Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 338 Tribute Diplomacy System

"Uuuuuu——"

"Uuuuuu——"

When the horn sounded, hundreds of ships were moored outside a simple pier in the South China Sea.

The ships were so large that their enormity could be felt even from hundreds of paces away.

Of course, compared to the grandeur of the warship, the sailors walking back and forth on the warship are the most terrifying existence.

On the pier, hundreds of soldiers wearing rough iron armor and thousands of soldiers wearing leather armor, holding long contradiction cards and short swords at their waists watched the fleet warily, anxiously waiting for something.

Suddenly, when the roar of elephants was heard in the team, a man wearing a gold hat and a necklace, escorted by dozens of maids holding swords and shields, arrived here on an elephant. On the edge of a simple pier.

Behind him were dozens of courtiers wearing armor and silk, with gold and silver ornaments on their heads.

The target of this team was the hundreds of people who had just disembarked from the ship at the pier.

These hundreds of people were wearing bright and exquisite armor, and each of them was considered tall in this country.

Zhenla was called Ganbozhi by the Ming Dynasty, and its country was also a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.

Lai's words from Champa were translated by the overseas Chinese on the other elephant. Zheng He also smiled and said:

Before coming to Champa, Zheng He learned about the general situation of Champa through many smuggling merchants who wanted to transform into regular maritime merchants.

"Angel……"

"The Celestial Empire will never treat any vassal state badly. This is true for Champa and other vassal states."

As for the situation of Champa City, although it has been in contact with China for thousands of years, and with the development of sea trade in the Song Dynasty and the opening of a sea route directly to Guangzhou from the east, the socio-economic development of the Champa City country is not considered developed.

Since the distance from the dock to the royal capital is more than ten miles, Lai and Zheng He of Champa introduced the customs and customs of Champa, which also allowed Zheng He to have a deeper understanding of Champa.

When the man in his thirties walked up to the man in the gold hat, the man in the gold hat also announced their identities.

"Lai of Champa, the little king of the lower country, represents the country of Champa and welcomes the arrival of angels..."

If Lai of Champa wanted to invade Chenla and Ming knew about it, Lai of Champa had no doubt that Ming had the ability to destroy Champa.

"I hope so." Zheng He responded with a smile, and at the same time glanced at the road from the dock to the capital of Champa.

At the center of the group, a beardless man in his thirties wearing a bullfight suit was clearly the leader.

Thinking of this, he could only temporarily put aside the idea of ​​invading Zhenla, and said with an embarrassed smile:

"What the angel said is that we are also troubled by the endless war in the south. Now that the angel is here, the countries in the south will definitely welcome it."

Zheng He, the envoy of the Ming Dynasty's Western fleet, and Lai of Champa, the king of Champa.

Zheng He spoke with a smile, and at the same time turned around and said to an official: "Tell Duke Yue and Governor Cui to wait for news about me on the fleet."

Soon, under the leadership of the trainer, the elephant slowly got up, carried Zheng He and Lai of Champa, turned around, and walked towards Vijaya City, the royal capital of Champa.

"Yes, I am willing to go to the Royal City to see the prosperity of Champa."

Before the Ming Dynasty launched its troops last year, the Annan Hu clan raised troops to capture the capital city.

Before the Ming Dynasty conquered the Hu clan in Annan, Lai of Champa asked the Ming Dynasty for help many times because he was at a disadvantage in the battle with Annan all the year round.

The elephant knelt down and the man in the gold hat slid down the silk carpet.

"His Majesty made the decision to send troops because he heard that Champa was being bullied and because the Hu family and his son were acting rebelliously."

In other words, Lai of Champa was actually the joint king elected by the five combined kingdoms, and he was the king recognized by the Ming Dynasty.

To be honest, Zheng He had never sat on an elephant, so at the invitation of Lai of Champa, he climbed on the back of the elephant and sat in the sedan on the back of the elephant with Lai of Champa.

"Yes!" The official bowed in agreement, then returned to the 200-material sand ship that escorted Zheng He to the shore, and drove the sand ship back to the fleet's ship.

If the news of the Ming Dynasty's troops had not spread, and the Hu family and his son were anxious to withdraw their troops to the north, then perhaps a large area of ​​land would have been lost in Champa City.

Although Lai of Champa hated Annan for invading him, he plotted to invade Chenla to the west.

"The Ming Dynasty's Western Fleet is envoy Zheng He. Thank you very much, Lord, for welcoming us."

