Chapter 1371: Tycoon Son, You Must Work Hard!

The tycoon king nodded and said with a wry smile, "I have to go. The memorials sent back by our ambassadors to France and Holland say that Louis XIV is going to lead the Christian countries of Europe together against our Great Ming! So I need to hurry to the New Continent to take up my fief... I can't wait for Ahai to give birth.

And after Ahai gives birth, there will be other women having children too. I, the King of the United States, can't keep staying in the Great Ming!"

Zhu Hexing was startled. "There are more who are going to give birth? Who? Du Mulan?"

"Not Mulan," the tycoon king said with a smile. "That girl hasn't been won over yet... I'll make use of her once we're on the ship. It's a long, slow voyage!"

"Then who is it?" Zhu Hexing pressed.

"It's the daughter of Xu Guangguo of Japan, named Shizuko," Zhu Hehao said. "She's now a student at Jinling Women's College. She and I got together last year."

The Crown Prince thought to himself: You tycoon king, your skill at picking up girls has really grown! Counting Du Mulan, that makes four girls already. At this rate, you might rival Imperial Grandfather.

"I think I remember someone like that," Zhu Hexing said, now recalling this Xu Shizuko. "A very petite girl, fair and clean-looking. She seemed like a good girl. How did you manage to... ruin her?"

"What are you saying? It was Father's idea!" The tycoon king shot his brother a glare and said in a low voice, "Father knows I'm good at winning girls' hearts, so he told me to form more marriage alliances. That way, once I'm in the United States of the New Continent, I'll have more support."

"Really?" Zhu Hexing still didn't believe it. "But why did Father forbid me from taking concubines for five years?"

"Heh, that's because you're young. He's afraid you'll become obsessed with women and ruin your studies," Zhu Hehao said with a perfectly straight face.

Of course he knew that Zhu Cilang had arranged it that way to consolidate Ding Yuying's position as Crown Princess.

From that alone, one could tell that no one could shake Zhu Hexing's seat as Crown Prince.

So he no longer harbored any foolish hopes of replacing the Crown Prince. Better to go early to his own United States of the New Continent and be a king there!

The moment Zhu Hexing heard Ding Yuying's name, he was overjoyed, and said with a laugh, "Yuying alone is enough for me. Even after five years, I won't take any concubines."

Zhu Hehao's expression suddenly dimmed a little. "In five years, I'll be ten thousand li away... Perhaps in this lifetime I'll never return to the Great Ming, never see my mother again."

"Eldest Brother..." Zhu Hexing wanted very much to say something, but the moment he opened his mouth, the words failed him. In the end, he only sighed.

Zhu Hehao looked at his brother and said, "Third Brother, a good man sets his ambitions on the four corners of the earth. Leaving one's country for ten thousand li, opening up new foundations — that is exactly what men like us should do. It's only hard on my mother... She fought with your mother for over twenty years, and now she's been neglected by Imperial Father. Her three sons will all have to go to their fiefs sooner or later. In the future, I can only rely on you to look after her a little."

As he spoke, the tycoon king's tears were nearly falling. Zhu Hexing was young and simple-hearted, and also rather kind by nature (a naive sweetheart, after all). Seeing his brother's eyes brimming with tears, he hastily thumped his chest and promised, "Brother, rest assured. As for the Noble Consort, I'll have Yuying look after her for you."

Zhu Hehao nodded lightly and let out a breath. "With the Crown Princess's help, I can set my mind at ease."

Just as the two brothers were talking, the voice of the guard Feng Xifan sounded from outside the tent: "Your Highness the Crown Prince, Your Highness the Prince of Shen, the Crown Princess and the Princess Consort have returned."

Zhu Hehao glanced at his brother and said with a smile, "Third Brother, it's time for your Crown Princess to tell the two of us what Imperial Father has in mind."

The message from Zhu Cilang that Ding Yuying and Wu Ahuan brought back was just one thing: the tycoon king was to board the Zhu Emperor's flagship the next day — he was going to receive personal instructions!

The next morning, when the tycoon king boarded the ship, Zhu Cilang had already risen. He was in the cabin that served as his imperial study, eating breakfast while leafing through the memorials that Big Sister Cao had just brought over.

"Your son Hehao respectfully wishes Imperial Father peace and health."

Hearing the tycoon king's greeting, the Zhu Emperor looked up at his son and said with a smile, "We are well, tycoon son. Come, sit down quickly. Have you eaten breakfast?"

"Your son ate early this morning." The tycoon king walked up to Zhu Cilang, pulled over a chair, and sat down.

