Daming: My grandfather is Emperor Hongwu!

Chapter 88 Envoy (3)

It seems that Siam is much richer than Ryukyu, and there are elephants, tortoises and other living animals among the tribute.

However, Zhu Xiongying noticed that the old man didn't look very happy because of Siam's offering of these rare animals, but frowned slightly.

"It's hard for you, I came all the way here, and I still have to bring these living things!" The old man said, "Next time you come, you don't need to bring these!"

Prince Zhaolu, the envoy of Siam kowtowed and said, "These are the filial piety of the small country in the lower state!"

Compared with the Ryukyu envoy, the prince's Chinese is not so good as Liuli.But the attitude is more respectful, it can be said to be sincere and fearful.

"Since you have filial piety!" The old man smiled and continued, "Come back next time, and replace these useless things with other things. I heard that your side is full of paddy fields. I think there are a lot of buffaloes. Bring some good ones. Buffalo come here!"

This is the source of the old man's displeasure just now, and the rare beasts just look good.Improper food and food, and it takes a lot of money to feed them, and even find a veterinarian for them.In the old man's opinion, elephants, white apes, tortoises, and buffaloes that could never plow land are important.

Cattle can cultivate land, so their status is much higher than that of other livestock.

Beginning in the first year of Hongwu, the old man issued an edict not to kill farm cattle privately, and the cattle that died of illness had to be reported to the government.As for eating beef, that is even more unthinkable.Some folks may secretly sell it, but in the palace, one cannot eat a meal of beef a year.

Prince Zhao Lu of Siam was a little puzzled, thinking that the old man didn't like the tribute he brought, so he pleaded guilty again and again.Under the panic and fear, the Chinese in his mouth became less and less fluent, making it impossible for people to hear what he said.

"What did he say?" The old man asked a little displeased.

Among the Siamese envoys, a middle-aged man who looked stable and taller knelt down and kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, the Siamese prince said that he brought some rare animals for the auspiciousness of the Ming Dynasty. , since His Majesty doesn't like it, I will replace it with buffalo and other livestock when I pay tribute next time."

"Oh!" The old man nodded, and then said to the middle-aged man, "You speak Chinese very well!"

The man kowtowed and said, "Chen Ziren, a grassroots man, was originally from Fujian."

Before he could finish speaking, the old man was furious, "Since you are a Han Chinese, why don't you go to that barbarian land in your parents' country? The heaven is so big, can't it accommodate you?"

Chen Ziren quickly kowtowed again, "It was the generation of Caomin's grandfather who went fishing in the sea, and was blown to Siam by the sea breeze, and settled down there. But for three generations, Caomin's family never dared to forget the country of their parents in the Celestial Dynasty. They read Chinese books to learn Chinese, Don't dare to change the words on the clothes!"

This is obviously a lie, what kind of sea breeze can blow people to Siam?
In fact, during the Yuan Dynasty, many people along the coast went to sea, went to Southeast Asia to make a living, and settled there.Not only did they bring advanced civilization and traditions to those barbarian lands, but they were also reused by local kings by virtue of their identity as Chinese.

Even many people simply set themselves up as kings.

Siam in the future is an example. The Ming and Qing dynasties always accepted the canonization of the Central Plains Dynasty.Later, Zheng Xin, a Siamese Chinese, established the Thonburi Dynasty and became the king of Siam.

Later, Zheng Xin was conspired by his subordinates to usurp the throne, and the usurper established the Bangkok Dynasty, the king named Rama I.That is, the later king of Thailand's small vest, the grandfather of the grandfather's grandfather.

In order to obtain the canonization of the Qing Dynasty, the usurper had to lie in the imperial edict that he was the son of Zheng Xin, named Zheng Hua.At that time, Lord Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty didn't want to recognize this traitor, but the Qing army had the intention of fighting in Southeast Asia, so he did.

But since then, the kings of all dynasties of Siam have to have a Chinese name named Zheng.

