political changes in these Central Asian countries have no impact on the current Ming Dynasty, but if it wants to intervene in Central Asia, there are many aspects that need to be considered.

The journey from Ming Dynasty to Timurid Empire was about four to six months.

This distance is neither long nor short.

If it is at sea, the time can be shortened further.

What Zhu Ying needs most now is to continuously absorb the wealth of the whole world.

This wealth is not only reflected in money, but the recruitment of talents is what Zhu Ying values ​​more.

The world exists only because there are people.

To this end, Zhu Ying introduced many plans, mainly focusing on the selection, protection, and delivery of talents from all over the world.

Some very good welfare benefits are also given to these talents.

In the entire world today, there are many monarchs who truly value talents, but only the Ming Dynasty can provide the Ming Dynasty with the treatment it has now.

"Grandson, your latest law seems to have made many people dissatisfied."

"In fact, for a problem like this, you can just let me be the villain. There's no need to affect my reputation."

In the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Yuanzhang spoke.

He was talking about the recent announcement.

It is a restriction on land and food.

This announcement was issued by Zhu Ying in the name of the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty, and it greatly affected the interests of the Ming Dynasty nobles.

There was a lot of content in the announcement, most of which was described in elegant language. In fact, it was not intended for the common people, but was aimed at the entire noble class of the Ming Dynasty.

To put it simply, there are two points. One is the restriction on land.

According to the current titles of nobles, a detailed division has been issued on how much land they can control.

That is to say, if there is too much land under the name of each different title, exceeding its own limit, it will be considered as illegal land hoarding.

The Ming government had the power to directly cancel the land deeds for these illegal lands, take them back into the court, and impose fines.

The same restrictions apply to food.

According to current per capita standards, the amount of food stockpiled by an individual cannot exceed three years' worth of food.

That is, a person cannot have more food than is sufficient for three years.

If the hoarded grain exceeds the standard for personal consumption for three years, it will be considered as illegal hoarding of grain, and there will be suspicion of hoarding goods and driving up grain prices.

This has a huge impact on all the nobles and even the landlord class.

The reason for issuing such restrictions is that with the development of the Ming Dynasty, more and more families are becoming wealthy.

When a family becomes wealthy, they naturally want more land and food.

Therefore, the sale of land, which was once restricted by Zhu Ying, is now being purchased by many people by taking advantage of various loopholes.

After all, things like land feuds are unavoidable for most Han people, and it cannot be changed with just a few words.

After discovering this problem, Zhu Ying issued this announcement without hesitation.

It is aimed at the latest rising families.

This also caused Zhu Ying's good reputation to seem to decline all of a sudden, and many people have begun to complain that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is curbing the development of people's livelihood and competing with the people for money.

Zhu Yuanzhang certainly understood his eldest grandson's intention and supported it, but he wanted to take the blame on himself.

Anyway, Zhu Yuanzhang didn't care about his reputation.