Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 368: Ming Belongs to Bangga Lahai
"Woo-"

In late July, when the northeast monsoon continued to blow into the bay, Bangladeshi soldiers in bright armor lined the main roads in Chadi Port.

They held the spears in their hands nervously and stared at the cavalry team coming from the northern streets.

The sound of their horse hooves and their Turkic costumes made the Bangladeshi army nervous, and they swallowed nervously.

Amidst the melodious sound of the horn, this cavalry team of nearly a hundred people escorted a nobleman wearing halal robes out of the street and came to the square of Chadi Port, where they also saw the temporary palace building not far away.

Since the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate, many places and countries in northern India have gradually become halal, and both architecture and clothing have begun to move closer to the Middle East.

Even after the separation of the Delhi Sultanate, these customs and habits could not be corrected, because two hundred years is enough time for a nation to completely lose its culture.

Under the watchful eyes of the Bangladeshi soldiers in the square, this team of cavalry with a somewhat Turkic Muslim style arrived in front of the temporary palace of Bangladesh.

In the past, they could maintain a sense of superiority and pride even in the face of thousands of Bangladeshi troops in Bangladesh. But now they have to face not only Bangladesh, but also the legendary extremely powerful "shock". Danguo".

The countries in India also knew very little about the Central Plains dynasty. Even the former Delhi Sultanate only knew that the country in the Central Plains region was called Cathay.

As they sat down, Aiyasi Ding also turned his attention to Zheng He.

Zheng He sat upright and spoke, not taking Zuo Laisi seriously.

Zheng He's words were aggressive. This was not his intention, but was due to Zhu Gaoxu's explanation before his voyage to the West.

"Nothing else, I just want to ask your envoy to move over and watch the fireworks."

"My heavenly army is 20,000, and hundreds of ships are just outside the harbor. If your envoy feels that I am not sincere enough, then I would like to ask your envoy to move to a high platform and let your envoy see the sincerity of my heavenly dynasty."

"Chendan looks down on us too much?!"

Zuo Laisi had no choice but to order the guards around him to move with him under the eager eyes of the Ming army.

Not long after, when the six people stepped onto the high tower, they had an almost unobstructed view of the entire Chadi Port.

For Aiyasidin, the country of Zhangpur, which has a population of nearly one million and an army twice as many as our own, is undoubtedly a powerful country.

But for Zheng He, if the Zhangpur Kingdom is not obedient, then he does not mind letting Chen Xuan lead the army to the north for activities. Anyway, there is a waterway that can reach the interior of the Zhangpur Kingdom.

This scene shocked Aiya Siding, who was sitting on the throne, and Zuo Laisi was even more so.

Because of this, Aiya Siding found Zheng He, and Zheng He also had the opportunity to appear on such an occasion.

However, although they did not know the Ming Dynasty, they had met many Chinese people because of trade. Therefore, when nearly a thousand Ming troops with Chinese faces lined up outside the palace of Bangladesh, the envoy from Jaunpur State was also very nervous. .

"What are you going to do?!"

Due to Timur's invasion, northern India fell into a period of chaos, and the governor of Jaunpur, Sarji, also declared independence and called himself the first "Sultan of Jaunpur".

The high tower is the tallest building in Chadi Port, with a height of four feet. Under the guidance of Zheng He, Aiya Siding and Zuo Laisi came to the foot of the tower respectively.

Zheng He said and motioned for Aiya Siding to go first.

When Zuo Laisi saw this, he also knew that Zheng He really wanted him to see something. Although he scolded Zheng He a thousand times in his heart, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and walk up the tower.

Aiyasi Ding was not that worried. After all, this was his country. If something happened to him, even if Zheng He had the strength to destroy Bangladesh, he would not be able to let the Ming army from the sea suddenly rush here to rescue him.

These days, he has told Zheng He about the situation of Zhangpur State, and Zheng He also knows the situation of Zhangpur State thoroughly.

The Ming Dynasty needed to establish sufficient deterrence during its three voyages to the Western Seas. Then it could not rely solely on ships as a deterrent, but had to show a record that was enough to make the small Western countries fearful.

He spoke the language of the Jaunpur region, but to the civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty, all foreign countries were transliterations, so the Jaunpur country in his mouth became the "Zhunnapuer Kingdom", and Salas was transliterated into "Left to Four".

