Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne

Chapter 1060: Chapter 113: Sending Ships to Search for America (Part 2)

Although he knew in his heart that it was impossible to find America on the first voyage, he still hoped the fleet could find America and bring back potatoes, corn, and other things.

If America was indeed found, Zhao Yao decided to send people to garrison there and turn America into the territory of Great Zhou, so that in the future, all the treasures of America would belong to Great Zhou.

Sending people to America, but he didn’t have enough people, so he would let the court send people to garrison when the time comes.

Thinking of how Swamp Prefecture, and even the entire Lingnan, had so few people, Zhao Yao felt anxious. He had already ordered the people to have more children and provided benefits for outsiders to settle in Lingnan, but unfortunately, the effect was not very obvious so far.

This matter couldn’t be rushed; it had to progress slowly. He believed that in a few years, the population of the entire Lingnan would greatly increase.

By the way, the fleet sent to Mysir, he wondered if they could find the Europe and Africa of Zhao Yao’s dream world. If these two places were found, they should also become the territory of Great Zhou, especially Europe. In the dream world of Zhao Yao, the people of Europe were not good people; they bullied Zhao Yao’s dream world country. Once Europe was found, he would avenge Zhao Yao’s dream world people and ensure they could never bully anyone again.

The Europe of Zhao Yao’s dream world wasn’t very large; once it was occupied, it could be treated as a back garden. Africa seemed to be very large and had many good things.

Thinking of all the treasures that Great Zhou would have in the future, Zhao Yao felt delighted, and the smile on his face became increasingly bright. However, Tong Xi, standing next to him, saw the cunning smile on his face and muttered in his heart: Your Highness, you’re smiling so mischievously, what bad idea are you up to again?

After sending off the fleet, Zhao Yao returned to Han Prince Mansion in a good mood. But just as he sat down to drink a cup of tea, his good mood was ruined because Wen Daoji and others came to see him.

Every time he saw Wen Daoji and the others, Zhao Yao’s heart would skip a beat. Every time Wen Daoji and the others came to see him, there was always something, and it was never a small matter, sometimes extremely serious.

If it were a small matter, the cabinet could handle it. Only significant issues that Wen Daoji and other cabinet members couldn’t decide on their own required coming to Zhao Yao for discussion.

Zhao Yao sighed inwardly and said to Wen Daoji and the others with a face full of helplessness, hoping they didn’t have any major issues today. Unfortunately, things don’t always go as one wishes, and Wen Daoji and the others did have major issues to discuss with him.

This year, officials outside Swamp Prefecture had been dealt with; these prefectures were now all under Zhao Yao’s control. However, this didn’t mean the local people were all obediently submitting to His Highness Prince Han.

Besides the many Central Plains people exiled to Lingnan, there were also many tribal people, who had always been proud and difficult to tame, respecting their chieftains and not taking His Highness Prince Han seriously.

Initially, ministers suggested Zhao Yao educate these Southern Barbarians, but it didn’t work. These people prey on the weak and fear the strong; only forceful suppression can keep them in line. Once frightened with force, they would obediently comply. So, Zhao Yao killed all the disobedient tribal chiefs in front of their people after announcing their crimes.

Seeing their respected chieftains killed, the tribal people naturally resisted, only to be ruthlessly suppressed. Before the trade conference, Zhao Yao had killed many people, a matter that even reached the court, attracting criticism from many ministers. Zhao Yao ignored the complaints of those court ministers.

After the suppression, the tribes in various prefectures became much more compliant. However, many places still had people continuing to resist, with the Shan Yue people being the most troublesome. The Shan Yue did not belong to any tribe and were always arrogant, robbing everywhere.

Before the trade conference, the bold Shan Yue attempted to cause trouble in Swamp Prefecture but were driven away. After the trade conference, Zhao Yao sent people to continue capturing the Shan Yue, but the Shan Yue were elusive, hiding in deep mountains and wild forests, and because the forests in Lingnan were full of poisonous miasma, entering the mountains to capture them wasn’t an easy task.

Relying on this, the Shan Yue moved like ghosts, killing many officials and civilians. The Shan Yue feared neither officials nor the tribal people, only wanting to rob money and food.

Wen Daoji and the others came to see Zhao Yao because of the Shan Yue. In recent days, the Shan Yue had become increasingly rampant, continuously killing many people and burning numerous places. The sent soldiers and guards couldn’t catch them, so they could only stamp their feet in frustration.