Of course, Zhu Di's vassal kings did not want to be restricted in Japan.

The most important thing is that they now control enough mineral resources and have a large amount of wealth, and this money comes in almost continuously.

A medium-sized silver mine, based on current technology and reserves, can support at least one or two hundred years even if it is mined on a larger scale.

This means that the princes will never have to worry about money in their lives.

In this place, where the emperor is far away and the mountains are high, it is natural for things like keeping a private name to happen.

"Cannons are the key to seagoing ships. On the sea, matchlock guns are not very useful, so we need enough cannons."

"A copper mine was discovered nearby two months ago. It will be our best source of artillery."

After talking about Zhu Gaochi, Zhu Di and Xu Yihua discussed expanding the production of the firearms workshop.

Xu Yihua frowned slightly: "Your Majesty, we already have seven firearms workshops under our command. If we increase the number, it will inevitably cause waste. Now the key is the problem of manpower. It is difficult to recruit Han people, but these Japanese are not a good idea after all."

"We currently have less than 6,000 private soldiers under our command, most of whom are new recruits. I'm afraid their combat effectiveness varies greatly. Although armor and other equipment are not needed in the Nanyang area, there will still be huge consumption."

"We have a lot of mineral deposits now, but we also have a lot of money to spend. We can't move the official ships, so we can only buy ships from the Ming Dynasty."

There is currently a shortage of talent in Yancheng, especially in the area of ​​accounting, and there are not many people willing to take on the role.

The people Zhu Di brought with him were mainly military generals. Even though some of the civil officials were knowledgeable in mathematics, they could not gain Zhu Di's trust.

Since it involves the finances of an entire vassal state, it is naturally impossible to just hand it over to someone.

Therefore, all the expenses and income of Yancheng are basically temporarily taken care of by Xu Yihua.

Xu Yihua herself was proficient in arithmetic and calculation. When she was in the palace, she did not believe that a woman without talent was virtuous, so she naturally learned everything.

Zhu Di frowned when he heard this: "The second brother has arranged 3,000 soldiers to go to Luzon, hoping to gain an advantage."

"We can't fall behind here either. We still have to occupy more territory first."

"Although these Japanese are not very useful, we can still fight them with some firearms. After all, our opponents are just some chieftains."

"We can take our time to expand the army. At most, we can spend more money to buy slave soldiers. But sending troops to Luzon is imminent."

Zhu Di didn't want Luzon to be taken over by his second son Zhu Gang.

Now it seems that the four feudal lords are united because of external forces, but in fact the internal fighting has never stopped.

With the money earned from mining, everyone was scrambling to buy slaves, which led to human trafficking being most popular on Kyushu Island in Japan.

After all, the Ming Dynasty banned slave trade, but Kyushu Island was a no-man's land and the princes were short of people.

These people can be used as soldiers or as slaves to mine; they are in great demand anyway.

The prices would naturally be higher than in other places, which also attracted a large number of sea merchants who trafficked in human beings.

Of course, no one can say for sure whether they were merchants or pirates.

But these minor details are not very important.

The most important thing is to expand your own power.

…

The Southern Tour begins.

Tens of thousands of troops surrounded Zhu Yuanzhang and others in the central government.

The concept of RV did not exist at present, but the sedan chair used by Zhu Yuanzhang and others was almost the same as an RV.

Not to mention the dragon chariot, that was a two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment that had to be carried around.

Those following behind are basically the size of one bedroom and one living room.

The luxury of this place is hard for ordinary people to imagine.

It doesn't mean that they always sit in the sedan chair. Occasionally, Zhu Ying and Zhu Yuanzhang, the grandfather and grandson, would ride horses for a stroll.

Obviously, no matter what era it is, it is a happy thing to go out and play.

However, given the scale of the emperor's trip, no one was so blind as to dare to stop him.

People are well-fed and well-clothed these days, and there are basically no bandits or the like.

Basically, we walked along the official road, and would visit every village and city we passed by, which was considered as a way of showing sympathy for the people.

"There have been huge changes in the past few years. If you don't go out and take a walk, you won't realize that now even in a remote mountain village, people can basically have enough food to eat, even if they don't have enough clothing and food."