Not only Siam, but also the countries surrounding China before the industrial revolution.Because they understand that if they want to survive, they must learn to follow the celestial dynasty and pretend to be grandchildren.

"What is your official position in Siam?" Prince Zhu Biao asked.

Chen Ziren kowtowed, "Caomin is responsible for collecting commercial taxes in Siam!"

"The official is not young!" The old man laughed.

"It's a small barbarian country, and the business tax for a year can't match the tax of a county in Daming!" Chen Ziren said.

"Don't underestimate yourself like this!" Zhu Biao said, "Although the country is small, it is still a country!" Then he paused, and continued, "Aside from congratulating Zhengdan, what else is there to pay tribute to this time? "

"This time Caomin and Prince Zhaolu congratulate Zhengdan, there is one more thing besides presenting auspiciousness!" Chen Ziren said, "King of Siam, please do business with Daming, Your Majesty, please Xu Daming merchants, go to Siam!"

"This man has a brain!" Zhu Xiongying made a conclusion about Chen Ziren in his heart.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty imposed a sea ban, except for a few designated treaty ports, all other places were prohibited from entering the sea.Banning the sea does not mean prohibiting heavy rain from going out to sea, but banning seagoing ships and prohibiting trade.

Chen Ziren was able to come to Daming as a minister with the prince of Siam, so he must have great power in Siam.It should be noted that the Chinese settled in Southeast Asia have mastered the economic lifelines of these countries for hundreds of years.

And this man is very good at talking, he didn't ask the old man to allow Siam's merchant ships to come over, but said to let Daming's merchant ships pass by.

Once the two sides do business, Siamese spices, pepper, sumac, ivory, etc. will be continuously sold to Daming.And Ming's cloth, paper, porcelain and other items can also be sold to Siam.

On the throne, the old man and Zhu Biao thought deeply.How could they not understand the meaning behind the other party's words, but in their hearts, such things as maritime trade were not taken too seriously.

"Where are you from?" Zhu Xiongying asked Chen Ziren.

The latter kowtowed again, "Cao Min is waiting to go ashore in Wenzhou!"

Wenzhou can be regarded as one of the only few foreign ports in the Ming Dynasty. There is also a port in Zhejiang that is exclusively open to the Japanese, Ningbo.

Zhu Xiongying nodded, walked down the imperial steps, and took the gift list from Siam from the officials of Honglu Temple. It said that in addition to those rare animals, there were also 60 catties of pepper, [-] catties of sumac, and [-] catties of slaves. people.

"Hongwu three years, seven years, ten years, you all came!" Zhu Xiongying continued with a smile, "Every time the tribute is generous, rare and rare!"

The Siamese prince hurriedly said, "It's my heart to go to the country!"

"Grandfather!" Zhu Xiongying turned his head and said to the old man on the throne, "For the sake of their sincerity, let them do business in Wenzhou port!"

"Nonsense!" Zhu Biao said displeased, "Brother Ying, you can't open the sea ban rashly. You should not talk too much about such a big matter!"

"Father!" Zhu Xiongying went up with a smile, and whispered next to the Zhu family's father, "The reason why they do business in Wenzhou Port is not to buy and sell things with them. It's for food!"

As soon as he heard the food, the old man's eyes lit up.

Zhu Xiongying continued, "The rice in Siam is cropped three times a year. It is not only large in quantity but also cheap. It can be transported to Daming!"

The old man thought about it, and asked Chen Ziren, "How much rice is there in Siam?"

Chen Ziren kowtowed again and again, "Siam is sunny and sunny all year round, there are few natural disasters, and the rice is harvested every year, so much that we can't finish it!"

"Damn it, it's such a nice place to live in but barbarians!"

Zhu Xiongying clearly heard the old man gritted his teeth and cursed, and then heard the old man continue to say, "Maybe you do business in Wenzhou, but you need to transport more rice and better seeds, understand!"

"The grassroots obey the order!" Chen Ziren was overjoyed.

When he raised his head, he saw the grandson of Emperor Ming, who blinked at him intentionally.

(End of this chapter)