Records of the Lost Cases of Helaitang in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 73 Tianxin’s Travels

Wang Hengdao: "This Pufu Palace was built by decree in Shuangfeng, Taicang during the Yuan Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty. After Taizu, Emperor Jianwen succeeded to the throne with his great-grandson. Chengzu therefore launched a Jingnuan. He went to the Nanjing Palace but found nothing. The traces of Emperor Jianwen. In fact, Emperor Jianwen escaped from the palace tunnel and went to Wujiang first. Later, the secret was leaked and he escaped overnight to Shuangfeng, Taicang. The brothers Gu Yi'an and Gu Pu'an, rural farmers, saw that Emperor Jianwen and his party were very popular, so they They were arranged to live in Pufu Palace. After a long time, Chengzu noticed something, so he sent the Sanbao eunuch to check. He still relied on the Gu brothers to spend their entire family and hired a sea ship to send Emperor Jianwen and his ministers to the sea to take refuge from Liujiagang. .”

Wang Cai said: "So, the three treasure eunuchs took the treasure ship and chose to go to sea from Liujiagang, and they also had the intention of looking for Emperor Jianwen."

Wang Heng closed the book and said: "The author Lou Dong Diaosou didn't say so, let us guess by ourselves."

Xiaocai said: "I don't know who this Loudong Diaosou is. He writes legends to such an extent that the legends are covered in mist. In the end, he stopped updating them."

Wang Hengdao: "I guess Loudong Diaosou was from before the Yingzong Dynasty. After the restoration of Yingzong, the common people were released, so there is no need to be so shy about writing legends."

The two washed their hands and ate. After the meal, Wang Cai went to the kitchen to return the food box. He walked around the house and said hello to the elder brothers who were familiar with each other. Then he returned to He Lai Hall and saw the chief case. There was a pile of books piled up, and Wang Heng was still reading with his head down, and said: "Master, what are you still reading?"

Wang Heng said without raising his head, "I'm looking for the records of Pufu Palace." After that, he said in surprise, "Hey, I found another place."

The beautiful scenery of Haiyu Mountain opens up, and the purple air and red light surge into the jade platform.

My father used to look under the twin phoenixes, and now the gods are coming astride the five sheep.

The beacon fire in the green forest sinks into the empty jade, and the creeping grass comes to the stage in the spring breeze.

I heard that Zigui's habitat is not stable, so the long pine tree should be planted near the well.

Wang Cai looked closer and saw that the title of the poem was "Send Ge Xuansu to Preside over Pufu Palace", written by Wang Feng. He didn't know why, so he took a look at Wang Heng.

Wang Heng said: "Wang Feng was from the late Yuan Dynasty. It can be seen that it was also called Pufu Palace at that time."

Seeing that Wang Heng was going crazy while flipping through books, Xiaocai simply went out to play to prevent Wang Heng from calling him for help. The two of them looking through old books together would definitely make the whole room full of dust. Thinking of this result, Xiaocai even hit him A few sneezes.

At noon on the fifth day of August, Nanmenmenzi Lao Fulin sent a letter. It was from Changzhou County. The handwriting was not good enough and the order was a bit clumsy.

Wang Heng opened it and looked at it, and it turned out to be a letter from Fei Yuer.

Fei Yue'er first reported that everything was safe and sound at home. She went home quietly on the evening of the first day of August without being seen by outsiders. She went home and explained the situation to her mother. The mother and daughter discussed it and let the maid buy groceries every day. To buy rice, her mother never left the front door, and placed a loom in the courtyard. Every day at midnight, the mother and the maidservants took turns weaving.The lessons, reading, and weaving and spinning were all done to show the villagers, in order to gain fame and at the same time show that they were not very wealthy. Although the family property was not much, they lived in a huge house, which was inevitably coveted by the tribe.

As for the "Travel Records of Tianxin" written by her ancestor Mr. Song Yan, she found it in the first column of Tianzi in the study room of the old house. It is some miscellaneous notes of her ancestor who followed the eunuch Sanbao to the West. Where her father drew the line with a red pen, she I read it several times overnight and it turned out to be a bizarre story.

The following is Songyan Gong’s account:
At the end of the battle, the whole world seemed to be on fire.

Although I had been taught internal martial arts by a stranger since I was a child, after a day and night of fierce fighting, I was close to collapse and collapsed on the deck. Wails came from time to time in my ears. As I listened, my consciousness gradually became blurred.

