The craftsmen who accompanied the army and the craftsmen mobilized by the Guangdong Political Envoy Department rushed to repair the warship day and night. The ships moored in the Pearl River were not damaged much, and most of them were damaged in masts, decks and ship buildings; And those ships whose hulls and skeletons were damaged could no longer continue the expedition.

After the ships were generally repaired, the navy detachments left the Pearl River estuary one after another and set off in a new formation on the sea.

Originally, the deployment of the navy was to stop at Songtaiwei and Da Nang in Annam to repair and replenish supplies after leaving the border of the Ming Dynasty. Now that they had been delayed for a long time in Canton Province, the Chinese army decided to make a short stay in Da Nang to replenish fresh water and other supplies, and then immediately went straight to the port of Saigon in Chenla.

Like a huge fleet that shades the sea, sailing along the sea route not far from land; Until the border of Annam, fortunately there were no more storms. However, in this season, the rain in the south is still frequent, heavy rains often occur, and small winds and waves do not stop for a day. Ordinary storms can't stop the Navy's sea vessels.

The fleet finally sailed to Da Nang, south of Annam, and the journey was quite smooth.

At this time, Liu Ming and Tang Jing received a military order. The Chinese army ordered: In order to save time, the officers and men on each ship were not allowed to go ashore, and the warships were to make a short stop in the harbor; Each ship went ashore with a tie and a retinue to collect and transport what was needed. However, in order to appease the soldiers, the Chinese army ordered the generals to send people to carry wine from the port to the boat, and the soldiers were allowed to drink.

Liu Ming took a small boat to the wharf, and he found that the earthen walls of the walled city in the port were very low; Between the dilapidated streets and alleys inside, there is not much trace of the Ming official army. Liu Ming was suddenly a little confused, because in the dossier of the Central Imperial Court, Da Nang had already set up the "envoy city" of the Ming Dynasty.

Liu Ming temporarily separated from the commander Tang Jing and went to meet Wang Jinghong and Chen Xuan. Soon the local civil and military officers who greeted the naval officers came over from another pier.

After a simple etiquette, the local civil and military officials narrated and solved the confusion in Liu Ming's heart.

Originally, the "envoy city" was not on the wharf, but between the port wharf and Hoi An City, the officers and soldiers rebuilt a polygonal fortress. Because Liu Ming was not in the military department, he did not carefully understand the situation in Da Nang in advance.

Among the local people, a civil official said: "Hoi An City is still some way from the port; Because the imperial court valued the port of Da Nang the most, the official army did not enter Hoi An City. On the wharf, there were already many local houses, and if the officers and soldiers built a fort there, it might cause unnecessary unrest; So our fortress was built on the south side of the wharf; After a while, you will be able to see it immediately when you climb the earthen wall. ”

Liu Ming responded: "The official understands. ”

The civil official turned his head to look at Liu Ming, and then arched his hand again: "The Ming Dynasty has stationed nearly 20,000 officers and soldiers in Annan, and has made friends with the Chen family of Annan. However, the situation of the Champa state was completely different from that of Annam, and the number of officers and troops in this area was small enough to control the big city, so the city could not be located in Hoi An. ”

At this time, Chen Xuan, the general in the middle, spoke: "On the surface of the Hanjiang River nearby, there is a big boat docked with a soft sail. We have sent someone to investigate, and we have not yet heard the news. Do you know who it is? ”

The civil official who spoke just now immediately replied: "Returning to General Chen's words, the lower officials have already asked, it is a ship from India, a person doing business." ”

Speaking of which, it is convenient

Someone turned to the east to look. Liu Ming also looked in the direction, only to see a team of officers and soldiers, with a few foreign vassals, coming here from a distance.

The voice of the eunuch Wang Jinghong said: "What is the matter with Ma Tong? ”

Ma Huan, who was with the army, said behind the crowd: "The lower official is here." ”

Wang Jinghong said with a smile: "Ma Tongshi understands Persian and other Chinese languages, so we can talk to the foreign clansmen." ”

But the local civil servant said, "I don't know if these people can speak Persian or Arabic." ”

Wang Jinghong asked in surprise: "Aren't the kings and ministers of the Indian Khanate from Persia here?" ”

The civil official said: "Xia Guan and the others inquired a few days ago, and they are not from the khanate of northern India, but belong to the lord power established by a big merchant in the south. ”

He thought for a moment and then explained: "The power of the Hindu Khanate has always been in the north, mainly controlling the area around 'Delhi,' and in the south there are Hindu lords and satraps, and for many years the great lords and satraps of the south have only paid taxes and grain to the khanate on a regular basis.

Until a few years earlier, Timur led an army and invaded the Indian Khanate; caused them to fall apart, and now the situation is even more chaotic. The lower officials didn't figure out what was going on in India for a while, but they heard that the southern lords of India no longer paid taxes to the khanate. So now these southerners no longer belong to the rule of the Indian Khanate. ”

After waiting for a while, the foreign feudal lords gradually approached.

Wang Jinghong suddenly showed a look of surprise, and waved his hand: "Shi Xuan, why are you with the foreign vassals?" ”

The faces of the foreign vassals were strange, mostly black and dark brown curly hair, with well-defined faces, and slightly dark skin; And the "Shi Xuanzhi envoy" who waved his hand was obviously a Han Chinese. In addition to this, there was also a darker-skinned retinue that looked a bit like a Chamman.

