Xinshun 1730

Chapter 695

Ten elephants really don't have much money.At that time, the Portuguese wanted to continue to maintain the trade in Macau, so they caught lions from Mozambique and sent them to the capital.

Eastern countries prefer all kinds of rare and exotic animals, in fact, it is not much different from sending jewelry and porcelain in European courts.

Du Feng carefully considered the words of the official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and he understood in his heart that it seems that the king of the lion country is also aware of current affairs.

"The imperial court meant that Nanyang, including Ceylon, should be in accordance with the state of the Western Regions in the Tang Dynasty. Outside the military town, the surrounding small countries are all respected by the Celestial Empire, and Han merchants can't help but come and go."

"Instead of the policies of North Korea, Ryukyu and other places, I think this matter can be agreed."

After discussing it with the people around me, everyone felt that it was no big deal.As for how to define this matter after returning to the court, it has nothing to do with them, it mainly depends on the attitude of the emperor.

If the emperor wanted to continue the expansion policy, he would find various reasons and approve of giving away elephants.Even if the Lion Kingdom "doesn't know the etiquette" and doesn't follow the formal tribute process, it seems like Dashun bowing his knees to give gifts to others, as long as the emperor approves, there will be no big waves.

But if the emperor is changed in the future, or when the emperor is going to clean up these expansionist and practical schools, this matter will be a big deal.You can find a reason casually, but at the very least it must be a serious crime of demoting officials: actually taking the initiative to give gifts to Miner Xiaoguo?What is the face of the Celestial Dynasty?
Du Feng didn't think too much about it, he seemed to be hoping that he would be able to make meritorious deeds.

With a firm belief in your heart, you can clearly know what you can do and what you can't do.

Fighting India and achieving Liu Yu's strategic concept, maybe he can really become a prince.

The relationship with the Lion Kingdom has become tense, and three to five thousand soldiers and horses have been controlled by the civil uprisings and nobles in the Lion Kingdom, so don't even think about sealing the prince, and maybe you have to be executed.

After thinking for a while, knowing that the people sent by the Privy Council had a better understanding of the information around Nanyang, he asked, "What price can I buy the elephants from Annan?"

"Returning to my lord, the price is hard to say. But our information knows that Annan's elephants need 20 people to take care of each. As long as it takes 20 years, it is only labor cost, which is equivalent to raising a company of soldiers for one year. Ten elephants, get 2 taels of silver?"

The price is really not expensive, mainly because this thing is not only for living, but also has to be domesticated since childhood.It can't be like the lion that the Portuguese transported from Mozambique to the capital, it's just a wild one in a cage.

As for how much Ceylon's cinnamon is worth, Du Feng definitely doesn't know.

However, he knows how much it costs to raise a soldier and how much it costs to maintain a bastion.

The Dutch stationed 2500 troops in Ceylon and seven fortress areas. In order to stabilize food production, there are one or two thousand Tamil rice-growing slaves transported here every year.

Clearly, the cinnamon trade was surprisingly profitable.Not to mention anything else, just 2500 garrisons, eating and drinking Lassa plus military pay for a year, also get 10 taels of silver.

If you can build a good relationship with the Lion Country, and don't let the Lion Country harass Dashun's garrison from time to time, you can easily save tens of thousands of taels a year, not short of the money of these ten elephants.

So Du Feng asked the translator to tell Rajsinghe's cronies, and said: "We are willing to send back 10 elephants every year as a rental fee. I will go to Kandy in a few days to meet His Royal Highness. You can go back and report .”

After confirming Du Feng's intentions, the confidant left and hurried back to Kandy City.

"They are willing to donate 10 elephants a year."

Although Dashun's translation clearly said "return", but Rajsinghe's confidant said "delivery".

However, this was not the time of Qin and Han Dynasties. China's reputation could still make the Yelang Kingdom arrogant.Even though Rajsinghe doesn't know much about China, he knows that it is absolutely impossible to use the word "contribution".

When the Dutch deal with them, when they meet the king, they always kneel down.Because the Dutch are willing to do anything in order to do business, and in Japan, the curator of the business hall goes to the audience every year to give an account.

However, although the Dutch state is strong, its reputation is not obvious after all; although China has no official contacts with Ceylon since Yongle, it is famous outside.

Rajsingh smiled at the translation of the word, and was quite satisfied with the response in his heart.

Ten elephants don't have much money, what is important is an attitude and an explanation to the country.

Now it seems that Dashun is different from the Portuguese and the Dutch, and is more in line with the national moral system of the Kingdom of Kandy.Otherwise, being able to drive the Dutch away without being afraid of the Kingdom of Kandy is enough to show goodwill.

"So, prepare the most honorable etiquette. Let the Chinese envoys enter the city on an elephant and parade the streets."

Entering the city on an elephant is the highest etiquette in the Kingdom of Kandy. Elephants have a very special status in Buddhist circles.Compared with the culture of the Celestial Dynasty, it is no problem to call it a white crane, not to mention a dragon and a phoenix.

