Chapter Ninety-Six: Fan Jingwen Fights the Ministers and Strongly Persuades the King of Siam

Fan Jingwen knew that this trip was very risky, he asked the king of Siam to give up the country unconditionally this time, which is really a great difficulty, needless to say whether the king of Siam is willing or not, it is also very difficult to say whether his subjects are willing or not, and it is very possible to get his life here. But he didn't expect that the situation on the Siamese side had returned to such a sinister situation.

When the King of Siam saw the angry ministers, he had no choice but to say, "Calm down, everyone! Let's ask the envoys of the Ming Dynasty to come over and tell them what they think! Come on, line up, and greet the envoys of the Ming Dynasty! ”

The King of Siam greeted Pham King Van and his men into the city with a very grand ceremony. When leaving the warship, Fan Jingwen told the captain that he must not let up and must not let anyone board the warship.

After sending Fan Jingwen and them to the Gui Hotel in Ayutthaya and setting them up, the King of Siam immediately summoned Fan Jingwen.

After Fan Jingwen saluted the King of Siam, he saw that in addition to the King of Siam, his face was still full of smiles, and the ministers around him were not good-looking, and he knew in his heart that they had already known their intentions.

After the two sides said some kind words about the history of exchanges between the two countries over the years, how to be friendly, and so on, they knew that it was time to get to the point, and the atmosphere was a little depressing.

Fan Jingwen felt that he still talked about the topic slowly, so he said: "Your Majesty, there is one more thing for your Majesty's understanding!" Your envoys came to our Ming Dynasty this time, and our emperor didn't have time to meet them, so he was really helpless! Because our mission happens to be on our way to your country. Our group is already on the ship, and if the returning envoys turn around and go to Yaogang to see our saint, they will not be able to return with us on the same boat! If they come back by boat on their own, it will take a lot of time, not to mention, and the journey will be very hard, but our Holy Majesty has taken this into account and ordered us to wait for the mission of your country to come with them to your country! ”

"This should be thanks to the grace of His Majesty the Emperor of Shangbang! No understanding! "The King of Siam is still very open.

One of the ministers couldn't help but asked, "I heard that you came to our Siam this time to persuade us to surrender and hand over the country to you, right?" ”

The minister's words were already very unfriendly, but the King of Siam did not stop it, but still let the general finish the translation, and it was obvious that the King of Siam also agreed with him to say so. Fan Jingwen knows this very well.

"Huh! This adult's words are right, and they are not all right! Fan Jingwen smiled and replied.

After translating Fan Jingwen's words, the atmosphere suddenly became a little solemn. Although the Siamese monarchs were prepared, Fan Jingwen did not deny this matter but admitted it, which made them feel very pressured.

Seeing this scene, Fan Jingwen smiled again and said: "Your Majesty, your Excellency, many of you may know that our Ming Dynasty has just been freed from decades of disasters, and it has also suppressed the momentum of rebellion and disturbance in various places. We, the monarchs and ministers of the Ming Dynasty, are summing up the lessons of the past years and must find ways to completely eradicate this kind of thing. War and famine have displaced hundreds of people and separated their wives. Not to mention the internal turmoil in our Ming Dynasty, it is our decades of war with Burma, as well as the decades of war with Annam, how many people died, how much money was spent, and countless people died! That's why we're determined to eliminate the possibility of this happening again. We think that by building a unified country, so that everyone can live in peace and seek common development in one country, can we avoid such struggles? ”

Fan Jingwen stopped and asked the general to finish translating his words.

But his words caused a commotion among the ministers, and one of them shouted hysterically: "Do you mean that the whole world will be in the hands of your emperor alone?" ”

"Don't get excited, this lord!" Fan Jingwen was prepared, and his tone was still very steady, "I haven't finished my words yet." After we establish a unified country, this country will be the country of the people of the world, and it will not be a certain person, let alone our emperor! ”

Fan Jingwen's words made the Siamese monarchs and ministers a little confused.

