Bright Spring

After a while, the translator said: "They said it was the king's envoy, and there was a token."

Wang Jinghong whispered with the generals around him and the generals of Jinyiwei for a while, and then Wang Jinghong said coldly: "The East King of Java who lives in Jiugang is willing to give 6 taels, and will also subsidize the military expenses of the Ming army."

The dark-skinned people on both sides talked for a while.The translator said: "The king doesn't have that much gold, neither does Dong Wang, Dong Wang lied to you."

Wang Jinghong said angrily: "The king of Java voluntarily promised something, written in black and white on the memorial, why did it go back and forth?"

After waiting for a while, the interpreter said again: "They are going back to report to the king."

Wang Jinghong said angrily: "Tell these envoys that a reply must be given within three days. See off the guests!"

Chapter 768 Only because of gold

This villa is the house of the minister of the Javanese state (Manabaxie state), and it is located on a hillside.The King of Java and his party walked around a forest and extended their sights to the distance. They were immediately shocked by the scene of Kediri Port on the bank of the "Brantas River".

Kediri Port is probably in Surabaya, the second largest city in Indonesia today. )

The sea in the harbor has already been occupied by fleets of ships; from a distance, it looks like migrating white cranes have filled a small pond.

The king, who had been heartbroken about gold before, changed his mind after less than half a stick of incense, "If the Ming people only want gold, we may still be able to discuss it."

The envoy of the Sultanate of Malacca in Malacca exhorted, "Ming people have revealed their greedy nature, and His Majesty's concession will only let them make progress."

At this time, the Javanese monarch and ministers did not refute it, but a minister looked back to the left and right with dissatisfaction and said, "Why is our enemy Mancijia people here?"

Malacca) is a Sultanate established about ten years ago and believes in Islam; however, almost all the countries in this area, large and small, believe in Hinduism and Buddhism, and Java is no exception.The doctrines of the two beliefs are diametrically opposed in many places, so they are constantly in conflict with each other, and some new and old hatreds have accumulated in just ten years.

The envoy bowed and said, "Your Excellency cannot treat us as enemies, especially now. If there were no Muslim businessmen from India and other places, the port of Kediri would not be so prosperous, and His Majesty would not be able to promise 6 taels of gold to the Ming Dynasty."

The king looked at the envoy in confusion, and said, "Before this, you seem to have accepted the canonization of the Ming court. Why did you change your mind now?"

The envoy said, "In the past, the Ming people just wanted the honor of 'worship by all nations', so even though they were heretics and heretics, the Sultan accepted them with tolerance. But now the Ming people want to raise taxes in Manchuria."

The king said, "The Ming Dynasty is far away, so why do you need to collect taxes in Manchuria?"

The messenger said, "Merchant ships passing by from all over the world have to pass by the sea of ​​Malaca. Every year, there is a large amount of gold. Greed is the evil thoughts of people. The pagans do not listen to the Lord's persuasion, and cannot resist the temptation of the devil."

The king asked warily "Just because of the gold?"

The messenger said, "Yes, the Ming Kingdom is an evil|evil land abandoned by the Lord. We have a relationship with the Han people only because of gold; just like we and the pagans of Nestorian Christianity, we can only communicate through gold The sages of the Lord in the world said that gold is gold regardless of belief.

The Han people are pagans and heretics at the same time, and their souls can no longer be saved. They are pagans who believe in Buddhism, Taoism, and Nestorianism, and at the same time they are heretics who have betrayed all masters. "

The minister who spoke just now said again, "But the Manchuka Kingdom and us not only have a gold relationship; you also forced|persuaded the Javanese in the port to convert to Islam, which caused disputes among our people."

The messenger said, "But now the Ming people are here and want to take away everyone's gold."

The king stopped talking. He looked at the fleet on the harbor and fell into deep thought.

Everyone waited and watched for a long time, the king said he was tired, so he led everyone back to the villa room to rest.However, the king did not rest. He summoned several confidant ministers and nobles to discuss matters in the living room covered with Persian blankets.