After independence, Jaunpur set its sights on Bangladesh. Several battles between the two sides ended in Bangladesh's defeat.

They arrived at the temporary palace and saw Aiya Siding sitting on the throne, as well as a bunch of Chinese people sitting on the right side.

Speaking of which, the reason why the country of Jaunpur was established was mainly thanks to the invasion of the Timur Empire.

Guided by Bangladeshi soldiers, they entered the palace and entered an arch after passing through a long corridor.

While Zheng He was talking, hundreds of Ming troops had already taken action, completely surrounding Zuo Laisi and the hundreds of dismounted cavalry around him.

"Banggara Kingdom has accepted our heavenly dynasty as its dynasty and has voluntarily become its vassal."

It was clearly in the territory of Bangladesh, but the envoy from Jangpur ignored Aiya Siding and walked directly to Zheng He and others and bowed slowly:
"On behalf of the Sultan of our country, the envoy of Jaunpur State, Salas, would like to extend his greetings to all of you from China."

Because of this, Chen Xuan always wants to do something.

They bravely followed Zheng He out of the palace and walked towards a high tower outside the palace.

The three people and the three interpreters walked up to the tower, while the guards followed cautiously behind.

"I have also asked the leader of the Bangkara Kingdom to put aside the previous grudges between Zhunna Pu'er and Bangkara Kingdom. The reason why I summoned your envoy now is that I hope that your envoy and your country will have a good relationship with the king of your country in the future. If If the country of Zhu Napu'er raises troops to harass the border again, our soldiers and horses of the Celestial Dynasty can only teach the leader of your country what is the truth!"

Zheng He stood up and walked out. Seeing this, Aiya Siding also stood up and followed.

Therefore, their understanding of Ming Dynasty is actually about the same as Ming Dynasty’s understanding of them.

His words reached Zuo Laisi's ears through translation. Zuo Laisi was a little angry after hearing this, but when he thought that he didn't know Daming's strength, he could only endure it and saluted Aiya Siding, and then inadvertently Aiyasi Ding opened his mouth and took the seat on the left.

"Your envoy and the king can follow me up to the high tower. I will be in the middle, one in front of the other, to avoid any worries."

Akito's tall stature and the armor from a "foreign land" all added to the psychological burden on the envoys of the Zhangpur Kingdom.

Zuo Laisi got up angrily, but when he saw him getting up, the Ming army behind Zheng He simply pulled out his short-handed soldiers and raised his matchlock gun.

"This is the territory of Bangkara Kingdom. When your envoy arrives, he should meet the king first."

Because of this, Aiyasi Ding walked up to the tower without thinking, while Zheng He followed closely behind.

But compared with the Islamic-style buildings all over northern India, the almost invisible hard sails on the harbor in the distance make people feel numb.

"How many warships are there..."

Zuo Laisi swallowed, already believing what Zheng He said.

The tower here is less than half a mile from the port, and the Ming army's warships are vast. Anyone with slightly better eyesight can clearly see the scale of the Ming army's warships.

When Zuo Laisi was nervous, he saw Zheng He take out a strange thing.

But when Zheng He lit the fire, the strange thing in his hand suddenly made an explosion after the fuse burned out.

"boom!"

The sound of the cannon startled Zuo Laisi and Aiya Siding, but before they could speak, Zheng He took the initiative and smiled:
"This move is to prove to both of you that our country is absolutely capable of intervening in the state affairs of the two countries."

After Zheng He finished speaking, the sound of cannons sounded one after another in the distance.

When the cannon sound ended, Aiyasi Ding and Zuo Lai looked at each other in confusion, not understanding what Zheng He wanted to express.

However, after a few breaths, they knew exactly what Zheng He wanted to express...

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom—"

Just for a moment, the sound of cannons sounded like the sky was falling and the earth was collapsing, and his ears almost became silent for a short time.

"This is the confidence of my Celestial Empire..."

Zheng He looked back at Aiya Siding and Zuo Laisi, who were so frightened that they were paralyzed on the ground. He smiled softly and asked at the same time: "You two should know what this is, right?"

"Know...know..."

