"There is a continent in the far east, which is Yinzhou. East out of Japan, smooth sailing, two months to reach. ”

"There is a bay in the east, called Fuwan, the wind and waves are calm, and it is a good harbor...... There is also a hill, which is called Fushan...... Fushan is near the sea, there is a big lake, the name of Mazu Lake ......"

"Crossing Fuwan Bay, there are woods, all oak trees, and the name Oak Bay ......"

"Along the oak bay to the north, there is a big bay, the fame of the golden bay...... Looking at the golden bay to the east, there is a river valley, the famous golden valley...... There is a large lake in the valley across the river, which is called the homesick lake. ”

"Two rivers merge into the lake, one is the river of flowing gold, and the other is the river of shining gold. There are many golden sands in the river, and it is within reach, and now it is all ......"

——Excerpt from "Mending Mountains and Seas: Overseas East Classics", author Xu Hongzu, the word Zhenzhi, the number Xiake. (This book was written in the twelfth year of Yanjia in the Ming Dynasty, 1637.) ）

There is gold in the far east, and you can get golden sand by holding the river water, and this news quickly spread throughout the capital.

However, the gentry and the common people only regarded it as a talking point and made up all kinds of bizarre stories. No one really went to the Americas to pan for gold, after all, the mortality rate was too high, and it was purely to go to sea with their heads in their hands.

However, the merchants who did business in the capital spread the news to all places. The people living in hardship along the coast, the outlaws who saw the money, and the brave and fat maritime merchants immediately had different ideas.

The maritime merchants and outlaws were the first to connect in tandem, and they took a boat to Nanyang to inquire about the news, and some simply found Zhu Hai directly, wanting to cross the ocean together.

These days, Wang Yuan is making up lessons for his son, and by the way, he asks Yang Shen to teach and practice.

The eldest son, Wang Ce, is about to turn 12 years old and plans to take the children's exam next spring. You don't have to go back to Guizhou, you can borrow from the capital, but you must return to your hometown in the future.

"Zi said," Wang Yuan said, "you try to solve this little problem." ”

Wang Ce immediately put pen to paper and wrote: "Pifu is the master of the world, and in a word, it is the law of the world." ”

Wang Yuan suddenly smiled: "Have you read Su Dongpo's article?" ”

Wang Ce said: "Yang Shi (Yang Shen) asked me to familiarize myself with "Sansu Wenfan". Yang Shi said that as long as you are familiar with the famous prose of the Tang and Song dynasties, it will be easy for the boy to try. ”

Wang Yuan complained: "It's easy for him to teach his disciples. ”

Although Wang Yuan and Yang Tinghe were political enemies, he and Yang Shen were friends.

Yang Shen doesn't like Xinxue, not because he is conservative, but because he thinks that Xinxue fools people, which is not essentially different from Cheng Zhu's science. However, Yang Shen likes physics, and occasionally goes to the School of Physics to mess around, and has a very personal relationship with Wang Xu, the head of the academy.

Since his son wants to take the children's exam, he has to find the best teacher, and the talented Yang Shen is the best candidate.

Huang E is also a talented woman, but she does not have a deep study of the Four Books and Five Classics, and is more inclined to historiography and dictionaries. She laid a good foundation for her children, but if she wanted to take the road of the imperial examination, she had to find another famous teacher.

Wang Yuan had another small question, and before Wang Ce could start writing, suddenly the eunuch came to deliver the decree.

Hurried to the leopard room, Zhu Houzhao threw a letter over: "Zhu Ying sent a letter, asking the Ministry of Rites to engrave a gold seal, and they want to take the Sinhalese prince back to Ceylon Island to restore the country." ”

The island of Ceylon, which became Sri Lanka, was divided into five kingdoms, the largest of which Portugal supported.

The descendants of the Sinhalese princes of the unified dynasty of Ceylon, who are currently settled in Quanzhou, have been passed down in the Ming Dynasty for four generations, and their descendants can speak and write Chinese.

Wang Yuan carefully read the recital, and immediately laughed: "This plan is also good." ”

Zhu Houzhao said: "I also think it is feasible, you let the Ministry of Rites engrave a gold seal, and he will be crowned a Sinhalese king." ”

Why did the Daming Sailors attack the island of Ceylon?

Quite simply, in order to get iron pear wood!

There are three main types of ships in the Ming Dynasty, namely the bird boat in Zhejiang, the Fu boat in Fujian, and the Guangzhou ship in Guangdong.

Among them, the Canton ship is the most durable because it is made of iron pear wood, but the maintenance cost is very high. The main reason is that the iron pear wood is over-cut, which is not only expensive, but also difficult to buy with money, and it is difficult to find materials to repair once the hull is damaged.

At the beginning of the year, Wang Yuan returned to Beijing, met the Francophile in Tianjin, and learned that Vasco da Gama was the governor of India. He immediately wrote a letter to remind Man Zheng and Ning Botao, telling them to be careful and that it was best to build a few new warships.

