My son A Fei has the appearance of a sword master

Chapter 152 Wang Zhi’s voyage to the West

In September of the 11th year of Chenghua, it had been 42 years since Zheng He last sailed to the Western Ocean. The Ming Dynasty finally organized a fleet again and prepared to sail to the Western Ocean.

The chief envoy of the Ming Dynasty envoy was undoubtedly Wang Zhi, and the accompanying army was a division of the Southern Military Region, led by Wang Lianhua himself.

In the Ming Dynasty, one division governed three guards, with a total of more than [-] people.

In addition to the army, two family generals, Song Li and Shan Zuo Tianyin, were accompanying them. Liu Yuru also went to sea with Wang Lianhua, preparing to reunite with old friends.

Wang Lianhua, the commander-in-chief, went to sea, and the military affairs of the Southern Military Region were decided by the deputy commander-in-chief and the supervisory army together.

The supervisors of the Ming army were equivalent to the political commissars of later generations. It is said that the two made decisions, but in fact they still performed their own duties.

The deputy general is in charge of military affairs, and the military supervisor is in charge of government affairs. While not interfering with each other, they also cooperate with each other.

Zheng He's main purpose in his previous voyages to the West was to maintain good relations with his neighbors, promote the mighty virtues of the Ming Dynasty, and strengthen ties with countries around the world. The second purpose was to develop trade and exchange what was needed.

However, the primary purpose of this voyage to the West was to collect intelligence from Western countries in order to prepare for future colonial rule and annexation of countries.

On the surface, the name is naturally to maintain good relations with neighbors and develop trade.

Therefore, during this voyage to the West, in addition to the imperial envoys and the accompanying army, there were also major chambers of commerce from the Ming Dynasty, equivalent to the group companies of later generations, with a total of more than [-] people.

Therefore, the number of people who sailed to the Western Ocean this time reached more than [-], and there were more than [-] large and small ships in total, which was much larger than Zheng He's voyage to the Western Ocean.

The Chamber of Commerce is headed by Zhu Ji, led by Leng Da, followed by Jin Buhuan, the former financial envoy of Happy City and now the general manager of Chaiji Chamber of Commerce.

Others include chambers of commerce established by Ouyang Xi, Cangjian Villa, Sunjiabao and other forces.

In the Chamber of Commerce, there are a large number of spies from the imperial court and people who understand the languages ​​​​of various Western countries.

After the Chamber of Commerce establishes a stronghold in a foreign country, they will take the opportunity to start setting up an intelligence network to collect intelligence on the military, politics, economy, humanities and other aspects of the foreign country.

The imperial court did not hide the secrets from these chambers of commerce and was open and honest from the beginning. After all, the work of espionage also required the support of these chambers of commerce in order to be carried out more conveniently.

The imperial court made it clear that the country would give them the opportunity to earn money from foreign countries and would never dictate to them in business. They would help the country accomplish its great cause, so that cooperation would benefit both sides.

After all, as the country becomes stronger, they will have more opportunities to make money and their status in foreign countries will be higher. Naturally, businessmen have no reason to refuse.

Leng Da has stepped down from the position of the owner of Renyi Villa. The person who is now in charge of Renyi Villa is Jing Wuming.

With the help of die-hard fans such as Xu Ruoyu, Ma Zhaoming, Tie Chuanjia, Guo Songyang, and Hu Bugui, although Jing Wuming is only 17 years old, he is already the second best to Li Tianxin and has become the new face of Renyi Villa.

Since the competition in the winter of the ninth year of Chenghua, he has already become a powerful figure in the world, and no one is dissatisfied.

Under the auspices of Renyi Villa, the world of Ming Dynasty has always been in order. Not only is it no longer in opposition to the court, but it also cooperates with the court's actions in every aspect to manage Ming Dynasty in a monolithic manner.

The demon sect thieves were caught one by one, and it was difficult for them to survive in Middle-earth.

But when they withdrew from the Central Plains and planned to develop in the border towns first, they were targeted by Bai Yu of Shen Knife Hall and Ma Kong Qun of Wan Ma Hall, making life more and more difficult.

Only a branch of the Miao Territory can settle down in a small corner among the hundreds of thousands of mountains, secretly accumulating the power to make trouble.

……

On the South China Sea, Wang Zhi and Wang Lianhua stood side by side on the bow of the flagship, looking at the huge and mighty fleet behind them, their hearts filled with great pride.

Wang Zhi said with emotion: "Ten years, but only ten years, the Ming Dynasty was able to have such a great situation, the Jin Kingdom's public achievements are unparalleled."

Wang Lianhua smiled and said, "If Tianxin hears you calling him that, he will definitely be very unhappy."

Wang Zhi laughed when he heard this and said: "That's right. Tianxin never pays attention to power and status. What he values ​​most is the friendship of friends."