Liu Ming pondered for a while, and suddenly realized that the "Shi Xuanxuan Comfort Envoy" should be Shi Jinqing, the leader of the Han people in the old port.

When Zheng He went to the Western Ocean, he encountered the fleet of the great pirate Chen Zuyi, and a large-scale water battle took place in the waters around Malacca. Shi Jinqing, a local Han Chinese, learned of Chen Zuyi's movements and secretly told Zheng He to remind the officials and soldiers to pay attention to Chen Zuyi's sneak attack. The result of the battle was a complete victory for the officers and troops, and Chen Zuyi and other thieves were captured alive.

Shi Jinqing made great contributions and was canonized by the Ming Dynasty as the ambassador of the old port. (Liang Daoming, the "King of the Three Buddhas" who was originally in the old port, also accepted the official position of canonization by the imperial court; To the surrounding countries, Liang Daoming continued to call himself king, and only to the imperial court. ）

At that time, Wang Jinghong was Zheng He's deputy envoy, so he knew Shi Jinqing. But at that time, Liu Ming had not yet been admitted to the Jinshi and had not been admitted to the rank of official, so he had never seen Shi Jinqing and only heard his name.

Shi Jinqing stepped forward to greet each other first, and everyone hugged each other and greeted each other for a while. Shi Jinqing said: "I finally met your colleagues." However, this experience is a long story, and the next official will report the inside story of the trip to the princes and generals later. ”

A middle-aged man stepped forward, followed by a dark-skinned retinue. The man of color eyes pressed his hands to his chest, bowed, and then straightened up and "grunted".

Without waiting for the dark-skinned entourage to translate, Ma Huan said, "My name is ...... Broad-eared. He's talking

When the other person's name is named, there is a pause, perhaps it is necessary to transliterate it, and improvise a name that is easy to remember and has a similar pronunciation.

Ma Huan continued: "I am the faithful servant of the Lord of the Chicken's Big Ear, and Your Excellency's mighty fleet must be the Empire of Light of the Sun and Moon...... That army of the Ming Empire. ”

After hearing this, Wang Jinghong said: "Our family is the chief envoy of the Ming Navy, Wang Jinghong, and this is the commander of the navy, General Chen Xuan; The official who spoke to you was Ma Huan, an official of the imperial court. Da Nang is now part of the Kingdom of Annam, and is under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty's 'envoys' in this area, because of the tribute of the Kingdom of Annam, the relationship between the two countries belongs to the relationship between the minister and the king, the son and the father. We look at your kind face and pay attention to your words, that is, there are friends from afar, and they are happy, and my Ming government should do the friendship of the landlord. ”

Ma Huan muttered and translated Wang Jinghong's words. The dark-skinned entourage remained silent, and Liu Ming was a little skeptical that the translator of the sesame man could understand the official language; After all, it is also Chinese, but the accent of the official dialect and the Fujian region of Guangdong is very different.

After a while, the color eyes translated by Ma Huan thanked him.

Wang Jinghong said again: "Let's stop standing and talking here, let's go to the official shop at the dock to settle down first." ”

So the people on both sides walked along the dilapidated streets and alleys, surrounded by the officers and guards. As he walked, the man began to speak again.

Ma Huan translated: "The merchant ships of the Lord of the Chickens have always been trading with the Javanese people. Later, they heard that the silk and porcelain in the hands of the Javanese people were also bought from other places. So this time, the lord sent a ship and some brave warriors who were not afraid of death to Champa and Annam to buy goods, hoping to make more money. ”

After hearing this, Wang Jinghong immediately turned his head to the man and said: "Since it is porcelain and silk, most of the goods in the hands of the Zhancheng people and the Annan people are also bought from the Ming Dynasty. Although Annan can also make silk and porcelain, in terms of exquisiteness, it is completely incomparable with what was produced in the Ming Dynasty. You should find the Ming Dynasty people to do business. ”

For these words to reach Koel, of course, they must first be translated.

After a while, Ko'er said through the translator: "The Great Ming Kingdom is too far away. ”

Wang Jinghong immediately pointed at Shi Jinqing and said: "This is the old port propaganda envoy, an official canonized by the Ming Dynasty, and the old port is in the Strait of Malacca." In the future, you can talk to him about deals, and it will be closer to Java, Champa, and Annam. ”

When Broad Er understood what Wang Jinghong meant, he seemed to be very excited, and hugged Shi Jinqing. Broad Er happily gestured with Shi Jinqing, and the two of them shouted there for a while; However, the attitudes and emotions between each other are still in place.

The Ming official mansion in the fortress of the city has an official shop in the walled city of Da Nang wharf. Everyone arrived in the courtyard where the official shop was located, walked into the lobby, and finally could rest and drink two sips of tea.

Wang Jinghong also instructed the officials in the official shop to prepare a few tables of banquets for the noon reception of the merchants who came from afar.

The "faithful servants" of the Ming people and the lords of southern India were very different in terms of etiquette and customs; However, the navy of the Ming Dynasty personally held a banquet to entertain guests, which is probably a kind of goodwill and enthusiasm in any place.