After Zhu Youzhen asked Zheng Cai about the main task of the mission to Manila, his face suddenly relaxed a lot, and he continued to ask: "You and Zhang Guoji have done a good job on this errand. So go ahead and tell me, apart from the conditions you just mentioned, do you have any private demands on the Manila side? ”

Zheng Cai immediately replied: "They did put forward two private demands, one is to replace gold and silver with paper money, in order to ensure the balance of the Philippine colonial finances, the output of the Philippine Islands will become a guarantee that we lend to the colonial government."

At present, the products of the Philippine Islands are mainly rice, coconut, Manila hemp, and dried fish, and other than Manila hemp are not of high value. Therefore, the minister suggested that they plant sugar cane, cotton, soybeans, and rubber trees on an experimental basis. However, the Philippine archipelago, Manila only occupies a few islands in the north, because of the resistance of the island's natives, the Spaniards mainly live in the Manila area on the island, except for the tax season, few people dare to live on the island's estates.

Therefore, if they want to change the crops planted in the Philippine archipelago, they need to be willing to endure hardships and not join the local serfs who rebel against the natives. So, they hit us with the idea. The colonial government of Manila, including the Governor, wanted to buy slaves from the Ming so that they could replace the disobedient and incapable natives on the estate. ”

Zhu Youzhen originally wanted to be angry, but he quickly calmed down and said, "Aren't the Zheng family and Liu Xiang negotiating with Guangnanguo?" Shu remembered that few countries on the peninsula believed in the Heavenly Sect, so they asked them to go to the island to recruit some people for Manila, but the Chinese could not, and none of them were allowed to be sold as slaves. What are the requirements of the second? ”

Hearing that the emperor's tone was a little unhappy, Zheng Cai naturally passed the first article so vaguely, and stopped discussing the issue of slaves with Chongzhen, "This second requirement, in fact, the minister has already done half of it."

At the beginning of this year, an envoy came from Mexico to oversee whether the Manila galleon trade was in line with the regulations issued by the kingdom? The man was very conscientious, did not accept bribes from the governor and the councillors, and personally inspected the size of the trading galleons, and the cargo and silver of the ships destined for China.

The Mexican envoy succeeded in angering everyone in the Manila colony, including the Attorney General, who monitored the Governor on behalf of the King. Therefore, when the minister was about to leave Manila, the governor of Manila sent someone to tell the minister that if he was not allowed to disappear, not only would the trade of goods between Manila and Daming be hindered, but even the new agreement we had reached before would be difficult to implement.

So before leaving Manila, the minister invited the envoy from the city to the ship, and according to the agreement between the minister and the governor of Manila, he would be thrown into the sea on the way back to the Ming Dynasty. However, the minister later thought that maybe this envoy still had a certain use, so he brought him back and waited for His Majesty's fate. ”

Zhu Youzhen thought for a moment and said: "First throw him to Xishan to dig coal for two days, and then bring it up to ask, is he willing to write down everything he knows, or dig coal until he dies."

Well, I already know about Manila's affairs. Next, let's talk about it, how did Zheng Zhilong and their negotiations with Guangnan Guo go? How did the troops sent by the Four Seas Battalion perform on the battlefield? ”

Although Zheng Cai was still grinding with the Spaniards in Manila City when the war with Guangnan began, on the way back to Daming, he had already learned the entire process of the battle.

In general, under the oppression of the powerful military force of the Zheng family in the north of Annam, the Quang Nam Kingdom simply did not have enough strength to start a war on both sides, especially with a fleet that occupied the superiority at sea, so after the Sihai Battalion and the Zheng family occupied the Champa State in the south, and Liu Xiang and others occupied Hoi An City in the north, the lord of Quang Nam sent an envoy to make peace.

Quang Nam not only spit out Saigon, but also recognized the independent status of the Champa state and the lease terms of Hoi An City, and as for the huge indemnity, it was somewhat unreasonable in front of these few pieces of land.

After signing the agreement, the lord of Quang Nam sent a prince to Beijing to try to repair relations with the Ming in order to gain capital to confront the Zheng clan. The king of Champa also sent a prince and a close minister, first, to thank the Ming for separating the city from Guangnan, and secondly, to hope that the Ming could support him to continue to rule the Champa state.

Zhu Youzhen did not immediately express his attitude towards the demands of Annam and Champang, but he told Zheng Cai that he would hold a banquet tomorrow to entertain the envoys of the two countries, and as for their demands, he planned to ask the Prime Minister Yamen to send someone to consult with them.

After talking to Zheng Cai for more than two hours in one breath, Chongzhen also felt a little tired, so he planned to end the conversation. At this time, Zheng Cai hesitated and said to Chongzhen: "The minister has one more thing to report to His Majesty. ”

Zhu Youzhen retracted the words that he wanted to make him retreat, and said instead: "If there is anything else, let's talk about it." ”

Zheng Cai lowered his head and organized the language in his heart, and then said to Chongzhen: "Back to Your Majesty, here's the thing. In the Pattani region to the south of the Ayutthaya Dynasty, there was a small kingdom that submitted to the Ayutthaya Dynasty. Although this small state was subordinate to the Ayutthaya dynasty, the common language of the country was not similar to that of the Ayutthaya dynasty to the north, and the people of the kingdom believed in the teachings of the heavenly side rather than the Buddhism of the Ayutthaya dynasty.

