I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 622 Hajj

The war to conquer Burma ended in this way, and the Toungoo dynasty fell thirty years ahead of schedule.

The Ming Dynasty occupied a large area of ​​land in Myanmar, and the Dai and Mon people all recovered their country in Myanmar.

In March of this year, the commander-in-chief of Ha Tien Town, Mo Jiu, who had always been independent from Chenla (Cambodia), sent his only son Mo Tianxi (Ci) to follow Xu Yisheng's return fleet to Nanjing to pay a pilgrimage to the Ming Emperor.

China first completely annexed Annan, and then launched a large-scale military campaign against Myanmar. Ha Tien Town, Mo Jiu, who has been caught in the cracks of the Indochina Peninsula for a long time, obviously saw the situation clearly.

In addition to Ha Tien Town, which had already surrendered, the newly established Dai and Meng Kingdoms, as well as the consolation envoys from Siam, Chenla, and Laos also sent envoys to accompany them to the pilgrimage.

The fleet docked at Guangzhou Port for supplies. Officials from Honglu Temple in Guangzhou City heard that envoys from foreign vassals were arriving and quickly ran to the port with their Yamen officials to receive them.

Next, these envoys from foreign vassals have nothing to do with Xu Yisheng. They will be received by the official office of Honglu Temple in Guangzhou and sent to Nanjing for pilgrimage to the Ming Emperor.

The temporary reception hall of Honglu Temple in Guangzhou City had already received a group of foreign envoys from Southeast Asia two days ago. Two of them were "newcomers" who had just come to China for pilgrimage this year. They were the Sultan of Brunei. The official diplomatic mission between the country and the Sultanate of Sulu.

Since the late Ming Dynasty, these two countries have been oppressed and controlled by European colonists such as Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands for a long time. They have long been unable to endure it. Now we see that Ming China's power in the South China Sea is becoming more and more powerful.

In particular, the Governor of Luzon in the Ming Dynasty had several conflicts of interest and territory with the Spanish Governor of Cebu in the past two years. If the Spanish Governor had not understood that he had insufficient troops and that the American galleons trade depended on the Chinese, they would have started fighting long ago.

Although the current Sultanate of Brunei and the small country "Brunei" of later generations are from the same lineage, Brunei at that time was much more powerful than later generations. It even once dominated Borneo (Kalimantan Island) ).

But then, European colonists came, and coupled with the pressure from the neighbor Sulu Sultan, Brunei gradually declined, but even now, it still retains most of its territory, and it is not as small as in later generations.

In order to get rid of the control of the Spanish and the Dutch, the Sultan of Brunei and the Sultan of Sulu unexpectedly put aside their prejudices and jointly sent an envoy to break through the Spanish and Dutch blockade and go to Nanjing to request the canonization of the Chinese emperor.

Although they were still in the reception hall in Guangzhou, these pilgrim envoys were allowed to tour the city, but they had to be accompanied by officials from Honglu Temple.

Mo Tianxi followed a group of envoys and walked through the streets of Guangzhou. It was almost evening, and all the shops in the streets were lit up with lights. The number of vendors and shops along the street has not decreased but has increased. The streets are full of the cries of vendors and footmen, and the flow of people is gradually increasing.

Mo Tianxi was directly excited by the lights all over the street: "With so many lights, how much money will be spent on it. The city of Guangzhou in the Ming Dynasty is indeed prosperous and prosperous, far beyond our corner of Hexian!"

Although this guy is of mixed Chinese and Vietnamese descent, he was deeply influenced by his father Mo Jiu and always considered himself Chinese. After he succeeded to the throne of Ha Tien Town, he also vigorously promoted Han culture. He also invested in the expansion of the Han expatriate settlement area in Ha Tien, and even spent a lot of money to invite overseas Han gentlemen to settle down and teach in Ha Tien Town.

It is a pity that the overseas "Han people" princes who are so fond of Sinology did not learn from their father's tactful sophistication in finding ways to get things done. They could not see clearly the international situation in Indochina, and rashly got involved in the war for the throne of Chenla Kingdom, and were ultimately defeated. He fled to Siam and later died under the suspicion of the Siamese Emperor, who was also a Han.