Compared to Aiyasi Ding who had no idea what to ask, Zuo Laisi obviously had more experience and naturally knew what the thing that could make such a sound was.

When Timur invaded Delhi, he used amazingly powerful stone cannons, and only stone cannons could make such a big noise.

However, judging from the sound of the artillery just now, the Ming army's artillery obviously had more artillery than the Timur Empire's, and this was also the reason why Zuo Lai Si was unsteady on his feet.

"If you two don't believe that China has such strength, you can go to the ship to visit it in person and see up close how China's artillery destroys the city wall."

Zheng He smiled kindly, but in the ears of Aiya Siding and Zuo Laisi, it was more terrifying than the sound from hell.

"No need...no need..."

Zuo Laisi lost the courage he had when he faced Zheng He. At this moment, he completely put the Ming army under Zheng He on the same level as the Tamerlane army he had seen before.

From the wars he had participated in, he had never heard such a dense sound of stone cannons, which was enough to illustrate the strength of the Ming army.

He dared to say that even the most fortified royal capital, Jaunpur, would be hard-pressed to withstand such a one-day bombardment.

Daming's strength far exceeded his imagination.

In the shock, he even forgot how he followed Zheng He down the tower. He only remembered that Zheng He asked him to rest first and invite himself to visit the fleet tomorrow.

When he was helped by the guards back to the place where Aiya Siding had arranged for him to rest, he slumped down on the chair, breathing heavily.

But after his breathing slowed down, he became suspicious again.

Precisely because he had never heard the sound of so many stone cannons, after calming down, he realized something was wrong. In his world view, no country has ever had so many stone cannons, not even the Timurid Empire.

"I have to go to Cathay's ship tomorrow to prevent them from defrauding me."

While Zuo Laisi was thinking this, the next day came quickly, and he and Aiya Siding also headed for the port under the escort of hundreds of Ming troops led by Zheng He.

When he first arrived at the port, Zuo Laisi was shocked by the size and number of Ming warships.

Yesterday, when I looked at the high tower from half a mile away, I didn't think anything was wrong, but now facing this group of warships and armed horse ships with more than 3,000 materials at close range, the four on the left felt that compared with them, the ones from their own country in Zhangpur were nothing. Marines seem to have become children's toys.

"This is my first officer's boat. You can go up and have a look."

Under the leadership of Zheng He, Aiyasi Ding and Zuo Laisi came to a warship with three thousand materials. Under Zheng He's guidance, they uneasily boarded the warship.

After stepping onto the warship, what came into view were hundreds of soldiers in bright armor and more than a hundred sailors in shorts.

Even for a three-thousand-material warship, the deck is enough to race a horse, and there are cannons on both sides of the deck.

There are raincloths placed next to them. Obviously, if they had not arrived, these artillery would have been wrapped in raincloths to prevent them from being corroded due to excessive contact with sea water.

"The Chinese stone cannons are different from what I have seen."

When Zuo Lai Si boarded the ship, he saw no less than ten cannons. Although their shapes were different from those of stone cannons, Zuo Lai Si knew that the sound of yesterday's cannons was not fake.

There are no less than ten artillery pieces on the deck of just one auxiliary ship. How many artillery pieces must there be among the hundreds of warships in the bay?
"Our artillery is more powerful and farther away than the stone artillery. It can directly bombard from here across Chadi City and reach the farmland in the north."

Zheng He said proudly, and these words made Aiya Siding and Zuo Laisi take a breath.

Chadi City is at least two miles from north to south, which means that the Ming army's naval guns can shoot two miles away.

If this is the case, then all the stone-shooting cannons they know now are not as powerful as these artillery pieces of the Ming army.

"How many artillery pieces does this fleet of your country have?"

Zuo Laisi touched the naval gun next to him uneasily. After blurting out the information, he felt that Zheng He would not tell him.

"Including the artillery for arming the horse ships, it's almost two thousand." Zheng He humbly gave a number.

"Two thousand guns?!" Zuo Laisi almost bit off his tongue. He couldn't believe that if the news was true, could his own city of Jaunpur withstand a salvo of two thousand artillery pieces.

"I have twenty cannons in this boat. I will take you to see them."

Zheng He spoke with a smile, and took the shocked Zuo Laisi and Aiya Siding to the second floor of the ship to watch.

