The third day of the fifth month in the thirty-fourth year of Hongwu.
This was a special day because the imperial court officially announced that the thirty-seven qualified families had obtained the qualification for education.
This means that these thirty-seven families will immediately set off overseas to explore their territories.
Needless to say, the six dukes are the same, and the remaining thirty-one families are hereditary marquises.
There are also differences between duchies and marquises, including the distribution of overseas power. To some extent, marquises need to be subject to the jurisdiction of duchies.
The only thing in common is that no matter whether it is a principality or a marquisate, their taxes must be paid to the Ming Dynasty.
Another great advantage of the Dukes is that they can command the Twelve Zodiac Army.
The Twelve Zodiac Army was assembled by Zhu Ying specifically for overseas expansion, with each army having 10,000 men.
The Duke can command an army of 20,000.
The best of the six nations is the Twelve Armies.
According to the Crown Prince, the first area to be conquered would be Siam.
Previously, Siam attacked the Ming Dynasty delegation headed by Lan Yu. Now it is just the right thing to do to attack Siam.
In fact, in the current situation, Zhu Ying no longer cares much about the justice overseas. He is still concerned about having a legitimate reason to fight and explaining to the Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty had not taken any action to deal with the previous attack on Lan Yu. Even the fleet sent by Zhu Ying was only to cooperate with Lan Yu.
It's not like the matter can be resolved by simply paying some tribute. What we need to do now is to swallow up the whole of Siam.
In fact, the country closest to Champa was Chenla.
But Zhenla is very obedient now. Ever since the Ming Dynasty helped them solve the threat of Siamese invasion, Chanrebopiya has been committed to internal reforms and has continuously paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty.
In Chanlepopiyya's view, his sister Sultana is the best political helper.
If Chanlie Popiya wanted to reform Zhenla, he could not do without the help of his sister.
Even if it's just a title, it can be of great help to him.
But some things were obviously not as simple as he thought.
Kunning Palace.
Zhu Ying asked someone to call Sultana over.
"Do you miss me?" Sultana was passionate. As soon as she entered the study, she stuck straight to Zhu Ying.
Seeing this, Liu He hurriedly led the eunuchs and palace maids to retreat, and considerately closed the door and stood guard outside.
Although this behavior may seem a bit impolite, who cares?
Seeing this, Sultana became even bolder.
According to the usual practice, they took turns, but she was obviously bold enough and this was obviously not the first time she had done such a sneaky thing.
"Okay, stop messing around. I called you here this time because I have something serious to tell you." Zhu Ying said helplessly, pushing away the red lips kissing her cheek.
Sultana was very reluctant, but still relied on Zhu Ying.
"What can't be said later?"
Zhu Ying said: "It's about your elder brother in Zhenla."
After hearing the news from Zhenla, Sultana put away her previous thoughts.
Seeing the serious look on the crown prince's face, he was startled: "Could there be some unexpected incident in Zhenla?"
Zhu Ying nodded and said, "According to the latest information, your elder brother, Chanlie Popi Ya, is now seriously ill and bedridden. He may not have much time left."
Sultana said in disbelief: "How is this possible? My eldest brother has always been in good health, how could he suddenly become like this?"
Canlepopiyya is only thirty years old now, which is at the peak of his career. Sultana couldn't believe it.
Zhu Ying sighed, "Someone must have poisoned your elder brother. He is a smart man. After he got sick, he didn't trust anyone. Finally, he asked a doctor from the Ming Dynasty to treat him."
"But it's too late. The poison has already penetrated deep into the bone marrow. Even if our imperial physician goes, it will be too late to save him."
Sultana asked sadly, "Why, why would someone want to harm him? Could it be someone from Siam?"
Zhu Ying shook his head and said, "Really not. Although it's just a guess, the general situation should be similar. We don't know who did it yet, but according to your eldest brother's explanation, it must be one of those great nobles."
"But I think it's more likely that they'll join forces to deal with your eldest brother."
Sultana couldn't believe it, and she also knew about the great nobles in Zhenla.
But there was no reason for them to murder their own king.
Is this any good for them?
Sultana couldn't help crying when she thought that her elder brother was about to die, or had already died at this time.