"This is the Guangzhou city of the Ming Dynasty, so prosperous."

"Isn't this the most prosperous city in the Celestial Empire? It's more prosperous than the capital of the Sultan of our country. There are many common people here, and they can do business here with lights on at night."

"Guangzhou is not the most prosperous city in China. It is just a port in China. The most prosperous city in China is Nanjing along the river in the north. It is also the capital of Ming China."

"..."

Envoys from various countries were shocked by the prosperity of Guangzhou City, especially the fact that lights could be lit at night to continue doing business. This was almost unimaginable in many countries.

Even for the French, the European hegemon, this situation hardly exists. At most, the king will take the nobles and light hundreds of candles to have a dance party at night, but this is only the patent of the king and the nobles.

It is difficult for ordinary French people, even wealthy businessmen, to receive such treatment.

The Honglu Temple official who was responsible for accompanying the sightseeing took the trouble to explain these envoys one by one, and he felt a sense of pride while explaining it.

In fact, this kind of lighting up lights at night to do business is still a patent of coastal port cities such as Guangzhou.

Because the imperial court opened ports in coastal areas, Guangzhou already had a strong maritime trade base and naturally developed rapidly.

The development of maritime trade will naturally drive the rapid development of urban commerce in Guangzhou, and a special business model like the night market emerged at the historic moment.

Although there is still a curfew in Guangzhou, the general trend of night markets cannot be stopped. Guangzhou officials also need this as a political achievement, and people and businessmen also need night markets to make money.

However, for the officials working at the grassroots level, their workload has become heavier. It turns out that after the curfew, they can basically do nothing. Now that the night market opens, not only does the pressure on public security increase, but the most important thing is that opening a night market inevitably requires a lot of lights and fuel.

Under the premise that the city is full of wooden houses, a fire or water leak can occur if you are not careful.

Due to the emergence of night markets, the Guangzhou government even set up a special fire brigade "water dragon team". All shops and vendors participating in night markets must pay a "water tax".

Moreover, after continuous adjustments, Guangzhou has finally established the general area of ​​the night market, and vendors cannot be allowed to set up stalls randomly.

Only in this way can the night market in Guangzhou be standardized, which will also be quickly promoted in other coastal cities.

According to the current development speed of maritime trade, night markets are gradually extending to the inland, mainly based on those commercial cities, and continue to radiate and extend to surrounding prefectures and counties.

Mo Tianxi followed the Honglu Temple official who led the team and wandered around the night market with a group of envoys from foreign vassals, occasionally paying for some special snacks.

Most of the food is heavy in oil and salt. Because this place is based on a port, there are passenger ships entering the port every day from day to night.

The arrival of a ship means that there are a lot of sailor coolies who have to spend and eat here. For these groups, food heavy in oil and salt is more attractive to their appetites.

After wandering around for a night, the envoys from various countries were all eye-opening.

There was only one place I didn't go to, which was the red light district in Guangzhou Port. It was a red light district in the true sense. The lanterns were all in red, which was very eye-catching and very eye-catching.

Mo Tianxi, who could speak Chinese, asked the Honglu Temple official who was leading the way: "Why can't we go further?"

The Honglu Temple official said: "Ahead is Huajie and Liuxiang."

To put it bluntly, it is a brothel and Chu Guan, and it is also a brothel and Chu Guan that deals in skin and flesh business.

Although the Ming and New Dynasties prohibited brothels from engaging in the flesh business, the flesh business they conducted in these port brothels basically did not involve locals. They were all indigenous slaves bought from overseas.

Well, those are the so-called "Hu Ji" that Huang Dian saw in Nanjing earlier.

The Guangzhou government also knew about these things privately and turned a blind eye to it.

Because they have been traveling at sea for many years, when many sailors get off the ship at the port, the first thing they think about is eating meat, drinking and finding women.

