All the people from the Huang family in Malacca were arrested, but Zhengde did not destroy the entire Huang family, but killed several people who knew the inside story of Zhou Hai, such as Huang Qionghai, the head of the Huang family, and four other affiliated families. These four

All the subordinate families were descendants of the ministers who escaped with Zhu Yunwen. For example, the subordinate family with the surname Chang was a descendant of Chang Yuchun. They were also relatives of Chang Xiao.

In order to preserve the secrets of the family, most of the people in the Huang family did not know the secrets of their family, nor did they know that their ancestors were Zhu Yunwen. However, it was precisely this reason that caused these people to escape the disaster, more than 600 people.

After being captured by Zhengde and returned to the Ming Dynasty, they were all placed in Fengyang, Zhongdu to guard the Zhu family's ancestral tomb. No one could contact them without his orders.

After Zhou Chong learned from Zhengde that most of the people in the Huang family were still alive, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Although they were imprisoned in Fengyang and lost their freedom, it was much better than being killed by Zhengde with one knife.

Maybe when Zhengde is in a good mood in the future, or if another emperor comes to power, the Huang family may be pardoned and will be able to live openly in the territory of the Ming Dynasty. No one will care about their identity.

That night, Zhou Chong and Zhengde chatted for a long time. At the beginning, they were talking about private matters. For example, Zhengde told Zhou Chong very frankly that because he was plotted by Zhou Hai, he would never want children in his life, and he was the only one like Zhou Chong.

A brother has been urging Zhou Chong to give birth to a son as soon as possible. Then he can adopt him as the crown prince, and the country of the Ming Dynasty will be consolidated.

After hearing this, Zhou Chong finally understood. No wonder Zhengde hurriedly married himself and Wang Jinxuan. He turned out to be wanted to get married early and have children early, but unfortunately he didn't know that it was his imperial edict to bring him.

How many troubles have happened? Fortunately, Jinxuan is an open-minded woman and has not been too concerned about Zhou Chong, which has prevented too much trouble in Zhou Chong's home.

As for adopting his son to Zhengde, Zhou Chong is not rejected. After all, as Zhengde's only younger brother, it is his responsibility to inherit the throne. Moreover, even if his son is adopted, he is still his own son and will become the Ming Dynasty in the future.

The emperor is even more a good thing.

After talking about private matters, Zhou Chong and Zhengde were very happy to talk about official matters, especially the situation in Southeast Asia and the colonial behavior of the Portuguese around the world. Zhengde was very interested in it, and he even thought Zhou Chong had told him what he said.

These helped him open a brand new door and broaden his horizons.

"Second brother, what are your plans next?" Zhengde suddenly asked. Only he and Empress Dowager Zhang knew about his visit to Shuangyu Port this time. Although Gu Dayong and others also knew something, they definitely didn't have the courage to go out.

Say, so Zhou Chong's identity is still a secret.

"Brother, I think my identity should not be made public for the time being. I will still be my admiral of the Four Seas, so that I can break the sea ban bit by bit according to the original plan, and at the same time develop the Nanyang and resist the invasion of the Portuguese. But if my identity is made public, my identity should be made public.

If you go out, you can only be named the vassal king of the Ming Dynasty. It is impossible to be released as an official anymore!" Zhou Chong thought about it and suddenly spoke solemnly.

In fact, Zhou Chong took the initiative to propose not to disclose his identity and continue to be the admiral of the Four Seas. Because there was the example of Zhu Di before, the Ming Dynasty was very strict in preventing the vassal kings, and there was no order from the emperor. The vassals in various places were not allowed to be ordered by the emperor.

Wang couldn't even leave his fiefdom. It was almost the same as going to jail, let alone taking office. Now Zhou Chong actually proposed that he still wanted to be the admiral of the Four Seas who held the power. In the eyes of others, this was already a violation of righteousness.

A big taboo.

However, Zhengde was very happy when he heard Zhou Chong's words. He laughed and patted Zhou Chong's shoulder and said, "I am worthy of being my brother, and even his thoughts are the same as mine. If you reveal your identity now, I'm afraid you will only be a nest in the end.

The vassal kings in the fiefdom cannot be my assistant at all, and the overseas situation is complicated, and I really can't find any reliable person to manage overseas affairs in the court, so I'll be wronged for the time being.

To help Wei brother manage maritime affairs, not only should we lift the ban on the sea to the court, but we should also open up a new way of wealth for the Ming Dynasty."

Speaking of overseas affairs, Zhou Chong suddenly remembered an important thing and said to Zhengde: "Brother, I heard that the Yellow River had flooded again some time ago, and several prefectures along the river were all affected by disasters.

Many victims began to flee abroad. I wonder if it is true?"

The Yellow River was originally the mother river on the Central Plains, but after the Tang and Song dynasties, due to the large number of trees in the middle and upper reaches and the changes in climate, by the Ming Dynasty, the entire Yellow River had become a man-eating beast, which would happen from time to time.

