Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 407 The Wind Blows South
The first thing to be held was the Maritime Trade Expo, followed by the Longevity Ceremony.

All the important things happened during the Maritime Trade Expo, when the Ming Dynasty and the merchants who came with the diplomatic missions from various vassal states negotiated business, and Zhu Changluo first met with the envoys sent by various vassal states.

The purpose of the Ming Dynasty this time was very clear, so a meaningful schedule was designed.

Zhu Changluo could stay in Guangzhou long enough, so almost every envoy from the Nanyang and Outer Yunnan vassal states could be given a day.

If there is plenty of time, the emperor will only receive the chief envoy, and then there will be officials from the Lifanyuan and other government offices and the emperor's representatives such as the Duke of Qian to greet other members of the delegation.

There were also verbal hints at the banquet.

During the whole process, what requests and promises were made privately are destined not to be known to many people at the moment.

But on the Emperor's birthday, the Emperor issued an imperial decree to designate several counties in Guangzhou and several islands outside the Pearl River Estuary as the Southern Capital of the Ming Dynasty, to be the capital of maritime trade and diplomatic relations between the Ming Dynasty and Southeast Asia and the West. This was already a significant enough signal.

According to the current central structure and power distribution of the Ming Dynasty, such an order certainly could not be a temporary idea of ​​the emperor. It involves too many ministries and must be a major strategy that was decided long ago.

For those who have heard the news privately, the existence of Nandu was officially announced before Dongdu, which was to set an example and create momentum in advance.

In addition to establishing Nandu, Guangzhou Prefecture relied on Nandu, the future maritime trade capital, to become the place where internal trade commodities of the Ming Dynasty were produced and gathered. If Jiangnan continued to drag its feet, Guangdong would probably have a huge attraction, causing headaches for many wealthy businessmen and powerful families in Jiangnan.

Although it was the first time that the emperor came to the southern coast of the Ming Dynasty, this visit alone was destined to change the entire situation of the Ming Dynasty and even Southeast Asia.

The timing was just right. After the Wanshou Festival, the wind direction gradually changed. The diplomatic missions coming from the south by sea could return with the wind, and the business just negotiated at the maritime trade fair could be loaded and set sail.

Prince Jalil of the Kingdom of Johor could not hide his feelings very well. The Dutchman looked at him and could not help but pour a bucket of cold water on him: "No matter what promises Your Highness has heard, it is a fact that this empire has not built a large ocean-going fleet."

Jalil looked at him and said, "You are all required to stay at the island outside the river mouth and cannot go to Guangzhou. You don't know how rich and powerful the country is, and you don't know how wise and brave the emperor is."

The Dutchman snorted, understanding only part of what he was saying. After his visit to the city of the empire, this fellow came back with a slightly changed accent and incomprehensible words.

But after staying in a relatively desolate place for a long time and being guarded by the country's coastal defense forces, he was naturally bored and just looked at the unfamiliar Eastern Navy.

To be honest, those warships were all mismatched and did not look suitable for long voyages.

He frowned as he looked at Prince Jalil's forced calm anticipation.

If there was one more expectation, it would have been difficult for the Johor Kingdom to deepen its cooperation with the Dutch.

It would be difficult to continuously weaken the Portuguese accumulation over the decades in the Spice Islands relying solely on the Dutch who had already been sent here.

The two of them set sail for home, each with different feelings.

Looking west, Zheng Chun clenched his fists tightly.

When meeting the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the young Emperor said to him indifferently in response to his request: "The Le family was a rebellion against the Ming Dynasty. Later, the Ming Dynasty valued peace and appointed them as the King of Annan. But since Mo Dengyong exterminated the Le family, it is hard to say whether the current Le family is the legitimate one. Your father was kind and first appointed you as the governor-general, which was a great favor from heaven. Now you are an envoy, and the Nguyen family has sent another envoy, which shows that the civil strife in Annan has not been quelled. As for the King of Annan, let's wait until one of the families has quelled the civil strife and won the support of the people before we can talk about it."

