This villa, the house of the minister of the state of Java (i.e., the state of Mahabacher), is located on a hillside. The King of Java and his entourage walked around a forest and looked into the distance, and were immediately shocked by the scene at the port of Kedili on the banks of the "Brantas River".

(The port of Keyili was probably in Surabaya, the second largest city in present-day Indonesia.) ）

The sea in the harbor was already occupied by a fleet of ships; From a distance, it looks like a migrating white crane, occupying a small pond.

The king, who had been distressed about gold before, changed his words after less than half a pillar of incense: "If the people of the Ming Kingdom only want gold, we may be able to negotiate." ”

The envoy of Manraka (Sultanate of Malacca) admonished: "The people of the Ming Kingdom have shown their greedy nature, and Your Majesty's concession will only give them an inch. ”

At this time, the Javanese monarch did not refute it, but one of the ministers looked back dissatisfiedly and said, "Why is our enemy (Manchurians) here?" ”

Malacca is a sultanate founded about 10 years ago and embraced Islam. But almost all the countries in the region, large and small, are Hindu and Buddhist, and Java is no exception. The doctrines of the two faiths are diametrically opposed in many places, so they are constantly in conflict with each other, and in just ten years, some new and old hatreds have accumulated.

The messenger bowed, "Your Excellency cannot treat us as enemies, especially now. Without Muslim merchants from India and other places, the port of Keyiri would not have been so prosperous, and His Majesty would not have been able to promise 60,000 taels of gold to the Ming Kingdom. ”

The king looked at the envoy a little confused, and said, "Before this, you seem to have accepted the canonization of the Ming court, why have you changed your mind now?" ”

The messenger said: "In the past, the Ming people only wanted the honor of 'worship of all nations', so even though they were all heretics and heretics, the Sultan still received them tolerantly. But now the Ming people want to increase taxes in Manchuria. ”

The king said, "The Ming Kingdom is far away, why should it be taxed in Manchuria?" ”

The messenger said: "All the merchant ships passing through the Manraka Sea pass through the Manraka Sea, and every year it is a large sum of gold. Greed is a man's evil thought, and 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 land that has been abandoned by the Lord. We have a relationship with the Han people only because of gold; Just like we have dealings with the heretics of Nestorianism (Christ), we can only communicate through gold. The Lord's sages on earth have said that gold is gold, regardless of faith.

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

The minister who had just spoken said, "But the kingdom of Manthorn Canada has more than just gold to do with us; You have also forcibly persuaded the Javanese people in the port to convert to Islam, causing strife among our people. ”

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

The king stopped talking, and he looked at the fleet on the harbor and fell into a long contemplation.

The people watched for a long time, and the king said that he was tired

Led the group back to the villa room to rest. However, the king did not rest, and he summoned several of his confidants and nobles to discuss the matter in the drawing room covered with Persian blankets.

Several ministers suggested submission to the Ming state, and some recounted the reasons for their claims: "The Indian continent has declined, and the Delhi Sultan, having been struck by Timur's army, now controls only a small area, and the Turkic and Persian nobles (from Afghanistan near Iran) have declared their independence; The Hindu princes in the south also stopped paying taxes to the Sultan of Delhi. Muslim forces in India can no longer threaten us.

But the huge fleet of the Ming people has already come here twice. The Manchu envoy also revealed the news that the Ming court might levy taxes in this sea area; Therefore, the Ming forces can only achieve this purpose by stationing in the local area. Now we are enemies of the Ming Kingdom, which is a very unwise choice. ”

Several nobles opposed the matter because they wanted to make up the "part" indemnity. Because the amount of gold was too large, I thought that when the Manchurian Kingdom was first established, its strength was too small, and the annual tribute to Java was only 50 taels of gold, and to Siam was only 40 taels; And the compensation demanded by the Ming State is more than a thousand times that of the small country that is enshrined every year!

A nobleman said: "The people of the Ming Kingdom threatened us with the King of the East, if the King of the East broke his promise afterwards, what should the Ming Navy do?" Whether the Ming people want gold, or do they want us to be vassals, who can say? ”

Another nobleman said: "As the Ming people said last time, as long as we sincerely admit our mistakes, most of the court will waive compensation to show mercy; For this reason, His Majesty took the initiative to ask for compensation. But now the people of the Ming Kingdom not only did not waive compensation, but also threatened us with the king of the east by force, which is tantamount to blackmail and deception. This matter is that the people of the Ming Kingdom are unreasonable, not that we broke our promises first. ”

At this time, the minister of the kingdom said, "I heard that there were two people in the woods, they were unarmed, but suddenly they encountered a hungry black bear, so they ran away desperately. Neither of them can outrun the black bear, but they are still running against each other, why? He didn't wait for everyone to answer, but quickly gave an answer, "They don't have to outrun the black bears, they just need to outrun their peers." ”