Several ministers suggested surrendering to the Ming Dynasty, and someone described the reason for their claim: "The Indian mainland has declined. After the Sultan of Delhi was attacked by Timur's army, he can only control a small area now. The Turkic nobles and the Persian nobles came from Afghanistan near Iran) has declared independence; the Hindu princes in the south no longer pay taxes to the Sultan of Delhi. The Muslim forces in India can no longer threaten us.

But the huge fleet of Ming people has come here twice.The envoy of Mancijia also revealed the news that the court of the Ming Dynasty might levy taxes in this sea area; therefore, only when the forces of the Ming Dynasty enter the area can this goal be achieved.It is a very unwise choice for us to be an enemy of the Ming Dynasty. "

Several nobles opposed this matter because they wanted to collect "members" for compensation.It is also because the amount of gold is too large. At the beginning of the establishment of the Manchuka Kingdom, the strength was too small, and the annual tribute to Java was only 50 taels of gold, and it was only 40 taels to Siam. The compensation demanded by the Ming Dynasty was The small country enshrines more than 1000 times every year!

A nobleman said, "The Ming people threatened us with the Eastern King. If the Eastern King breaks his promise afterwards, what will the Ming Navy do? Whether the Ming people want gold or us to be their vassals, who can decide?"

Another nobleman said, "Last time what the Ming people said, as long as we sincerely admit our mistakes, the imperial court will probably waive the compensation as a show of kindness; for this reason, His Majesty took the initiative to ask for compensation. But now the Ming people not only do not deduct compensation, but also use Threatening us with force and the Eastern King is tantamount to extortion and deceit. This is because the people of the Ming Dynasty were unreasonable first, not because we broke our promise first."

At this time, the Minister of the Kingdom said, "I heard that two people were unarmed in the woods, but they suddenly encountered a hungry black bear, so the two ran away desperately. Both of them could not run away from the black bear, but they still ran with each other. Why? ?" He didn't wait for everyone to answer, and quickly gave the answer, "They don't need to outrun the black bears, they just need to outperform their companions."

Hearing this, the king finally said, "This fable is very interesting. Maybe we should consider paying the indemnity as promised; at the same time, tell the people of the Ming Dynasty about the hostile conspiracy of the people of the Ming Dynasty who are full of thorns and honey-belly swords. If you pay 6 taels of gold, you can use the people of the Ming Dynasty to eliminate Manchu plus Sultan, this matter will be of great benefit."

The minister echoed, "Your Majesty is wise, the Muslim disciples of Manjaka are gradually making the people in various ports lose their loyalty to His Majesty."

It was not difficult for the nobles to compromise, as if it was the royal family who paid the bulk of the compensation.A nobleman suggested, "You should find a person who is more proficient in Chinese to accompany you, who can tell more complicated things, and tell the Ming Guotai's monitoring of the last time the Ming people lured|lured His Majesty to ask for compensation, so as to get them compromise.

It is expected that the people of the Ming Dynasty will agree that half of the compensation will be replaced by silver and other treasures.Because of the conversion of gold and silver, according to the price of the Ming Dynasty, gold is very cheap; and gold is the most expensive treasure among the western countries.In this way, we can reduce our losses. "

The monarch and ministers of Java gradually reached a decision.

... Three days later, Wang Jinghong received the envoys from Java on a large treasure ship.There were more Javanese people who came this time, a dozen of them.

Just as it was a Javanese prince, he said his name twice in Javanese, and Wang Jinghong gave him a Chinese name, Brother Daga.

There is also a translator accompanying the Javanese mission, who speaks a relatively fluent Cantonese dialect.Wang Jinghong is from Fujian, and he usually speaks the official dialect of the capital, which is a combination of Fengyang dialect and Nanjing dialect); after the Javanese translation, Wang Jinghong still could not understand.Fortunately, there are many people on board who can understand Cantonese dialect, so a second translation was carried out.