It would be possible to completely ban brothels from coastal ports, but these frustrated sailors might cause trouble. Anyway, those brothels are only in specific areas, and they don't blatantly engage in flesh and blood business in broad daylight. They also use purchased overseas slaves and "hu women". Strictly speaking, this is a side project, but people don't hold officials accountable. .

For real Han women, no matter how difficult their lives are, they will immigrate to other cities at worst, and even overseas territories welcome immigrants.

In these overseas territories, including the nearest Governor-General of Luzon, Han women are also in high demand.

As far as the Governor's District of Yecheng, which is further away, even Han women who have given birth to children can find a good husband's family.

Many pure Han people here attach great importance to the concept of blood. In the eyes of these people, barbarians are barbarians. Even if they give birth to children and register as Han people, they cannot compare with the blood of serious Han people.

Even those mixed-race and Han-Chinese natives are also very enthusiastic about Han women and are eager to marry Han women to make the Han blood of their descendants purer.

By the way, many wealthy merchants and wealthy families in coastal areas have begun to keep domestic slaves again.

However, the slaves who were raised were all bought from overseas, and it was not easy for the government to control them. The sources of these slaves are diverse, and some even come from overseas governorates. The majority of slaves are from neighboring countries in the east, Japan.

Many wealthy people along the coast like these Japanese slaves very much. Although they are a little shorter, they are more loyal and obedient, and they are not expensive. As long as they are fed, they can do whatever they want.

Japanese "barbarian girls" have also become a hot commodity in many coastal brothels, because Japanese "barbarian girls" look most like Han people, are extremely obedient, and know how to serve others.

The next day.

The official ship of Honglu Temple is not ready yet, and envoys from various countries are visiting Guangzhou City again. Yesterday they just briefly visited the night market, but today they are planning to experience the white market in Guangzhou Port.

Compared with the prosperity and bright lights of the night market, although the white market in Guangzhou Port does not have so many tricks, it is not sluggish either. On the contrary, the flow of people is even greater at night.

The envoys followed the officials of Honglu Temple and visited Guangzhou Port for a whole morning, but they did not finish the tour.

Mo Tianxi has been deeply shocked by this place, not only because of the prosperity and power of Guangzhou Port, but also because along the way, he saw wealthy businessmen passing by on carriages more than once.

Regardless of how valuable the carriages themselves were, the horses pulling them were all war horses.

Moreover, the average shoulder height of those war horses, Mo Tianxi had seen the BMW his father bought from Europeans, was about the same level.

"Who are the people on those carriages? China actually let war horses pull the carriages?" Mo Tianxi asked the accompanying Honglu Temple officials.

The Honglu Temple official just smiled: "I, the Holy Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, are wise and powerful. Since I sent troops to regain the Monan Grassland a few years ago, the trade of these northern horses has been banned. As long as you have money, you can buy these BMWs from the north. Horses, even fine war horses from the prairie, can also be bought.”

Mo Tianxi was even more surprised. His father only got one of such a beautiful horse from a European, but people from Guangzhou in China actually used it to pull a cart. How much money did it cost?

In the ranks of the envoys, the Brunei envoy looked at the people on the street and the dazzling shops, and whispered to the Sulu envoy: "China is powerful. It is just a port city and it is already so rich. It is the king of the Sultan." None of them can compare. We must be canonized by the Emperor of China for this trip. As long as we have the protection of the Emperor of China, we don’t have to be afraid of those red-haired ghosts."

The Sulu envoy nodded: "You are right. Not only that, the original surrender may not be safe. After we return to China, we have to persuade the Sultan that he must sincerely surrender to the Chinese emperor. And the Chinese in Sabah also We can no longer oppress them and impose heavy taxes. I heard that the Chinese emperor hated this very much. Even the Spaniards and the Dutch were conquered by the Chinese emperor because they oppressed the Chinese in the colonies."

The Brunei envoy said: "If possible, perhaps the Sabah region can be used to exchange for the acceptance and favor of the Chinese emperor. This is definitely a good deal."