Seeing that they were quiet, Fan Jingwen said: "The future national leadership will be elected by the people of the world to be virtuous and capable!" In the future, the local leaders will also be elected by the people of all localities. Whether it is a national leader or a local leader, he must be supervised by the people, and if he is incompetent, or bends the law for personal gain, the people can remove them! The country we want to build is to let the people of the world live a good life with abundant food and clothing, equality for all, and dignity for all! ”

Fan Jingwen's words once again aroused a burst of discussion.

Fan Jingwen knew that most of these people couldn't accept such an approach. They are the beneficiaries of the current system, and naturally they must vigorously defend the current system.

One person asked, "Whatever your reason, you came here to let us hand over the country to you, right?" ”

"We must accomplish the great cause of a unified country, and I have come to inform you of our thoughts?" Fan Jingwen said lightly.

Someone asked, "If we don't agree, you're going to attack us with force, aren't you?" ”

"If it weren't for the fact that our two countries have such a long history of exchanges, our emperor would not have severely prevented the use of force against your country and sent us thousands of miles away! If it were to use force, this would not be the place for you to discuss the matter for a long time! Fan Jingwen's words were also a little unkind.

"What? You're threatening us! ”

"That's arrogant! Don't you know where this is? ”

“”

The ministers were enraged by Fan Jingwen's words and roared angrily!

The King of Siam waved his hand to stop the clamoring of his courtiers, "Please don't be surprised by the envoys, they don't understand what you said." However, what I want to say is that we in Siam have always been very respectful of our guests, but we also have to treat our guests with respect! ”

The king's words are also a little unkind!

Fan Jingwen immediately said: "Your Majesty has misunderstood! I just told the truth. Your Majesty may not know that before we set out, hundreds of thousands of troops living in Annam and hundreds of thousands of troops living in Burma were ready to use force against your country. They want to complete the reunification of the country by force. It was our emperor who tried to stop them. I have been sent to your country in the hope that this matter will be resolved peacefully in the light of our relations with which we have interacted for thousands of years! ”

"Huh!" The King of Siam sneered and said, "Peace? You have come to our great city in warships to show off your strength, is this the meaning of peace? ”

"Your Majesty has misunderstood this!" Fan Jingwen explained, "Our boat is a flat-bottomed boat, suitable for inland river walking, and taking this boat is completely to get to Dacheng as soon as possible." Besides, this ship is not a powerful ship in our navy at all. Not to mention the threat! ”

Fan Jingwen's simple words, unexpectedly, aroused the dissatisfaction of the ministers, and someone asked: "Lord Envoy!" You have a bigger ship than this that threatens us, right? ”

"Huh! This lord has misunderstood," Fan Jingwen said, "You can ask your envoys if the ship we came back from the Ming Dynasty was much larger than this one. Also, if it is bigger, we still have a ship of 20,000 tons, and the ship parked in Ayutthaya is only 1,500 tons. It's so bad! ”

Fan Jingwen's words made the ministers suddenly silent.

The King of Siam smiled and said, "The envoy has worked hard all the way, please go to the post house to rest first." In the evening, the king invites you to a feast! ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Fan Jingwen got up and followed the courtiers back to the post house. Fan Jingwen saw that the post house was surrounded by soldiers, and he knew that he was now under house arrest.

Back at the post house, Fan Jingwen came to the inner room and asked the kiln telegraph operator who followed him to take out a small telegraph and send a telegram to the Fenzhou number, introducing the situation. On the Fenzhou, the captain ordered the high-power radio on the ship to introduce the situation to the family.

Maybe Fan Jingwen's attitude was not very tough when he spoke, but the Siamese monarchs and ministers came to the spirit.

One of the ministers said to the king: "Your Majesty, I think that their Ming Dynasty really underestimated us, and they dared to dock on our dock with a warship, which is obviously a demonstration." We sent someone to check on the boat to see if there was any contraband on board. The wilderness destroys their majesty. ”

"That's right! I'm going to pull a few cannons at them and see if they're still majestic! Another said.

