Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 218: The Envoy of Clavijo to the East ([-])
Why has the population of Ili City more than doubled in just four years?
I asked the Qingyao envoy from the Ming Dynasty, and he told me that the matter was a secret of the Ming Dynasty and it was not convenient to disclose it.

So this question bothered me for a long time.

In September of the 12th year of Yongle, the envoy led by me and a hundred knights led by Qing Yao successfully arrived at the Ming Dynasty Capital.

Half a month later, Emperor Yongle summoned me.

Of course, this time at the Fengtian Palace meeting, the emperor not only summoned me, but also more than 60 envoys from overseas Ming vassal countries like me.

Emperor Yongle was very generous. According to the tribute gifts from each of our vassal countries, he rewarded Ming goods with ten times the value.

This ten-fold value was determined by Ming ceremonial officials based on the official price of the Ming court. In fact, if these goods were sold in the Ming market, their value would be discounted by half, or even lower.

However, these goods were gifts from Emperor Yongle, and the goods on the Ming market were naturally incomparable.

In particular, the porcelain, silk, and tea given by His Majesty the Ming Emperor were all used by the imperial court and were of extremely high quality.

After we bring the goods back home, the value will increase at least dozens of times!
The great Emperor Ming used his actions to tell Ming's vassal countries that Ming would not treat guests who came from afar badly.

In June of the 14th year of Yongle, I returned to my country - the Kingdom of Spain, a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.

After returning to China, I learned that my king (Enrique III) died of illness in June of the 11th year of Yongle. Before his death, the king designated his younger brother Fernando to succeed to the throne.

However, after the death of my king, Fernando actually declined the throne and chose to assist the king's four-year-old son Juan.

Even though Fernando was not the king, he still held great power. Fortunately, he was praised by his subjects for his careful and thoughtful handling of government affairs.

In the war with the Kingdom of Granada, Fernando led his troops to conquer Antequera in the 12th year of Yongle.

Later, when his uncle King Martin I of Aragon died without an heir, Fernando was elected King of Aragon in March of this year.

In order to ensure that the territory of the Kingdom of Spain would not be invaded by the Kingdom of Granada and the King of Portugal, Fernando sent me as an envoy to the Ming Dynasty in March of the 15th year of Yongle in the name of King Juan, hoping that the Ming Dynasty court could send the former Qingyao to lead the Ming Dynasty knights. Come to the aid of the Kingdom of Spain.

On my third mission to the Ming Dynasty, I still took the land route.

In August of the following year, I arrived at the capital of the Ming Dynasty and presented to His Majesty the Ming Emperor the memorials written by King Enrique before his death, as well as the memorials written by Fernando in the name of King Juan.

After discussing with the prince, the Emperor of Ming Dynasty sent Qingyao to lead [-] cavalry to borrow [-] troops from the Kingdom of Harie to help our country resist foreign enemies.

In October of the 17th year of Yongle, Qingyao led his troops to defeat the armies of the Kingdom of Granada and the King of Portugal, and at the request of Fernando and King Juan, he left two thousand soldiers of the Kingdom of Harlequin behind.

In order to express his gratitude to the Ming Emperor, Fernando sent me as an envoy to the Ming Dynasty again in March of the 18th year of Yongle in the name of King Juan.

This is my fourth mission to the Ming Dynasty, and I still take the land route.

Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty cavalry led by Qingyao and the soldiers of the Halie Kingdom accompanied us all the way. No small country or separatist force dared to take action against us along the way.

In November of that year, after entering Beiting Province of the Ming Dynasty, a group of us walked in the Ili River Valley and found that there were a large number of people laying roads and building canals on the vast plains on both sides of the road.

Each of their faces was filled with joy, as if they were sure that the coming year would be a good harvest.

Different from the working people I saw when I first went to the Ming Dynasty, the faces of these people have become rosy. Except for a few children, all the adults are wearing clothes. Most of them look very new, as if they have just bought them. A sharp contrast to the previous shabby appearance.