After sunrise, the treasure ship guard briefly swept the battlefield. I tried to struggle to get up, but my limbs refused to obey me at all.A senior officer stopped me with gentle words, and temporarily put me on a relatively clean oilcloth. He said that he was still rushing to treat the seriously injured soldiers and could not take care of the slightly injured and disabled sergeants. He asked me to rest for a while and go to my original subordinate's camp. Report to the Banner School. If the Banner School is killed, then go to Baihu.

Listening to the commander's tone, I thought our side should have won in the end. When I relaxed, my body ached, so I fell asleep.

When I woke up, I saw the vast sea and sky, dusk clouds gathered around, and the afterglow of the setting sun dispersed.

I was unbearably thirsty, so I reached my waist with my hand, and found that the kettle was still on. I took a few sips, and my mind became much clearer.

At this time, a prayer in Arabic suddenly came to my ears. I learned a little Arabic when I was a soldier in Taicang Guard.

To the effect, Allah, I am about to die. Please bless my soul to return to my hometown of Baghdad. Allah bless my brother Adi to successfully complete his studies, work as an official for the Caliphate, and live a comfortable life. Don’t be a Baghdad businessman like me. , leaving his life in a distant foreign land.

When I heard this, I wanted to see who it was, but I couldn't stand up, so I had to slowly climb off the oilcloth. At this time, I saw another person climbing on the deck, who seemed to be an Arab with a beard. The middle-aged man, covered in blood, looked like his consciousness was lost when the Arab saw me, and shouted in a low voice: Water, water.I heard him praying before, and I thought he was a Baghdad businessman, at least not a member of the pirate combat force that attacked our treasure ship. His clothes were different from those of pirates. He was about the same age as my eldest brother, and he loved his brothers just as much.

My eldest brother suffered from lung disease and was in very bad health. Before I was old enough, he barely served in the Taicang Guard for nearly ten years, so I joined the army on my brother's behalf as soon as I became an adult, but my eldest brother's health still collapsed.

I thought of my elder brother and felt compassion for this Arab.Passing the kettle to him, the Arab took a few sips and regained a little life in his eyes.He said to me: "Good Samaritan, I am going to die. Please throw me into the sea and let me follow the waves back to my hometown."

I hesitated and said nothing. The Arab took out something from his body and said, "Good Samaritan, I will repay you."

The Arab took out a parchment scroll and drew some icons of mountains and rivers. He said: "The king's treasure, I dedicate it to you. Please throw me into the sea. Ming Dynasty navy, those pagans will Burn me to ashes and there will be no peace for my soul.”

I have experienced a lot of hardships since I was a child, and I am actually eager for wealth. I was so happy that I took the parchment to look at it.

The Arab, perhaps reflecting on the past, spoke of the situation in a low voice, as if he was reminiscing: "Three years ago, I took a merchant ship from Baghdad to Srivijaya to sell jewelry and spices. However, there was a great turmoil in the Bolin State. The old king of the state passed away, and several leaders competed for the throne. I had an encounter with a leader Chen in business, and he learned that I had some skills in financial management. In the end, leader Chen happened to be the new king, and he sent someone to invite him. I will be the Minister of Finance, and I will happily obey the order. The king is a Chinese who migrated to Srivijaya from the Ming Dynasty. He has great ambitions, and small nearby countries have surrendered to the Bolin State. We have a good relationship with each other, and I have considered dying in this."

"A month ago, the king heard the news about the Ming Dynasty's treasure ships going overseas, and he began to frown. He asked me for a list of reserves in the treasury, and asked me to put most of the gold in boxes. Although I don't understand why the Ming people I was afraid of the Ming Dynasty's treasure ship, but I still made all preparations according to the king's instructions. Seven days ago, the king sent me a ship with about thirty sailors and boatmen, all of whom were not natives of Srivijaya. In addition, he appointed personal soldiers Ten people are responsible for helping me escort, these are people of Ming Dynasty descent."

"The ship encountered wind and waves after sailing for a day and night. Shao, the captain of the accompanying soldiers, said that the natives in this area call it the Devil's Sea, and almost no one approaches it. But if you master the rules and enter at night, the wind and waves will dissipate after dawn. Shao said It was good. After dawn, the coastline turned dark green, and it took us half a day to reach a big island.

This large island has mountains, fresh water, fertile soil, and blooming flowers. If I were asked to conduct a detailed inspection, I feel that I would not be able to cover the island in two weeks.We walked for half a day, with the boxes containing gold carried by sailors, and finally reached a mountain peak. There were simple houses here, like barracks, but when I looked carefully, they were indeed uninhabited.Shao told me that outsiders didn’t understand this big island, and the natives didn’t dare to enter. The king used to store supplies when he was doing capitalless business on the sea, and he would sleep here occasionally when he was in trouble.

