Chapter 60: Zheng He's Maritime Map

  That self-sufficient ancient civilization - Tianfang, everything about it is too similar to the Ming Dynasty, so much so that Zhu Houzhao often unconsciously regards it as his own country, and his emotional balance naturally leans towards Tianfang.

  When he heard that this great country was gradually falling behind the Western powers, when the Western powers were experiencing a cultural and artistic renaissance, technological advancements, and rapid progress in astronomy, physics, and chemistry, while the Heavenly Kingdom was still blindly arrogant and declining, his face turned red with rage, and he slammed his fist on the table, cursing: "This emperor is really stupid to the extreme, it's infuriating me to death!"

  When he heard that the Eight-Power Allied Forces, relying on their strong ships and powerful cannons, had entered the capital of China with only a few thousand men and burned down a magnificent building built with the wealth of the whole nation, Tanaka Tsunayoshi's face turned red with rage and he shouted in a shrill voice: "The Emperor of that country is really too incompetent! Tens of thousands of troops can't even deal with a few thousand cavalrymen. Pitiful and detestable!"

  Yang Ling sighed, "Compared to those countries and the Heavenly Empire, they were all originally as poor as beggars. However, they never looked down on others and attached great importance to exchange. One country invented fast ships, and another immediately learned from them. Another country invented cannons that could shoot farther and with greater force than Generalissimo's, and this country immediately sent people to study, then invented even more powerful cannons. They were constantly developing, while the Great Empire closed its doors and thought it was number one in the world, how could it not decline?"

  Zhu Houzhao slapped the table and said, "Are those pirate's three-masted or multi-masted small boats impressive? I think it's because Tianfang country is incompetent. If they encounter the giant warships of our dynasty, hum!"

  He asked Da Yong: "Da Yong, where are the treasure ship drawings of our Yongle dynasty's voyage to the Western Ocean? Get them for me and let Yang Shidu take a look, how do they compare with those small ships from the Western Barbarians?"

  "Your Highness, the sea route maps and treasure ship diagrams that Zheng He used to sail to the Western Oceans were originally kept in the Ministry of Works in Nanjing. During the reign of Emperor Yingzong, they were moved to the Ministry of War in Beijing, with the intention of using them again when we next set sail."

  But the Minister Liu Daxia heard about this matter, feeling that the Western Ocean voyage was laborious and costly for the people, with no benefits. This sea chart is actually a calamity for the country, so he hid it away. The slave guessed that now it's still being thrown in the Ministry of War's warehouse.

  Yang Ling was shocked and blurted out: "What? Didn't we burn that navigation chart?"

  As soon as he finished speaking, he became alert and regretful. Although he remembered that the historical book said that the sea chart was burned by Liu Daxia, who was known for being honest but short-sighted, he didn't remember when it happened. If it hadn't happened yet, wouldn't it arouse suspicion?

  Gu Dajun smiled and glanced at him with a hint of amusement, thinking to himself: "This Yang Ling is indeed from the Imperial Guard, their reach is quite extensive, even knowing this secret, heh heh, unfortunately what he knows is still not as detailed as mine".

  Gu Dazhong smiled complacently and said, "Yang Shidu doesn't know the whole story. It was just a rumor. At that time, Liu Dashan was only a small official, although he didn't want the emperor to see the map, he didn't have the guts to burn it either. The thing was as big as five large chests, if he had burned it, how could he have kept it from others? Wouldn't he be asking for trouble?

  Hehe, at that time, he persuaded the Minister of War, Item Chong, and Item thought what he said was reasonable. So he secretly allowed him to hide the things away, and only told Emperor Yingzong that there were too many documents to be transferred from Nanjing, and they couldn't find them. He planned that if Emperor Yingzong pressed him urgently, he would take them out and present them again. However, at that time, Emperor Yingzong also had some thoughts, and when he heard that the documents were lost, he wasn't very concerned about it either. So this matter was covered up like this.

  Yang Ling said half-believingly: "Is what Master Gu said true? This sea chart... is it still here even now?"