The King of Siam also felt that it was very shameful for a Ming warship to be parked outside the capital. He acquiesced to this, but when the court was dispersed, the king asked all the ministers to go back and consider countermeasures.

The sailors on the Fenzhou warship saw that a lot of cannons were suddenly placed on the dock and immediately reported it to the captain.

The captain glanced at the situation on the dock and said, "Everyone, be careful, the Siamese soldiers will not let us stop here so safely." Be vigilant and bring up the gangway first! ”

Sure enough, after a while, a group of Siamese soldiers armed with muskets came, holding up and lining up the Fenzhou, and several officers then came to the front of the Fenzhou, and a general shouted to the ship: "Listen, the general of the Ming army, you have come to Siam, and you want to be inspected by us!" ”

The captain of the Fenzhou ordered a duty officer and said to them: "We are the naval warships of the Ming Dynasty, and no one is allowed to board the ship without our permission, please go back!" ”

The Siamese official below got angry and said, "If you don't accept the inspection, we will forcibly board the ship." Look at the cannons on the docks! ”

The officer on duty was not polite, "We have seen your cannons, and you have not seen our cannons, but I can tell you that those covered with canvas are our cannons." Our cannons are very powerful, and we can bombard a hole in a wall like your big city! ”

The arrogance of the Fenzhou duty officer infuriated the Siamese officers, who ordered that ladders be brought and forcibly boarded.

The sailors of the Fenzhou were not polite, and overturned these ladders one by one, and the Siamese soldiers on the ladders fell on the dock one by one, and some fell into the water.

Enraged, the Siamese officials ordered the archers to shoot at the ship, but the captain did not want to make a big fuss, because Pham King Van was still in Ayutthaya, and he did not order the soldiers to return fire. Through telegrams, Fan Jingwen was informed of the situation on the wharf.

Fan Jingwen called back and said that the Siamese soldiers were resolutely not allowed to board the ship, and if they took further forceful measures, they could fight back, and there was no need to worry about his safety. And said, "The better you fight, the safer our side will be!" ”

The captain received a call back from Fan Jingwen and knew what to expect. When the Siamese soldiers on the pier fired at them with muskets to cover the Siamese soldiers to mount a ladder to board the ship, the soldiers on the ship returned fire, automatic rifles and light and heavy machine guns, killing one of the Siamese soldiers on the pier. The Siamese soldiers saw that they were invincible, and they scattered and fled, and the dock was suddenly naked.

The Siamese officers and soldiers understood that the Ming soldiers on the ship did not want to kill them, otherwise they would not have been able to escape.

The Siamese officials could not swallow this breath and ordered the artillery to open fire on the Fenzhou, which for a time turned into thick smoke. However, after a round of shelling, the smoke on the Fenzhou did not dissipate, and the ship's infantry guns began to roll call the guns on the dock. At this close distance, the infantry guns aimed directly, and blasted the cannons that had just been fired and had not yet been loaded.

At this time, the cannons on the walls of the city also began to shoot at the Fenzhou.

The captain had no choice, so he ordered the 230-mm main gun to fire a cannon on the city wall, and the shells fell on the city wall with an earth-shattering bang, which blew a gap in the city wall, and the artillery and artillery on the city wall that had just finished firing were blown away.

With this cannon, the entire city shook.

The artillery on the walls of the city did not dare to open fire any longer.

This cannon also woke up the Siamese monarchs and ministers, and they urgently convened a meeting, and the result of the discussion was that it was absolutely impossible to start a war with the Ming army here now, otherwise the safety of millions of people in Ayutthaya would not be guaranteed. They had to admit that the firepower of the Ming army was still too strong.

One of the ministers said to the king, "The Ming army is so presumptuous at our gates, we should let their envoys explain this, don't he have a head?" ”

The king of Siam, who was angry, agreed with the minister.

This imposing minister came to the post house with people, and when he saw Fan Jingwen, he shouted: "Your Excellency, did you hear the sound of cannons outside the city?" ”

Fan Jingwen said unhurriedly: "The big city is not very big, and this place is not too far from the dock, how can I not hear the sound of cannons?" ”

"Since you are the embassy here, why are you firing at us?"

