Chapter 146: Restarting the Shipyard, the Blessing from the Ancestors Has Arrived!

Zhu Qizhen was spacing out on the rooftop.

Down below, Zhu Jianshen sat casually on the steps, listening to Wang Zhi's report.

Ever since the civil officials had become docile, let alone sitting on the steps, even if he were to sit cross-legged on the ground, not a single censor would step forward to remonstrate about court etiquette.

Having shed some of his inhibitions, he felt entirely at ease. The civil officials no longer kept a constant watch on him; instead, they spent their days worrying whether their heads would suddenly roll.

After all, the Fort Emperor did not reason with you. When a child refuses to reason and yet possesses absolute military might, anyone who crosses paths with him will inevitably suffer a headache.

Zhu Jianshen spoke softly, "Continue."

Wang Zhi lowered his head and respectfully reported, "Your Majesty, this humble subject is incompetent. The historical documents regarding the voyages to the Western Oceans are indeed untraceable. However, during the interrogation of the Yang family, Yang Tai stated with his own mouth that there are merchant fleets in Jiangnan privately sailing to the Western Oceans to conduct trade."

Back in the sixth month of the ninth year of Xuande, the Xuande Emperor issued an imperial decree ordering the fleet of the eunuch Wang Jinghong to set sail for Old Port—known in modern terms as Sumatra in Indonesia, which was territory of the Ming Dynasty during the Yongle and Xuande eras.

In the first month of the following year, the tenth year of Xuande, Wang Jinghong's fleet was waiting for the imperial decree to set sail when the Xuande Emperor suddenly passed away.

The Veritable Records of the emperors preceding him—Emperor Taizu, Emperor Taizong, and Emperor Renzong—all detailed the passing of the emperors quite thoroughly. Only the Veritable Records of the Xuande Emperor were exceptionally vague about his death.

When Zhu Qizhen ascended the throne at the age of seven, the Veritable Records of Xuande had been compiled by Yang Shiqi.

Given that the Xuande Emperor was still inspecting the borders in the tenth month of the ninth year of Xuande and then died of a sudden illness in the first month, just two months later, even if you forced Yang Shiqi to fabricate an explanation, he could not come up with a reasonable excuse.

The records claimed that the Xuande Emperor contracted an illness while inspecting the borders and died of it, yet they failed to mention what kind of illness it was. The symptoms described were so bizarre that they left modern medical circles completely baffled, unable to even guess a scientific name for the affliction.

The Xuande Emperor was a monarch who had practically grown up in the saddle, robust and full of vigor, enjoying the finest medical care available. Traditional Chinese Medicine at that time was undeniably formidable—believe it or not, they were even capable of performing craniotomies!

How was it that the frail and sickly civil officials caught no disease? The emperor’s personal attendants and eunuchs caught no disease? The crowds of common soldiers crammed together in the military camps caught no disease?

Yet the emperor, a vigorous and imposing man in his prime, fell ill and died under the absolute highest standards of medical treatment and living conditions...

Yang Shiqi deliberately added a sentence to the Xuande Emperor's last will and testament, stating that all major affairs of state must be reported to the Empress Dowager and the Empress for execution. With a single stroke, Empress Dowager Sun was spared even the trouble of ruling behind a curtain.

The two brothers of Grand Empress Dowager Zhang, who were the highest-ranking imperial relatives in the Ming Dynasty, had only recently been conferred the titles of minor earls.

Yet Empress Dowager Sun directly conferred upon her own father, Sun Zhong, the title of Marquis of Huichang—without a single military achievement to his name, and crucially, made it hereditary. The Fort Emperor’s own uncle became the hereditary Marquis of Huichang.

Following that, Yang Shiqi abolished the inspection bureaus within the government offices that held restraining power over civil officials. Then, he shut down the shipbuilding yards on the Songhua River, directly exiling the eunuchs and regional military commanders in charge of shipbuilding.

Finally, they dismantled the naval forces at Dinghai in Zhejiang and the Yangtze River estuary near the Shen family gate, and abandoned the Old Port Regional Military Commission, carving away a piece of the Ming Dynasty's territory.

All of this was done merely to clear obstacles for the civil officials and the Jiangnan gentry to engage in private smuggling across the Western Oceans, trading away a magnificent and indivisible piece of our nation's sacred territory since ancient times.

Simply unforgivable!

By this point, all historical literature regarding the voyages to the Western Oceans had vanished without a trace. Even with Wang Zhi unearthing all the sordid secrets of the Yang family during the Chenghua era, he utterly failed to find a single shred of documentation concerning the expeditions.

