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Speaking of which, the strength of the Spanish fleet is not as strong as that of the Portuguese. The Ming Dynasty could defeat the powerful Portuguese fleet, and naturally it could defeat the Spanish fleet. What's more, the Pacific Fleet that went on this expedition was still the elite of the Ming Navy. Although the Lao Shi suffered a little loss in the expedition, it did not take much effort to defeat the Spanish.

However, the Spanish, who fought for the first time, were not discouraged. The country was organizing a second fleet to go on a war. It seemed that they would drive the Ming Dynasty back no matter what. However, at this time, the Ming Dynasty had occupied a port in North and Central America as its stronghold and began a real American colonization. Although the Spanish also thought of fighting with the Ming Dynasty from land, after several contacts, the Spanish found that they did not have any advantage. The Ming army was not those with Americans without iron tools, but powerful armies with muskets and artillery. So after suffering a few losses, they could only choose to endure silently and wait for the arrival of the domestic fleet.

In the next few years, the Ming Dynasty and Spain fought countless wars in the Americas. The two sides invested a large number of naval and army troops. The entire western coast of the Americas was in full swing, and even the war on land involved the local Americans. This was mainly because the Spanish massacres carried out by the Americans that aroused these people's dissatisfaction. Now seeing the arrival of the Ming Dynasty, in the idea that the enemy's enemy was a friend, they began to cooperate with the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty was also willing to cause some trouble for the Spanish, so they gave these Americans a lot of help, such as weapons, which greatly increased the combat effectiveness of the Americans and began to form a small group of troops to harass the rear of the Spanish.

However, the Spanish were not stupid. After they felt that the Ming Dynasty and the Americans were united, they immediately changed their strategies and began to support some Americans as their helpers. As a result, the entire Central and South America was in chaos. Whether it was the ocean or on land, there were wars everywhere.

The Ming Dynasty had a vast territory, a large population, and a very developed industry and commerce, which made the Ming Dynasty extremely powerful and could support overseas troops to fight for many years, but Spain did not have this advantage, so after a few years of fierce battle with the Ming Dynasty, their national strength declined sharply. In addition, Europe was not peaceful, so they had to maintain enough strength to defend themselves. So in this case, the colonial battle between Spain and the Ming Dynasty ended with Spain's initiative to seek peace.

The Ming Dynasty and Spain signed a treaty, dividing their respective spheres of influence in the Americas, among which the Ming Dynasty occupied the west coast of the Americas, while Spain occupied the east coast of the Americas. If you want to enter the other side's power area, you must go through the other's consent. As for the division on land, there is no clear treaty, but a generalized provision of "whoever finds first will belong to whom". Moreover, both sides must maintain restraint and cannot conflict without authorization, etc. This is mainly because the region of the Americas is too large, and the two countries should not have too many conflicts of interest in a short period of time.

Of course, this kind of peace is actually very short-lived, because the war between the Ming and Spain did not decide the outcome. To be precise, neither side gave in. Spain suspended the war just because its national strength was not upheld, while the Ming Dynasty took time to seize the territory of the Americas, so it reached such a treaty.

But in just a few years, the Ming Dynasty and Spain clashed again, and then there was a war that seemed to be endless. This war, which later generations called the "American War" fought for hundreds of years and ended with the decline of Spain. The Ming Dynasty took the opportunity to take over Spain's territory in America and successfully occupied most of Central and South America.

Zhou Chong actually didn't pay much attention to these overseas expansions a few years ago. First, the territory of the Ming Dynasty was huge enough, and the population growth could no longer keep up. Second, there were some problems in management of too large territory. For example, in Nanyang, some people wanted to make land kings. Unfortunately, before they could launch, they were noticed by the Jinyiwei, and then the army was wiped out. Moreover, Zhou Chong has always been cruel and ruthless for such separatist forces, and every time he was bleeding, which greatly deterred those ambitious people.

As his son Zhu Zaiyuan grew up, Zhou Chong was gradually delegating power. After all, in comparison, his eldest son was the legal heir of the Ming Dynasty. He did not want his son to resent him because of the throne, and even a tragedy of father and son fighting each other. However, although Zhou Chong was delegating power, he did one thing in the end, that is, restricting the imperial power.

Imperial power is a very dangerous thing, especially for a huge country like the Ming Dynasty. The safety of the entire country is dependent on the emperor. If you meet a wise or mediocre emperor, it is a good thing for the empire, and even an emperor will make the empire more prosperous. But if you meet an emperor who is arbitrary or incompetent emperor, it will be a disaster for the entire country. The countless lessons in history tell us that the emperor is really too important for an empire.

If you want to change the influence of the emperor on the empire, you must weaken the imperial power. Only when the power in the hands of the emperor becomes smaller, then his influence on the empire will be much smaller. Even if you encounter a foolish emperor, the harm it caused to the Ming Dynasty is limited. If you want to limit the emperor's power, Zhou Chong's first thought of was the cabinet.

When Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the position of prime minister and took over all government affairs at once. Unfortunately, the emperor was not a superman, and he also needed some people to share his government affairs. So in this case, the cabinet appeared and gradually formed a complete cabinet system. It can be said that the cabinet had completely replaced the original position of prime minister.

