In early March, from the northwest of Malacca City, a large fleet of ships slowly sailed toward the southeast.
On one of the largest and most comfortable merchant ships, a young man looked nervously at the looming coastline on both sides, and asked someone nervously: "Sir Louis, does it really matter if there is no protection from the battleship? What if there are pirates?" manage?"
"Don't worry, my dear Frodo." The person who answered his question was Louis, Duke of Beja, brother of King Joao III of Portugal. "This is not far from the port of Malacca. There may be dangers outside the strait. But in this strait, there are not many bold pirates who dare to plunder here."
"This is obviously a more suitable place." The young man he called Frodo was still worried that pirate ships would emerge from some harbors behind the coastlines on both sides.
"It does fit, but you'll figure it out soon enough."
Soon Frodo understood what Lewis was talking about.
Because the Strait of Malacca has become very prosperous now, he can see a fleet coming from the opposite side almost every hour.
And those fleets, large or small, must be escorted by warships.
"Do you understand now?" Louis sighed, "No matter how fast the pirates move, it will take at least a few hours to chase and pick up the ship. During this time, at least two or three pirates will come across from Malacca. The Ming Dynasty caravan in Colombo. Their escort warships are enough to tear apart pirates who want to make a fortune here."
From a not too far distance, Frodo looked at the Ming fleet passing by. Among them, one large and two small battleships had their gun muzzles vaguely visible on their sides.
"Has Ming's merchant ship arrived in Colombo now?"
"They have been there a long time ago, dear Frodo. In the books of the Ming Dynasty, it was once called Gaulanbu." Louis was already a Ming dynasty. "Following the glorious and great trade treaty, the ships of the Ming Dynasty When the team arrived in Colombo, they were able to obtain goods from Africa and Persia more flexibly. Of course, there were also many small businessmen who arrived in the East with the Bright Road Company. They could obtain goods from the East from Colombo without taking the risk of coming. to Malacca."
There are always costs and risks associated with long voyages. Today, the island on which Colombo is located is also a relay point. If merchants from the Ming Dynasty wanted to make more money, they could go to Colombo; small merchant ships from Europe, worried about the risks of crossing the entire Indian Ocean, could also anchor in Colombo.
Portugal was happy to do this, because Colombo was under the governance of the Portuguese Governor of India, and the tax revenue belonged to Portugal.
But adhering to a friendly attitude, Daming's Nan'ao Sea Trading Company enjoys tax-free treatment.
This is also a good thing, it means that the price of the goods they sell in Colombo is not much more expensive than in Malacca. Merchants from Europe save more time, can obtain goods from the East at an overall lower cost, and can make more profits after returning to Lisbon. In this way, the frequency of trade will be accelerated and the scale will be larger, and Portugal will be able to collect more commercial taxes.
"We still have a little time to get to Malacca. Let's check the books and gifts in the cabin." Louis turned and walked towards the cabin. "If everything goes well this time, maybe the relationship between Portugal and Ming Dynasty will enter a new stage."
"Sir Louis, you have not been to the East for almost six years. Will the Eastern capital you mentioned become more prosperous?"
"Of course." Louis said with certainty, "I heard that Francois of France actually formed an alliance with the Ottoman Sultan. This time, Emperor Charles and his war will probably have an outcome. Waiting for him The attention turns from France to Portugal and that will be a serious situation."
"Do you think His Majesty Charlie will win?"
"Don't know, but Portugal must be ready."
Louis had walked into the cabin and looked at the boxes fixed to the bulkhead and floor by leather and ropes.
Inside these boxes are volumes of books, as well as European creations that His Majesty the Ming Emperor is interested in. They were all exquisite gadgets, and Louis was worried that some of them would be damaged by the bumpy sea voyage.
Fortunately, there were more boxes in the bottom hold of the largest merchant ship, containing gold and silver coins, including Cruzado, ducats, and others.
If everything goes well, this time, everything agreed in another secret treaty between Portugal and Ming Dynasty will be completed.
When the fleet arrived very close to Malacca, the first one to approach was a Zhanlang-class battleship of the Ming Dynasty.
The two ships drew closer, and Louis saw the man standing on the opposite deck.
He saluted and said loudly: "Dear Marquis Xue Han, you are actually patrolling in person?"
"On the orders of the High Protector, I know that Mr. Lewis is coming, so the time should be very recent. I have been patrolling the sea personally these days. Your envoy, please enter the port with my ship."