To the south, with the exception of Malacca, which was occupied by the Portuguese, the Pattanii region was a princely state that believed in the Celestial Religion, so the small kingdom had always wanted to break away from the Ayutthaya dynasty in the north and unite with the Celestial Sect princely states in the south. However, under the suppression of the Portuguese and the Ayutthaya dynasty in the north and south, the country's plot has not succeeded.

But now that the Portuguese in Malacca were too busy to take care of themselves, and the Ayutthaya dynasty had just experienced a rebellion, and the newly enthroned king of Basethong had not yet established his prestige in the country, the current queen of the country was thinking of breaking away from the Ayutthaya dynasty.

The queen of the country caught up with the Dutch, drove the British, the Ayutthaya people, and our Ming merchants out of Pattani, and sealed the border with the Ayutthaya dynasty, and the rebellion was already clear.

Therefore, King Basethong, the ruler of the Ayutthaya Dynasty, asked our envoy Su Yue of the Ming Dynasty to support their counterinsurgency operations in Pattani, mainly to contain the actions of the Dutch at sea.

After Zheng Zhilong, Liu Xiang, Yang Tiansheng and others received Su Yue's letter, they thought that the operation against Guangnan had ended earlier than expected, and there were still a large number of war materials that had not been used. Therefore, when they asked their ministers to return to the capital, they brought back the request for sending troops to Pattani..."

Zhu Youzhen took several letters and chapters submitted by Zheng Cai, and he read them carefully and found that the content was similar to what Zheng Cai said.

He put aside the letters and chapters he had read in his hand, and then looked at Zheng Cai and said, "I don't know much about the situation between the Ayutthaya Dynasty and the Pattani, but the good relationship between the Ayutthaya Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty must be maintained.

Zheng Zhilong's area of responsibility, the focus is also on Taiwan, the Philippines, and Palawan; Liu Xiang and others stared at the situation in Vietnam and Cambodia; As for the issues of the Ayutthaya Dynasty, Pattani, the Strait of Malacca, and Borneo, it is still up to Su Yue and Yang Tiansheng to solve them first, and if they can't solve them, they will gather others to discuss and deal with them.

Therefore, this incident in Pattani was handed over to Su Yue and Yang Tiansheng to deal with. Of course, each family can still send personnel and ships to distribute the spoils according to their contribution to the settlement of the incident, as in the case of Quang Nam.

However, you bring a message to Su Yue and Yang Tiansheng for me, the protagonists of this war are the Ayutthaya Dynasty and Pattani, not the Ming Dynasty and the Dutch East India Company. Therefore, they had to pay attention to controlling the scale of the conflict with the Dutch. Of course: if people don't offend me, I don't offend people; If anyone sins against me, I will destroy him. Do you understand? ”

Zheng Cai immediately nodded and replied, "The minister understands." ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded with satisfaction and said: "Well, this matter does not need to use the official documents of the imperial court, you can write a letter, and after I check that it is correct, you can send a boat to send it to them." If you don't have anything else to report, just step down..."

While Chongzhen and Zheng Cai were talking, on the edge of the railway platform surrounded by a wooden fence outside Fucheng Gate, a horse-drawn train with five carriages was slowly stopping. Zhou Yanru, who had been waiting on the platform for a long time, got up from his seat after seeing the train stop, he first sorted out the clothes on his body, and then walked up to the train with a few officials in a hurry.

At the same time, after the train came to a standstill, a member of the first carriage stepped down and, together with the station servants waiting on the platform, opened the doors of the next four carriages one by one in order, and assisted the passengers in the carriage to the platform.

Seeing Zhu Xieyuan, whose hair was white, trembling and getting down from the second carriage, Zhou Yanru took a few steps forward and said to Zhu Xieyuan: "Senior Zhu, after many years of separation, I can't imagine the day of goodbye, it is the time when the predecessor builds Qixun again, and the jade rope is really emotional." Your Majesty has ordered me to come and greet my predecessors and the Loyal Marquis, this Loyal Marquis..."

Zhou Yanru looked behind Zhu Xieyuan, but only found a few men, and there were no women. When he was stunned, he heard a neutral voice coming from the side: "Lord Zhou, are you looking for an old body?" ”

He turned his head to look, but he was startled, only to see a tall figure comparing him and Zhu Xieyuan. He and Zhu Xieyuan are also dignified seven-foot men, but this woman is still half a head taller than them. Although this woman's figure is tall, she has no bloated and clumsy appearance when she walks, she has a slight forehead line on her forehead, and she looks like she has reached the age of knowing the destiny of heaven, but the hair that emerges from the headscarf is still jet black, and her eyebrows are heroic.

Zhou Yanru came back to his senses, only to see that there were several women and several children standing behind Qin Liangyu, obviously they were sitting in the third carriage before.

"It turns out that the loyal marquis is here, and the official has just been rude. Senior Zhu, Loyal Marquis, Your Majesty ordered me to come to greet the two of you, first go to the Huitong Pavilion to rest, and after washing away the fatigue of the journey, tomorrow you will invite the two of you to the Wenhua Palace..."