After reading it, Zheng He took them to other warships and armed merchant ships to watch. Along the way, they saw no less than 200 cannons and no less than 3,000 soldiers.

When his feet stood on the dock again, Zuo Laisi asked his curious question.

"With such great power, why doesn't China annex all the countries in its path?"

Zuo Laisi's question also made Aiyasi Ding extremely nervous, but Zheng He still smiled and said:
"My Celestial Empire resides in the world and is the China of the world, radiating outward in all directions. As long as the four parties are willing, they are all my Celestial Empire's vassals. Even if they are not willing, they can exchange their needs as friends."

"As long as there are no actions that offend our country, our country will naturally not invade other countries at will and enslave their people."

"Just as Bangala is a vassal of our country, our country has the responsibility to protect you, so we will participate in the mediation between your country and Bangala."

Seeing that Zuo Laisi didn't believe it, Zheng He also smiled and said: "Of course, our country also needs what we need when we go to the west. That is, the far west has what our country lacks."

"That's why our country recruits its subjects and sets up official factories to supply the fleet."

After Zheng He added this explanation, Zuo Laisi was instantly convinced.

Seeing that Zuo Laisi was convinced, Zheng He also continued: "After joining our Celestial Dynasty and treating ourselves as a vassal of the Celestial Dynasty, our dynasty will also protect countries at home and abroad. At the same time, we do not need to collect money from our vassals, but only tribute. "

"Tribute?" Zuo Laisi felt nervous, while Aiya Siding explained:
"Tribute is to pay tribute to some things needed by the Celestial Empire, such as fine horse breeds, some spices and precious wood species, and the Celestial Empire will also give rewards in return."

After Aiyasi Ding finished explaining, he wanted to flatter Zheng He and said: "I have prepared twenty large food horses for the angels, as well as a hundred catties each of parrots, Douluo Mian, Sahara, sugar frost and other spices. ."

"Yes." Zheng He nodded and said with a smile: "Our court also prepared ten pairs of blue and white porcelain jars, blue and white porcelain plates, and twenty pieces of silk for the king as a reward."

Zheng He's words made Aiya Siding and Zuo Laisi's eyes widen.

For the Ming Dynasty, the cost of these things was only a few hundred guan, but for overseas countries, the value of these things was at least 3,000 guan.

Zuo Laisi knew very well that the value of the things Aiya Siding gave away was only fifteen hundred Mingguan at most, but what he got in return was multiples of it.

This kind of transaction makes Zuo Laisi active.

"If Jaunpur can also join it, even if the Ming Dynasty cannot protect Jaunpur, Jaunpur can still benefit from it."

Thinking of this, Zuo Laisi saluted and said: "The strength of your country has opened my eyes. Here, I can represent our country's Sultan and promise not to have any more conflicts with Bangala. In addition, after I return to my country, I will also tell my country's Sultan about the situation of the Celestial Dynasty." Powerful, I believe that after hearing this, the Sultan of our country will definitely be willing to worship the Emperor of China."

Zuo Laisi obviously also wanted to gain benefits from entering the Ming Dynasty's tribute system, and Zheng He naturally welcomed this.

"Okay, okay, then I will stay here for another half month. No matter the news is good or bad, your envoy and I will be friends."

Zheng He responded with a smile, not feeling depressed because Zuo Lai Si would take advantage of him.

From the perspective of Zuo Laisi and others, the Ming Dynasty's reward was money-losing trade, but from Zheng He's perspective, the Ming Dynasty also made a profit after paying tribute, and the trade after paying tribute was the bulk.

If everyone feels that the Ming Dynasty's maintenance of tribute is a losing business, then they will find ways to maintain the tribute trade between their country and the Ming Dynasty, and this is what Zheng He wants.

"The official factory will be stationed at the national pavilion. If there is anything wrong with Banggala, you can contact the national pavilion to solve it."

"If there is civil strife in the Bangkara Kingdom, the army in the official factory will also protect your safety and escort you to the nearby Celestial Kingdom for temporary refuge. Then the Celestial Army will come to quell the rebellion for you."

Zheng He told Aiyasi Ding some of the benefits he could enjoy, which gave Aiyasi Ding more confidence.