"I am going to the West this time because Your Majesty heard that there are many countries in the south and there are endless wars. I came here to maintain local peace."

Champa has a population of hundreds of thousands and an army of more than 20,000. The entire country is divided into five constituent states, each of which is ruled by a local hereditary chief.

This can also be seen from the gravel road leading to the royal capital.

There are translators on both sides, which makes normal communication much easier.

Zheng He, who was wearing a bullfight uniform, raised his hands and bowed. This made the emperor and ministers of Champa look at each other and couldn't help but glance at the hundreds of warships and horse boats anchored on the sea.

Zheng He's words reached the ears of Lai of Champa through overseas Chinese translation, which made Lai of Champa feel a little uncomfortable.

Lai from Champa could not speak Mandarin, so he brought overseas Chinese from Champa to act as translators for him.

The Lai of Champa welcomed Zheng He with great respect, not only because Zheng He had behind him a fleet capable of destroying Champa, but also because he was grateful to the Ming Dynasty.

"The sun on the seaside is too hot. Please invite the angels to go to Vijaya City, our capital, so that the little king can welcome you and your fleet."

Zheng He raised his hand to signal Lai from Champa. Seeing this, Lai from Champa signaled Zheng He to ride on the elephant with him.

"The king please."

When the procession wearing a gold hat and riding an elephant came to the pier, this man in his thirties also walked forward with others.

"The little king admires the Celestial Empire very much, so he was very happy to know that the Celestial Empire sent troops to pacify the Hu family and his son. He wished he could go to the capital to see His Majesty the Great Emperor in person."

Perhaps he was worried that Zheng He would suspect him of kidnapping him, so Lai of Champa asked Zheng He's hundreds of guards and his own maid guards to protect their safety, and let the Champa army be responsible for clearing the way and blocking the rear.

Because there are powerful enemies in the north and south, and the only way to communicate with China is by sea, Champa cannot be influenced by Han culture like Annan, and it is still semi-feudal and semi-slavery to this day.

Many laws and systems in their countries are basically related to the "Shiwu Lianzuo" system and laws of the Qin and Han Dynasties.

For example, when officials go to see the king, they have to stand up to perform a salute. After reporting the matter, they perform another salute and leave.

Women perform the same obeisances as men, and men and women who commit adultery together will be sentenced to death, and thieves will be sentenced to have their fingers and toes cut off.

During the war, five soldiers formed a group. If a soldier escaped, everyone in the same group would be executed.

As far as these systems are concerned, they are definitely backward in Northeast Asia, but in Central and South China, they are "institutional powers."

But regardless of whether it was a powerful country or not, for Zheng He, who had just destroyed the little overlord in Central and South China, the Champa Kingdom was not powerful enough to threaten the Western Fleet.

Compared with these institutional things, Zheng He was more concerned about the economic, cultural, and political issues of Champa, because he was burdened with the tasks assigned by Zhu Gaoxu.

In response to these questions, Zheng He launched an inquiry to Lai of Champa, and he also discussed it with Zheng He candidly.

The first is the issue of foreigners in Champa. Champa imposes harsh penalties on foreigners from other countries who violate the law. Only Chinese people from the Ming Dynasty need to lower the standards and even not be punished.

Of course, the former is the previous rule, and the latter is the rule that was urgently formulated after the Ming Dynasty destroyed Annan.

In addition to these, in the Champa Kingdom, if a Chinese from the Ming Dynasty was killed by a local, the local would be wanted and sentenced to death.

Lai Xian of Champa told this mainly to gain Zheng He's favor, but Zheng He said:

"If they really commit a crime, the king can deal with them according to the law."

"I told the prince that the emperor's crimes are the same as those of the common people, and those who commit crimes overseas will be severely punished by their own country."

"Whether they are the people of the Ming Dynasty or the people of the subject country, they are all the people of the emperor, and there is no distinction between high and low."

"Those who break the law should be severely punished as long as they are not innocent."

Zheng He's words made Lai of Champa feel better about the Ming Dynasty. After all, in addition to overseas Chinese, there were also a large number of Ming Dynasty smugglers living in Champa.

This group of smugglers often relied on Champa's tolerance of the Chinese to make further progress. Many times, Lai of Champa was intolerable. If he hadn't been worried about the Ming Dynasty, he would have brought this group of people to justice long ago.

