New Shun 1730

Demand determines value.

It is unrealistic to expect a country that can defeat the Dutch, who they see as invincible, in an instant to return all the land and cities to them after driving the Dutch away out of moral obligation.

Such a country should only exist in myths. It certainly does not exist in reality.

If Rajsinghe was so naive, he would not have converted to Buddhism immediately after he succeeded to the throne and won over the clergy to fight against the feudal aristocracy.

As an outsider, he would inevitably infringe on the interests of the local nobles. Those who can think of using theocracy to suppress the regime are definitely not good people.

As an outsider, he has an unstable foundation and has few choices.

Or, fight against foreign enemies and show great military achievements to consolidate his position.

Or, use political tactics, win over and divide, and use external forces to consolidate his position.

How can he expect to show great military achievements from the army of this country that is said to have captured Colombo without any casualties when he couldn't even beat the Dutch?

Now this country that only existed in distant stories has actually come to reality and appeared on the island of Ceylon. Rajsinghe roughly guessed Dashun's attitude from the monks sent by Dashun to report the news in advance.

He felt that if this matter was handled properly, it would be quite beneficial to his rule.

Because this matter can be explained as follows:

[The pious king converted from Hinduism to Buddhism, which moved the Buddha. The Buddha then sent soldiers to drive away the evil spirits who forced people to convert to Jesus].

If this matter is explained in this way, two purposes can be achieved.

First, in the eyes of the people, the king is really pious, and the Buddha can respond to the king's prayers. The king's power is granted by God and he is the son of God.

Second, to build a good relationship with Dashun, it is convenient to suppress the restless nobles in the country.

But this explanation may also be a double-edged sword.

What if Dashun was greedy and more ruthless than the Dutch and destroyed the Kandy Dynasty directly? Then this sentence would have the opposite effect: since it was the Buddha's will to drive out the Dutch, was it the Buddha's will to destroy the Kandy Dynasty?

Moreover, it is impossible to guess what Dashun meant.

It is best to find out what Dashun wants to achieve, and sell the country appropriately. Selling the country is a technical job. If the king does not sell, the feudal nobles will be busy selling, so as to take advantage of external forces to gain power.

The reason why selling the country is a technical job is that as a king, you cannot sell too much. If you sell too much and become a puppet, it is better to be suppressed by the nobles.

The best way to sell the country is to suppress the nobles and consolidate your own power, at least not to reduce more power in the established facts.

The nobles need a reason to rebel and resist.

The previous reason was to incite the people and attack the Netherlands to prove that the nobles were the orthodox patriots, and the king was an outsider, and even reached peace with the Netherlands.

Now, the Dutch disappeared almost overnight, and a monster called Dashun replaced them. This monster was not aggressive, but sent monks to come in a friendly way to explain the past friendship.

If this country called Dashun really would not force conversion, then the nobles would not have a legitimate reason to win the hearts of the people.

Moreover, Rajsinghe did not know how big the difference was between Buddhism in the Celestial Empire and Buddhism in Ceylon. Dashun did not seem to have any need to force conversion. In a country where Buddhism is widely believed, forcing people to convert to Buddhism is simply a meaningless statement.

The key point is that Dashun was definitely not sent by the Buddha, and it was definitely not his piety that moved the Buddha. Rajsinghe knew this very well.

Then, Dashun must have come for profit.

The interest in Ceylon is nothing more than cinnamon, gems, and betel nuts. Anyway, the Dutch had basically obtained the monopoly before. If they only asked for this, they could really cooperate.

In fact, the Kingdom of Kandy certainly wanted to engage in trade and business. They simply couldn't eat so many cinnamon betel nuts, so selling them for money was certainly a good thing.

The problem was that the Dutch wanted to eat alone. It would be fine if they monopolized the trade, but they actually opened their own cinnamon handicraft factory and wanted to do a one-stop production and sales, which made the Kandy Dynasty and many nobles quite dissatisfied.

Eat alone, you Dutch have a one-stop production and sales, what should we do? If the Dutch were really responsible for the purchase and only made a little profit as a second-hand dealer, the Kingdom of Kandy would be very happy, because they couldn't sell it themselves anyway, and they didn't have a ship to go to Europe.

In order to test what the attitude of Dashun was, Rajeshinhe came up with a good idea.

So he found his confidant, conveyed his meaning, and asked the confidant to go to Du Feng, who was on the way, with the messenger from Dashun to report the news, and ask him a question.

If Dashun's attitude can really be used, then the words "touching Buddha" can be used to make oneself a person who can communicate with the gods, and use the people's general belief in Buddhism to strengthen their rule.

…………

On the way, Du Feng met Rajsinghe's confidant, and the two had a hard time communicating.

Du Feng didn't understand Sinhalese at all, and there was no one in Dashun who could understand this language.

The translator can only translate Sinhala into Dutch first, and then translate Dutch into Chinese. Fortunately, the Sinhalese people have been dealing with the Dutch for more than a hundred years, and the Dashun military understands the Dutch. There are many who speak English, and the foundation of the navy was learned from Vitas Bering, an outstanding graduate of the Amsterdam Naval Academy.

