Jinyi Night Walk

Chapter 1008 Surrender

Not long after Xia Xun returned to take the boat, Zheng He, Zhang Xitong and others came back from the banquet. After Xia Xun heard the news, he immediately sent someone to invite them over. txt e-book download**

Zheng He and Zhang Xitong had just returned from a banquet. Although the water and wine here are soft and sweet, they are not as strong as Chinese wines, but they are quite intoxicating after drinking too much. Xia Xun has already asked someone to cook tea. After the two sat down, the tea was served. , the three talked while drinking tea.

Zheng He said to Xia Xun: "Duke, at the banquet today, we met a few Han merchants who lived here for generations. Their ancestors moved here from the Middle Earth more than a hundred years ago. These people are now There are considerable forces here, and they generally have their own cottages. Most of them are still engaged in business and have their own fleets and escorts.

However, due to the lack of long-distance voyage capabilities of the fleet and the rampant pirate forces, their trading scope has always been limited to the surrounding small countries. Every few years, many caravans are gathered to form a huge caravan When you are in the team, you will go overseas once.After they heard about our ocean-going plan, they intend to join our fleet. Not only them, but also rich local businessmen also want to join. What do you think? "

Zhang Xitong added: "Also, some merchants in our fleet are very interested in this place and want to focus on developing trade here, so they want to stay here."

Xia Xun said: "Okay! You are free to come and go, as you please. The last time my father-in-law came, he represented the emperor to appease the barbarians, and he came to establish a tribute trade. Naturally, ordinary business groups should not be mixed in the team. It is different now." , although the father-in-law still bears the sacred order, the many merchants who came with the fleet are only for trade, not a member of the imperial mission. Therefore, they can decide whether to stay or not, but, yes Those who join the fleet must be checked more closely. Also, fees must be charged, we cannot protect them free of charge."

"Is there a fee?"

Hearing this, both Zheng He and Zhang Xitong were a little surprised. This is a common problem among officials. A gentleman doesn't talk about profit, let alone a gentleman who is an official.It is a great honor for those people to come here, and you have to collect money from them...

Xia Xun said: "That's right! You need to collect money! Whether it's the wealthy Han merchants who moved here from their ancestors or the local wealthy merchants, they all have to collect money. You think that they set up their own boats to go to sea and hire a huge team of guards. Money? The merchants who came with the ship paid taxes when they left and entered the port, so why are they so generous to outsiders?

Our fleet belongs to the imperial court, but the imperial court’s money is also the tax paid by the common people. We can’t pretend to be generous on the outside and only pay lip service. What’s the use of that?It costs a lot of money for our fleet to come out once, and the trade we do is certainly enough to make up for the consumption, but who is afraid of losing money?There are still some people in the court who are opposed to going abroad. Only by earning more money for the court can we win more opportunities for official sailing! "

This sentence moved Zheng He, and Zheng He nodded solemnly: "The Duke said it is very true! Then do it like this, and those who are willing to sail with our fleet will be allowed, but they will charge corresponding fees. I will do it later. Ask someone to estimate how much they need to spend to protect their forces when they go to sea by themselves, and then reduce some as appropriate..."

Xia Xun waved his hands and said with a smile: "No, no, no, there is no need to reduce it as appropriate. We will charge as much as the escort fees they have to pay for going out to sea by themselves. They can earn a golden mountain and come back with a trip back and forth. Father-in-law doesn't have to save money for them. They hua For the same amount of money, if you organize an escort yourself, you may not be safe, but if you follow us, you will never have to worry about being robbed by pirates, and it is quite generous not to overcharge them."

Zheng He said with a smile, "Then I will follow the Duke. Hehe, fortunately, the Duke did not go into business. Otherwise, within three years, he would be a Tao Zhugong."

Xia Xun said with a smile: "I dare not take it for granted. This is because we have strong military force and ocean-going capabilities. With this strong backing, I have the confidence to make an offer, and I guarantee that they will pay willingly. If I am allowed to do business by myself, It can’t compare to the scheming of these businessmen. Hehe, actually, we have another advantage in inviting these local businessmen to join in.”