"Your Excellency, Marquis Lao."
Seeing the man in armor opposite picking up a cylinder and looking at the ship behind them, Frodo asked in a low voice: "What is that marquis holding in his hand?"
"Frodo, you have been studying the Ming language with Mr. Alfonso for four years, and you should have heard him mention it." Louis sighed, "That's called a telescope, it can see things very far away clearly. It's like it's right in front of you. Unfortunately, this is something that can only be used by senior officers in the Ming army, and is not among the goods allowed for sale."
The principle of the thing is actually very simple. It’s easy to understand in one point, and then it’s just about continuous improvement.
But unfortunately, if everything goes according to plan, the earliest telescopes in Europe would not appear until after the seventeenth century. Now, it's just that the East had such a weapon more than eighty years earlier.
It plays a great role in the military. The current Ming Dynasty has extremely strict control over telescopes.
Apart from the military, only people from Huangming University and Polytechnic Institute can own and use it.
Under the escort of Xue Han, Louis' fleet finally arrived in Malacca City.
After more than five years apart, the city of Malacca in Louis’ eyes was completely different again.
Based on the city of Malacca originally built by Portugal, the mountain city was divided into two major circles and two port areas.
The inner city of the mountain city already has a solid brick and stone wall, and the outer ring also has a lower stone wall, but it is not as neat and stable as the inner city.
The two port areas are the military port area and the commercial port area.
After the ship docked, Louis had already put on the king's python robe given to him by the Ming Emperor when he got off the ship.
"Duke Louis, you are well."
"Master Gao, congratulations on your appointment as the Protector of Nanyang."
The two of them had met before, and Gao Gong didn't respect him just because he was wearing a python robe. He knew very well that Louis wanted to show off his relationship with the emperor, which was also a kind of performance that relied on clothing to support his momentum.
After some experience in the Royal Study and three years as a doctor in the Ministry of Finance and Taxation, Gao Gong succeeded Yang Bo and came to the Nanyang Protectorate.
During the three years in the Ministry of Finance and Taxation, he knew very well how much tax money and other goods were transported to the Ming Dynasty from the mere city of Malacca in the Nanyang Protectorate.
Today, Malacca is like a provincial capital that can contribute as much tax as a province without a border city, or even more - an average of more than 300,000 taels per year, and it is still growing rapidly.
These taxes include tariffs on private and foreign merchant ships trading here, as well as commercial taxes on Malacca's already prosperous land-based commerce.
Under the Ming Dynasty's more professional commercial and tax law system, it is naturally very different from the situation before the implementation of the new law, where the entire Guangdong Shipping Department had only more than 100,000 taels of tax revenue per year.
Malacca was strategically located, and the emperor persisted in the expedition, which now began to yield continuous gains.
On the way with Gao Gong to the official office of the Nanyang Protectorate, Louis saw with his own eyes that the city was even more prosperous than it had been under Portuguese rule in the past. He couldn't help but lament that in the far east, the influence of the Ming Dynasty was not comparable to that of Portugal.
Once Malacca returned to the Ming Dynasty and was governed by Ming Dynasty himself, the surrounding small countries became more respectful and confident to come here to trade.
And the merchants of the Ming Dynasty came more than when Portugal and the Ming Dynasty were still at war.
In the outer city, there are many shops and Ming dialect is everywhere.
Louis heard some of their conversation and asked Gao Gong curiously: "Big stage? Master Gao, what is that?"
Gao Gong smiled and replied: "The countries in Southeast Asia have admired the Ming culture for a long time. Therefore, this year, when His Majesty has been in power for 20 years, with His Majesty's grace, all of you from the Department of Music and Arts of the Ministry of Rites and Communication have traveled thousands of miles to tour various places. This is Malacca. This is the last stop in the direction of Nanyang. Duke Louis has come by chance. The performance will start the day after tomorrow and will run for seven consecutive days. We will stay in Malacca for about ten days, and then we will return to the capital with everyone in the folk arts department. "
When Louis arrived in the inner city, he finally saw a newly built theater.
In this inner city, he also met many dignitaries or aristocratic children from surrounding small countries. When they saw the high arch, they all bowed and saluted.
"This year is the twentieth anniversary of His Majesty the Emperor's accession to the throne?"
