Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1120 1115 [Be the Most Loyal Dog of Ming Dynasty]

The Zeng family also fled by boat.

When the cannon fire sounded at the port, they immediately loaded their valuables onto the ship, even taking some food, and quickly sailed into the forest in the south.

In addition to family members, there are two cousins ​​and more than 30 fellow villagers, who are considered the basic base of the Zeng family and are responsible for disciplining the indigenous slaves.

Another cousin and his brother, who were running shops near the port, had been captured by the Ming army.

These people were deceived to come here to make money, and each of them received resettlement fees. When they found out that they helped to forge counterfeit money, the Zeng brothers coaxed and threatened them, raising their wages while threatening them that they had committed a capital crime.

Of course, the main reason is that the money is enough, and there is a sense of luck in being far away overseas.

"Don't even think about going back. The counterfeit banknotes are enough to kill you several times. It's useless to capture our brothers to earn merit. The officers and soldiers are already here and will not let anyone here go!" Zeng Bofa was still threatening.

Zeng Boda also said: "We can only hide from the limelight for now, and then find an opportunity to take a ship to Ceylon. There is Han self-government over there, and they don't ask where we came from. We can change our appearance when we arrive in Ceylon."

The brothers' father had died long ago, their old mother was trembling with fear, and their wives, concubines and children were also quite terrified.

Those relatives and fellow villagers said nothing. They were diligent and loyal when they were earning high salaries, but now they began to resent their employers for dragging them down.

The fleet had already sailed into the forest, and everyone was alert, taking out their bows and crossbows and pointing them at both sides of the river.

Because there are savage tribes deep in the forest, they are half hunting and half farming, and are still in the era of slash-and-burn agriculture.

Relatively speaking, agriculture in Central Java and East Java was well developed as early as the Tang Dynasty, and crops such as rice were exported to China and India.

This is not the case in West Java, where agriculture is much more backward.

West Java also has a tropical rainforest climate, but it has more rainfall in the wet season and less rainfall in the dry season, which makes it very unsuitable for the development of ancient agriculture.

No matter what Java is, it is still awesome in modern times. Rice can be harvested nine times in two years!
"It's raining."

A fellow villager suddenly said.

It is the wet season and rainfall in West Java has increased significantly. It does not rain every day, but it often comes when it is expected.

Now it was raining without warning. At first it was just a drizzle, as if to remind people to find a place to hide. In less than a quarter of an hour, the rain suddenly became heavier.

On each boat, people lit charcoal and gathered around the braziers to keep warm to prevent hypothermia due to excessive humidity. Some people were responsible for tying the boats to trees.

The rain came quickly and went away quickly, stopping in more than two hours.

But after the rain, since the pursuers did not come, most people stopped to think and their mood changed.

Zeng Boduan, a cousin, said with resentment: "If the soldiers can come to Yecheng, my family in Fujian will definitely be gone."

Zeng Boda said angrily, "I told you to bring your family here a long time ago, but you didn't want to do it. You said you would return home after working for a few more years."

Zeng Bofa felt something was not right when he heard this, and he quickly tried to smooth things over by saying, "The court's dispatch of troops this time may not be because we forged the treasure notes, but may just be punishing the King of Sunda for attacking the neighboring country without reason. I will send someone back to Coconut City to inquire after the storm has passed."

A fellow villager said: "With so many artillery pieces, Sunda will surely be destroyed. If the king of Sunda is captured, won't he turn us in and redeem himself?"

Another fellow villager said, "That's right. The mountains and forests are full of natives. They might suddenly come out to rob us. Even if we pass this area and reach the town, we are unfamiliar with the place and we will be easily robbed. If we can't defeat the natives, we will all die!"

Zeng Bofa comforted him, "I am a courtier of the king. I know the nobles in the town ahead. We even drank together in Coconut City. As long as we get there, there will be no danger."

Another fellow villager said, "The Sunda Kingdom is gone, what's the point of you getting to know those nobles? Everyone knows that your family is rich? If you go there, you will be slaughtered like a pig!"

Zeng Bofa's heart tightened when he heard this, because what he said made sense.

For a moment, everyone was silent.

If he fled to the town ahead, he would most likely be killed and robbed by the local nobles. If he returned to Coconut City, he would certainly be captured and executed by the soldiers.

Staying in the wild is even more impossible. Not only may wild men appear in the forest at any time, but it is also very easy to get sick in the wet season of the tropical rainforest.

They have no way out.

Suddenly, a fellow villager turned the crossbow that was aimed at the shore towards Zeng Bofa and pulled the trigger.

Because the bow became soft due to excessive humidity, the arrow had lost its power, but it was still enough to penetrate the muscles at such a close distance.

Zeng Bofa fell down, holding his chest, and pointed at his fellow villager and said, "Stupid... stupid..."

Before he finished speaking, Zeng Boda had already raised his crossbow to fight back, but the man had already leaped over. The arrow shot close to the flesh, but the damage caused was not great.

The fellow villager threw himself on Zeng Boda and shouted to the others, "What are you waiting for? Take his brother's head back to Coconut City to atone for your sins!"

Everyone finally came to their senses, but they didn't know which side to help.

The fellow villager shouted again: "We will die anyway, maybe we can survive if we go back to Coconut City!"

This advice finally worked, and even the Zeng brothers' cousins ​​hurried over to help their fellow villager kill people.

For counterfeiting banknotes, only brothers and uncles would be beheaded, while cousins ​​would not be implicated, not to mention that they were just cousins. They were all just accomplices, and if they could make up for their crimes and make meritorious contributions, they would have a chance of survival.