The maintenance of the fleet is very expensive, and the Daming Navy Division now has more than 60 warships, even if it controls the spice channel, it is a little unbearable.

When they heard that the Portuguese might be on the move, they wanted to build a bird ship out of iron pear wood to make their new warship stronger. As for some of the previous warships, a batch of them could be eliminated and sold to merchants as armed merchant ships, and there were countless merchants along the coast of China waiting to buy them.

And the island of Ceylon is the base of iron pear wood that they have been eyeing for a long time, and the iron pear wood there is enough to build a fleet!

……

Shilanzong, a native of Quanzhou, shows his talent and fame.

But when he participated in the imperial examination, the household registration column was very peculiar, and it was filled with Sinhalese nationals.

In fact, Shi Lanzong's mother and grandmother were both Han women. If he hadn't been taught by his father since he was a child, he wouldn't have spoken Sinhala, let alone know that his grandfather was a Sinhalese prince stranded in the Ming Dynasty.

Here's why—

When Zheng He went to the West, the king of Sinhala actually dared to use force, and was directly arrested by the eunuchs of the Three Treasures and returned to the Ming Dynasty for questioning. Although Zhu Di released the king the following year, he set up a new king and made Sinhala a vassal state, thus giving birth to the Koti Dynasty that unified the island of Ceylon.

During the Tianshun period, the Sinhalese prince sent an envoy to the Ming Dynasty and was stranded in China due to illness.

When the prince returned home by boat, he learned that there had been a coup d'état in China, and his cousin had usurped the throne and killed members of the royal family, so he could only choose to stay in Quanzhou.

"Why did you come into contact with the Great Ming Water Master privately?" Shigui asked.

Shi Lanzong said: "Father, you are too old to go to sea again. The eldest brother and the second brother are ...... again And ...... bad character"

Shigui said depressedly: "You can just say that they are stubborn!" ”

Shi Lanzong said: "When my grandfather was dying, I and my children and grandchildren swore to return to the country, and now it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and my son really does not want to miss this opportunity." ”

"Daming Sailor is really willing to help us restore the country?" Shigui sneered, "Even if the restoration is successful, you are just a puppet king!" ”

Shi Lanzong said: "It is not easy for my son to be admitted to Xiucai, where can I still take the exam?" It's better to be a puppet king than to be a sour show. If my son becomes king, my family's business can also be done in Ceylon. Why not? ”

Although Shigui was not optimistic about his son's future, he couldn't stop it, so he could only say: "That's it, that's it." Your Majesty has made you the King of Sinhala, how can I stop you? But I won't go with you, for my father, I only want to be a Ming obedient people, and I don't want to be a Sinhala king. ”

Daming Quanzhou Mansion Xiucai Shilanzong, with more than a dozen domestic servants, purchased firecrackers to form a royal guard, and followed the Daming Sailor to restore the country.

The island of Ceylon, which is larger, has been divided into five countries.

Sinhala has always been a subject country of the Ming Dynasty, and the Shilan Sect is a descendant of the royal family with orthodox blood, so the Daming Sailor has enough reasons to go to quell the civil strife!

I don't want anything else, I just want to do some timber shipbuilding.

……

Goa, India.

Stephen walked quickly: "Father, the Chinese fleet is here!" ”

"Coming to Goa?" Vasco da Gama asked.

"No, they went to Ceylon." Stephen explained.

Vasco da clenched his fists and let go: "As long as you don't come to India, don't provoke the Chinese fleet." ”

Vasco da Gama is now very aggrieved, the previous governor was a loser, not only buried a large number of warships, but also looted and left when he left office. What he inherited was a pure mess, he wanted to build warships but had no money, and he had to convey colonial benefits to the king and nobles, so far he had only built two new ships.

Nowadays, the contradictions in the Portuguese Indian colonies are fierce, racial, religious, and cultural, and they are on the verge of an uprising.

Vasco da Gama was not very good at dominating, and simply carried out bloody repression, and the methods were more brutal than those of the previous governor. He had always been of such a character, and every time he went on a seafaring expedition, he caused trouble and fought along the way, bringing Portugal's reputation to the ground.

The only difference was that the former governor drew hatred indiscriminately, and Vasco da Gama treated the Portuguese merchants very favorably, and only carried out bloody exploits of various alien races.

This goods are making crazy money, just to build a boat with silver, and then recover Malacca when they have enough strength.

As for Stephen, he was the second son of Vasco da Gama and currently served as commander-in-chief of the Portuguese Indian fleet.

Although he did not dare to take the initiative to provoke the Chinese fleet, da Gama still sent a few small boats to follow him to the island of Ceylon to check the situation. They supported the Kingdom of Kandy, one of the five kingdoms of Ceylon, which was the most powerful and occupied about one-third of the island of Ceylon.

The Great Ming Water Master is planning to start from the Kandy Kingdom.

For no other reason, it's just a good way, who let the Kingdom of Kandy be in the eastern part of the island of Ceylon.