Zhang Xitong said nahantically, "Aside from collecting escort fees, what are the benefits?"

Xia Xun said: "They are far more familiar with the nearby waters and the surrounding countries than we are. Especially last time we only sailed as far as the Kochiguri area, and we have never been to the west. If we learn from the old and absorb the new along the way, we will continue to receive new ones. In our fleet, there are always people who are familiar with the geography, water conditions, countries and customs ahead, so that we can sail accurately.

Don't underestimate this effect. In this way, first, we can avoid many detours, save a lot of time and travel expenses; second, we may have to go three or five times to get a clear view of the waters. Through their understanding, it can be mastered at one time; thirdly, although sea voyages are unpredictable, the locals are very clear about which road sections are more prone to danger. In this way, we will be able to reduce many casualties and ship losses! "

Zheng He and Zhang Xitong clapped their hands and applauded: "That's good! We didn't expect these many benefits. Good, good. From this point of view, along the way, we really need to attract more local business groups." Delighted, they decided to absorb After the local business group participated in the voyage, Zheng He asked again: "The Duke of the Kingdom wants us to come, what important business do we need to discuss?"

Xia Xun looked serious, and said: "That's it, today I went ashore with my family for sightseeing, and encountered an incident, which itself was nothing, but from this I thought of something that we had neglected. "

Xia Xun recounted the jealousy between the Siamese businessman and the navy officers and soldiers, and said: "Mulakka originally professed his vassal to the King of Siam and was under his jurisdiction. With Siam's national strength, they would definitely not dare to resist my celestial order, but they suddenly lost their control over Manlaja, even though Manlaja only offered a mere 40 taels of gold every year, they would definitely feel dissatisfied."

Zhang Xitong said: "It's certain to be dissatisfied. Although Manchuria only offers 40 taels of gold every year, they do business in Manjaga and don't pay taxes at all. This is a lot of money. Now we are forced to obey them. It's no wonder they are happy to grab a piece of Feirou from their hands. But what if they don't want to?"

However, Zheng He heard that Xia Xun had deeper considerations, nodded lightly and said, "I don't know what the Duke thinks about this?"

Xia Xun said: "I have always paid equal attention to grace and power when dealing with Nanyang countries. Divide and conquer. Now Jiaozhi's Chen Jiya has just been defeated and captured, and the place has temporarily calmed down. At this time, if Jiaozhi has a big heart for me Dissatisfied neighbors, they dare not openly oppose me, Daming, but there is no guarantee that they will not vent their anger with a knife. If they secretly fund Annan's rebellion..."

Zheng He said with emotion: "That's right, the Duke is very worried! It's just that it is His Majesty's will to allow Manga to establish the country and make him king. Furthermore, since my dynasty has set the national policy of opening up the sea and opening up the trade between the east and the west, It will be of great benefit to my Ming Dynasty to add this full of cards, this place must be in our hands, so... what should I do?"

Xia Xun smiled slightly, and said: "Of course Manaja must be controlled by the court, and there is absolutely no reason for the emperor's imperial decree to be contradicted. However, for Siam, you might as well use some means to make them settle down. I'll come back After that, I have carefully thought about the current situation in Siam and came up with some strategies.”

At this time Zhang Xitong also became more cautious, cupped his hands and said: "I would like to hear the details!"

Xia Xun said: "The trade of Siam depends on China. If we Daming don't buy their products, their yellow speed incense, Jiangzhen incense, agarwood, huali wood, dried blood, ivory, etc. will be difficult to sell at a price. In the past, they mostly traded with my Ming Dynasty through tribute trade and sichuan, and they already relied heavily on this area. Now that my Ming Dynasty opens free trade, it has become an indispensable and important market for them.

Originally, we planned to visit Siam again on our return journey, but now we might as well send a fleet to Siam first to convey my intention of opening up sea trade to them. I bought the Daming market, lost the east corner, harvested the mulberry elm, and made up most of the economic loss.Where the interests lie, this is the policy of restraint.