I also discovered that in many towns along the way, there were several new schools dedicated to teaching children.

As for the county town, there is at least one middle school that teaches students various knowledge.

In May of the 19th year of Yongle, we came to Jinling City of the Ming Empire for the fourth time. Half a month later, we met the Emperor and the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty, and presented us with the gold and silver we brought from the Western Continent, as well as various gifts. , just to express gratitude to the Ming Dynasty.Emperor Yongle and the Crown Prince were very happy to see that we were grateful. They said that they would let Qingyao escort us back to the country again, and ordered Qingyao to arrange for his capable people to build a military base on the seaside of my country to facilitate support for my country. , but need my country to provide military supplies.

I thought this arrangement was reasonable and I immediately thanked the Emperor for his kindness.

In September of the 20th year of Yongle, escorted by three hundred cavalry led by Qingyao, we returned to Spain safely.

The king (Juan)'s uncle Fernando died of illness last year, so he has grown into a teenage king and started to rule personally.

The king held a grand ceremony to welcome Qingyao and other Ming army officers to come again.

A few days later, at the suggestion of his favored minister Luna, the king designated a piece of land near the sea for the Ming army soldiers to build a military base.

At the end of December of that year, under the command of Qingyao, the two thousand soldiers of the Harlequin Kingdom who had stayed in Spain spent three months building a military town capable of manufacturing simple small artillery.

Qingyao named this small town Dingxi Town, which means the military town that stabilized Spain.

The simple and small artillery manufactured in Dingxi Town was not comparable to the Ming Dynasty's vehicle-mounted general artillery, but it still had a certain power.

Although the technology for making such small artillery was in the hands of Qingyao's confidants, my king was still very happy when he learned that the Ming army would use these small artillery to help Spain defend its territory.

In March of the 21st year of Yongle, the king sent me as an envoy to the Ming Dynasty as usual to pay tribute to His Majesty the Ming Emperor and express his gratitude to the great Emperor for sending people to assist the Kingdom of Spain.

This is my fifth trip to the Ming Dynasty by land.

Qingyao successfully built the military base in Dingxi Town that met the requirements of His Majesty the Ming Emperor, and then led his escort back to report back to the Ming Emperor.

Their return to China this time and traveling with our mission can be regarded as a kind of protection for our mission.

After entering Beiting Province in November of that year, Qingyao was worried that heavy snow would close the mountains, so we did not stay in Yili City for too long, but hurried on our way.

Unfortunately we still encountered a blizzard.

In this way, when we left the boundaries of Beiting Province and headed to Hami City, the provincial capital of Puchang Province, it was already March of the 22nd year of Yongle.

On the way from Hami City to the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty, I saw thousands of people carrying their luggage and migrating northwest along the road.

Only then did I realize that the increased population in Ili City actually came from the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty!
Dear readers, you need to know that immigration in any country is a huge project. It cannot be completed in three or two months with the cooperation of relevant officials.

Especially with hundreds of thousands of immigrants, it is a huge project.

However, this kind of immigration project, which often involves tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people, is actually a normal occurrence in various provinces and vassal states under the direct control of the Ming Empire.

Can you imagine?

Each province under the direct control of the Ming Dynasty had an Immigration Department, which was responsible for coordinating the immigration of the province!
In the eighth year of Yongle's reign, Yili City had a population of just over [-].

As far as I know, in Yili City in the 21st year of Yongle, the population in the main urban area plus the population in the suburbs totaled 120 million!

Among these 120 million people, there are more than [-] civilians and more than [-] Ming army soldiers (guard soldiers) living in various quarters within the city, while the rest live in various quarters outside the city like a dense cluster of stars.

The Ming Dynasty used the lijia system as the basis for managing people. Residents considered 110 households to be one li, and ten households to be one jia. Each had a jia length and a li length. The li in the city was called a square, and the li in the suburbs was called a xiang.

(End of this chapter)