I seem to understand, but we Baghdad merchants don't actually treat merchants or pirates very differently. It's just a matter of changing the situation between the strong and the weak.

The gold was moved to the cave by the soldiers. Based on the memories along the way, I drew the parchment and prepared it to be presented to the king. Human memory will always have deviations. Recording it as text patterns will have a better effect.

I didn't have much luck on the return trip. After sailing for two days and one night, I found that I had deviated slightly from the direction, so I adjusted my direction and continued to sail towards the royal city. At this time, I found that a fierce battle was taking place in the sea ahead.Captain Shao said that this is roughly the sea area southeast of the royal city. It goes without saying that one of the two sides fighting must be the fleet of the Bolin State.Our ship was sailing along the edge, and we discussed whether to join the fighting team. Finally, I convinced Captain Shao that the king did not send us to join the war. It was better for us to hide the gold properly and return to the royal city as soon as possible to report to him.

In the center of the naval battle, several giant ships flying flags of the sun and the moon were extremely powerful. A large ship from the Bolin Kingdom retreated from the central sea area and sailed towards our direction. It was hit in the stern by a cannon from the giant ship, but it did not break up. After the fight broke out, the big ship accelerated and fled. When it sailed next to our ship, Captain Shao happened to recognize the leader on the big ship and called him loudly. The leader said in panic: "The king was captured by the Ming treasure ship. The king was captured by the Ming treasure ship." ." He shouted several times and evacuated faster.

Captain Shao and a few others were filled with rage after hearing the news, and ordered the sailors to move into the battle group at full speed. Our ship was small in size. As soon as we turned around and moved forward, we were blocked by a huge ship with the flag of the sun and the moon shining brightly. The ship was hit by a gun, and the hull quickly fell apart. I was seriously injured, but I was lucky enough to grab a plank and float to the side of the big ship. Apparently all the combatants on the big ship were injured or dead. I struggled to climb three Only then did he realize that this was not a big ship belonging to Bo Lin State. "

The Arab's breath gradually weakened, and he finally opened his eyes and looked at me: "Allah bless you, good-hearted people, you must throw me over the sea." I nodded to him, and he seemed to see it, and his face showed A hint of a smile.

Then he became unconscious and looked at his lips moving, as if he was shouting "Mom, Mom, Adi, Adi." Finally he closed his eyes.

I didn't doubt the story told by the Arab. He was about to die, so how could he deceive me? So I decided to help him fulfill his wish.
At this time, the night was beginning to fall. I looked around and saw no other surviving comrades, so I felt a little relieved.I tried my best to gather some strength, and after nearly an hour, I slowly dragged the Arab onto the deck of the top cabin of the big ship, threw him into the sea with all my strength, and silently prayed in my heart that he would float back to his hometown of Baghdad with the ocean current.

Early the next morning, I recovered a lot of my strength. With the help of a sailor brother, I found Mr. Hundred Households and learned that the treasure ship I was on was probably the one that suffered the most losses in the battle. I was directly under the commander's flag school. Your Excellency has been killed in the battle, and my colleagues also suffered numerous casualties. Cui Baihu praised me for my bravery in battle and promoted me to Xiaoqi.

I heard from Cui Baihu that the pirate Chen Zuyi who attacked the treasure ship had been captured alive and taken back to the Ming Dynasty to present to His Majesty the Emperor. I am still very confused about this. From the description of the Arabs, their king was captured. I have nowhere to prove that history is determined by the big people, and the little people only need to stand in the background of flowers and flowers.

The treasure ship sailed back to the Ming Dynasty on the sea. Sometimes at night I took out the parchment and imagined digging for the gold. I always felt infinite joy in my heart. I was very young, and I might have a chance to go there next time.

After we returned to the Ming Dynasty, the eunuch Sanbao sent the captured pirate to the imperial capital, and the emperor sentenced him to beheaded in public.There is also an interlude. Listen to Cui Baihu, who has been promoted to Qianhu at this time. This pirate named Chen asked to dedicate the treasures he had accumulated over the years to His Majesty the Ming Emperor in exchange for his freedom, but His Majesty the Emperor flatly refused. The Ming Dynasty was rich all over the world, how could it covet the treasure of a pirate with a bad record?

From this, I became more convinced that there was a treasure belonging to me buried on the big island in the devil's sea. I must find a way to go there and take it out.

The above is the record of Songyan Gong during his five years in Yongle.

(End of this chapter)