Several people held down the Zeng brothers, and Zeng Boda yelled, "Idiots, you will die if you go back. Only by running away with me can you survive!"

Zeng Boduan's face was ferocious. He drew his sword and slashed it hard at Zeng Boda's neck.

The others also worked together to kill Zeng Bofa and take control of their old mothers, wives and children.

The pursuit personnel sent by Zhu Xiaozhong retreated to Coconut City because of a heavy rain, mainly because the guide said that it was very dangerous here in rainy days.

Just when Zhu Xiaozhong sent people to chase them again, the guys who were fighting among themselves came back on their own.

"Take them back to Guangzhou first." Zhu Xiaozhong didn't know what to do with them, so he simply handed them all over to the case handlers of the Ministry of Justice.

A few days later, the heads of the Sunda royal family members were first sent to the neighboring kingdom of Mataram.

The King of Mataram was surprised and happy. The guy who always came to invade him was finally killed by the Ming father. But the Ming army seemed to have taken the opportunity to occupy Coconut City. Will they come to attack him in the future?
The messenger pointed at a pile of heads and said, "Anyone who dares to forge Ming Dynasty treasure notes or shield counterfeiters will all end up like this! Did you hear that clearly?"

King Mataram knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the Ming envoy repeatedly: "I will keep this in mind. I will never condone counterfeit banknotes, nor will I make counterfeit banknotes myself!"

"You should also warn the nobles in your country." said the Ming envoy.

King Matalan said quickly: "I will immediately send people to all parts of the country to publicize the majesty of the Ming Emperor and tell them why the King of Sunda was executed!"

The Ming envoy smiled and said, "Very good."

Three days later, the heads of the Sunda royal family arrived at the Kingdom of Kanyiri.

The King of Kediri at that time was called Jayabaya, a famous ruler in Indonesian history. Later generations also gave him various mysterious colors, such as predicting the white colonization of Java, predicting the French Revolution, predicting the rise of Hitler, predicting Japan's invasion of Southeast Asia during World War II, predicting the 911/ incident in the United States, and even predicting the emergence of cars and airplanes, etc. ... It's nonsense.

Historically, under Jayapaya's rule, Kediri's territory expanded more than ten times, and even occupied islands such as Sulawesi and Maluku.

Looking at the pile of nitrated heads, Chayabaya prostrated himself on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly, swearing to listen to his father Daming.

He warmly entertained the Ming envoys, but when he returned to his bedroom at night, he looked worried.

The concubine asked, "Is your Majesty unhappy?"

Jayabaya sighed, "You won't understand even if I tell you."

"Just now at the banquet, Your Majesty had a very pleasant chat with the Ming envoy." said the favorite concubine.

Jayabaya said: "Who would believe that a country was destroyed because of counterfeiting banknotes? It was nothing more than the prosperity of the port of Coconut City, and the Ming Dynasty was looking for an excuse to send troops. The next one to be destroyed will be Mataram, and the next one will be our turn. In terms of abundant products, especially food output, we are the richest country in Java."

The concubine panicked and asked, "What should I do?"

Jayabaya sighed, "What else can we do? Jianyi Li is just a small country, how can it fight against the Ming Dynasty? We must be more obedient to the Ming Dynasty in the future and not give the Ming Emperor a reason to send troops. We must never touch Mataram in the west again, and we must not forge the Ming Dynasty's treasure notes."

Similar to history, Jayabaya could only expand eastwards.

The difference is that in history he was blocked by Srivijaya, but now it is the Ming Dynasty that is blocking him in the west.

If the Ming Dynasty did not send troops to intervene, this guy could swallow up most of the islands south of the Philippines!
He was also good at culture and education. He used Brahmanic poetry as a medium to encourage poets to create local Javanese literature, thereby integrating the thoughts of various ethnic groups under his rule and further promoting the formation of national consciousness in East Java.

The next day, Jayabaya summoned the court officials and said: "Go find the most beautiful woman in the country. I will send her to Luoyang as a tribute to the Emperor of Ming. I will go to Luoyang in person!"

Even when Srivijaya was destroyed, Jayabhaya was not that afraid. Instead, he seemed to be gloating over the misfortune.

The fall of Sunda Kingdom really scared Jayabhaya.

Because among the countries that still exist in Southeast Asia today, the richest one is the Kingdom of Kediri, which has so much food that it cannot be eaten up, and even sells it to Chinese merchants every year.

Sunda was only rich because of maritime trade, but his kingdom, Kanyiri, actually had grain, and rice could be harvested three to four times a year.

Is the tropical rainforest climate not suitable for ancient agriculture?

But they have volcanic ash that brings fertility, and due to the special geographical conditions, Java actually has two seasons: dry and wet. The phenomenon of separation between dry and wet seasons becomes more and more obvious as you go east on Java, and it is a bit like a tropical monsoon climate.

With the help of modern agricultural technology, it is no joke to achieve nine harvests in two years here.

Chayabaya’s idea was very clear. Since he couldn’t defeat the Ming Dynasty, he would become the Ming Dynasty’s most loyal lackey.

Going to Luoyang in person to offer beautiful women was just a means of expressing his attitude.

He also promised the Ming emperor that from now on, he would only sell the grain to Han merchants and ship it to Ming. As long as the Ming emperor ordered him to attack anyone, he would do so without asking for any reward from Ming.

If he could please the emperor, he would be safe in Java.

Then it continued to expand eastward. Even if it annexed a small country that was subject to the Ming Dynasty, I think the great emperor would at most reprimand it a few words.

(End of this chapter)