"This time I have brought you the uniforms, gold seals, civil and military official uniforms, cultural books, and the "Ming Code: Subject Law" and "Ming Code: Foreign Law" promulgated by the crown prince of our dynasty."

"In these two laws, it is recorded what situations can be dealt with for the people of our vassal countries and foreign countries, and what situations require communication with our vassal countries and foreign officials."

As Zheng He spoke, Lai from Champa said nervously: "A foreign official in a vassal country?"

He thought that the Ming Dynasty was going to send troops to seize the territory, but Zheng He smiled and explained:

"It's like this. During this voyage to the West, the imperial court will lease a piece of land in each of the vassal capitals that are willing to join the tribute. We will pay rent for this piece of land, and the area will not exceed two acres."

"After the lease is completed, we will build an office for the Ming Dynasty Ministry of Rites in the subject country. In the future, whether the subject country is invaded or the people of this dynasty violate the law on the subject land, they can seek help through this office."

"As for this administrative office, we do need to keep some troops, but they will not exceed a hundred people."

"If the leader of the country feels that one hundred people is too many, then we can discuss reducing it to fifty people."

"In the future, if the king feels that he has been violated, he can unilaterally terminate this lease. Our officials will leave the country within a month."

"In addition, if there is unrest in the subject country, the country owner can also apply for protection, and they will escort you to the Ming Dynasty to receive asylum and wait for your return to the country."

Zheng He said a lot, and after being translated by the overseas Chinese, Lai of Champa breathed a sigh of relief.

In fact, this form of permanent diplomacy has existed for a long time, but it usually involves occupying a city to buy a residence for the envoy, and the envoy can bring his own bodyguard.

But now the Ming Dynasty has set up this mansion as a yamen, and made the resident envoys into exiled officials.

As long as Champa does not actively request it, these temporary officials will be replaced after their three-year term. These diplomats have the power to prohibit punishment in the subject countries and foreign countries, which means that after breaking the law, officials from the Ming Dynasty need to be investigated, and the subject countries cannot use punishment privately.

Similarly, Champa can also send officials to the capital of the Ming Dynasty to be permanent diplomats. If there is no money to rent a house, they can live in the Seyi Pavilion arranged by the Ming Dynasty.

Once something happens in the country, diplomats can also report directly to the prince or emperor.

In this way, we can also avoid the possibility of slander from the emperor's trusted vassal country's diplomats.

After some explanations from Zheng He and the overseas Chinese, Lai from Champa quickly nodded and even said: "One or two acres of land is nothing. If the Celestial Empire needs it, I can directly allocate a hundred acres of land to the Celestial Empire."

"No, no, no..." Zheng He quickly refused: "Lease is different from buying and selling. We, the Celestial Empire, will never occupy the land of the subject country, but want to bring long-term peace and stability to the subject country."

Zheng He's refusal made Lai of Champa very emotional. In his opinion, this was simply a symbol of civilization.

While he was sighing with emotion, the team also arrived at the royal capital, Vijaya City.

Vijaya City is a city made of stone bricks. The city wall is not high and there are many people coming and going outside the city.

They were wearing thin clothes, and some were bathing in the moat outside the royal capital, applying a lot of spices on their bodies to cover up the smell of sweat on their bodies.

Seeing that Zheng He was taking it seriously, Lai from Champa also introduced him to the culture of Champa.

Because they live in the sweltering tropics, Champa people, whether nobles or commoners, love cleanliness and take baths three or five times a day.

Zheng He had no doubt about this, because less than half an hour after he landed in Champa, he felt sticky and very uncomfortable.

If he lived in Champa all year round, he would probably develop this habit.

In addition to bathing, Lai of Champa also told Zheng He about the festivals and customs of the Champa people. For example, every January, people will lead an elephant and walk around their residence for a week, and then drive it outside the city gate. This custom It's called "chasing evil".

In addition to this festival, boat cruises are held in various places in Champa every April, and people also go to watch the cruise boats on the river.

The winter solstice in the Champa Kingdom falls on November 15th. Before this day is approaching, each state and county will present its local specialties and cloth to the king.

These three festivals are relatively important. In addition to these three, there are more than a dozen festivals, large and small, but Zheng He didn't pay much attention to them.

At this moment, his eyes were focused on the cultivated land outside the royal capital. In the fields, the common people who occupied the city were driving their cattle to cultivate, and there were few manpower to sow seeds.

