Although Qiu Rong and Su Zhandao were dazzled by the gold, their heads were not dizzy yet. This gold is very hot to the touch, and someone might die if you take it back. Besides, one of them is the biological brother of the current queen, and their father is the Duke of the country. He has made even greater contributions, as he is a county king! Moreover, after his father Qiu Hui retired and became the leader of the Qiu family, there was no shortage of gold.
The other one is a rising star of the Su family. He also has the title of viscount. His future in the army is bright!
Moreover, the general backers of the Qiu family are Queen Qiu Shuzhen and Crown Prince Zhu Yixin, while the Su family's general is closer to the eldest concubine Ye Yuling... These are figures from two factions. No one who accepts heavy bribes from foreigners can guarantee that the other person will not expose them. As for complicity...that mistake is more serious than accepting bribes!
"You two misunderstood..." Seeing that the two refused to accept the money, Qiongsen certainly refused to carry the gold back. Instead, he smiled and said, "This is our British East India Company and the French East India Company." Tributes paid by the India Company, the Swedish East India Company and the Portuguese Governor-General of Goa to the Emperor of Heaven.”
"Tribute?" Su Zhandao asked, "You are not my vassal of the Ming Dynasty, what kind of tribute are you paying?"
"That's right!" Qiu Rong asked with a smile, "Do you want to submit to the heaven?"
"Of course not. The four countries of Britain, France, Switzerland and Portugal are so far away from China, so they are not suitable to be vassals of the Ming Dynasty!" Qiongsen quickly denied it, but his face was still full of smiles, "We did it for the sake of the Chinese navy in the Johor Strait. The fleet of the Dutch East India Company and its achievements in safeguarding the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Malacca paid tribute to the Great Tomorrow."
"Oh, that's it!" Qiu Rong smiled, "This Malacca is a territory of the Chinese Empire, and I, the Chinese navy, should maintain order!"
Su Zhandao also nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, that's what we should do. You are so polite!"
Qiu Rong and Su Zhandao said polite words, but they no longer pretended to refuse the gold... This was tribute money, and it was a barbarian from a foreign country who took the initiative to pay tribute because of the kindness of the Celestial Kingdom. Of course he would not accept it. is inappropriate.
In addition, the implicit meaning of this Qiongsenqiongdapan's words seems to be recognition of the power of the Ming Dynasty to dominate the Strait of Malacca!
The Strait of Malacca is the gateway for exchanges between the East and the West. Only by mastering this gate can the Ming Dynasty truly own a celestial dynasty. To the east of the gate, from the Strait of Malacca to the west coast of the New World, there is nothing in the vast oceans, islands and land that can Challenge the existence of the Ming Dynasty’s authority!
Once the gate is closed, it will be difficult for the maritime power of the Western powers to enter.
So from the east of Malacca to the west coast of the New World... the Ming Dynasty can easily become the absolute dominant country!
And the distance between this door, which is related to whether the Ming Dynasty can become a true dynasty, is only five thousand miles away from the capital city of Haijing and Guangzhou in the Ming Dynasty. The fleet goes south with the wind and will definitely arrive in half a month. And this place is more than 40,000 miles away from Europe. If we can get there in half a year, it will be smooth sailing.
Therefore, in the fight for control of the Strait of Malacca, the Ming Dynasty had a huge advantage over the Europeans!
Therefore, as long as Ming Dynasty regains its ocean power, it can win no matter how hard it fights, it just depends on whether it looks good or not.
And this time in the battle for Malacca, it can be said that the Ming Dynasty won very beautifully... because the Ming Dynasty navy showed a huge advantage in the night battle in the Johor Strait, causing the naval fleets of Britain, France, Sweden and Portugal to lose another battle. courage.
As a result, the Ming Dynasty can win Malacca, the door connecting the Eastern and Western worlds, at the smallest cost and in the shortest time.
Child and Qiongsen came to give in on behalf of the four countries of Britain, France, Switzerland and Portugal today... Although the general line of Western civilization to contain the Ming Dynasty will not change, they can only give up the door of Malacca.
What Zhu Heji wants now is to control the door of Malacca, not to close it.
"So..." Qiu Rong, who was about to return to Guangzhou, understood Zhu Heji's thoughts very well, so he asked with a smile, "The ships from the four countries of Britain, France, Switzerland and Portugal now huddled in the Strait of Johor are all coming to the Ming Dynasty for freedom." trade?"
His words were translated into seventeenth-century "old English" by Qiongsen. After hearing this, Sir Child immediately walked down the steps.
Child smiled and said: "You are right, we are here for free trade. We are willing to exchange real gold and silver for silk, porcelain, sugar, perfume, cotton cloth and Japanese lacquerware from the Ming Dynasty."