Again, show your kindness.The Siamese have been invaded and plundered by the Khmers, and the two sides have continued to fight.When we send envoys, we can mediate in the middle and tell the Khmer people not to fight. This is also in line with the emperor's policy of favoring the barbarians and Huaiyuan, and the world is one family.The Khmer king categorically did not dare to disobey the emperor's will, at least he did not dare to brazenly fight Siam again.

In this way, we can invite the hearts of the soldiers and civilians of Siam to appease their grievances.Zhancheng and Jiaozhi have always been enemies, and they wholeheartedly hope that the imperial court will accept Jiaozhi's rule, if Siam does not make any moves against Annan.Annan has dissidents, there is a large army to suppress them inside, and there is no one soldier or grain of rice outside, so what kind of trouble can there be?The two generals Zhang Fu and Mu Sheng governed Annan, which saved a lot of trouble. "

Zheng He said happily: "The Duke of the State is far-sighted, and Zheng He agrees with this opinion!"

During Zheng He's voyages to the West, Emperor Yongle gave him several blank imperial edicts, which showed his great trust in Zheng He, but also took into account the actual situation of his westward journey.For many years, Ming Dynasty has always been relatively closed to the outside world. Even Japan, which is close at hand, could mistake Prince Huairen for the king at the beginning, let alone the land in the far west.

The Ming Fleet went all the way west, and they didn't know how far they would go, what countries they would encounter, and what situations they would encounter. The emperor couldn't write down imperial edicts in advance so that they could communicate with the countries they met.Therefore, we can only grant Zheng He the right to be cheap, and give him a few blank edicts, telling him to go all the way and use it according to the situation, but now it happens to be used.

Zheng He said: "This matter is really urgent. In this case, Mr. Zhang is also here. Let's discuss it carefully. After the discussion is completed, Mr. Zhang will write and draft an edict."

As soon as I said this, someone knocked on the door to report, saying that a Westerner came to the door with a waist card, looking for the shopkeeper Xia Xunxia.Others don't know Xia Xun's identity, but the people on this ship know that they are all from Shuangyu Guard, and they have always been at odds with other officers and soldiers of the navy. Unexpectedly, the news leaks out, and besides, there is Third Sister Su here, who doesn't know her Who is the man?I can't hide it even if I want to.

Xia Xun told the soldier: "This man will be a passenger on the ship from now on, arrange a place for him, and don't reveal my identity!"

After sending the soldier away, Xia Xun continued to discuss with Zheng He and Zhang Xitong. After discussing for a while, the three of them raised some points one after another, and then Zhang Xitong wrote down an edict.He is a member of the Ministry of Rites, and he is very good at writing this kind of official document. After he finished writing, he read it out again. The two of them listened to it, deliberated carefully, corrected some omissions, and finally transcribed the official content in the blank imperial decree with only the imperial seal on it. superior.

After writing the imperial decree, Zheng He said: "Look, my lord, who is sending you to Siam?"

Zhang Xitong took the initiative to invite Ying and said: "I'll go. If we go to Siam, it's not far from our next route. I'll lead the fleet to chase after you!"

Xia Xun and Zheng He nodded and agreed.

Not all the ships of this huge fleet advance and retreat at the same time. If so, the westward journey of this fleet will be too inefficient. In the original plan, they will also travel separately Yes, people like Zhou Man, Hong Bao, Zhou Wen, Yang Qing, etc. have to stand alone and lead a fleet to different places.

Their mission is not only to deal with different countries, but also to explore this overseas world that is still very strange to Ming Dynasty, to conduct astronomical research and geographical surveying and mapping. .So, then they will break up here and sail to different places.

One of the fleets will thus discover Australia, while the other fleet will head south until it enters the Antarctic Circle. The journey of each fleet is a wonderful story.Zheng He's main fleet was going westward all the way, and Zhang Xitong, as the deputy envoy, would chase after the main fleet after conveying his orders.