When the king heard this, he finally spoke: "This parable is very interesting. Perhaps we should consider paying the reparations as agreed; At the same time, he told the people of the Ming Kingdom that he was full of hostile conspiracy to stab the honey-bellied sword of the country. If you pay 60,000 taels of gold, you can use the Ming people to clear the Manchu and Sultan, and this matter will be of great benefit. ”

The minister chimed in: "Your Majesty is wise, and the Muslim disciples of Manchu are causing the people of the various ports to gradually lose their loyalty to Your Majesty. ”

The nobles did not compromise hard, as if it was the royal family who paid the indemnity. A nobleman suggested: "You should find someone who is more proficient in Chinese and can tell you more complicated things, and tell the Ming eunuchs about the last time they lured His Majesty to ask for compensation, so as to get their compromise."

In anticipation of the Ming people's promise, half of the indemnity was replaced with silver and other treasures. Because of the conversion of gold and silver, according to the price of the Ming Kingdom, gold is very cheap; And gold is the most expensive treasure among the western nations. In this way, we can reduce our losses. ”

The monarch of Java gradually reached a decision.

…… Three days later, Wang Jinghong received the envoys of the state of Java on a large treasure ship. This time there were more Javanese people, more than a dozen people.

The envoy is the prince of Java, his

The name was said twice in Javanese, and Wang Jinghong gave him a Chinese name: Brother Dajia.

There was also an interpreter in the Javanese mission, who spoke a relatively fluent Cantonese dialect. Wang Jinghong is a native of Fujian, and usually speaks the official dialect of Jingshi (a combination of Fengyang dialect and Nanjing dialect); After the Javanese translated, Wang Jinghong still couldn't understand. Fortunately, there were many people on the ship who could understand the Cantonese dialect, so a second translation was carried out.

This exchange is more informative, and it is no longer just a simple bargain.

The prince "Brother Coffee" recounted the complicated inside story in the process of "promise of reparation", which probably means that the upper echelons of Ming Dynasty navigators during the Yongle period provided a set of "courtesy" solutions to the king of Java...... The King of Java had to show his sincerity in admitting his mistake and his surrender, and the reparations would most likely be forgiven; Because the Ming Dynasty is a state of etiquette, it knows how to give and reciprocate.

Wang Jinghong pretended not to know, only showing that the army and the state of Java had no grievances and no enmity, and more than 100 people were indeed killed. Asking for compensation is not a bully.

Then the elder brother proposed that only 30,000 taels of gold should be paid, and the other amounts would be replaced by silver and jewelry.

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

After a discussion among the people, the Jinyi Wei military general reminded Wang Jinghong: "Before leaving, the saint instructed us to change the internal factors of our work and focus on gold and profit. However, the morality and power disputes of various countries should seek common ground while reserving differences, and they should not be required by the moral system of the Ming Dynasty, nor can they be used as the key reason for the use of troops, and this kind of matter should be mainly based on negotiation and compromise. ”

Wang Jinghong said: "Our family also thinks that we should accept the proposal of the prince of Java and get the money first." If we really fall out and support the East King to seize power, our military expenditure will be very large, and the gains will outweigh the losses. ”

Everyone expressed their stance and listened to the decision-making of the envoy.

At this moment, the prince of Java asked to go to the cabin to talk to Wang Jinghong in private. Wang Jinghong agreed, but there were still civil and military officials by his side.

Through translation, the elder brother told the conspiracy of the Manchurian Kingdom, who was friendly with the Ming court on the surface, and secretly united the countries to resist the forces of the Ming Kingdom. The elder brother claimed that the state of Java was willing to submit loyally to the Ming Dynasty and pay the indemnity in full, but hoped that the Ming army would get rid of the Manchu and Sultan.

Wang Jinghong replied: "This matter and the matter of compensation should be discussed separately. We promised the King of Java the way of reparation; As for the state affairs of Manchurian, they can only be reported to the imperial court, and the decision is made by the saints and the ministers. ”

So the two sides ended the discussion, but the brother had promised to deliver the gold and goods to the port within a limited time.

A eunuch reminded Wang Jinghong: "Manjingjia and the Ming Dynasty are friendly, and during the Yongle period, the Ming court used a princess named 'Han Baoli' to marry the king of Manjinga to marry the king of Manjinga, in order to marry the generations." ”

The surname of the Ming Dynasty clan is Zhu, and the woman surnamed Han no one knows where she found the princess, and she may only have the title of canonization. However, Wang Jinghong felt that he really could not destroy diplomatic relations at will, and decided to report everything to the court after returning to China.

。 Writing Chinese Network M.