His words were translated again by Qiongsen.
"I understand," Qiu Rong smiled and nodded, "But now that Malacca has been settled, various places in Southeast Asia are still not stable, and there will be chaos for several months. During this period, it is not safe for merchant ships from the four countries to enter. How about this? , you go back to Malacca and wait. As late as March, merchant ships from the Ming Dynasty will definitely arrive from Guangzhou. By then, there will be enough silk, porcelain, sugar, perfume, cotton cloth and Japanese lacquer tubes!"
This is also what Zhu Heji meant. Emperor Zhu did not want to engage in Malacca trade, but he was willing to fully open up. But now the war against the Zheng family in Annan is about to begin, although the Ming Dynasty's national power far exceeds that of Annan. But after all, Annan has a record of defeating the Northern Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty and the former Ming Dynasty. Moreover, Annan defeated the northern dynasties whose national power was on the rise or at its peak. Therefore, Zhu Heji did not dare to take it lightly and had to use his skill to kill the chicken!
In this case, of course he had to cut off the connection between the Annan Zheng family and the Western colonists to prevent them from receiving advanced weapons and equipment from the Western colonists. Annan's coastline is very long, and the sea conditions in the South China Sea are not conducive to a blockade war. That's why Zhu Heji attacked the Dutch East India Company before the Battle of Annan began.
Now that the Dutch East India Company has given up, and the Strait of Malacca is also controlled by the Ming Dynasty, of course we cannot let the British, French, Swiss, Portuguese and other Westerners wander around the Annan offshore before Annan is defeated...
But business still needs to be done! Therefore, Malacca City, Bintan Island, Batan Island and other places have now become transit points for East-West trade.
Understanding what Qiu Rong meant, Child also let out a sigh of relief. The British East India Company also had three third-class ships trapped in the Johore Strait. If the Ming Navy doesn't let them leave, the trouble will be big. As long as they can get them to leave, anything can be said.
However, it didn't take long for him to be angry. The words that made him vomit blood came. Qiu Rong said again: "Sir! Since you are here for trade, you must have brought a lot of gold and silver, right? Why don't you take out half of it?" , deposit it into the Daming Nanyang Bank, and just issue an invoice for whatever you want to buy next. How convenient? In addition, there must be a lot of Western-produced goods on your ship, right? Why not unload it to Batan Island nearby to avoid transshipment back and forth? .”
When Qiong Sen Qiong Daban heard this, he immediately understood... The ship and people can go to Malacca, but the gold, silver and goods carried on the ship must be left behind!
Thinking of this, he said to Child in old English: "Sir, Commander-in-Chief Qiu wants us to keep the gold, silver and treasures on the ship... to use as silk, porcelain, sugar, perfume, cotton and Advance payment for Japanese lacquerware, and then empty ship to Malacca City to wait.”
"What?" Child was a little anxious, "How can they do this kind of business? The goods have not been shipped yet, and they have to collect the full payment in advance! And..."
He stopped mid-sentence, because the main cargo loaded on the Shikoku ships were flintlock muskets, black powder, 6-pound and 3-pound cannon.
According to the plan, these weapons will be sold to the Annamites!
Qiu Rong smiled and said: "Sir Cha, since you are a merchant ship coming from afar for trade, then as the Ming Navy's heavenly soldiers who maintain the security of the Malacca Strait, we naturally have the right to board the ship to inspect and collect taxes... So what goods are on the ship?" , you’d better report it truthfully!”
"Sir," Poorson said to Child in old English, "They are going to board the ship to inspect..."
Check on board?
Child wondered: "Can those flintlock guns, black powder, 6-pound and 3-pound artillery be inspected by them? Are they going to be thrown into the sea? This loss is not small!"
Qiu Rong looked at Child, who was frowning, and said, "Governor Cha, what's the matter? You don't want the Chinese officers and soldiers to board the ship for inspection? There won't be any prohibited items on your ship, right?"
Qiongsen quickly said to Child: "Sir, Qiu Junmen is angry... If we don't allow them to board the ship, we will use rockets to sink our ships!"
"Agree! I agree..."
...
...
