prosperous age

Chapter 1068 1159 Arrival

"This is the Ming Navy."

A group of people gathered at the seaside pier of the Old Port, looking at the fleet approaching in the distance.

There were more than ten large and small Fu ships in front, and in the distance, a large group of warships were sailing towards here against the wind and waves. It was no exaggeration to say that the sails blocked out the sun.

"Back then, when Grandpa Zheng led the navy here, I'm afraid it was the same scene."

“Yes, the elders in my family have passed on the story that every time the imperial navy arrived at the Old Port, the sea was filled to the brim.

I didn’t believe it before, but now I do.”

"Alas, if the imperial court had not left, we would have suffered so much for so many years, and would have had to grovel and go to the King's City of Bazhang every year."

Several people in charge of the Old Port gathered together waiting for the imperial navy to dock. When they saw the might of the Ming navy, they couldn't help but murmur in private.

Although they are rich and powerful and have great influence in Palembang, Palembang is just a small place in Southeast Asia and has no advantages compared to its surrounding areas.

Merchants make money by being harmonious, and there is no need to confront other forces. Therefore, the Palembang Merchant Alliance can only respect and give in to the nominal overlord and pay tribute to them regularly.

In order to reduce trouble, they had to send tributes to the dignitaries of the Bazhang Kingdom so that they could live in peace.

Old Port is the place with the largest number of Chinese in Southeast Asia, and more than a dozen clans have taken root here, so the control has always been firmly in the hands of the Chinese.

Although there are Chinese people in other places, they are not numerous and have little influence.

However, the Chinese who went to Southeast Asia were hardworking and willing to endure hardships, so their family wealth was quite abundant.

However, such a family, without much strength, will undoubtedly become the focus of others, just like a child strolling on the street with gold ingots.

There have been constant wars and chaos in recent years, so more Chinese have been forced to flee to Jiugang. Now there are already several thousand people living in the city.

At this time, people from the old port city swarmed out and headed towards the pier.

These were all city residents. When they heard the news that the Ming court was sending a navy to Southeast Asia, and especially when they learned that a naval fleet had appeared at the dock, they all rushed over to watch the excitement.

"Master Zheng, Master Zhang, Master Zhou, you see people are rushing here, and the boats are full. It's difficult for the imperial navy to get off the boats."

At this time, Mr. Lin in the crowd in front glanced at the crowd coming behind him and whispered to the three people in front.

"Each family should send two people to stop the people and ask them to watch from the hills on both sides of the dock. Do not crowd into the dock."

Mr. Zheng looked back and immediately spoke.

The heads of their thirteen families are all here, and they have brought many people from their clans. There are about two or three hundred people gathered here.

If all the thousands of people in the city came here, the dock would be completely occupied.

Several merchant ships have left the port and are heading quickly to the berths near the dock, giving up the best spots.

Soon, a huge Fujian ship approached the dock. A Ming official could be vaguely seen standing on the bow, looking down at them.

When the ship docked, the sailors on the dock skillfully tied the ropes and put up the gangway. Mr. Zheng and the other thirteen family heads gathered under the gangway.

Soon, an official wearing a scarlet official uniform with a tiger patch embroidered on his chest appeared on the boat.

He just stood there, quietly observing the situation below for a while, then strode onto the gangplank and onto the shore.

Behind him, teams of personal guards and other generals also got off the ship.

"Greetings, my lord."

Although they didn't know who the general in front of them was, the thirteen family heads all chose to kneel in obeisance.

They thought they had no way to resist such a powerful force entering Palembang.

They can only wait and see what policies the court will adopt towards them in the future and then make other responses.

"I am Deng Zilong, the deputy commander of the South China Sea Navy. Today, I am ordered to go to Southeast Asia to restore the Jiugang Xuanwei Office. Who are you in Jiugang?"

The rank of the South China Sea Navy is equivalent to that of the Military Command Headquarters. Deng Zilong has now been promoted from the Associate Commander of the Guards to the Assistant Commander of the Military Command, and his rank has also reached the third rank.

"We are overjoyed to see the arrival of the Royal Master.

We are all the leaders of this old port city. We know that the king's army is coming today, so we come to greet him."

As he spoke, Mr. Zheng introduced the identities of their group to Deng Zilong.

Many people say that Jiugang was incorporated into the territory of the Ming Dynasty during the Yongle period, which is actually both true and false.

You should know that the place called Jiugang was where the Xuanwei Si was set up, and in the Ming Dynasty, there was actually another Xuanfu Si. There is actually a big difference between the two.

The main difference between the Xuanwei Si and the Xuanfu Si in the Ming Dynasty lies in their jurisdiction and functions.

The Xuanwei Si was mainly responsible for managing border areas, especially those where ethnic minorities lived, while the Xuanfu Si was mainly responsible for inland or relatively stable areas.