Imperial power and prime minister power have always been complementary but restrained each other. Zhu Yuanzhang's unintentional act shared the prime minister's power on several ministers in the cabinet, so there was no need to worry about the emergence of powerful ministers in the court, and the cabinet could undertake more government affairs, which also divided more power from the emperor. Zhengde ignored the government affairs and the Ming Dynasty was still running as usual. These were all the credits of the cabinet. If you want to limit the imperial power, the cabinet was the most suitable tool.

So under this circumstance, Zhou Chong began to formulate a Supreme Court, clearly distinguishing imperial power and ministerial power. In fact, this is a constitution, and after the status of the Inspectorate was improved, the judiciary of the Ming Dynasty had become independent from the administration. Therefore, the emergence of this constitution not only restricted imperial power, but also gave the Inspectorate a formal tool to restrict cabinet power. However, the Inspectorate was also subject to the dual constraints of imperial power and cabinet. Under the checks and balances of the three parties, a solid relationship in a triangle was formed.

With this constitution, the imperial power can be limited to a certain range, and when the emperor wants to violate the constitution, the cabinet has the right to reject the order. This is also an old method of the cabinet to deal with the imperial power. However, it has been officially written into the constitution, so that the cabinet can have laws to follow. As for the Censorate, it can supervise the emperor's use of his own power. If the constitution is violated, it will also be warned by the Censorate and even restrict the imperial power.

In order to make the constitution authoritative, especially to restrict imperial power, relying solely on the cabinet and the Censorate is not enough. The most important thing is to get the support of the army, and according to the provisions of the Constitution. The emperor is the supreme commander of the army, and all the troops of the Ming Dynasty are under the command of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. However, all this is under the premise that the emperor does not violate the constitution. If the emperor violates the constitution, especially threatens the cabinet and the Censorate with force, the army will temporarily escape from the emperor's command. This is also written into the motto of the military academy by Zhou Chong. Every officer must study the regulations on the army in the Constitution and let them understand how they should do it under what circumstances.

In addition, although the emperor has the highest command over the army, the army is still managed by the Ministry of War. Only when foreign wars or internal rebellions occur, the emperor has the right to mobilize the army.

Compared with the restrictions imposed on military aspects, the emperor had greater power over administration and justice, because the emperor had the right to put forward his own opinions on administration and justice, and even had considerable power to make decisions. This was a right from the throne itself, and the cabinet and the Censorate could not restrict it.

Zhou Chong's restriction on imperial power was initially criticized by many people, especially a considerable number of people believed that Zhou Chong restricted imperial power because he was worried that his son would weaken his power as a ruling power after he ascended the throne, so he restricted the imperial power. This statement is not only reasonable, but also highly inspiring. Even Zhou Chong's son Zhu Zaiyuan was a little confused. Later, Zhou Chong called him to the study and fully explained his plans for the Ming Dynasty, which made Zhu Zaiyuan understand his father's painstaking efforts.

In the 30th year of Zhengde, Zhengde, who was already forty-five years old, was unwilling to be lonely and sent troops to attack the Uzbeks again, hoping to seize the original territory of the entire Timur Khanate before the Ottoman Empire. Everything went very smoothly, but when the war was about to end, Zhengde suddenly fell off his feet on the battlefield and was seriously injured. It could have been cured, but coupled with the fact that the local environment was not adapting to the local conditions, Zhengde had a high fever and finally died on the battlefield in Central Asia.

Zhengde's death marked the end of the old Ming Dynasty and also marked the end of the Ming Dynasty's expansion in Central Asia. When the news of Zhengde's death reached Beijing, Zhou Chong locked himself in his study and cried bitterly. When he walked out of the study, he immediately asked someone to prepare for the throne ceremony of his son Zhu Zaiyuan. After all, the country cannot be without a king for a day.

After Zhu Zaiyuan ascended the throne, Zhou Chong completely let go of the government. Zhengde's body was not transported back to the imperial tomb next to Beijing for burial, but was buried in southern Central Asia, which was the border between Afghanistan and Palestine in later generations. It was also the place where Zhengde died in battle, and this was also Zhengde's will, because as long as his tomb was here for one day, the Ming Dynasty would not give up its rule over Central Asia for one day.

Zhou Chong came to Central Asia thousands of miles to attend Zhengde's funeral. This funeral was not a military funeral ceremony for the emperor, but a military funeral held in accordance with Zhengde's order. Around Zhengde's tomb, there are the tombs of all the soldiers who died in Central Asia. They will use their bodies to continue to protect His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhou Chong cried again in front of Zhengde's tomb, and then suddenly disappeared from the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, his wives, concubines, and children were also gone. The only son of Zhu Zaiyuan, the eldest son, was the emperor in the Ming Dynasty. Whenever others asked about Zhou Chong's whereabouts, Zhu Zaiyuan just smiled bitterly because he could not tell others that his parents were going to play with brothers and sisters, but he threw himself down to be the emperor.

Many years later, a new means of transportation suddenly appeared in the Ming Dynasty. This means of transportation is called a train. It can travel thousands of miles a day on the railway tracks, and only consumes coal and water. It runs and sucks black smoke. It is very interesting. What’s even more interesting is that the new invention of the train was not invented by local people from the Ming Dynasty, but came from Australia south of the South Ocean. Many Han people have settled and developed very rapidly, especially the southeast coast of Australia, which is a settlement for the Han people. It is said that the lobsters there are larger than people, and there are also sea cucumbers and other delicacies, which is a good place for leisure. (The book is over)
Chapter completed!