Zhu Cilang set down the memorial in his hand and looked at Zhu the tycoon, who had grown into a big-bearded uncle skilled at charming young girls. He nodded with satisfaction. "Our son indeed has the bearing of a king. With you going to hold the United States of the New Continent, your father can rest easy. Tycoon, how many people does your United States have now?"

"Imperial Father, according to last year's report from the United States Assembly Government, the four states of Mei, Hua, Bo, and Jia, together with the Capital District, have a total of over 128,000 households and over 683,000 people. In addition, there are over 21,000 army and navy troops stationed there under the court's authority, with over 11,000 family members.

Furthermore, the Kingdom of Jiaqing has over 12,000 households and over 91,000 people. All of the above are our own people. If the native population is counted, the numbers would be even greater."

The local administrative system of the United States had also undergone some changes over the past two years, shifting from the original prefecture, county, and town (city) structure to a four-tier system of state, county, town (city), and village (fort, ward). At the same time, a directly administered prefecture (equivalent to a county) was established at the site of the United States capital.

The number of state-level administrative regions had also increased from the original two to four. The former Prefecture of America, after its great eastward and northward expansion, had been divided into the four states of Mei, Hua, Bo, and Jia. The United States capital, Huashengdun County, had now been renamed the Capital District and had become the foremost city of the United States.

"The natives need not be counted," Zhu Cilang said. "The ones we can rely on are still our own people. Tycoon son, the northern and southern New Continents are vast in territory and rich in soil. We have only occupied a small part so far, and there is still great room for expansion. Moreover, many bankrupt farming households of the Great Ming and noble sons with no prospects will cross the ocean and go there. If the Great Ming is to enjoy lasting peace and prosperity, we must keep sending people out!"

In truth, given the Great Ming's population base, the number of people who could be exported as colonists was, in the end, only a small fraction. But during the Tianqi and Chongzhen years, those who truly could not survive and rose up in revolt were also only a small fraction — otherwise the Shun's military farming households would not have numbered only 600,000. It was just that this small fraction grew more and more violent the longer they struggled, until people who could originally still survive also lost their means of living and had no choice but to join the rebellion. That was what nearly toppled the Great Ming.

If there could be a colony that absorbed all of this small fraction of troublemakers, then the Great Ming would be secure.

The Zhu Emperor continued, "So after you arrive in the United States, you must expand eastward as much as possible and seize more territory. First, enclose and occupy the great basin east of Hua State, which is suitable for both farming and herding. Then follow the rivers that flow through the Stone Mountains eastward to search for a route to the Great Plains, and strive to find a shortcut through the Stone Mountains to the Great Plains as soon as possible."

In Zhu Cilang's memory, the distance from the flat area of eastern Washington State (the Columbia Basin) to the plains of Montana did not seem very far. If a shortcut through the Rocky Mountains could be found, then colonizing the Great Plains of North America would become possible.

Zhu Hehao was of course thoroughly familiar with the geography of the New Continent. Hearing the Zhu Emperor's words, he frowned slightly and said, "Imperial Father, the great basin of Hua State is fairly rich, and the America River (the Columbia River) flows through it, making water transport convenient. It is indeed very promising. But going further east will not be easy, especially crossing the Stone Mountains. A few exploration teams and garrison military households can make it, but sending people on a large scale would be rather difficult. Your son believes that after firmly controlling the four arable regions — the Gulf of America, the Great Basin, the Bo River Valley (the Willamette Valley), and the Flood Valley (California's Central Valley) — we should first expand the population, and then expand southward along the coastline!"

The Gulf of America, the Great Basin, the Bo River Valley, and the Flood Valley — these four great territories were essentially the most fertile agricultural lands on the west coast of North America. Moreover, transportation was relatively convenient: they were either right by the sea or connected to the sea by great rivers. With the productive capacity of the 17th and 18th centuries, once properly developed, they could support well over ten million people.

There was no need for ten million or more — with just a few million people, the United States of the New Continent could expand southward along the Pacific coastline, sweeping all the way to the southernmost tip of the South New Continent.

Zhu Cilang nodded. He knew that the expansion route the tycoon king described was the most feasible, but going east by land could strangle a future world empire in its cradle!

"Tycoon son," the Zhu Emperor did not force his son to follow his own line of thinking, but said with a smile, "You are the King of the United States, so you decide. However, We have many sons, and in the future they will all be enfeoffed and sent out. The Third Brother's sons will also have to be enfeoffed outward in the future. So the United States of the New Continent can only extend southward to the border of the Kingdom of Jiaqing. The land south of the Kingdom of Jiaqing is to be divided into three parts: your son gets half, and the rest will be divided between Our sons and the Third Brother's sons! Tycoon son, you must work hard!"

(End of Chapter)