"If this were not the case, based on the exaggeration of his great achievements, even if Dragon Warrior could tolerate him, the royal family and the entire dynasty would not be able to tolerate him."

Wang Lianhua greatly agreed. Li Tianxin not only made the entire court regard him as the pillar of the Ming Dynasty with his actions, but also affected the emperor's attitude towards other courtiers.

It is said that those who are close to Zhu are red and those who are close to Mo are black. Due to the influence of Li Tianxin, the emperor Zhu Jianshen had a detached mentality towards worldly affairs.

To put it bluntly, Zhu Jianshen felt in his heart that he was no longer on the same level as these mortals, and what the courtiers cared about was meaningless to him.

He scorned the emperor's mentality and the way of balance, and would never tolerate the behavior of forming cliques for personal gain and fighting for power and profit.

He even made it clear to the ministers at the great court meeting, which had been changed to once a quarter, that he disdained the use of imperial tricks, let alone balance and imbalance.

He has only one attitude towards his courtiers, that is, to give superiors to those who are capable and subordinate to those who are mediocre. As long as they can implement his decrees, he is willing to give them glory, wealth and power. Anyway, he himself is not in charge of specific matters.

But things like power and wealth belong to them only if he gives them to them. If he doesn't give them to them, they can't fight or snatch them.

Today's Ming Dynasty is no longer an era where aristocratic families can shake up the country. Those who follow his old Zhu family wholeheartedly and serve the court well are his friends and brothers.

If he doesn't do business all day long, he only thinks about forming cliques for personal gain, fighting for power and profit, and engaging in party disputes. He will never be merciless even if he kills someone.

In short, there is one core point: those who follow me will prosper and those who go against me will perish.

Zhu Jianshen's mentality is based on his shocking martial arts.

When he can do what Li Tianxin once said, no matter which country he dislikes, and he can destroy the opponent's army with a sword, then who else can he be afraid of?
If this kind of mentality is placed on a foolish king, it will definitely be a tragedy for the country and the civil and military forces of the entire dynasty.

But if you put it in the hands of an emperor who has great achievements and is assisted by peerless sages, it will be a blessing to his subjects.

Because they don't need to worry about the emperor doing some dirty tricks to ruin the country. Under such an emperor, as long as they do their jobs properly, the family can prosper.

Otherwise, with just a word from the emperor, no matter how powerful the family is, it will be wiped out in an instant, not to mention destabilizing the country, or even causing a splash.

Because of this, the whole court turned from hostility and hatred to secret gratitude towards the Tianfeng heroine who took care of the dandy in their family.

There is an extremely wise emperor. As long as they work hard, they can enjoy the life of the upper class. The only people who can hinder them are the dandies at home.

As long as the dandies stay on their own terms, they don't have to worry about something bad happening one day and being kicked off suddenly.

However, there are some knowledgeable people who have guessed that the Tianfeng heroine came from the palace. She is probably the former imperial concubine who became younger and younger as she lived and gave birth to the prince in middle age. She is now the empress.

So the identity of the Dragon Warrior is naturally self-evident, and the dragon and phoenix heroes themselves are an obvious metaphor.

It's just that they didn't know about Zhu Jianshen and Wan Zhen'er's martial arts before, so they didn't think about it.

Later, they gradually realized that both the emperor and the queen possessed peerless martial arts, and then they suddenly came to their senses. "I don't know where Tianxin and the others are now, and whether they have found high-yielding crops that can prevent famine in the Ming Dynasty."

Hearing Wang Lianhua's words, Wang Zhi had no doubts and said decisively: "If Tianxin takes action personally, he will definitely succeed."

"Since he debuted at the age of 14, has he ever disappointed others? I believe this time will be no exception."

When Wang Lianhua thought about it, it was true. She shrugged and said, "That's true. Maybe when we arrive in the West, he will have returned with a full load."

……

The fleet sailed along in a mighty way. They didn't stop much in Southeast Asia. They just replenished fuel, fresh water and food supplies before continuing their voyage.

Because the entire Southeast Asia now belongs to the Ming Dynasty, and there are Xichang spies entrenched there, there is no need to arrange spies anymore.

Today's West Factory has basically fully developed into an organization similar to Guoan. Not only is the number of people extremely large, but the organizational structure is also perfect.

The East Factory has been abolished and has completely ceased to exist. All Dongchang fans have been merged into the West Factory.

After Wang Zhi became the envoy, Shang Ming, the former governor of the East Factory, took over as the governor of the West Factory.

After Wang Zhi returned from his mission, he would not only be granted the title of marquis, but also join the cabinet, becoming the first eunuch to join the cabinet and participate in politics, which can be said to be a glorious ancestor.

At the same time, he also set an example for other eunuchs, showing that their eunuchs did not just follow the path of being servile and flattering, colluding with both internal and external parties.

As long as you have the ability and can serve the court, you will also have the opportunity to come to the front of the stage and be brilliant and dazzling.