He failed to meet the expectations of Emperor Li and his father.

Even when he proposed to offer the household register and return part of the land like Mo Dengyong did in the past, the young emperor ignored it.

"In the past, Mo Dengyong presented the books and returned the land of the four caves southwest of Qinzhou. Is that something that the Ming Dynasty can control, or is that something that Annan can control? Let's not talk about this. The Mo family is still there, and he is only the commander-in-chief. In the past, my father said that the Li family had just restored the country, and people's hearts might not be settled. Now there are both the Li family and the Mo family. Your surname is Zheng, and the Ruan family has sent people. If we agree to your request, Annan will be the destination of others in the future. Wouldn't that be a joke?"

They acted as if they were not yet able to be the master of the entire Annan. Although this was true, the mission was indeed not completed.

However, Zheng Chun could not do more. The Ming Dynasty was just watching. If he angered the Ming Dynasty, the consequences would be disastrous.

In the past, Le Loi rebelled against the Ming Dynasty. Although he drove the Ming people out and established the Le Dynasty, he still had to kneel down and ask for surrender and be crowned the King of Annan. The Ming Dynasty might not be able to directly manage Annan all the time, but it would not be difficult to send troops to conquer and beat them up.

After Mo Dengyong usurped the Le Dynasty, he had to surrender, offer books and land in exchange for the support of the Ming Dynasty.

The same is true for Zheng father and son today.

As for Emperor Li himself... he was just a puppet. As for his brother-in-law, Zheng Chun just hoped to cooperate with him and gain the power and position that his father had as soon as possible.

Now my father is hesitant, unable to completely defeat the Nguyen family internally and unable to completely eliminate the Mo family externally. If this continues, when will Annan be able to "get what everyone wants"?
Thinking that he would be scolded by his father when he returned, his face was gloomy and he wondered what to do.

Perhaps the Ming Emperor's suggestion to set up an embassy first is an opportunity...

The envoys from Outer Yunnan traveled by land through Guangxi to Yunnan.

And it just so happened that the Duke of Qian and his son were traveling with them.

Along the way, among the envoys of the various Xuanfusi and Xuanweisi with complex origins were both direct descendants of the Toungoo Dynasty and hereditary family members who were originally recognized by the Ming Dynasty.

The journey is long and the route is through the territory of the Ming Dynasty, so the Duke of Qian and his son can only invite those with whom they get along well and drink more often, and others cannot just go along.

In particular, the Toungoo Army had invaded the Ming Dynasty several times and suffered defeat.

Of course they had sensed the potential danger, but they could only go back and come up with countermeasures.

As for those who were forced or took the initiative to get closer to the Duke of Ming, some were worried and some were expectant.

In the autumn of the tenth year of Taichang, the wind blew from Daming to Outer Yunnan and Southeast Asia, like an invisible giant hand. What kind of storms it would stir up, or what would be smashed and what would be lifted up, was still unknown for the time being.

Zhu Changluo started his journey back to Beijing.

When I came here, I took a boat, and when I went back, I took the shorter Meiguan Road to Jiangxi.

As for the dragon boat, it had already set off during the time he stayed in Guangzhou, preparing to meet up with the imperial carriage in Nanjing.

Except for Fang Congzhe, Sun Chuanting and other people from the Lifanyuan stayed in Guangdong.

He participated in the preparation and construction of the Southern Capital in advance, built the framework of the Nanyang Division of the Lifanyuan, and waited for the official responses from several vassal states before serving as the permanent envoy of the Ming Dynasty.

Xie Jingfu also stayed in Guangdong, where he presided over the formal establishment of the Nanyang Fleet and the construction of the Dongguan Military Industrial Park.

At the same time, some special caravans from Guangdong, Jiangxi, Fujian and Zhejiang had begun to gather in Nanjing.

In these caravans, the ships and carriages were very heavy, and there were many young and strong people accompanying them, who were nervous and cautious.

Because it’s full of cash, a lot of cash.

(End of this chapter)