Zhu Ying, holding Sultana, explained: "Your elder brother has affected the interests of too many people. He wanted to make Zhenla a better place through reform, but Zhenla has already been divided up by these nobles."
"Your eldest brother was too impatient. After he became king, he couldn't wait to grab power, so much so that he stood against all the nobles."
Zhu Ying also knew something about the affairs of Chanlie Popiyya. After all, there had been spies of the Ming Dynasty lurking in Zhenla for a long time.
In fact, many things are not that big of a secret.
There is no doubt that Canlepopiyya still has some talents. He saw the biggest problem in Zhenla now, which is the intensified class conflicts and the greed of the major nobles.
When facing the invasion of Siam, Zhenla was completely in disarray. The reason for this was that the military power was divided into many pieces and controlled by many nobles.
As the king, Canrevapiya was completely unable to command any army except his own guards.
Even the Guards were a sieve, with many officers serving someone other than the king.
After realizing this situation, Canlie Popiyya took the initiative to control part of the military power and then competed with the aristocratic families of Zhenla.
The situation in Zhenla is very similar to the separatist rule of the feudal lords in the late Tang Dynasty.
In fact, Zhenla was completely corrupt from top to bottom. Canlepopiya could only see part of it and did not understand the whole picture, so he was unable to solve the problem fundamentally.
Of course, the most important factor was that Canlepopiya had no like-minded people and was fighting alone.
The only means available is to threaten these nobles with the Ming Dynasty.
It was very effective at the beginning. After defeating a group of small nobles, the power of the king was greatly demonstrated. Many nobles were afraid of the Ming Dynasty's intervention and kept making concessions.
This made Canlepopiyya even more arrogant, thinking that these old nobles would not dare to fight him.
But as the old saying goes, even a rabbit will bite when it is cornered.
Faced with the situation where the king wanted to kill all the nobles without leaving any chance of survival, the nobles united to fight against the king's rule.
So much so that as the king, Canrevapiya's orders became ineffective once he left the palace.
This made Canlepopiyya very angry, so he simply took his guards to massacre some nobles.
Such a bloody method achieved a good deterrent effect, but the nobles were not willing to wait for death, so they simply poisoned Canlepopiyya.
This is a chronic poison. At the beginning, Canlepopiyya did not realize that the servants in his palace had been bribed. He just felt that his physical condition was getting worse and worse.
Including the doctors who came to treat him, who were actually nobles.
It was called treatment, but in fact he was still taking poison.
Later, when Canlepopiyya discovered the problem, he decisively killed these doctors and requested doctors from the Ming Dynasty to come.
But by this time, the poison had already spread completely throughout his body.
When the news was received in the capital, a month had passed since it was sent.
Maybe now Chanlie Popiya is already dead.
For Sultana, her elder brother Canlepopiyya was her only relative. She obviously found it hard to accept this news suddenly.
Zhu Ying comforted Sultana for a long time before she stopped crying.
"Your eldest brother has a child who should be more than three years old now. If I guess correctly, these nobles will support your eldest brother's child to become the new king because it will be more beneficial to them."
Hearing this, Sultana's eyes were filled with hatred.
"Your Highness, you will help me, right?"
Zhu Ying said: "No matter what you choose, I will help you."
Sultana gritted her teeth and said, "Then please send troops to kill all these murderers. I hope Your Highness will agree to bring my eldest brother's child to Ming Dynasty to raise him."
"Since they dared to kill their own king, they must pay the price for their actions."
Zhu Ying frowned and said, "These nobles rule the entire Zhenla. It's no problem to help your elder brother get revenge, but who will be in charge of Zhenla next? Should we let Amona go over and manage Zhenla first?"
Sultana shook her head: "No, he doesn't need to go. It doesn't make any sense. I hope Zhenla can be directly ruled by the Ming Dynasty like Annan and Champa are now."
"If Your Highness has mercy, then please keep my eldest brother's royal family. There will only be one child."
"These greedy nobles should be destroyed along with Zhenla."
Although Sultana was a princess of Chenla, she actually did not have a strong sense of identification with the Chenla royal family.
Before, Canlepopiyya was her only family bond. Now that this bond is gone, she has no more concerns.
