During this period, Java Yuan was on one hand reorganizing its army and building warships; on the other hand, scholars were also contemplating: Great Yuan was clearly so benevolent and powerful, so logically, its dynasty should have lasted long, but why did it fall so quickly? Only by understanding this question could they avoid repeating the same mistakes.
They believed that the reason for the Yuan Dynasty's decline was not difficult to summarize: endless internal strife. Whether within the Khanate lineage or between the Great Khan and the Mongol nobles, there was a long-term lack of stable institutions, only maintained by a few excellent leaders. The slightest disturbance or conflict would lead to severe clashes and internal attrition, causing greater damage to the already unstable order.
And this fragile system was brought by the Mongols. The organization of these people was too primitive, their political skills too crude, ultimately ruining the favorable situation of the Great Yuan Dynasty.
It was clear that everything about Great Yuan was good, except for these Mongols.
To restore the nation's prestige of yesteryear and the national power of the founding father and the ancestor, these troublemakers had to be kicked out. Without the Mongols, Great Yuan would improve.
Therefore, Java Yuan called upon Shang and scholars to unite and establish a more perfect Yuan Dynasty Government. In their dealings with Occident trading nations, the official national title they used in latin and Greek was “The Orthodox Great Yuan Empire of the Han Nation.”
Guo Kang always felt that this theory was a bit strange, and no matter how he looked at it, Java Yuan was neither orthodox nor Great Yuan, much less an empire. After all, they were just a federation established by a group of Shang.
Moreover, not only him, but many others also found it very strange. Tuohuan complained to him that the Roman attribute of the Holy Roman Empire might even be higher than the Yuan Dynasty attribute of Java Yuan.
However, Sun Shiwan's attendant told them that here, the excluded Mongols were only the upper-class Mongol nobles. The sea Shang certainly would not exclude all Mongols: when the Yuan Dynasty was still in existence, they frequently purchased Mongol servants. To this day, in Java Yuan, there are still a certain number of Mongol slaves and soldiers.
This approach also led to some strange results. For example, recently, when the two sides were at war, there were more Mongol officers in the Ming Army than on the Java Yuan side.
Tuohuan doubted if such a Yuan Dynasty could still be called a Yuan Dynasty. But Java Yuan stated that the Yuan Dynasty was not the Great Khan's Yuan Dynasty, but a Yuan Dynasty shared by the Great Khan and the scholars.
During the time of Great Ancestor Genghis Khan, the Mongols were still usable; by the time of Ancestor Xuechan Khan, many tribes and even imperial princes primarily caused trouble and needed to be disciplined; after the Ancestor, even the Great Khan and the nobles declined with each generation. Therefore, they should now properly discipline these Mongols on behalf of Everlasting Heaven and Genghis Khan, to be worthy of Great Yuan.
Tuohuan couldn't argue with these people and could only give up. Anyway, it was a matter for Kublai Khan's family, and as someone who claimed to be a descendant of Batu, he didn't seem to need to bother...
However, Guo Kang still had great doubts about whether they could help. This was because Java Yuan and the Ming Dynasty had been mortal enemies for decades.
After the successive defeats of Vietnam and the Liang Kingdom regime, Java Yuan had become the greatest threat to the Ming Dynasty in the southeast. Java pirates, in cooperation with the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty in the area and the remaining forces of Zhang Shicheng, Fang Guozhen, Chen Youding, and others, frequently attacked the coast and plundered everywhere.
The Ming Dynasty initially tried to cut off their connections and curb the rampant piracy by imposing a sea ban. However, this tactic was effective against small groups of pirates but clearly insufficient against a force like Java Yuan, which possessed a regular army.
The Ming Dynasty also attempted to relocate coastal residents from important areas and implement a scorched-earth policy in easily accessible landing areas, trying to cut off supplies to Java pirates and force them to leave quickly. However, the relocation affected the livelihoods of the local people, causing even greater dissatisfaction.
Fishermen and small Shang who lost their livelihoods gathered on the coast, engaging in private fishing and black market trade, and even actively defecting to Java Yuan. The Government repeatedly issued prohibitions, but they were ineffective, leading to a further deterioration of the situation. Java forces even openly landed, attacked prefectures and counties, and plundered Government treasuries. They also cooperated with the Yuan Dynasty remnants in the northeastern region, conducting multi-pronged raids, leaving the imperial court in a state of disarray.
In the twelfth year of Hongwu, the Hu Weiyong case broke out. Someone accused him of having secret dealings with Champa, which was an important buffer state between the Ming Dynasty and Java Yuan. The incident quickly escalated, eventually turning into a major case of colluding with Java Yuan with the intent of rebellion, causing a huge shock to the court and the public.
However, using this major case, the Ming Dynasty finally began to change its approach, no longer bothering the fishermen, but instead trying to strike at Java Yuan's supporters among the upper and middle classes, while also beginning to build a navy, preparing to eliminate the enemy at sea.
The navy was very expensive, and it was a continuous drain on funds. When the army was not needed, they could farm, but even if a ship was left unused, it still required frequent maintenance costs.
Moreover, a single ship often had little effect; at least the size of one's navy needed to be not too different from the enemy's to be valuable. A single investment was not one warship, but an entire fleet.
Therefore, the Central Plains dynasties often lacked enthusiasm for this.
Expanding the navy was often only feasible in two situations: either the losses caused by the enemy were too great, already far exceeding the high cost of the navy. Or, the benefits brought by the navy were very high, making these costs bearable.
The Ming Dynasty was forced to accept the former. But when the navy was established, and because of war, needed to be maintained long-term, pursuing the latter to reduce financial pressure became a matter of course.
In fact, long-distance trade routes were not only important to Purple Tent but also a huge source of wealth for any country. Although the Ming Dynasty was the origin of various finely crafted goods and appeared very prosperous, such a large sum of tax revenue was not a small amount for them. These benefits, when not obtained, seemed irrelevant, but once experienced a couple of times, they were unwilling to let go.
The second round of war mainly took place at sea, and although not as large as the previous one, it covered a wider area. The navies of Java Yuan and the Ming Dynasty fought from Ryukyu to Malacca, turning the entire Nanyang into a battlefield.
The Ming Dynasty once built a city and stationed troops in Malacca, attempting to block the strait, cut off Java Yuan's trade routes, and starve them out. Java Yuan, on the other hand, bypassed to the south, seeking new routes, while also allying with the Timur Empire, driving away the Ming Army, and recapturing the stronghold. A few years later, the Ming Army again sailed south from Giao Chi, attempting to compete for the trade routes again...
Scattered battles continued until Zhu Yuanzhang's death, only then coming to an end. However, after only a few years of peace, the succeeding Emperor Taiping, Zhu Biao, launched a new war, attempting to start from Luzon Island, and the two sides again fell into chaos. Strictly speaking, this round has continued until now and is not considered over.