The Xuanweisi of the Ming Dynasty was an administrative agency specifically for ethnic minority areas. It was affiliated to the local administrative agency at the next level below the governor's office and had a certain degree of autonomy, but the administration, military and justice were under the strict supervision of the three offices in the region, namely the Xuanzhengshisi, the Duzhihuisi, the Tixinganchasi and later the governor-general and garrison general.

The succession of the envoys had to be appointed by the court, and they had to obey the court's call at any time, pay homage to the court regularly, and the local soldiers had to obey the court's deployment.

The Xuanfu Si was mainly responsible for inland or relatively stable areas. Its setup and functions were relatively stable, unlike the Xuanwei Si, which had strong characteristics of frontier and ethnic minority management.

Therefore, the establishment and functions of the Xuanfusi were closer to regular local administrative management.

Simply put, the Xuanweisi and Xuanfusi set up in the mainland were institutions simply to strengthen the court's control and management over ethnic minority areas. The Xuanfusi were actually not much different from local governments, except that there were ethnic minority settlements under their jurisdiction.

The Xuanwei Si was an area controlled by ethnic minorities and had a certain degree of autonomy.

But because of this autonomy, after the Ming Dynasty continued to infiltrate these areas, when the influence of the imperial court gradually overwhelmed the power of local chieftains, some local chieftains would take action to suppress it, thus triggering rebellion.

In Huguang, Sichuan, Guizhou and other places, many rebellious activities of ethnic minorities were triggered by this.

However, in addition to the area controlled by the Yunnan Provincial Governor in the southwest, there are also three Xuans and six Weis. These are forces that only belong to the Yunnan Provincial Government in name, but are actually completely independent.

Apart from paying tribute, they had almost no other constraints.

The Jiugang Xuanwei Office, which was talked about by later generations, was actually the same as the Three Xuanwei and Six Wei. Although it belonged to the Ming Dynasty, it was completely independent. Apart from paying tribute, the Ming Dynasty had almost no restrictions on this place.

Even the envoys of the Jiugang Xuanwei Office were actually elected by local forces themselves and reported to the court for their appointment.

In fact, it is very similar to the "republic" of later generations. It is a "republican" political system that relies on public discussion to implement decisions, and the Ming Dynasty is the suzerain state.

However, due to the short duration and the fact that the three envoys were all from Shi Jinqing's family, some people regarded this "envoy" as the "small kingdom" of Shi Jinqing's family.

But no matter what, the Shi family in Old Port did have unparalleled influence here at that time. Moreover, influenced by many factors, many Chinese in Old Port chose to believe in Islam and became devout Muslims.

Mr. Zheng said that they were the leaders of the old port city. In fact, it was in accordance with the earliest tradition of the Ming Dynasty's management of this place that they, the leaders, nominated the new envoys.

The envoy who was elected by public opinion would naturally be accepted by all forces in the Old Port City. At least, he would be recognized by the vast majority of the forces and could help the court do some things.

"Well, nice to meet you."

Deng Zilong actually had some knowledge of the history of Jiugang while at sea and knew how the Xuanwei Envoy came about.

However, the current imperial court, or rather, Wei Guangde, who has put in so much effort, certainly does not want just nominal ruling power, but wants real rule over this place.

Although Jiugang will still be the Xuanwei Division of the Ming Dynasty, the Xuanwei envoys will be appointed by the imperial court and their power will be equivalent to that of the prefect.

In other words, the imperial court will take back the management rights here, instead of delegating power to these so-called decision-makers and family patriarchs.

And he will be stationed here for a long time as the commander of the South China Sea Navy to prevent other forces from intervening in the old port.

It can be said that now is actually the perfect time for the Ming Dynasty to take back the old port.

The original suzerain state, the Bazhang Kingdom, was preoccupied with internal strife, and when the Ming Dynasty wanted to take it back, they were unable to resist because their main force had to be used to deal with the Matalan nobles.

If the Ming Dynasty did not take action to control the Old Port at this time, and if the Spanish or Portuguese took action first, it would be quite troublesome for the Ming Dynasty to go to war with them.

Although in history, the Old Port was not occupied by Europeans for a long time afterwards, it was not until Europe completed the Industrial Revolution, its strength increased rapidly, and Southeast Asian countries gradually became colonies that it was occupied.

But in fact, during this period, the Portuguese did have some thoughts on the Old Port.

It's just that they still have to deal with the forces on the nearby islands, so they have not taken any action against the Old Port, but they have been eyeing it covetously.

Of course, Deng Zilong would not tell these so-called family patriarchs about the court's considerations at this time, so he still greeted them enthusiastically.

