Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 683 Gaoshan Clan

  Li Jinglong paced around, thinking about the battle between heaven and man. On the one hand, thinking that this tribe is so close to the place where the port was built, it is better to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys and exterminate them directly to ensure the peace of the port in the future.

  On the other hand, they felt that the massacre was excessive and might arouse the same hatred among the tribes on the island. Besides, with my ability to lead troops, if even these natives are no match...

  After thinking about it, and remembering that his fifth uncle Zhu Su once praised himself for his long sleeves and good dancing skills, Li Jinglong finally made up his mind: "Come here, pick out some rare treasures for me."

  "I, my young master, will personally go on a trip to find the indigenous tribes in the mountains and visit them."

  "This... Young Master, you must not do this!" The faces of the merchants, generals and guards who came from Cao Guogong's palace around him all changed in an instant. "Those natives are illiterate and have no faith. How can the young master put his body in danger when he has a rich body?"

  "Yes, young master, how noble you are. Those natives are foreigners. Even the entire Ryukyu Island put together is not as valuable as you, young master... No, absolutely not!"

  "In the past, when our Ming Dynasty was founded, even His Majesty braved the rain of arrows and charged forward. How can I be a mere prince who has not yet ascended to the title of nobility? What do I mean?"

  Li Jinglong watched these people continue to dissuade him, knowing that they still regarded him as a fool, and he couldn't help but feel angry out of thin air. He angrily shook off those who were grabbing the sleeves of his robes to stop him, and said loudly: "My father was not weak in his crown, so he followed your majesty to the north. In the battle of Lingbei, with the dignity of the country's duke, he took the lead among the thousands of troops. Charged, suffered dozens of wounds, and never retreated."

  "Now I'm just going to visit a tribe, and you want to stop me... Do you want to smear the reputation of Duke Cao as a brave man?"

  Li Jinglong had a sudden attack, and the merchants who were accompanying him were stunned. The young master has always given people the impression of being a kind-hearted nobleman. He has never blushed even when he was dealing with the servants in the house. Seeing him suddenly getting angry this time, it was really a bit heartbreaking.

  Li Jinglong rarely made the decision on his own, and he suddenly felt happy in his heart. Taking advantage of this momentum, he simply took only ten personal guards, no armor, a slutty moon-white gown and a folding fan, and took two boxes of gifts to the high mountains in the east.

  When they reached the foot of the mountain, they saw several figures emerging from the shadows of the trees deep in the lush forest. An indigenous man with green dye on his face shouted to them: "Stop, Han people. This is the territory of the Gaoshan tribe, and outsiders like you will never be allowed to enter."

  "They can actually speak Chinese!" Li Jinglong was shocked. Although the accents of these people were not standard, they were definitely speaking Chinese with a Fujian accent.

  Then Li Jinglong became happy and could speak Chinese, which showed that these people were not as barbaric as he originally expected, and there was a lot of room for communication.

  "This eldest brother has invited me. I am Li Jinglong, the eldest son of Duke Cao of the Ming Dynasty. I heard that a few days ago, my subordinates accidentally disturbed the brothers in your department."

  "That's why I came here to give you some gifts to apologize to the brothers in the Alpine Division."

  As the saying goes, don't hit someone with a smiling face. When Li Jinglong was in Beijing, he was a well-rounded social butterfly. Now when facing these ragged and dark-faced indigenous people, he could still smile sincerely, without any hesitation. There is no trace of disdain.

  On the other hand, the attendants behind him, facing these dirty natives, had expressions of wariness and hostility on their faces that were almost beyond words. The natives were obviously used to being treated with hostility, but this was their first time seeing a noble Han man who made people feel like a breath of fresh air when he first met.

  Several people murmured to each other, but they really didn't dare to continue expelling Li Jinglong. Whether looking at the clothes or temperament, the Han man in front of him must be a noble person among the Han people. Even on this island, their Alpine Tribe is just a small tribe. How can we offend tens of thousands of Han nobles?

  Immediately, one of the natives quickly went back to report to the leader of the tribe, while several others were still guarding the place. Although they were still unwilling to let Li Jinglong and others go up the mountain, they did not expel them and did not continue to show hostility towards them.

  Li Jinglong also took things easy and waited patiently at the foot of the mountain. The natives were worried that he would be overheated by the sun, so they even gave Li Jinglong some fruits. Li Jinglong didn't refuse. He wiped it casually with the hem of his clothes, put it in his mouth and bit off it. This kind of behavior has gained the favor of these indigenous people.

  After a while, the native who went to report the news came back. And he brought a message from the tribal leader: "Nobles of the Han people, our leader invites you to come to the tribe to talk."

  "Please."

  As he finished speaking, the few Gaoshan tribesmen who were originally guarding the road also moved out of the way. Someone led Li Jinglong and the guards carrying gifts into the mountain. The mountain road was rugged and difficult to navigate. Li Jinglong's long robe was soon cut into tatters by tree branches, and the guards carrying things were also walking crookedly on the mountain road. On the contrary, the native who led the way felt a little embarrassed. He took the initiative to help Li Jinglong several times in the rough places, and even wanted to help lift those heavy boxes and cages.

  After walking like this for half a day, Li Jinglong finally saw a mountain tribe hidden deep in the mountains on a mountain col. After entering the tribe, I discovered that this tribe did not seem to be as backward and barbaric as imagined. Many women in the tribe wore cloth that was obviously traded from the Ming Dynasty. Many of the warriors who guarded the tribe also wore cloth. It is obviously a sword and gun produced in the Ming Dynasty.

  When he saw the tribal leader, although his face was dark, he was obviously wearing clothes made of fine cloth. Li Jinglong thought in his heart that this high mountain tribe was indeed closely connected with the Han Dynasty. It was an unusual change. Comparable to external families.

  "What is the business of the Ming Dynasty's Duke Cao Guogong in our land of Liuqiu?" The dark-faced leader of the Gaoshan tribe spoke in standard Ming Dynasty mandarin. "We are just a tribe outside of China. We don't want to have anything to do with the Celestial Empire."

  "If nothing happens, my lord, please come back. We, the High Mountain Department, do not welcome Han people to move to Ryukyu Island..."

  Although this leader spoke standard Chinese, he opened his mouth to reject people thousands of miles away. But how shameless is Li Jinglong? Not only did he not feel dissatisfied when he heard this, he said with a smile: "Does the Gaoshan Ministry also know about my Duke Cao's residence? I have traveled thousands of miles to come to visit, so naturally I have something to ask for."

  "My Ming Dynasty has built a port here in Shanxi facing the sea... Since it is adjacent to your ministry, we will be our neighbors in the future."

  "Since I am a newcomer to the Ming Dynasty, a country of etiquette, I should pay a visit and give some gifts to my neighbors. It would be disrespectful..."

  As Li Jinglong said this, he waved to the outside and asked someone to bring in the generous gifts that had been prepared.

  (End of this chapter)