"Speaking of which, this is all thanks to you, my great grandson."

The so-called incognito visit meant that when the main army stopped, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Ying, along with dozens of Ti cavalry, visited the nearby villages.

There is no need to report any identity. It is extremely easy for thirty or forty fully armed Ti cavalry to conquer a village of several hundred people.

These are all the best war horses. Even if there is any abnormality, they can leave quickly and there is no need to worry about their safety.

Zhu Yuanzhang had just come out of the village when he praised his eldest grandson who was standing next to him.

You have to know that in the past, in remote villages like this, there was almost no source of food, and it was normal to have a pale face and thin body.

I just took a walk inside and saw that the villagers were not strong, but they didn't look very hungry either. It was obvious that they had no problem eating a full meal.

Their staple food is mostly rice accompanied by sweet potatoes.

Not only can you save a lot of food, you don’t have to worry about bloating from eating too many sweet potatoes.

The problem of abdominal bloating caused by eating too much sweet potatoes became popular along with the spread of sweet potato seeds.

"We still need some meat. I have people constantly importing white pigs, but the breeding is slow now. After a few years, even these remote villages will be able to eat more meat on a daily basis."

Zhu Ying said with a smile while riding on his horse.

The introduction of white pigs has been something we have been doing in the past two years, but unlike high-yield crops, the reproduction of this type of pig is definitely not that rapid.

Even if there are several babies in a litter, the breeding process is very slow.

Besides, there are actually many types of white pigs. It does not mean that every white pig is the big white pig like in later generations. It requires slow breeding and survival of the fittest before it can gradually become popular.

For this purpose, Zhu Ying also specially set up a veterinary clinic.

Treat and prevent swine fever, fowl plague, etc.

"The third brother has sent troops to Luzon. He wants to expand overseas and get a piece of the pie from maritime trade."

"Since the third brother did this, then the second, fourth, and seventh brothers are basically the same. What does the eldest grandson think about this matter?"

After Zhu Yuanzhang talked about local affairs, he turned the topic to the Four Princes.

It does not mean that there was no intelligence during the southern tour. At this time, the post stations would transmit the intelligence originally delivered to the capital to the post stations near Zhu Yuanzhang.

What's more, it is news from overseas vassal kings.

"This is a good thing. I have said before that the princes have the right to expand. It is harmless for them to want to acquire some territory in other places."

Zhu Ying replied casually.

Zhu Ying did not have much interest in Luzon as it would take too much manpower to build it.

Letting the princes develop first is a good approach.

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "We have seen intelligence reports that there are many gold mines there. I think the second brother and his friends are so interested in this, probably because they are going for the gold mines."

Luzon is rich in resources, especially gold.

This is naturally a huge benefit for the four princes who have tasted the sweetness of mining.

Japan has many silver mines, but not many gold mines. Basically, there are no large ones. Most of them are small and cannot be mined for long.

"It will eventually flow into our Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Ying didn't care much.

In today's world, mining always costs human lives. Every piece of gold is stained with blood.

There is no need for the Ming Dynasty to do such things. It would be much faster to make money by just setting up a porcelain workshop than by mining.

Ming Dynasty porcelain is a best-selling hard currency throughout the world and is much more valuable than gold.

"Annan has been quite restless recently. It seems that we need to speed up our schedule a little bit."

As it grew darker, Zhu Yuanzhang led the way towards the camp.

Since the news from the court gazette reached Annan, uprisings by chieftains in various parts of Annan have become more frequent.

There is no way around it. Even though the number of Han people migrating is increasing, the current Han population does not have much of an advantage in Annan as a whole.

On the contrary, the continuous migration of Han people was oppressing the living space of other chieftains, resulting in a large number of conflicts.

The Ming army could only be stationed in key cities. It was impossible for them to cover the entire territory of Annan. As long as it was not a big deal, they had no way of caring about it.

For the chieftains of Annan, it was obvious that the arrival of the Ming emperor would definitely have a great impact on the entire Annan.

So the commotion became even more intense, as if this could prevent the Ming Emperor from coming.

At the same time, a large number of garrisons began to gather on the border of Annan.

"His Majesty is coming to our Guangxi, so we should train harder recently. We must not let His Majesty see that we have lost our momentum."