After the order was conveyed, at the same time, there was also a "god-making" propaganda.

The people of the Kandy Dynasty had a certain cohesion.

This kind of cohesion stems from Ceylon's tradition of water control since ancient times. Because of the alternation of rainy and dry seasons, Ceylon is considered a relatively well-organized country in India.

It also comes from the impact of foreign culture, especially the impact of religion.

This kind of foreign religion has made the Sinhalese have a vague sense of "who I am and who I am not".

From the time when Mencius, Mo Di, Yang Zhu and other schools of thought contended, Buddhism had already taken root, and the son and daughter of King Ashoka personally taught it.

Not only is it enshrined here, it is said to be the only, true, Buddha tooth of Sakyamuni.Moreover, it is said that branches were broken from the linden tree and planted in Ceylon. The linden trees in front of the temples in Ceylon are said to be descendants of the linden tree.

This strong religious background can roughly be compared to Confucianism and the Celestial Dynasty, and it is really something that is deeply rooted.

Under this background, the creation of gods became easier.

The people in the Health City know that Europeans are bad.

When the Europeans first landed, they knew nothing about Europeans.

When the Portuguese first landed, the impression of the Ceyloners on these Europeans was no different from the initial impression of the Indians on the Europeans.

"Some people with strange skins landed in Kote. They wore iron clothes and hats. They ate white stones and drank red blood. Their weapons were like thunder, and even Mount Sumeru could be knocked down."

This original impression is neither good nor bad, and there is no special feeling.

Later, things like the forced conversion of the Portuguese will naturally trigger a counterattack from Buddhism. The monks are just a pen, and of course they will not say anything good about the pagans.

But the most critical, or the most fundamental factor, is the change in economic foundation and economic structure.

Ceylon has a tradition of building water conservancy. On this island where the rainy and dry seasons alternate, without water conservancy facilities, there would be no developed agriculture.

The caste system, the village communal system, and the small-scale peasant economy were the economic basis of the original Ceylon.

However, the Portuguese, and later the Dutch, had no interest in rice.They are interested in spices.

The Kingdom of Ceylon is based on a self-sufficient small-scale peasant economy.

The Ceylon that the Europeans want is a standard colonial economic system that mainly produces various cash crops.

As for the construction of water conservancy, digging reservoirs, ensuring irrigation, water control and peace of the people... Sorry, Europeans are not interested.There is no need for water conservancy facilities to rub cinnamon and dry pepper.

From the beginning of Portuguese rule to the present, the original economy of Ceylon has been visibly destroyed by the naked eye.

It's fine if the Europeans don't care, all the feudal nobles are doing business with the Europeans.Originally, there was no big business to do, it was the standard medieval self-sufficiency model, and water conservancy facilities still needed to be repaired in his own territory.

When the Europeans came, these feudal nobles were more willing to ask the common people to rub cinnamon and grow pepper in exchange for money, arms, guns...

In the past 200 years, a large number of farmlands have been deserted, reservoirs have been abandoned, water conservancy facilities have been in disrepair, and a large number of coastal plains in the southwest have been lost...

All these factors have caused the civilization of Ceylon to take a big step back.

To what extent?
When Xie Xuan's Beifu soldiers resisted Wuhu Luanhua and the Huaxia gentry went southward, monk Fa Xian went to Ceylon. Water conservancy facilities, stable rice cultivation.

But at the end of the Dutch rule, when the British seized Ceylon, the inland area of ​​Ceylon degenerated into "slash-and-burn farming", so that the British had to introduce the infamous "Timber Odinance" for tea plantation, namely "Timber Odinance". The Forestry Act of Sri Lanka prohibits slash-and-burn farming and burning of wasteland for farming.

The influence and change created by the colonists is by no means as simple as killing a few people and changing their beliefs.

It's a total disintegration of the entire economic system.

A country that had large-scale water conservancy facilities just after the Three Kingdoms period became slash-and-burn farming more than 1000 years later. This level of retrogression is terrifying, and it is simply unimaginable on the Chinese side.

The impact on the public is of course huge and can be felt personally.

The collapse of the agricultural foundation almost caused a tragedy like the Great Famine in Bangladesh; the original trade with India was controlled by the Europeans, so that the Sinhalese had to re-learn weaving and spinning, which could have been exchanged for betel nuts; A large number of fugitives who were unwilling to convert came to the mountainous area, lost the water conservancy facilities and irrigation ditches, and had to choose the method of slash-and-burn farming...

They don't understand what the economic core of all this is, but they intuitively feel that life is regressing.And all of this can be intuitively understood as originating from "those who landed from Kote many years ago, ate white stones, drank blood, and had weapons like thunder that could knock down Mount Sumeru".

And now, a new group of people has arrived.

These people, the Europeans who drove away.

These people are said to be from a country that believes in Buddhism.

And this timing was just shortly after their king from South India converted from Hinduism to Buddhism.

Is this just a coincidence?

(End of this chapter)