There is no barley among the grains grown in the fields, only japonica rice, millet, sesame, and soybeans.

"Are there many cattle working in Champa?"

Zheng He's eyes lit up and he couldn't help but ask Lai from Champa. Hearing this, Lai from Champa also said proudly: "There are many buffaloes in Champa, Chenla and Siam. They can be used for labor after being domesticated. It’s near the capital, and many farmers have cattle at home, so the price is not expensive.”

"This time I am going south. In addition to bringing favors and rewards to the king, I am also responsible for trade." Zheng He heard what Lai of Champa said and quickly changed his identity and said:

"If there are enough cattle, ivory pieces, agarwood, yellow wax, ebony, rhinoceros horns, red parrots and other goods can be traded with our country at the dock."

"The products we bring include silk, porcelain, tea, rice wine, silk fans, lacquerware, silk, sugar, etc..."

Zheng He mentioned many commodities needed by both parties, which made Lai of Champa's eyes light up.

Champa does not produce tea, and people do not know how to make wine. They only drink coconut wine. Because coconut wine is a naturally fermented fruit wine, it can be naturally fermented into wine even without artificial processing, so even if the locals do not know how to make wine, they can still drink it. Drink wine.

But again, drinking too much of one kind of wine will make you tired, so rice wine and rice wine also account for a large proportion of the trade between the two countries.

As for silk, silk, tea, calligraphy and painting, not to mention, they are all things that the Champa nobles need.

Things such as ivory slices, agarwood, yellow wax, ebony, rhinoceros horns, red parrots, etc. are the local specialties of Champa, and the prices are very cheap and affordable compared to the domestic prices in Ming Dynasty.

"Does the angel want a Kunlun slave?"

Lai of Champa asked Zheng He. After all, the slave trade in Champa was very prosperous and it was also an important foreign trade commodity of the Champa country.

But in response to his proposal, Zheng He smiled and waved his hand: "Slaves are not needed. There are too many slaves in the palace. North Korea often sacrifices slaves."

"That's it..." Hearing what Zheng He said, Champa's Lai was a little disappointed, but when he thought of other commodities that the Ming Dynasty needed, Champa's Lai told the overseas Chinese not to translate, and at the same time asked his ministers to buy the Ming Dynasty products with the merchants in the city. required goods.

After doing all this, Lai of Champa began to invite Zheng He to visit Vijaya City.

For five consecutive days, Lai of Champa would invite Zheng He to have breakfast every day when he got up, and then take him on a tour inside and outside the royal capital. In private, he asked ministers to purchase the goods needed by the Ming Dynasty at market prices.

Five days later, when the visit came to an end, Zheng He also rented a piece of land not far from the palace, and left one hundred Ming troops and one ambassador, two deputy envoys, and ten officials who accompanied the army south. name.

Lai of Champa personally led the army to escort Zheng He to the dock and transported a large amount of goods that Zheng He needed to the dock, which were counted by the Hubu officials and Champa officials accompanying the army.

The difference is that at this time, the officials in Champa put on the official robes of the Ming Dynasty, and the Lai of Champa also put on the clothes of the princes given by the Ming Dynasty.

"This is a gift to the angels. It is a way of repaying the angels and the heavenly soldiers for taking care of the small country."

The Lai of Champa on the pier bowed respectfully and presented several boxes filled with gold, copper coins and coral.

Seeing this, Zheng He also knew that he would not be able to reassure Lai of Champa if he did not accept the gifts, so he signaled to the officials around him to accept them.

At the same time, he also glanced at the trade officials who were counting at the end.

Seeing the trade official from the Ministry of Revenue nodding, Zheng He returned the greeting to Lai from Champa:

"Sir, please stop here. When my fleet returns, we will bring the leaders of the countries in the South China Sea and Nanyang or their envoys to Nanjing to ask His Majesty the Emperor to recognize your territory and rule, so that peace can be maintained in the South China Sea and Nanyang, and all countries will love each other. Like a family.”

Zheng He, who was wearing a white bullfight uniform, persuaded Lai of Champa who still wanted to see them off, and added some things to him that had not been discussed.