The people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait were deeply affected by the floods. This year, the Yellow River got angry again, destroying the river bank and a lot of farmland.

Hearing Zhou Chong mentioning the floods in China, Zhengde couldn't help but sigh and said, "That's right, last month, the upper reaches of the Yellow River suddenly exploded, and it turned into a flood peak when he arrived in Henan, which suddenly turned the river in Henan Prefecture.

The dike collapsed, and more than 500,000 people were affected by the disaster. Fortunately, the summer harvest had passed at that time, and the local people still had some food in their hands. I ordered people to mobilize a batch of food from Nanyang to rescue the disaster, but even so, I still starve to death.

There were many people, and even if they could be saved for a while, the next summer seeds were delayed. In other words, farmers will have no harvest in the second half of the year."

When talking about this, Zhengde suddenly slapped his chair hard and said, "Although the corn and sweet potatoes I sent last time are high-yield grains, they can only breed this year and cannot be promoted on a large scale at all, otherwise I will not be able to do so.

Afraid of this flood!”

Hearing Zhengde's words, Zhou Chong suddenly smiled and said, "Your brother, don't worry about these victims. I have a way to kill two birds with one stone. I just don't know if you have the courage to do it, brother,?"

"Haha, you actually learned to arouse me with words. I want to hear it. What's the way to kill two birds with one stone?" Zhengde pointed at Zhou Chong and said with a smile. The harmony between him and Zhou Chong was not just because

Zhou Chong is his only younger brother. The most important thing is that he can feel that Zhou Chong never regarded him as a noble person. He spoke and did things very casually. Talking with him was like two friends who had been with him for many years, not

What monarch and minister?

Zhou Chong suddenly put away his smile at this time, stood up with a solemn expression and said, "Brother, I have just introduced some of the situations in Nanyang. Although the climate there is hot and there are many poisonous insects and beasts in the forest,

But the products are abundant. Not to mention anything else, as long as a person is hardworking, you almost don’t have to worry about starving. There are almost too many foods and fruits to eat. Moreover, if we want to completely control Nanyang, it is not enough to rely on the army alone. We must pay back

It is necessary to have a large population. It just so happens that our Ming Dynasty is now suffering from natural disasters, so it is better to transport those victims to Malacca and other places in Southeast Asia. On the one hand, it solves the food problem of the victims, and on the other hand, it also consolidates our rule over the local area."

After listening to Zhou Chong's words, Zhengde suddenly fell into deep thought. He knew the situation in China more than anyone else. Every year, as long as there are natural disasters, there will inevitably be disaster victims. Although there are two high-yield crops, sweet potatoes and corn, I think

It is impossible to fully promote these two crops in a few years, and no one can guarantee the number of victims generated in recent years. If there is another riot like Liu Wu and Liu before, God knows it will

How much loss will it bring to the Ming Dynasty?

Thinking of this, Zhengde raised his head and asked cautiously: "Second brother, relocation of disaster victims is not a trivial matter. This not only requires support from the cabinet, but also requires careful planning, especially during the relocation process, which cannot be caused.

The resistance of the victims would otherwise lead to a riot."

"Brother, although our Ming Dynasty has a vast territory, the population has increased several times after so many years of reproduction and reproduction, but the number of land is certain, and the wealthy and nobles have been annexing the land, making more and more

People who lose their land have to rely on renting other people's land to make a living. Whenever a famine comes, they are the first victims. If this situation is not resolved, even greater riots may occur in the future.

But if the population is moved overseas, this problem can be fundamentally solved. Moreover, with the migration of immigrants, our Ming Dynasty can also master a larger territory. This achievement of expanding territory is enough to make the emperor and the Taizu

Your Majesty is comparable!" Zhou Chong persuaded again.

Zhou Chong had long known about the difficulties facing the Ming Dynasty, and he also knew that the Ming Dynasty was now on the edge of a cliff, and the domestic land annexation was extremely serious. Countless poor people lost their land and became tenant farmers. Moreover, because there were many people and few land, there were even more people.

Those who lose less land become refugees. These refugees have become one of the most unstable factors in the Ming Dynasty. They are like flowing gasoline on the Ming Dynasty's territory. Just a little spark can burn the entire Ming Dynasty to ashes.

According to the original history, decades after Zhengde's death, Zhang Juzheng, the chief minister of the Wanli Dynasty, saw the predicament of the Ming Dynasty, so he carried out the Wanli New Deal, which once increased the national strength of the Ming Dynasty and a situation of revival emerged, although Zhang Juzheng died later

Later, he encountered unfair treatment, but his new policy restored a lot of vitality to the Ming Dynasty and continued a lot of life.

Zhou Chong, who came from later generations, was very familiar with this history and understood very well what the biggest dilemma of the Ming Dynasty was. In fact, to put it bluntly, the contradiction between the increasing population and the increasingly fierce land annexation. This contradiction is not irresolved, and even
Chapter completed!