The day after Sir Child returned to the Britannia with the most heartbreaking emotion to arrange for the dumping of arms into the sea, Campos, Mahmoud Sultan and others followed Qiu Rong and boarded the battleship Chaozhou at the end of July. . They drifted on the sea for about twenty days, and finally arrived at the increasingly prosperous Ming Dynasty Haijing Guangzhou City a few days after the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Although the Strait of Malacca was temporarily blocked during this period, merchant ships from the West could not arrive for a while, but benefiting from the upcoming Battle of Annan, Guangzhou, as the base camp for the Annan Conquest, began to receive massive amounts of military supplies, Supplies, ships, and troops began to gather in Guangzhou. The military camps inside and outside Guangzhou have also become very lively. The "dwarf soldiers" came from Luzon Island, the old brothers from the first, second and third towns of the Ming Army recruited in Guangdong, and the soldiers mobilized from Guangxi. The various chieftain soldiers who came here have been training at the Baiyun Mountain training ground outside Guangzhou for several months to adapt to the mountain, water network and jungle terrain... This is not just how to line up troops. Setting up the formation also includes how to set up camp in the miasmatic country of Annan and fight against various diseases.
During the months-long Battle of Luzon, due to the quick victory and good health management of the military camps, the number of officers and soldiers infected with malaria and other tropical diseases was not particularly high. There were only less than 10,000 people on Luzon Island. He got sick and eventually died of thousands of people.
Therefore, in the upcoming battle of Annan, the key is to win the battle quickly and avoid falling into a long-term security war.
Zhu Heji responded to this in two ways. One was to establish the Annan Kingdom.
The second is to recruit the leading party. These days, Ruan Phu Bin, the lord of the Ruan clan in Guangnan, Mo Jingyu, the lord of the Mo clan in Gaoping, and Wu Gongjun of the Wu clan (the patron) of Xuanguang have all arrived in Guangzhou City with General Zu Zeqing of Annan.
When Campos and Mamo Sultan followed Qiu Rong to the five-story Zhenhai Tower on Xiaopanlonggang in Yuexiu Mountain, which had been enclosed in the Yuexiu Palace, Emperor Zhu Da led Zu Zeqing, The four of them, Ruan Phuc Bin, Mo Jingyu, and Wu Gongjun, were watching together from the fifth floor of Zhenhai Tower!
"Did you see that? That foreign devil is Campos, the governor of the Dutch East India Company! The Eight-Nation Allied Armada commanded by him was defeated by our Chinese navy in the Strait of Malacca. Now he has to come to Guangzhou to pay the debt and plead guilty... ..Did you see the dozen foreign coolies following behind? They looked like they were carrying it and it was full of gold!"
The person who was explaining to the four Annan people about "paying money to plead guilty" was the newly appointed Annan general Zu Zeqing. His reign as King of Guangxi had come to an end. However, Zhu Heji did not turn him into an apartment in Guangzhou City. Instead, he gave him a job as General Annan, and also promised that after "recovering" Annan, he would stay in Annan forever and become Annan's "Mu family" , guarded Annan for generations, and assisted King Annan of the Zhu family together with Mo family, the commander-in-chief of Annan, and Wu family, the Xuanfu envoy of Annan.
In addition, the Ruan family in Guangnan will also get their own country after the Battle of Annam - Zhu Heji has promised to canonize Ruan Phuc Bin as the king of Guangnan when his own son becomes Queen of Annam.
In the future, Annan Kingdom will be divided into two parts, North Zhunan and South Ruan!
Of course, conquering Annan was just part of Zhu Heji's strategy to advance south... Just like forcing Wu into Burma, seizing the Spanish Philippines, and closing the gate of Malacca, it was Emperor Zhu who controlled Nanyang and its surrounding areas. The area is organized into large steps towards the rear garden.
Once Annan and Guangnan are fully integrated into the Celestial Dynasty system, Zhu Heji can attack the remaining four kingdoms of Siam, Chenla, Nanzhang, and Champa on the Indochina Peninsula... Of course, he The goal is not to turn these countries into "descendants" of the Ming Dynasty, but to expand the Confucian system to all countries in Nanyang and Indochina. It is not necessary to “respect Confucianism alone”, but at least we must establish a system in which “Confucianism governs the country and Buddhism governs the mind.”
And bringing Annan, the most powerful small power in Southeast Asia, under his control was a key step for Zhu Heji to pacify the Indochina Peninsula!
"Your Majesty, the Admiral of the Nanyang Navy, the Commander-in-Chief of the Left, the General of the Southern Conquest, Qiu Rong, King of Chaoyang County, Campos, Governor-General of the Dutch East India Company, Qiongsen, the Chief Banner of the British East India Company, Martin, Chief Executive of the French East India Company, and Governor-General of the Swedish East India Company Wallenberg, please see Pimentel, Governor of Portuguese Timor.”
Nalan Xingde's voice rang behind Zhu Heji. This time, Qiu Rong and Campos came to Guangzhou together with "tribute envoys" from Britain, France, Switzerland and Portugal - Campos was They came to plead guilty, and the four "tribute envoys" actually came to pay a fine. I just used a nicer name...
Zhu Heji nodded heavily and said, "Okay, let them go upstairs to talk!"