  Zhu Houzhao chuckled and said, "Gu Dajiu is knowledgeable and has a strong memory, this is his forte. Although Gu doesn't read many books, he has a good memory that serves him well. He says that in the past, he was indeed at the Eastern Depot, where those guys have noses even more sensitive than mine."

  Originally in the eighth year of Hongzhi, the emperor also favored a powerful eunuch named Li Guang. At that time, he indulged in Buddhism and Taoism, practiced alchemy and medicine, and created a chaotic atmosphere in the imperial court. Gu Dajiang was then serving under Li Guang and several other trusted eunuchs. Later, when Liu Dashou and others continued to receive Hongzhi's favor and repeatedly submitted memorials accusing them of forming cliques and deceiving the emperor, Li Guang ordered Gu Dajiang to mobilize the Eastern Depot personnel to gather information on these individuals in an attempt to bring them down.

  So Gudayu knew all about Liu Daxia's past, every detail was clear to him, but he was just unlucky, and just as he had gathered enough evidence, Li Guang fell ill and died. Immediately afterwards, the still obstinate Hongzhi Emperor sent someone to search for the heavenly book at his home, but they didn't find it, instead they found a large amount of gold, silver and treasure, which made them believe what the officials said about Li Guang hiding deceit and taking bribes. As a result, Li Guang's party completely collapsed, these trusted followers lost their imperial favor, Gudayu was expelled from the Eastern Depot by the new head Wang Yue, and after so many years of hard work, he finally managed to get close to the crown prince as an attendant.

  Gu Dazhong smiled and bowed his head, saying: "Thank you, Crown Prince, for your praise. However, after so many years have passed, I'm worried that those papers won't be well-preserved. If they get damp, moldy or eaten by rats, they'll be useless."

  Yang Ling said to Zhu Houzhao with surprise and joy: "Crown Prince, in the past when we were designing these ship diagrams, I don't know how many skilled craftsmen's thoughts were spent on them. Now although it is not necessary to build those giant ships again, but if you want to build excellent small ships, there are still many things that can be learned from them. Moreover, those navigation charts are even more precious, the vast ocean is different from land, and each of those sea route maps was drawn with a large amount of silver."

  Zhu Houzhao didn't know why he was so excited, and looked at him strangely, hesitated: "Hmmm... Liu Daxia? That stubborn old man is now the Minister of War, to get something from his hands, I'm afraid..."

  "What? Can't even the Crown Prince get things out of his hands?" Yang Ling was greatly disappointed after hearing this. Zhu Houzhao, stimulated by him, suddenly puffed out his chest and said: "Although Liu Daxia is a minister favored by my father, I reckon he wouldn't dare offend me, but... after all, he holds the rank of first-grade official, if I send someone to fetch something from him, he would still find ways to delay and our people would return empty-handed?"

  Yang Ling's eyes rolled around and he said: "If that's the case, what if the prince himself goes there in person?"

  Zhu Houzhao chuckled and said, "If I were to go myself to ask for things, I'm sure he wouldn't dare not give them to me. However... He made a bitter face and said, "I want to go out of the palace, it's harder than ascending to heaven, in a year there are only a few times when Father Emperor takes me out, these days the imperial examination is about to begin, my several teachers are busy with the spring selection of scholars, these days they have no time to come and give me lessons, Father Emperor fears that I will waste my studies, assigned a lot of things for me to write, also ordered the left and right servants of the Spring Hall to take turns supervising, it's really difficult to move an inch."

  Chunfang was a government office subordinate to the Crown Prince's Palace, managed by two officials: Left Chunfang Left Shuzi and Right Chunfang Right Shuzi. These officials were responsible for overseeing the Crown Prince's studies. They were all upright and uncorrupted Hanlin scholars who did not acknowledge even their closest relatives, let alone show favoritism. With them supervising, it was more terrifying than if the Grand University Scholar himself had taught the class. Just thinking about it gave Zhu Houzhao a headache.