"This time when His Majesty enters Annan, we also shoulder the important responsibility of escorting His Majesty and the Crown Prince and others."

The commanders of the garrisons were a little nervous.

Remote Guangxi has never received attention from the imperial court, but this time His Majesty came here in person to inspect it.

There is not much war in the garrison here, so naturally they are a bit lazy on weekdays. This time when Zhu Yuanzhang comes, in addition to the imperial guards, more troops will have to follow to ensure the safety in Annan.

These local garrisons in Guangxi were the vanguard troops.

"Is your Majesty really going to come to Guangxi? This is great. I never thought I would be able to meet your Majesty and the Crown Prince in this lifetime. I wonder if your Majesty is like what is described in the storytelling."

"The person I want to see most is the Crown Prince. If I can see His Royal Highness once, even if I die in Annan, I think it will be worth it."

"Pah, pah, pah, what discouraging words are you talking about? There are only some chieftains in Annan. If our army goes there, do you think there are still people who dare to attack us? Do they really think we are made of clay?"

The Guangxi soldiers were very excited about the upcoming arrival of His Majesty and the Crown Prince.

This excitement made them work extra hard during training.

For soldiers all over the world, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is the faith in their hearts. The life they have today, including the improvement in their status, are all the result of the grace of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Every soldier holds this gratitude in his heart.

In fact, Zhu Ying had already sensed it very clearly on the way to the southern tour.

Whenever they visited a garrison, all the soldiers became very excited when they learned that it was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

At this time, Zhu Ying would often not just stand on the platform, but would move among the soldiers' array, trying to make sure every soldier could see his appearance.

Zhu Ying has become accustomed to this practice.

The seemingly simple routine is very effective in winning people's hearts.

The loyalty of any soldier who saw the Crown Prince's true appearance skyrocketed.

Such behavior allowed Zhu Ying to better gain the love of the grassroots soldiers.

Although it seems to have no effect, some reforms to the military can often reduce a lot of resistance to implementation.

For Zhu Ying, it was just a matter of taking a stroll.

…

Annan.

At this moment, there was a hint of ruthlessness in Zhu Gaochi's eyes.

"The Emperor is coming, but Annan is still a mess. These chieftains are too much. They need to be properly disciplined."

"I heard that many chieftains are uniting to cause trouble after the emperor arrives."

Zhu Gaochi's governance of Annan mainly favored a soft policy.

Even after some chieftain uprisings were put down, they were not all killed.

This also leads to the fact that Annan today does not have a strong fear of the Ming Dynasty.

The repeated rebellions gave Zhu Gaochi a headache.

Especially the rumors he had heard recently made Zhu Gaochi decide that it was time to be more ruthless.

If we don't kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, these chieftains will never know peace.

Xia Yuanji also agreed.

"I have sent people to investigate. The news about the chieftains' alliance is not groundless. There are many big families who want to attack your majesty's dragon chariot."

"Of course, with their current strength, they cannot harm His Majesty, but if they disturb His Majesty, it will be a serious crime for us."

"Your Highness, I think the only way now is to suppress them with thunderous means."

Zhu Gaochi asked: "Have you found out which clan is behind this?"

There are many ethnic groups in Annan.

The largest ethnic group is naturally the Kinh, followed by the Tay, Tai, Muong and Nung.

There are dozens of other chieftain ethnic groups.

Xia Yuanji pondered for a moment and said, "Although there is no conclusive evidence yet, the general possibility is that it is the Dai tribe."

"The Dai tribe hates the Ming Dynasty the most. Even if it weren't them, they would definitely get involved this time."

"If His Royal Highness thinks it is feasible, I think we should strike first."

After listening to this, Zhu Gaochi paused for a moment and then said, "Then let's do it first. We can't care about so many things in the current situation."

"Even if there is any mess, we have to wait until Grandpa Huang leaves."

Zhu Gaochi had given many opportunities before, but failed to achieve good results.

These natives seemed to be stubborn and had no gratitude at all. They regarded the Ming Dynasty as an enemy from the bottom of their hearts.

Even so, Zhu Gaochi did not intend to hold back.

We have to beat them until they feel hurt first.