They had just agreed that Zhang Xitong would go to Siam, when the cabin door knocked again, but this time it was Xu Hu, the commander of the Shuangyu Guard, who came in. Xia Xun thought he was looking for her, and raised his eyebrows at him, Xu Hu He said in a low voice: "Grandpa, Eunuch Zheng, Lord Zhang, Eunuch Ji on the Eunuch Zheng's ship has invited an envoy, saying that he was ordered by the King of Bolin State to see Eunuch Zheng."

"Oh! Boling State?"

Xia Xun said with a smile: "Our next stop was originally Bolin State. Unexpectedly, their king has already sent someone to urge him after hearing the news. Hehe, then you two will meet and come to envoy, I will avoid it for a while!"

Zheng He nodded in agreement, and after Xia Xun left the cabin, Zheng He asked someone to invite the envoy to come in.

Xia Xun got out of the cabin and asked people where Fei Yinglun was placed, but it was at the bottom.At that time, foreigners had no status, and the soldiers didn't take them seriously. If Xia Xun hadn't ordered him to find a place to live, he might have let him sleep on the deck.

Xia Xun went down the gangway, and when he reached the bottom deck, he saw Fei Yinglun looking around and around on the deck, with an excited expression on his face, and he stopped from time to time, expressing his amazement.The interpreter stood aside with his lips curled up slightly, as if he was facing a country bumpkin who had never seen the world.

Seeing Xia Xun approaching, Fei Yinglun was full of praise and said: "It's too bang, I couldn't see it clearly when I was on the shore, but I realized how huge it was when I boarded the boat. In our west, there is no bigger one than our country. A powerful fleet, but the largest ship in our country is placed in your fleet, and the gap is as small as a quail standing in front of a turret. However, I heard from Mr. Translator that your ships have flat bottoms? I’m afraid Not conducive to deep sea navigation."

Xia Xun smiled and said: "No, most of our seagoing ships are sharp-bottomed, whether they are warships or merchant ships. Only a few of the largest ships use flat bottoms, because our fleet is too large and we need to carry too many things , The flat-bottomed boat has a large load capacity and can sail in shallow waterways. Otherwise, with a giant ship like ours, if we use a sharp bottom, there are few ports in the world today that we can sail into."

Xia Xun briefly introduced Fei Yinglun a few words, and then said no more.In fact, when Zheng He returned from the West last time, he also brought back several Western-style ships. At the Longjiang Shipyard, craftsmen once disassembled these wooden sailing ships, carefully studied the Westerners’ ships, and found that their sharp bottoms Wooden sailboats have no keels, which can greatly improve the stability and firmness of ships. China's sharp-bottomed ships have had keels since the early Song Dynasty.

At the same time, our ship plates adopt butt joint technology, while Western ships use a relatively backward lap joint method, which also affects the robustness of the ship.In addition, the craftsmen also noticed that the widest part of the Western ship is in the front of the middle of the hull, which is shaped like a fish, while the shape of a Chinese sea-going ship is like a water bird with webbed feet, and the widest part of the ship is in the middle of the rear. Therefore, it is better than Western ships in terms of flexibility and speed.

As for the sails, the sails of Chinese sailboats are "hard canopies" reinforced horizontally with bamboo poles. This kind of balanced vertical sail is easy to operate and can withstand wind from all directions, which is also incomparable to Western ships.The other thing is the airtight cabin technology, which Western sailing ships do not have either. The final evaluation result is that the performance of Chinese sailing ships is far ahead of Western sailing ships, and there are very few technologies that these Western sailing ships can learn from.

It is a fact that the performance of Western sailing ships has been greatly improved since the [-]th century. Among them, the invention of the keel technology and the shifting of the widest part of the hull to make the ship more flexible were not discovered until several hundred years later. .Xia Xun doesn't want to show off these advanced technologies to Fei Yinglun. The key to these technologies lies in invention, not manufacture. If he knows the key and discloses it to Westerners, he can manufacture it after some searching.