After Wang Zhi's fleet passed through the Strait of Malacca, they did not go directly west across the Indian Ocean like Li Tianxin and others, but continued to sail along the coastline to the Bay of Bengal in the north.

The so-called distant friendship and close attack, as a close neighbor of the Ming Dynasty, the Delhi Sultanate of Tianzhu was the first country they needed to conquer.

Therefore, during this overseas visit, we must first go to the Delhi Sultanate.

After visiting the Delhi Sultanate, they will go to Ceylon along the coastline of Tianzhu.

Delhi, the capital of the Delhi Sultanate, is located far inland, more than 300 kilometers away from the coastline. The envoy traveled for a month to reach Delhi.

Wang directly presented his credentials. The Ming Dynasty naturally adhered to the principle of distant relations and close attacks, but externally, it was said that distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors.

The Delhi Sultanate borders the Ming Uzang region, and the two countries should strengthen exchanges and exchange what they have.

As the saying goes, if you take something in advance, you must give it first. In this trade negotiation with the Delhi Sultanate, Ming Dynasty tried its best to make it more favorable to the other party.

This made the negotiations go very smoothly. In just three days, the king was pleased to sign a cooperative trade agreement with Wang Zhi.

After getting the agreement, Wang Zhi quickly said goodbye and left, continuing to sail south.

When sailing along the Tianzhu coastline, they would leave some people and property from major chambers of commerce in the coastal cities along the way, allowing them to trade with the locals and establish strongholds.

Before they left, the king had already sent this news as a decree to various places. Naturally, they did not encounter any obstacles. Instead, they received the full cooperation of the local nobles.

After all, the local nobles can also benefit from this matter, so there is no reason to have trouble with money.

Of course, these chambers of commerce also have their own security forces, and it is impossible to completely entrust their security to the Delhi Sultanate.

Revolvers have been eliminated by the Ming army and began to be equipped with shotguns for the use of local police officers.

This is also the reason why local officials have become tough when facing people in the world.

When the policemen started to carry guns, there was no longer a place for bandits and thieves to survive in the Ming Dynasty, and even martial arts masters were afraid of them.

Gun management in the Ming Dynasty was extremely strict, and public officials who lost their guns would be severely punished, basically starting at ten years and up to the death penalty.

The rule that throwing away a gun means losing one's life is deeply rooted in the consciousness of all public officials.

These caravan guards who have taken root abroad are also equipped with revolvers and shotguns. They have all registered with the government and obtained gun licenses.

In this era, carrying revolvers and shotguns on their bodies, their safety is naturally guaranteed. With dozens or hundreds of guards, they will not be afraid of thousands of cold weapon troops from other countries.

When faced with bows and arrows, a shield, even a door panel, or a wooden table can withstand them, but when faced with shotguns, any shield is useless, let alone close combat.

As the saying goes, a gun is fast from seven steps away, and a gun is accurate and fast within seven steps.

In this way, Wang Zhi let people go all the way, and it took more than three months from the beginning to finally reach the island of Ceylon.

At this time, there were only a few days left before the half-year agreement between Li Tianxin and Sam Singh, the lord of Lahu City.

Since Li Tianxin and the others left, Sang Mu had arranged people on the coast to wait for the Ming Dynasty's envoys, and now they finally arrived.

……

In the Lord's Mansion of Lahu City, Sang Mu and his son looked at Wang Zhi with burning eyes.

After Wang Zhi read the letter from Li Tianxin sent by Sang Mu, the corner of his mouth curled up in a subtle arc. It was obvious that he had understood the profound meaning of Li Tianxin.

Handing the letter to Wang Lianhua, Wang Zhi gave a positive response to Sang Mu.

The translator on the side translated: "Since it is an agreement between Grand Duke Li and the city lord, we will naturally abide by it unconditionally."

"According to Grand Duke Li's instructions, we will sign a trade cooperation agreement with the king. We will mine minerals in Ceylon that you cannot use, and then provide you with the materials you need."

"But one of the basic conditions for the signing of the contract is that the city owner must be primarily responsible for all trade cooperation content on the Tamil Kingdom's side."

After listening to Wang Zhizhi's words translated by the translator, Sang Mu and his son were overjoyed. They nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, that's right. This is exactly what Grand Duke Li and I agreed."

Sang Mu asked cautiously and tentatively: "What about the Sinhalese Kingdom..."

Wang Zhi said flatly: "When the agreement is signed, our two countries will become allies, and your enemies will be our enemies."

"There is only one unified country on the island of Ceylon, which is also beneficial to our cooperative trade, so I will send troops to help the Tamil Kingdom and destroy the Sinhala Kingdom."

I feel relieved. The long wait with sleepless nights for half a year has finally come to fruition. Sam and his son feel so comfortable that they can finally have a good night's sleep tonight.

(End of this chapter)