"It has been exactly twenty years from April of the 16th year of Zhengde to the 19th year of Jiajing." Gao Gong nodded, "Duke Louis was sent to the Ming Dynasty again on the order of the Portuguese monarch, just in time for your majesty to hold the Wanshou Festival this year. The grand ceremony and the World Games, the capital and all nations come to congratulate us.”
"Really?" Lewis thought, thinking that the emperor should be very happy by then, and then his mission would be easier to complete.
When he arrived in Malacca, the merchant ship that came with him naturally started trading in Malacca.
But they also soon learned that there would be Oriental drama, song, and dance performances in the city.
If you want to go in and see it, you can buy tickets. After all, if you can travel thousands of miles to sail and trade, why would you care about the mere five taels of silver per seat?
The key is that I arrived late. I heard that the seats have been snapped up by people from neighboring small countries and oriental businessmen and wealthy people who are already in Malacca City.
Some nobles from a small country in the north even boasted to others about the heavenly sounds, wonderful dancing and peerless appearance in the performance.
They were not satisfied after watching Cochin and Champa in the north, so they pursued them to Malacca.
Louis was found by them and could only ask Gao Gong for help.
"That's no problem. There are already some VIP seats left. But if there are many people, it would be a bit awkward to add more seats..."
If you have a VIP seating area, you will naturally have to pay extra.
The Quyi Department is a national team, and its target is naturally the upper class of foreigners.
Nowadays, there are already some folk performing arts troupes, which are often maintained by folk businesses themselves. You can entertain yourself on the road, and when you go to border cities or outside the territory, you can also hold performances to collect some money. Those are the ones that face ordinary people, and the seat fees are cheaper.
Gao Gong, who had stayed in the Imperial Study Room, already knew the purpose of what Li Kaixian, who now went to the Ministry of Literary and Arts Department as the chief director, was doing.
Judging from the fact that some wealthy men from the North and South Xuanwei Division of Jiaozhi traveled thousands of miles to come here to watch several more games, Ming Dynasty is becoming more and more attractive in their minds.
The city of Malacca is completely the administrative governance system of the Ming Dynasty. Every guardian who takes office here is someone who has been around the emperor and will definitely have a great future in the future. Yang Bo returned to the Ming Dynasty and was already the right minister of the Ministry of Finance and Taxation. Although it will probably take him one or two years before he has the chance to reach the second level, it is already a rare fast track.
Therefore, Gao Gong would only work hard in the Nanyang Protectorate, striving to satisfy the emperor and return to the Ming Dynasty after his term of office, taking a solid step towards Taige.
Therefore, the clarity of governance in the city of Malacca is often lamented by the citizens of the surrounding small countries.
This is a window into the Ming Dynasty. From here, the impression of the Ming Dynasty on the sailors, the coolies on the wharves who came to make a living, the helpers in the shops in the city, the merchants and even the officials and dignitaries of the surrounding small countries became clearer and clearer.
The influence is filtering in little by little.
Just when Louis was talking to Gao Gong again the next day and told him privately how much compensation he would bring this year, officials from Champa came here and accused the South Xuanwei Division of Jiaozhi of constantly intruding on the last territory they currently occupied in Champa. Tonglong area.
Gao Gong could only temporarily interrupt the conversation with Louis, but he only said in front of him: "In the past, there was civil strife in Cochin, and you also took the opportunity to truly stand on your own. The current Aceh Sultanate is not what you were after the royal family of Champa in the past. Do you want to build it? Since we need the protection of the Ming Dynasty, why not send an envoy to become a minister and ask your Majesty to ennoble it?"
"Your Majesty the Protector knows it clearly. In the past, the Li Dynasty attacked Champa, captured Vijaya, and then destroyed Chapan City, so Champa ceased to exist in name only. Now the leader of the Xuanwei Division in the south of Jiaozhi has been canonized by the state, on the grounds that Champa has always been subordinate to Jiaozhi. , the Ministry of Rites and Affairs of the State was also invited by him. When the Lord Protector was in Malacca, he realized that the city we occupied had a clear lineage and was actually invaded by Cochin. Now, although I want to petition the State for canonization, the Li family is forcing me, and General Ruan's army The situation is under pressure. If there is no protection and grace from the superior country, how dare I send envoys to offend the Li family and suffer the disaster of destruction again?"