From then on through the reigns of Hongzhi, Zhengde, Jiajing, Longqing, Wanli, Taichang, Tianqi, down to the final days of Chongzhen, the voyages to the Western Oceans were entirely erased. The Ming Dynasty's bid for maritime supremacy and global hegemony was firmly strangled to death by the civil officials.

Otherwise, had there been just three more generations of enlightened monarchs following the Chenghua Emperor, there would no longer be any such thing as foreign languages—everything would simply be considered regional dialects, and the islands of Wa would be treated as being within the fifth ring road of the capital.

"Put this matter aside for now. I will find a way. I have already issued a decree to restart the Songhua River shipyard and promoted you to concurrently hold the post of regional military commander. Just prepare the fleet," Zhu Jianshen said softly.

He might not have the documents on Zhenghe's voyages, but Emperor Taizong had them, Emperor Renzong had them, and his grandfather, the Xuande Emperor, was literally out there navigating the seas right at this moment.

Forget about the documents for the Western voyages; he could even haul Zhenghe himself right back here.

"This humble subject obeys the decree!"

Wang Zhi accepted the order and withdrew, acting with lightning speed as he led the various secret police agencies straight to the Songhua River shipyard for supervision.

"Little Jianshen, where should I have the silver put?" Zhu Yuanzhang's triumphant laughter echoed as he strode majestically into the Southern Palace.

Behind him, a group of emperors and crown princes were comparing notes on who had plundered the most silver, arguing with great animation. Naturally, the fiercest competition was between Old Zhu Di and Old Zhu Si.

Old Zhu Si was the undisputed number one; after all, since he still owed three hundred thousand taels in military pay and rewards, his enthusiasm was exceptionally high. He had plundered a massive amount of silver, intending to use it to clear his debts.

As for the Yongle court of the Jianwen timeline coughing up money, that was practically impossible. Ever since the silver from the Wa islands started being shipped back, the plump Jianwen Emperor watched over it tighter than anyone, crying poverty even when his own father wanted to withdraw some funds.

"Grandfather Taizu, Grandfather Taizong... the inner treasury will do just fine," Zhu Jianshen hurriedly patted his backside and stepped forward to greet them.

"How much silver can your inner treasury hold?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked with his hands behind his back, a smiling expression on his face.

Zhu Jianshen thought for a moment and replied with some trepidation, "Fifty million taels of silver should be enough."

"Not enough! Double it!"

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand imperiously, then stopped playing riddles and smiled as he said, "To use our great-grandson's phrasing, the drop rate in Southern Zhili is extremely high. There should be upwards of eighty-plus million taels."

Eighty-plus million taels?!

Happiness had arrived far too suddenly!

The brain of the Chenghua Emperor, Zhu Jianshen, was buzzing, and he almost wept for joy. With this kind of money, let alone the Western Oceans, he could make seventeen or eighteen trips to the Arctic Ocean!

"Thank you, Grandfather Taizu! Thank you, Grandfather Taizong!" Zhu Jianshen straightened his robes and executed a profound, formal bow.

"Hey, in front of Grandfather Taizu, why is your brat acting so formal?" Zhu Yuanzhang's powerful hand grabbed his shoulder and hauled him up, his eyes filled with unconcealed triumph, clearly enjoying the gesture immensely.

"I obey Grandfather Taizu's decree!" Zhu Jianshen said with a grin.

"Good grandson, where is your father?" The Xuande Emperor, Zhu Zhanji, looked left and right, failing to spot the person he was looking for, and asked curiously.

Zhu Jianshen pointed up at the sky.

The complex of Ming emperors and crown princes instantly experienced a collective drastic shift in expression, turning extremely solemn.

The Xuande Emperor Zhu Zhanji grew even more anxious, incredulously asking, "He's gone?!"

Zhu Jianshen hurriedly moved to explain when—

Five words drifted down from the sky: "Right here, I'm not dead."

Swish!

The gazes of all the emperors turned toward the rooftop. A lonely figure sat crouched up there, looking down at his ancestors with an expression overflowing with grievance.

So this was how you ancestors operated! He had assumed that when they time-traveled across various dynasties, it was simply to give their later descendants a severe beating.

Coming to the Chenghua era, they were either venting Zhu Jianshen's frustrations or seizing mountains of silver for him. Anyone who didn't know better would think they were competing for model ancestor awards to boost their performance reviews.

This formed a stark contrast with how they had treated him during the Tianshun era, where they either used him as a punching bag or usurped his throne. Could they please stop being such hypocrites with their double standards?

Or better yet, could they have simply spared him from seeing this at all!

He could have endured the darkness... had he never beheld the light.

"Get your ass down here!"

The Xuande Emperor Zhu Zhanji roared, "You little brat, are you trying to fly up to the heavens?!"