The Sulu envoy was seriously considering it, because dedicating Sabah to the Ming Dynasty would have both advantages and disadvantages for Sulu.

Over the past 100 years, the Sabah region has long been the focus of competition between Sulu and Brunei. Both countries believe that this region belongs to them.

About seventy years ago, a civil war broke out in the Sultanate of Brunei. The Sultan of Sulu sent troops to help Brunei quell the civil strife. In return, the Sultan of Brunei ceded the northern and eastern parts of Sabah to the Sultan of Sulu.

Sabah has now become a territory jointly managed by the two countries, but in the final analysis, conflicts still exist.

Now, if Brunei dedicates the Sabah it manages to the Ming Dynasty, it is hard to say how the Sultan of Sulu will do, but the Sultan of Brunei will definitely not lose.

Because as long as Sabah is given to the Ming Dynasty, the Sultan of Sulu will no longer be able to go to war with the Sultan of Brunei, and the Sultan of Brunei will have no worries about foreign aggression, and may even have the opportunity to dominate Borneo again.

This is very possible, because Sabah is stuck at the strategic point between the two countries, and there are tens of thousands of Han people on it. This is because after the Ming Dynasty opened the sea, Chinese Han people rarely ventured to Borneo.

Even if you can't make it, you can go directly to Luzon. If not, go to Nanyang Coconut City. Whoever goes to Sabah is unfamiliar with the place and there are many headhunters.

When the Ming Dynasty took over the Sabah area, it could easily obtain a colony of Borneo, and there would not be much problem in management. Many Han people here can speak Hokkien and Cantonese, and at the worst, they can also speak Hakka, so there is no need for a court Take the effort to Chineseize this place.

The Sulu envoy said: "By the way, I have heard those Chinese businessmen say that the Chinese emperor's vassal country, North Korea, and their 'sultan' dedicated his daughter to the Chinese emperor. We can also follow this and persuade our sultan , a marriage with the Chinese emperor, as long as the marriage is successful, our relationship with China will be closer."

Upon hearing this, the Brunei envoy also opened his mind: "You are right, marriage is indeed a good idea. When the envoy returns from this mission, we have to persuade our Sultan to marry the Chinese emperor. China is strong, As long as we become close to China, we will no longer have to be controlled by the threats of those red-haired ghosts."

Brunei and Sulu, two foreign envoys from Borneo, discussed in the team a marriage with the Chinese emperor, and even planned to offer land and surrender.

And the excuse has been found, just use it as a marriage dowry, so that the Sultan will look better.

It has to be said that these two people are indeed talented people, and this is because the Sabah area is indeed a bad place in their eyes.

Although the Sultan wanted to fight for it, in the eyes of many nobles, there were not many people from both countries in Sabah. On the contrary, there were many Chinese people, and the rest were all indigenous headhunters.

It is simply sick to fight for so many years for this broken place, and it is only the hegemony of the Sultan.

Some incidents also occurred during this period. The Portuguese envoy met several "fellow countrymen" on the streets of Guangzhou and greeted each other cordially.

As a result, the two sides almost started fighting, but fortunately there were accompanying officials from Honglu Temple to dissuade them.

The Portuguese mission did not understand this. Those "compatriots" were indeed Portuguese, but they were Portuguese from Macao.

These Portuguese people have settled in Macau very early and began to learn Chinese Chinese culture. As the Ming Dynasty became more and more powerful, these Portuguese people from Macau gradually regarded themselves as Chinese.

These people on Guangzhou Street even wear Confucian robes and crowns, and they also speak fluent Cantonese.

For these Portuguese people in Macau who have been in Macau since they were born and have never been to the so-called Portugal, Portugal to them is just the motherland mentioned by their parents and even their grandparents.

The reason why the Portuguese mission came to North Korea this time was mainly because of the information from the British.

China and Britain have officially formed an alliance. The two powerful countries are going to join forces to carve up India. Portugal is naturally very anxious. This is one of their few Far Eastern colonies. Naturally, they have to come and ask the Chinese emperor, what should they do?

(End of this chapter)