The South China Sea navy fleet, the vanguard ships are just over a hundred large and small Fujian ships and other ships, followed by the main fleet led by Yu Dayou with nearly two hundred large and small ships. Deng Zilong is just the vanguard, and the main fleet will arrive in the next two days.

So, after chatting with these clan leaders, Deng Zilong asked about the situation of the original Xuanweisi residence in the city.

"The mansion is still there, and we usually send people to take care of it. However, the court hasn't issued an imperial decree or appointed an envoy for more than a hundred years, so the popularity seems to be a little lower."

Mr. Zheng said immediately.

The Xuanweisi Mansion was actually the Shi family’s house, and it was the best house in the city.

However, the Shi family had been gone for many years. In the fifth year of Zhengtong, the envoy Shi Erjie was defeated in the war, and the area under her jurisdiction was taken over by Majapahit.

Later, Shi Erjie moved to the Chinese New Village in the port of Java. She built it into a commercial center and trade port, and was therefore appointed as the captain of the foreign ship by Majapahit to manage the maritime trade there.

Although the Shi family has left, their influence is still there. Although the power of the old Hong Kong has changed many times over the years, no one dares to make plans there, even the Shi family has not been heard from in these years.

They also sent people to clean the Shi family's house from time to time.

Perhaps, these family patriarchs still have some concerns in their hearts about when the imperial court will go to the West again.

Therefore, we dare not do some things too much.

You know, not long after they were defeated and surrendered to Majapahit, news came that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty intended to send people to the West again.

The news they knew was that in fact, in the eighth year of Zhengtong, Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty ordered Guo Yan to supervise the construction of a ship for the voyage to the West, and intended to send Ma Yun, who was in charge of the voyage to the West and Fandu, to command another voyage to the West. After the ship was built, the construction was shelved due to a civil unrest along the coast.

Just a few months after the restoration of Emperor Yingzong of Ming, the plan of sailing to the West was restarted. However, due to opposition from officials, the plan was cancelled and has never been mentioned again since then.

The history of the Ming Dynasty took a big turn here. If Emperor Yingzong had really realized his plan of sailing to the West, perhaps the Ming Dynasty would have entered the Age of Discovery ahead of time.

However, this news spread to the old port through the mouths of sea merchants, which naturally made the local Chinese worried.

After all, they chose to submit to Majapahit after their defeat, and it would only take a few years for the Ming court to see how they would view them.

As a result, the Chinese families who stayed in Jiugang all reached a tacit understanding, which was to preserve the original system of Jiugang Xuanwei Office as much as possible, so as to avoid some things that would be difficult to explain when the Ming Dynasty returned here in the future.

These are prudent practices, measures taken to continue the family business, but they are indeed very effective.

At least, Deng Zilong was quite satisfied after seeing the current situation of the old port discovered by the spies.

“The land outside the city must be requisitioned to serve as a temporary barracks for the army.

I will also send someone to clean the Xuanweisi Mansion, and the Admiral will be here in the next two days."

Deng Zilong spoke up.

“Don’t worry, sir. We have already sent people to clean the mansion yesterday, and you can move in directly.

We also prepared wine, cattle and sheep as a reward for the army. The soldiers must have worked hard after drifting on the sea for these days."

Mr. Zheng hurriedly continued.

They have made a lot of preparations in the past few days, so naturally they have to show off their achievements now.

Although in the Ming Dynasty, civil officials are respected and military officials are despised, this is not the Ming Dynasty itself, but an enclave isolated overseas, and everything is not decided by these adults.

Although judging from his official uniform and the patch on his head, they knew that the Lord Deng in front of them should be a third-rank military officer of the Ming Dynasty court.

Third rank, the envoy of Jiugang was just of this rank.

"General, please follow us into the city to rest. This old port has not had any government troops arrive for a hundred years."

After a round of greetings, Mr. Zheng's eyes suddenly turned red and he looked like he was about to cry.

At this time, the other clan leaders around also looked like they were about to cry, as if their families had suffered a lot of injustice while guarding the Old Port over the years.

"Well, wait a moment."

Deng Zilong answered, and then ordered his deputy general to designate the open space between the dock and the old port city as a military camp, especially the hills on both sides, which should be included.

At this time, Deng Zilong already had a plan for the Jiugang military camp in his mind, including a small hill not far away, where a fort would be built to guard Jiugang.

The heads of each family welcomed Deng Zilong into the city. Common people stood along the way, looking at the Ming army that had arrived from thousands of miles away and pointing and talking.

After sending Deng Zilong to the prepared carriage, several clan leaders returned to their respective carriages and talked in low voices on the way.

From the fact that the Ming army was going to set up camp here, they had more or less guessed that the Ming army probably would not plan to leave this time.

After all, in Luzon, the imperial court chose to station troops.