The information exchanged this time is more abundant, and it is no longer just a simple bargaining.

The prince's "big brother" narrated the complicated inside story of the "promise of compensation", which roughly means that the upper class of the Ming Dynasty navigator in Yongle gave the king of Java a set of "ceremonial" solutions... The king of Java got If you show your sincerity in admitting your mistakes and your willingness to surrender, the compensation will most likely be waived; because Daming is a country of etiquette and knows how to give way and return.

Wang Jinghong pretended not to know, and only explained that the army and the Java State had no grievances and no enmity, and more than 100 people were indeed killed.There is no intention of bullying in asking for compensation.

Then the big brother proposed that only 3 taels of gold should be compensated, and the other amounts would be replaced by silver and jewelry.

Wang Jinghong summoned the accompanying eunuchs, Jin Yiwei, naval generals, and civil officials to discuss in the cabin of the ship, and then give a reply.Wang Jinghong is the envoy in the fleet, but he can't do whatever he wants. Not only are there people from various yamen around him, but he also seems to be hiding undercover agents in case someone betrays the court and kills him suddenly.

After a discussion among the crowd, General Jin Yiwei reminded Wang Jinghong, "Before we set off, the Holy Majesty taught us to change the internal reasons for doing things and focus on gold and profit. However, in the ethics | morality and power disputes of various countries, we should seek common ground while reserving differences, and don't need to follow the morality of Ming Dynasty. The requirements of the system can no longer be used as the key reason for using troops, and this kind of matter should be based on negotiation and compromise."

Wang Jinghong said, "Our family also believes that we should accept the proposal of the Prince of Java and get the money first. If we really fall out and support the Eastern King to seize |power, our military expenditure will be huge, and things will not be worth the candle."

Everyone expressed their opinions one after another and obeyed the decision of Zhengshi.

At this moment, Prince Java requested to go to the cabin to discuss with Wang Jinghong privately.Wang Jinghong agreed, but he still had civil and military officials around him.

Through a translator, the elder brother told about the conspiracy of the Mancijia kingdom. On the surface, he made good friends with the Ming court, and secretly united with other countries to resist the Ming power.The elder brother claims that the Java State is willing to submit to Ming Dynasty loyally and pay the indemnity in full, but hopes that the Ming army can get rid of the Sultan of Mancigar.

Wang Jinghong replied, "This matter and the matter of compensation should be discussed separately. We agreed to the compensation method of the King of Java; and the state affairs of Mancika can only be reported to the court, and the Holy Majesty and the ministers will decide."

So the negotiation between the two parties ended, but the elder brother has promised to send the gold and goods to the port within a limited time.

An eunuch reminded Wang Jinghong, "Mancijia has a good relationship with Daming. During the Yongle period, the Ming court married a princess named 'Han Baoli' to King Mancijia to make a good relationship for generations."

In the Ming Dynasty, the clan surnamed Zhu and the woman surnamed Han. No one knew where the princess was found.However, Wang Jinghong felt that diplomatic relations should not be destroyed at will, and decided to report everything to the court after returning home.

Chapter 769

At the turn of spring and summer, it is the season of green, fat, red and thin. The scene of the capital of the Ming Dynasty is full of lush vegetation and vitality.

Beside the inclined corridor outside Qianqing Palace, there are only a few trees, which also attract birds to stay, and they "chirp" among the branches and leaves.Zhu Gaoxu, who was sitting in the Dongnuan Pavilion, heard the sound of birdsong, and had an illusion that "it's not like living in a densely populated imperial city".

He was soon disturbed by the noise of the birds, because the eunuch Cao Fu came in to report the matter, and mentioned that Chen Xianzhen was going to Beijing soon with Hou Hai, Pei Youzhen, Liu Ming and others.

Cao Fu narrated for a while, and then said: "The servant girl asked Zhang Sheng, and the Jin Yiwei who accompanied him reported that this matter was the intention of Zhang Fu, the Marquis of Xincheng."

"I know." Zhu Gaoxu said.