Rebirth of the Ming Dynasty: Sixth Generation of Glory, I don't want it

Ming Dynasty, May of the 31st year of Hongwu.

Just as Zhang Xin expected, the death of Prince Jin came earlier than expected, and the emperor's grandfather's illness also came earlier than expected. When he was lying on his deathbed, he issued an imperial decree for Zhu Di to come to Beijing.

After Xu sent Zhu Di away, the entire Prince of Yan's Mansion fell into a state of silence.

But it didn't last long.

Three days after Zhu Di left, Zhu Gaoxu returned.

Xu was never a person who would spoil the fun. Even though she was worried about Zhu Di, she still cheered up and arranged for everyone to go to the Xiaode Palace to listen to Zhu Gaoxu talk about his great achievements in the past few months.

"They are called Japanese pirates, but they are actually sea pirates! Most of them are from our Ming Dynasty!"

Zhu Gaoxu was tanned, and his originally strong body became skinny and lean, and his voice was even louder than before.

"Keep your voice down, my ears are going to be deafened."

Xu's head was buzzing.

"I can't help it. We are at sea and we can't hear anything unless we make a noise."

Zhu Gaoxu spoke in a low voice at the beginning, but he couldn't hold back his voice at the last few words.

"I heard there's no shower on the boat?"

Zhu Anle sat next to Zhu Gaoxu and compared with Zhu Gaoxu with his hands. That was called clear black and white.

"Oh, water is precious, how can you use it to take a bath?"

"Thank you for your hard work, sister-in-law... How long did it take my brother to clean it——"

Zhu Zhiming covered his mouth and laughed.

"Little bastard, do you still want a gift?"

Zhu Gaoxu was not angry either. He hooked his finger at Zhu Zhiming with a wicked smile.

"Second brother is a man of virtue and a man of virtue!!!! He will live forever!!!"

Zhu Zhiming is very aware of the current situation.

"Ha ha ha ha--"

Xu laughed.

"Oh, you know what. Uncle Prince Ning said he'll make it again this year. I'll go! There are many small islands out there. It's a little hot on the islands, but there's plenty of food. There's everything from what grows on trees, what's grown in the fields, and what's caught in the sea. The leaders among the islanders are treated like emperors by the people below. Those days are great. In Beijing, it's so hard to even eat a shad!"

Zhu Gaoxu obviously liked the life outside and spoke very excitedly about it.

"Don't they say they all eat raw meat and drink blood?"

Zhang Xin asked tentatively.

She also doesn't know what the world outside is like. After reading some travelogues, she found that it is very backward.

"That depends on how you look at it. On some of the larger islands, the islanders in the deepest parts live like savages. Those along the coast are different. They use silk and porcelain. As for food, there are a lot of ingredients, but they don't know how to make it."

"Don't be afraid of that. Just take the cook with you!"

Zhu Anle found it interesting.

"Yeah, that's the truth. We can just take whatever we need with us."

“I want to go too!!!”

Zhu Gaosui listened for a long time, his saliva almost dripping, and he looked at Xu eagerly.

"Let's wait until your uncle Prince Ning arranges it first!!! Don't think your brother makes it sound easy! You won't know what suffering is until you have experienced it."

Xu slapped her youngest son in annoyance.

"Yes, there are a lot of bugs. When they bite us, we get a big ulcer. When we first got on the ship, we felt dizzy every day. Guangping and I were dizzy for nearly half a month."

Zhu Gaoxu agreed.

"You just said that the Japanese pirates were all Ming people?"

Xu remembered and asked again.

"Oh, I originally thought they were all outsiders, but I didn't know until I went there," Zhu Gaoxu paused and lowered his voice, "They were all Ming people. Because our grandfather banned the sea, the people living on the coast couldn't survive, so they had to take risks."

"Ah, one of our own people is poaching one of our own!"

Zhu Gaosui was shocked.

The Prince of Yan's Palace was not in the court, and Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui grew up in their fiefdoms, so all the information they could receive were the court's reports and imperial edicts.

The two of them didn't pay much attention to this and always thought that the Japanese pirates were a group of dwarfs left over from the previous dynasty.

But my great-grandfather also advocated that no troops should be sent to the "barbarian small countries" other than the "Northwest Hu Rong", including those surrounding the South China Sea.

On the one hand, Japan paid tribute to the imperial court and acted like a grandson, and on the other hand, it allowed its people to rob Ming people on the coast.

It’s all said in the court gazette.

[Japanese pirates appeared on the sea, burned people's houses, and looted goods and property. From Liaohai and Shandong in the north to Fujian, Zhejiang, and Guangdong in the south, coastal areas were harmed every year.]

Zhu Gaoxu went out to sea happily because he thought he could secretly kill some Japanese pirates to vent his anger.

Turns out, not at all.

Most of the Ming people who went to sea secretly were merchants. Once they arrived at the sea, they became pirates.

Those who are more particular buy and sell unimportant things to make a living.

Those who don't care about details dare to deal in anything, including gold, silver, copper coins, forged steel, and weapons.

When people from outside get these things and are led by wise men, they in turn bring disaster to the coastal areas.

"In the final analysis, it's because our coastal troops are not strong enough!"

Zhu Gaochi went straight to the point.

"This time we took my uncle and swept the area, and it should be quiet for a while. However, the sea dwellers are not allowed to go out to sea, and they can't even catch fish. How can they live? The seashore is all saline-alkali land, and they can't even dig for food in the soil. In my opinion, the royal grandfather's ban on the sea is a big problem!"

No matter how much I say, it’s not as shocking as seeing it with my own eyes.

Zhu Gaoxu originally thought that the words on paper were real things.

Going to the army to fight with his father, fighting means doing hard work.

There are so many jobs out there that can earn money by doing hard work, so how can a family be so poor?

This time when I went out to sea with my uncle and occupied a spot, I realized that if I wanted to sell my labor, I had to have a place to sell it.

It's not their fault that some people live a hard life, it's just that there's nothing we can do about it.

After he and Zhang Guangping got on board, they were assigned a double room.

It's very simple inside, just a bed and a narrow space.

He was in the military and had no objection to this.

Zhang Guangping refused, saying that Zhu Gaoxu snored, and asked the person in charge to give him a single room.

The man in charge was an old man whom King Ning used to employ. He said nothing and led them down to where the sailors lived below the deck.

What hits you in the face is the suffocating smell of sweat, sour food, urine and feces.

There is no room, just a place where one person can't even lie down straight.

Zhang Guangping accepted the reality of Zhu Gaoxu's snoring without saying a word.

Of course, the two of them took some time to get used to each other before they were able to hit it off.

The food on the ship provided for the two of them was not bad.

For other people, three meals a day, they just have a bowl of porridge with nothing in it.

It was said that beans, wheat, bacon, fish and other things were cooked in a pot and eaten. He took a bite and almost spit it out.

Even so, those people said that at least they could eat enough on the boat.

They have to go through layers of screening to get such a job. As long as they come back alive, they can at least support their family for half a year.

If by any chance he doesn't come back, the Ning Wang Mansion will give him a pension.

Those who were not selected but have families to support may have no choice but to become pirates.

It is conceivable how difficult life was for the sea dwellers living along the coast after they were banned from the sea. It was clear that the imperial court forced them to become pirates.