Xia Xun is like a steadfast iron cock, the stingy Grandet, he wants to learn everything that is a bit advanced in Western technology, but his own strengths...he can hide it for as long as he can How long, Xia Xun never had the stink disease of being a teacher.

Xia Xun introduced a few words casually, then changed the topic, and asked with a smile: "Your accommodation has been arranged? Are you satisfied?"

Fei Yinglun nodded hastily: "Satisfied! Satisfied! Very satisfied! The residence is spacious, clean, bright, well ventilated, and the beds are comfortable. It is much better than the kennel-like place where I lived on a boat before. Ah, Mr. Xia Xun..."

Fei Yinglun approached Xia Xun and whispered, "You have a very high status on the ship? I found that the captain of this ship, the general who is in charge of hundreds of soldiers, doesn't live as spacious and luxurious as yours."

Xia Xun frowned slightly, and said with a smile: "Oh? It seems that you have visited the entire ship? Yes, for some reason, that general respects me more."

"Aha, I understand, I understand!"

Seeing Xia Xun's vague expression, Fei Yinglun winked at him and smiled slyly, not knowing what he understood.

Looking at his curly hair, shaggy beard, and the deep knife mark on his cheek, Xia Xun always felt that if he wore a colorful turban and a crumpled shirt on his head, With a black one-eye patch on his eyes and a rapier on his belt, he looks like a pirate.

Xia Xun could feel that this was a Westerner with a lot of stories, and it was by no means as simple as his own experience.Xia Xun was about to inquire about his situation on the sidelines. Zheng He had personally sent the envoy of the Bolin Gang out. The envoy stood by the gangway, bowed very politely to Zheng He, and asked him to stay.

Zheng He stood still with a smile, and said something to the man, and the man bowed and left the boat.

Fei Yinglun looked at the messenger with the awning in his hand, and asked Xia Xun in amazement: "Mr. Xia Xun, who is that?"

Xia Xun replied casually: "That is the envoy sent by the king of Bolin State. I think it should be to invite our fleet to visit the country!"

"Bolin State?" Fei Yinglun's complexion changed.

Xia Xun didn't pay attention to his expression, and said, "I'll go up and ask about the situation." After speaking, he walked towards the gangway.

Fei Yinglun stretched out his hand as if to stop him, but seeing Xia Xun stepping up the gangway, he hesitated for a moment and closed his mouth again.

Xia Xun boarded the top cabin and returned to the cabin. When Zheng He saw him coming, he immediately smiled and said: "Duke, who do you think is the king of the Bolin Kingdom?"

Xia Xun wondered, Zheng He didn't say what the country's envoy meant, but asked him the identity of the country's king. Could it be that he knew this person himself? Who could he know to become king in Nanyang?Do you think you are a bearded man?If you were a bearded man, wouldn't I be Li Jing?

Thinking of this, Xia Xun couldn't help laughing, and said to Zheng He: "Don't play riddles, my father-in-law. I really can't figure it out. Who is this king?"

Zheng He laughed and said: "Back then, the Duke of the State was ordered to suppress the bandits, and subdued the Shuangyu group of bandits. He also had a small hand in hand with the Nanyang bandit Chen Zuyi. After that, the Shuangyu group of bandits became our officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, and now they are protecting the Duke. The soldiers and horses of the Western Ocean, what about the Nanyang thief Chen Zuyi? Everyone thought he had disappeared, but who knew that he would become the lord of Bolin State!"

Xia Xun was taken aback: "What? How did Chen Zuyi become the ruler of a country?"

Zheng He picked up a letter from the case and said: "Chen Zuyi is an important criminal wanted by the imperial court. He knew the news that our Ming Fleet was coming, and he was very frightened. He was afraid that his identity would be lost and he would be attacked by the heavenly soldiers. He can escape by boat and go deep into the sea to avoid war. Now that he is the lord of a country, where can he hide? So he sent envoys to come here and take the initiative to plead guilty. I am willing to submit to Daming and be a vassal of Daming forever! Haha, Duke, We have come here, and we have established a king and descended a king before we have set foot on the western border, and the emperor knows that he will be very happy!"

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