  Yang Ling knew that the countless ingenious designs of the giant ship and the ocean route map going south to the west were still in the world, how could he bear to destroy it like this. For a moment, his heart was itching with anxiety. Seeing the crown prince's difficulty, he hastily asked: "What situation would make the officials of the Spring Office not supervise the crown prince reading books?"

  Gu Dajiu said: "Yang Shidu, if the Crown Prince is unwell, he can temporarily suspend his studies."

  Yang Ling Xi said: "That's good, as long as the prince pretends to be ill, that will do?"

  Zhu Houzhao rolled his eyes and said, "How easy is it to talk? If I say that my body is not suitable, the Taichang Hospital's large team will immediately rush into the East Palace. At that time, things will be exposed, and Father Emperor will definitely blame me."

  It can be seen that Zhu Houzhao has a very good relationship with his father, and he is both respectful and fearful, extremely unwilling to provoke him. Yang Ling smiled and said: "What's difficult about this? The crown prince only says that one side of his head hurts, no matter how divine the doctor's medical skills are, they can only instruct the crown prince to rest well and quietly, and no one dares to speak out and prove that the crown prince is not ill."

  Zhu Houzhao said with a mixture of trust and doubt: "Is that really true? The Imperial Hospital has several national medical masters, after all."

  Yang Ling patted his chest and said with a calm and composed expression, "Your Highness can rest assured, just use this plan and it will definitely deceive the imperial physician."

  The human brain is the most complex organ in the body, and even with modern medical advancements, it's impossible to fully diagnose all brain disorders. When he worked at an insurance company doing claims adjustments, if he encountered someone who was a classmate or relative, he would give them this idea: as long as they went to the hospital and said they had a headache, no matter how healthy and energetic they were, there was absolutely no way any instrument could prove they were lying.

  He didn't believe that this ancient divine doctor could tell by feeling the pulse whether a person was ill or not, unless he was just a quack who only knew how to deceive people. But the man in front of him was the current crown prince, and even if he was a quack with ulterior motives, he wouldn't dare guarantee that he wasn't ill, lest he be guilty of dereliction of duty and face the death penalty.

  Zhu Houzhao was overjoyed when he heard this, jumped up and laughed: "Haha, so good! The day after tomorrow is the Spring Festival, and tomorrow afternoon I will start having a headache!"

  He pointed at Gu Dazhong and said, "Dazhong, get Liu Jin, Ma Yongcheng, Gao Feng, Luo Xiang, Wei Bin, Qiu Ju, Zhang Yong to come here. You bunch of stinky craftsmen, calculate together how I can sneak out of the palace, hahaha..."

  Yang Ling heard the small, thick book mention a few familiar names, and he couldn't help but secretly sigh in his heart. It seemed that today, the Eight Tigers of the Capital would gather at the Eastern Palace. However, if he wanted Zhengde to follow the path he had designed, for now, he still had to rely on these eight people.

  Because Yang Ling wanted to portray was not a 'foolish emperor', but also not the 'emperor of Yao and Shun' in the eyes of those moral gentlemen, scholars and officials. China's rulers have been intoxicated by the lies of Tianyuan Difang and China being at the center for too long, they are self-satisfied and lack ambition. Those scholars who are obsessed with their ancestors' teachings and refuse to change, most lacking is vision.

  This stagnant pool of water, if a thread of living spring is introduced, will become a completely different scene in the future. However, he is also playing with fire; if one guide is not careful, Zhengde's difficulty in becoming a great instrument, having ambition but no talent, he will become a tyrant who exhausts his troops and wastes his resources, it would be better to let him be a romantic son of heaven among women.

  Will I end in failure? If I fail, how will people evaluate me a hundred years later...?

  Yang Ling's mouth curled up in a strange and bitter smile, as if he had heard the grandiose opening narration of some martial arts film.

  During the Zhengde era, the treacherous Yang Ling and the Eight Tigers colluded in evil deeds, framing loyal officials, causing great chaos in the imperial court and unbearable suffering among the people. Heroes from the rivers and lakes rose up in resistance, staging a series of heroic and tear-jerking scenes...