Gao Gong thought for a while and then said: "In this way, I will report to Your Majesty first and ask what the holy will is. Although you have occupied a city of its own, it has been true that the vassal belongs to Jiaozhi for hundreds of years. Now if you want to truly stand on your own, Jiaozhi Nanxuan Wei Si has been respectful to the Ming Dynasty for several years, but the court can't just hate him. I can't allow you anything, so you have the right to give it a try."
Champa officials were overjoyed to have their attitude relaxed.
The previous Nanyang Governor, Mr. Yang, had always had a clear attitude towards this matter and would not support it.
Now that the person has been replaced, there has indeed been a change.
Lewis watched from the sidelines as officials from the important border town of Ming Dynasty dealt with the fate of the small and remote country, and he couldn't help but feel awe-struck.
Gao Gong's expression did not change and he continued to discuss with him.
Knowing how much wealth he had brought this time, and hearing what he said about the Portuguese King's demands this time, Gao Gong began to write a report.
And the matter of occupying the city is naturally among them.
Not only the occupation of the city, but after the First World War in Outer Yunnan, Outer Yunnan and Nanyang, which had been stable for several years, began to become slightly uneasy again.
In the past few years, Yang Bo here, as well as the diplomatic embassies in various places, have vaguely conveyed an attitude: the vassal states entrusted by the Ming Dynasty are not allowed to conquer each other. But here, there are still a lot of power vacuums.
Yang Bo has been in Nanyang for several years and has a deep understanding of this place: in almost the entire Outer Yunnan and Nanyang area, due to terrain reasons, rainy and dry seasons and transportation reasons, this place is actually very different from the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty.
Except for a few countries such as Jiaozhi, in other countries, under the big kings, there are actually medium-sized and small-sized tribal leaders. There are many small and medium-sized tribes. They submit to one big country and another big country. There is basically no clear distinction between countries.
Therefore, even with the Ming Dynasty's restriction that the feudal states were not allowed to conquer each other, there have been many attempts to instigate rebellion and win over small and medium-sized tribes in recent years.
As long as border trade and other matters between the capital of the great power and the Ming Dynasty are not hindered, the Ming Dynasty's attitude of turning a blind eye is actually an encouragement.
This is prompting more small countries in outer Yunnan and Southeast Asia to try to obtain direct canonization and protection from the Ming Dynasty.
However, Yang Bo adopted a non-supportive attitude. He had the excuse to run the Nanyang Protectorate well.
When Gao Gong comes here, he can adopt a different strategy.
He thought silently for a long time before continuing to write down his opinions.
The emperor's appointment of Yang Bo as the first Protector of Nanyang definitely had a profound meaning.
Gao Gong still remembered that Yang Bo went to Yunnan with the King of Yue, and the King of Yue stayed in the Duke's Mansion of Guizhou for nearly a year.
Now, the King of Yue has turned eighteen...
Could it be that the Duke of Guizhou in the southwest of Shizhen, the eldest son of the emperor named Yue, and Yang Bo's policy statement explaining the situation in Nanyang were all out of nowhere?
Taking over the baton from the high arch should be to prepare for the next stage.
The drama in Malacca City has begun, and Gao Gong's report went to Beijing in advance.
Nearly half a month later, Louis took his deputy Frodo and set off for the Ming Dynasty again. This time, he will strive to stay in the Ming Dynasty in the future and implore the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to send diplomats to Lisbon.
Only in this way can Portugal have more confidence to resist the eager gaze from the Habsburg family in the changing situation brought about by the upcoming battle of different alliances in Europe.
At this time, he did not know that a huge storm was brewing in the Ming Empire.
In the capital, the atmosphere among the important officials in the court was very depressed.
At the beginning of last year, Wang Shouren passed away. He was given the title of Duke Xinjian, with the posthumous title of Zhongwu, and he was enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple and admitted to the Hall of Heroes. This was normal.
But from then on, the emperor faced news of his death all year long.
First, the Empress Dowager Jiang passed away, and then the late Emperor and Empress Xia passed away. Then, the queen's mother died, and then a prince and two princesses died in infancy. Then Concubine Zhuang, Jieyu and Zhaoyi died of illness, and Concubine Hui had difficulty giving birth, leaving one dead and two dead.
Starting from last winter, I thought the queen was just suffering from the cold due to the grief of her mother's death. Unexpectedly, her condition became more and more serious, and she was still not feeling better by the end of March.
The thirty-five-year-old emperor has rarely smiled for a whole year.
One more update
(End of chapter)