The envoy of the King of Kandy muttered a lot, and the translators on both sides carefully checked their respective meanings. After making sure that they were correct, they finally conveyed the king's meaning to Du Feng.

Apart from the nonsense like thanks, a close aide of King Rajsingh of Kandy made a very, very interesting suggestion.

The king was willing to take the initiative to "rent" the place that Dashun had captured from the Dutch to Dashun for use. However, Dashun needs to pay ten elephants every year as rent.

This very interesting suggestion made Du Feng stunned for a moment.

What the hell is this suggestion?

Do you still agree to rent it to me for the place I have acquired? If you had the ability to drive away the Dutch, you would have done so long ago. You can't even drive away the Dutch, so why do you say those places are yours?

Furthermore, there are a lot of elephants in Ceylon. You want ten elephants for rent. Even if you believe in Buddhism and elephants have special meanings, there is no need to use elephants for rent, right?

While he was puzzled, a young official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the side gently pulled Du Feng's sleeve and whispered: "Master Du, we can completely agree to this matter. As for the name, in China, we can say , as a reward for paying tribute, it’s not a big problem.”

"Besides, elephants are easy to get. You can actually buy them in Nanyang, Myanmar, South Korea, and Annan. Ten elephants don't cost much."

The person on the other side was not in a hurry to let Du Feng answer, and the envoy on the other side didn't understand Chinese at all. Du Feng and the young official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs just communicated in Chinese as if no one was watching.

"It's not that I don't think it's worth it. I just don't understand what it means? It's something. If you don't talk about it, it won't matter. If you talk about it, it may be very serious. Don't let someone sue me in the court. It is said that I am an insult to the country. The most small country sacrifices elephants. This is not a matter of money. As you said, how much does it cost for ten elephants?"

The young official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs smiled and said: "Mr. Du, you are worrying too much. Diplomacy or tribute, this matter is mainly for the people at home. Your Majesty did not send officials from the government to pay tribute this time, but let the Ministry of Foreign Affairs handle the matter. This is just for the sake of convenience.”

"As for why the Lion Kingdom made such a weird request, let history serve as a guide. I will tell you four words and your Excellency will understand."

Du Feng asked hurriedly: "Those four words?"

The official paused and said slowly: "Bai Deng's siege."

"Siege of Baideng?"

Du Feng was stunned for a moment, and the official smiled and said: "Hengao is trapped in Baideng. If Mao Dun can really capture Hen Gao in one fell swoop, will he really let him go? Chen Ping's plan is just to give Mao Dun a step down. It would be nice for all the tribesmen to have an explanation, that is, Let Henkel give an explanation to the country. In a real fight, both sides will lose. The Han still has feudal princes and the Xiongnu tribe is full of conflicts. Both sides have to give up... Is Henkel's life really worth the gold he gave to his beloved concubine? Silver jewelry?”

"After doing this, the whole world knows about Chen Ping's plan, and who cares about what treaty Henkel and Moton reached in private, and what interests were discussed?"

"Some things are real core interests. Some things are done for others to see."

"This lion country already produces elephants. Is it possible that there is really a shortage of elephants? However, the people cannot see the money and gifts of porcelain and silk."

"But it's different when you send an elephant. You can't put the elephant in a box and send it. You have to walk along the road. Ten elephants is also a large scale. This country is small. How can we not make it known to the whole country? "

"Therefore, people in the Lion Kingdom know that Dashun uses elephants as rent and respects the king; but in fact, the people don't care about what agreement we have reached."

"Furthermore, the Lion Kingdom believes in and respects Buddhism, and the Buddhists have a strong preference for elephants. This also shows that our court will ensure the people's belief in Buddhism, and also shows the king's image of paying homage to the Buddha. I remember, Journey to the West, that Bodhisattva came He even rode an elephant and fought with Sun Wukong."

"In the end, it's just a test. If this dynasty is no different from the Portuguese and Dutch, who took it with brute force, they will certainly scold them for being rude, and of course they won't give it to them. Although it's not worth a few bucks at all, the point is This attitude.”

"Giving the elephant proves that this dynasty is different from them. When their force is weak, they will reason and spend money to rent. But when their force is strong, they will not be reasonable and will not rent. They will directly rob it."

"Now the dynasty defeated the Netherlands in an instant, but it is still reasonable and uses elephants as rent. This is very different from the Dutch and Portuguese."

The young official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs finally smiled and said: "Your Excellency, you need to know that this place is different from North Korea. If the North Korean throne is unstable, it only needs to be recognized and canonized by the Celestial Empire, and it will be extremely stable. But the Lion Kingdom is not yet stable. Paying tribute, the people are not as convinced as the Koreans. Marquis Jing said that this person's foundation is unstable and he is about to do something to show the people. "

"The elephants are big, beautiful, and conspicuous. As long as they are not blind, who can't see the elephants walking side by side on the road? It's the most appropriate thing."