Facing hundreds of warships and nearly 20,000 troops at his doorstep, Lai Lao from Champa listened honestly to everything Zheng He added, and then bowed and said:

"The little king will make good use of and wear the uniforms and golden seals rewarded by the great emperor of the Celestial Dynasty. If the Celestial Dynasty goes south this time, and if some unsighted people dare to block it, the little king is also willing to obey the angel's orders and send a large army to quell the rebellion. "

After a few days of getting along with each other, Lai from Champa understood what kind of person Zheng He was, and what kind of character Emperor Yongle and the Prince of the East Palace were like, so he fully supported him.

His support brought a smile to Zheng He's face, and he ended the mission after a few pleasantries.

Under the reluctant eyes of Lai Na of Champa, Zheng He led the officials onto a sand ship made of 200 materials and sailed towards the fleet that looked like floating islands in the distance.

Watching them walk away, the general who occupied the city couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty, the Chinese Empire will not use troops against us, right?"

"No..." Lai of Champa shook his head and pointed at the large fleet: "If they want to use troops, the royal city may have fallen on the first day they arrived."

"That's fine. There is a Celestial Empire in the north that we can rely on. If Zhenla wants to go against us in the future, we have to think about it."

Lai of Champa happily touched the luxurious clothes he was wearing, and couldn't help but think of the exquisite gold seal placed in his palace. He couldn't help but smile and order:

"Let people all over the country wear clothes like this to show our belief in the Celestial Empire."

"Yes!" The general nodded in agreement. After all, he also received the clothes as a reward from the Ming Dynasty as a minister.

Everyone loves beautiful things, even men.

Ming Dynasty silks, porcelain teas, books and clothing, and other things with cultural attributes are considered dimensionality reduction attacks all over the world.

If Champa wants to closely follow the Ming Dynasty, then it is natural to learn from the Ming Dynasty.

Lai of Champa knew this problem very well, and Zheng He, as the gift giver, knew even more.

"I really don't know why His Highness sent so many free clothes, satin and books."

The sand boat put Zheng He and the others on the boat. Seeing that they were back on their own territory, the accompanying officials also asked questions they cared about.

During this voyage to the West, Zheng He brought with him a lot of clothes of the princes, as well as various gifts, as well as official uniforms, official seals, and a large number of translated books on culture.

These things are basically rewards. There is no doubt that they are a loss-making transaction, but Zhu Gaoxu is very happy to do this loss-making transaction.

Throughout the Ming Dynasty, Ming Dynasty’s cultural penetration into neighboring countries was mainly from Korea, Annan, Ryukyu and other countries. Although there was also penetration into Indochina, it could not be maintained for a long time. Therefore, when Europeans entered later, they easily destroyed the local Sinicization. Work.

Productivity destined Ming to be unable to control the entire Southeast Asia, but Ming could slowly penetrate and control them through culture.

Establishing a stable tribute system and at the same time culturally penetrating these vassal states is what Zhu Gaoxu hopes to accomplish and establish order in his lifetime.

Just as right now, Zheng He is carrying out cultural penetration into the entire Southeast Asia region as Zhu Gaoxu said.

"Let them learn our Han culture so that we can control them more easily in the future."

Faced with the officials' words, Cui Jun, who stepped forward to greet Zheng He, opened his mouth to explain.

Although he was young, he was very far-sighted, and Zheng He couldn't help nodding in approval.

"It is true, but it must continue. After all, this group of countries is different from Annan and North Korea."

Yang Zhan sat on the mat on the deck, wiped the sweat from his forehead and said to Zheng He:

"Although the population of Champa is okay, its commerce is not developed, and the court is not in need of the slave products that it is proud of. I guess you didn't make much money from this transaction, right?"

He told the general situation of the Champa Kingdom, but Zheng He shook his head: "I made a lot of money."

"Earned it?" Yang Zhan was stunned for a moment, and then he saw Zheng He taking out the book that had been counted and summarized.

"Five thousand two hundred pounds of ivory, twenty thousand pounds of agarwood, sixty thousand pounds of yellow wax, thirty-four thousand pounds of ebony, six hundred rhinoceros horns, and..."

Zheng He talked a lot, and finally ended with: "Seven hundred and sixty-two cattle."

"Gengniu sends ships to Annan for immigrants, and the remaining items are transported back to the country and sold to the Ministry of Household Affairs, which can earn at least 100,000 guan."

"Including the net profit of more than 60,000 guan from the sales of our products, the country from the city alone has gained 160,000 guan."

Speaking of this, Zheng He couldn't help but look at the boundless sea.

"After this voyage to the West, I really don't know how much I can bring back..."

(End of this chapter)