Sultana herself was not a person who was greedy for power. Her hobby was more in music. After living in a prosperous place like the capital for a long time, the former Zhenla was just like a countryside place to her.
His son Zhu Wenzhen may not necessarily have to go to Zhenla to be crowned king.
Besides, given the current situation in Zhenla, it is not a good place for the young Zhu Wenzhen.
She didn't like her son going to war everywhere, she would rather he could happily do what he liked.
Zhu Ying was not surprised by Sultana's decision.
Sultana had already expressed this idea regarding Zhu Wenzhen before.
No matter what, Zhu Wenzhen is Zhu Ying's own son. Let him make his own choice about what he wants to do in the future.
If he has no talent in politics and military, even if he goes to Zhenla to be crowned king, he will be similar to Zhu Yunwen now, and can only rely on the Ming Dynasty.
This is obviously not a good thing.
The expeditionary force's actions changed because of the events of the King of Zhenla.
Lan Yu received an order from the Crown Prince, which changed the original request to station troops in Zhenla to attack Zhenla, and to avenge the King of Zhenla and kill all the murderers.
At the same time, Zhu Ying also sent an order to the naval army in Champa, ordering them to immediately organize troops and be ready to attack Zhenla at any time.
To be honest, Zhu Ying didn't take Zhenla, a country that was already in its decline, seriously at all.
Only tens of thousands of troops were needed to easily capture Angkor, the capital of the Zhenla Kingdom.
In less than ten days, Zhu Ying's order had already arrived in Champa.
After receiving the order, Jin Kaishan temporarily put aside the suppression of the Champa gang and instead organized the navy to march into the Zhenla port.
He had to seize the Zhenla port first to prepare for the arrival of the Ming army.
At this time, Li Youwei, the military supervisor stationed in Daming, arrived at the Zhenla port first to meet his adopted son Long Dongqiang.
Champa is close to Chenla, and it only takes less than two days to reach it.
Upon receiving the news, Long Dongqiang immediately waited at the port.
Not long after, he saw the ship that Li Youwei was on.
"Greetings to my foster father, how can I let him come here alone? If he has any instructions, I will let him go."
After Long Dongqiang received Li Youwei, he said respectfully.
Li Youwei looked at the busy dock and said, "This is not the place to talk. Let's go to your place first."
"Yes, godfather."
Long Dongqiang was obviously a little surprised by his adoptive father's urgent arrival, and the person who was sent to deliver the message didn't know what it was about.
He has always arranged for people to stay in Champa, and learned that there seems to be no major changes in Champa now.
In fact, Long Dongqiang had heard the news that the King of Zhenla was seriously ill, but he was not aware of the details.
After all, he was just a gang leader, and in the eyes of both the nobles and the Ming nobles, he was nothing.
The only thing that can be mentioned is his identity as Li Youwei's adopted son.
Li Youwei looked somewhat anxious. When he arrived at Long Dongqiang's residence, he asked him to send his attendants away.
Long Dongsheng left reluctantly under the gaze of his elder brother.
There was no enthusiasm in the look he gave Li Youwei.
"Father, please forgive me for making fun of you. My second brother is a little immature. Please forgive me."
Long Dongsheng’s attitude made Long Dongqiang very angry, but now he could only suppress it.
Li Youwei didn't care much, but said: "Dong Qiang, your chance has come."
Long Dongqiang's eyes lit up: "Please teach me, foster father."
Li Youwei asked first: "What is the current situation of the Zhenla Port? I have some basic information."
Long Dongqiang said, "Don't worry, foster father. This port is basically under my control now. The nobles here are very greedy, but as long as you give them enough money, they won't interfere."
"Most of the people on the dock now are my men. Those noble soldiers from Zhenla are just like me. They only know how to eat, drink and have fun every day."
Li Youwei said in a deep voice: "If I let you seize the port, you will be quite sure."
Long Dongqiang couldn't help but ask: "Could it be that the Ming Dynasty..."
Li Youwei nodded: "Yes, the order of the Crown Prince has been issued, and the navy of Champa will set off soon."
"If you can seize the port at this time, I will definitely give you some credit, or you can get a job at the port."