He was most worried that after Zheng He left, he would have no one to rely on, and the country of Zhangpur in the north would take the opportunity to invade again.

The conversation between the two was seen by Zuo Laisi. He knew very well that this was Zheng He's warning to the Zhangpur Kingdom. However, Zuo Laisi no longer wanted to conflict with the Banggara Kingdom, at least for now. What kind of conflict do you want to have?

"In this case, I will return to Jaunpur now, tell my country Sultan what happened here, and ask the angels to wait for me here for half a month."

"it is good!"

After Zuo Laisi finished speaking, he slowly left under Zheng He's gaze, and Aiyasi Ding couldn't help but straighten his waist when he saw Zuo Laisi, who was once so proud, so humble.

He warmly welcomed Zheng He to his temporary palace and organized a banquet in the palace.

Due to his status as a eunuch, Zheng He chose to take more than 10,000 officers and soldiers to open an official factory in the wasteland not far from Chadi Port after the matter was discussed. As for accompanying Aiyasi Ding, it was left to him. Official of the Ministry of Rites.

If nothing else goes wrong, these officials of the Ministry of Rites will stay in Bangala Kingdom for three years, waiting for their replacement after three years.

Chen Xuan led the warships and began to clean up pirates around the Bangkara channel. Most of these pirates were armed merchants from Arabia and India.

Since the Manchuria Strait is already very prosperous, these armed merchants have known about the arrival of the Ming Dynasty fleet early.

When the Ming fleet did not appear, they turned into pirates. When the Ming fleet appeared, they immediately disguised themselves as merchants.

Since it was a private trade zone, Chen Xuan did not directly bombard them like he did in Nanyang. Instead, he intercepted them and sent them away after telling them not to rob Ming merchant ships.

Naturally, they did not dare to rob the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty, because every time the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty passed through a Ming Dynasty official factory, they would receive several homing pigeons raised by the local official factory.

Once they were robbed, they described the enemy ship and then released homing pigeons.

As long as the homing pigeon flies back to the nearest official factory, the warships from that official factory will block the waterway and inspect it.

Whenever Ming merchandise appeared on board and its origin could not be explained, the vessel was captured on the spot.

If there was any resistance, they would be beheaded on the spot.

Chen Xuan has been playing with this process on the Dagu Laxuanweisi channel for almost a month. Many merchant ships from the small Western countries that passed by are aware of the Ming Dynasty's methods, so there are few unsighted pirates who rob the Ming Dynasty merchant ships.

Precisely because they did nothing, Chen Xuan's search failed to achieve any results.

As time passed by, before mid-August, Zuo Laisi successfully arrived at Chadi Port City with the tribute from the Sultan of Jaunpur.

Witnessed by everyone, the country of Zhangpur joined the Ming Dynasty's tribute system and presented hundreds of horses.

Upon seeing this, Zheng He gave back a hundred pieces each of velvet brocade, gold weaving, literary silk, and colorful silk, as well as ten pairs each of blue and white porcelain jars and blue and white porcelain vases.

While waiting for Zuo Lasi, the two states of Alisha (Odisha) and Chandaro (Andhra) in eastern and southern India also sent ships to Chadi Port to invite the fleet to the place.

Zheng He naturally had no reason to refuse, so after ending the canonization of the country of Jaunpur, Zheng He's fleet also began to set sail, heading towards Alisha, Shandaluo and other countries on the original route.

Standing on the deck, looking at the Chadi Port gradually disappearing, Zheng He sighed: "I didn't expect this mediation to be so easy."

"I'm almost exhausted." Chen Xuan came up from behind and asked Zheng He doubtfully. At the same time, he couldn't help but regret that he couldn't show off his skills.

Seeing this, Zheng He thought for a while and then said: "After heading to Alisha, we stopped temporarily to search the offshore waterways and deal with some pirates who still don't know about China."

"I guess our name has spread." Chen Xuan clicked his tongue a few times, feeling that he had made no achievements during this voyage, and he probably wouldn't get much reward when he returned to Nanjing.

It's just that Chen Xuan may not know when he said this. For some countries that are obsessed with interests, even if they heard about the power of the Ming Dynasty, they did not think that the Ming Dynasty could pose a threat to them, let alone Zheng He's voyages to the West. So powerful as rumored...

(End of this chapter)