"My lord, I don't know the situation very well, and I can't answer your question! What I do know, though, is that the captains of our warships are selected after a very strict scrutiny. None of them are crazy people, and they won't shoot at you for no reason! ”

"No matter what the reason, you are in our Siam country, and you are not allowed to be so presumptuous!"

"My lord, it's not just our cannons that I hear, it's your cannons first, and then our cannons, and if you fire at our ships first, they'll return fire wherever they are. It's not presumptuous, it's our request! Fan Jingwen now feels very confident and enjoys this feeling of having a strong backing.

The minister was a little angry and lost his mind, "Aren't you worried about Xiang Shang's head?" ”

"Huh! The adults laughed, why should I worry about the head of the neck? Fan Jingwen smiled and said, "First of all, I am an envoy of the Ming Dynasty, and since ancient times, the two countries have not been at war?" Besides, we haven't been at war yet. Besides, I know that you don't dare to take my head. Because, if my head is gone, many of you will be gone. I think you'll believe that by now! Fan Jingwen's last sentence obviously refers to the deterrence that the artillery on the warship produces on them!

The minister was so angry that he had nothing to say and turned away. How did he know that a minister like Fan Jingwen had been tested by many officialdoms, and without supreme wisdom, it was impossible for him to get mixed with the emperor with strong psychological endurance. Such a person now has a strong backing, where is his opponent.

The king of Siam is now very annoyed, they did not expect that things would turn out like this, their own army could not even board a warship leaning on the dock, and many people were killed. In particular, the minister who protested to Fan Jingwen came back and said what Fan Jingwen said, and the King of Siam and the minister had nothing to say.

Strength is really something that has to be convincing. The King of Siam thought about it for a while and knew if it was time for him to come forward and end it, otherwise the things in front of him would not be able to pass, and the things in the future would be even more difficult to say.

The king of Siam first ordered that he should no longer provoke trouble with the Ming warships.

This commotion caused the King of Siam to entertain Fan Jingwen and delayed it. I had to make up for it the next day.

The atmosphere of the banquet was also very awkward. After everyone was polite, the King of Siam said, "Yesterday, there was some misunderstanding between us. The King of Siam said it lightly.

Fan Jingwen also pretended not to know the specific situation and asked, "Yes!" I listened to the same yesterday, guns and cannons. It's quite lively, what the hell is going on? ”

"Actually, it's nothing, our officers and soldiers went to your ship to inspect it as usual. These officers and men could not speak, and they went from verbal clashes to guns and cannons. This king has severely punished our officers and soldiers, please see the officers and soldiers on your ship and give them a message, this is all a misunderstanding! "The King of Siam said it very politely.

When Fan Jingwen heard this, he said: "Our officers and soldiers must also be arrogant, and we will definitely deal with them when we go back." However, to tell the truth, our naval army is also very proud on our side of the Ming Dynasty. They defeated the Hongmaofan, the Francis, the British, and the Mughals of India, and they were really crazy, and they didn't suffer any losses, and they didn't know the lesson! Fan Jingwen's words are also soft and hard.

Although the atmosphere of the banquet was not very pleasant, it was still passable on the face. However, Fan Jingwen found that one of the most obvious changes was that the ministers were not so arrogant.

The King of Siam finally said to Fan Jingwen: "Lord Fan, please stay in Siam for a few more days, what your Excellency said is not trivial, and we have to give us time to think about it." ”

The next day, the king of Siam invited Fan Jingwen and the envoys sent to the Ming Dynasty alone, and they talked about many things for a long time.

Fan Jingwen also introduced a lot of things to the King of Siam about the current Ming Dynasty, and told him that many kings have their own palaces in Yaogang, and there are important things in Yaogang, and they have to ask for their advice. The King of Siam apparently listened to Fan Jingwen's words.

However, just when Fan Jingwen used both soft and hard hands, thinking that this trip could successfully persuade the King of Siam, an accident happened, and Fan Jingwen's life was almost killed.