King Rama V Chulalongkorn traveled 2,78 kilometers by train in only seven days, but it took him 10 days to travel from Siam to Yangon, which was not as fast as Zhang Bishi, who arranged his trip, and it only took him one day to travel from Singapore to Yangon. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

After getting off the train, Rama V has deeply felt the need to build a railway in Siam, he is not unaware of the benefits of building a railway, Siam is vast and sparsely populated, and the attitude of Siamese people towards land is not as religious as the Chinese, and they will not regard land as more important than life, and it is not difficult to acquire land in Siam.

The problem is money, although Siam's finances are good, but Rama V's reforms are still in progress, it takes money to build public facilities, it takes money to form a standing army, and he wants to implement a modern financial system in Siam, abolishing the slavery system that has lasted for six centuries, all of which require money.

Although there is no doubt about the convenience of the railway, the capital of building the railway is not something that a small country like Siam can afford, and the railway will not become cheap because of the small country, and Siam's small size is reflected in the population, and they are a big country in Europe, and now Luang Prabang, Vientiane and Champasak are still Siamese subjects, because the four princely states on the Malay Peninsula have not been ceded to Britain, and the nominal territory of Siam is equivalent to Thailand and Laos in later generations, or even larger, nearly 800,000 kilometers.

Such a land area is larger than that of large countries like Germany and France in Europe, and can be ranked second only to Russia's territorial area, but Germany already has 40,000 kilometers of railways, and the French railway network is also expanding wildly, but Siam does not have a railway.

The biggest reason is that it cannot be repaired, and in the reform of Siam, neither Rama IV nor Rama V wants to borrow the debts of foreigners, and even Japan is worried about whether it will be gradually controlled by Western countries with loans like Turkey and Egypt, and Siam is even more worried.

When he arrived in Guangzhou, Zhang Bishi introduced Rama V to Xu Rongcun, the attendant of the Ministry of Rites, who was in charge of foreign affairs, and the task was completed.

The reason why he wanted to escort Rama V all the way from Yangon to Daming was because he had extensive connections in Nanyang, and he was personally involved, rather than Ming officials, and even more secretive.

King Rama V's desire to visit Daming at a time when he was facing a battle with France for Cambodia was self-evident and impossible without a realistic political purpose.

Rama V can not be kept secret, but the Ming must ask him to keep it secret, the Ming has just completed negotiations with France, the details of the agreement have not yet been fully drawn up by the two sides, at this time the Ming suddenly communicated with Siam, which will obviously stimulate France, and the British will also be suspicious, suspecting that the Ming is going to establish some kind of military alliance in the Indochina Peninsula, France has been defeated by the Ming, so who is the Ming targeting, I can't help but let the British interpret too much.

No matter how Britain and France see the proximity of the Ming and Siam, they will have a jealous heart, which is beneficial to Siam and harmless, but not necessarily for the Ming Dynasty, under the premise of not having sufficient interests, to bear the pressure of Britain and France, and to bear military obligations for such a small country, is not a cost-effective political deal.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty demanded that it must be kept secret, and Rama V did not want to play political tricks, he really wanted to ask for the Ming Dynasty, and even prepared to pay tribute, where would he dare not agree to the Ming Dynasty's request.

Born in the Ming Dynasty Rites Department, he was proficient in diplomatic etiquette and specially used Siamese etiquette to meet King Rama V.

Then the two began to discuss the procedure for meeting with the Ming Emperor, the first of which was etiquette, and to Rama V's relief, Xu Rongcun did not ask him to bow to the emperor, and I heard that the Ming Emperor did not like to kneel. Xu Rongcun suggested that the King of Siam and the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty would fellowship with equal etiquette. King Rama V will bow to Zhu Jinglun, and the Ming Emperor will return the salute with a deep bow.

The two men will meet with Siam and Ming on military, political and diplomatic relations, without the presence of a third party and without any records.

These arrangements were also what Rama V wanted, and he didn't want to make a lot of requests, none of them agreed, and in the end they left an embarrassment, no record, no one knew, no way to investigate.

Out of secrecy, Rama V stayed in the Ming Palace that night, and in the early morning of the next day, he was arranged to meet with the Ming Emperor in the living room.

After the two saluted each other as agreed, the emperor invited Rama V to take a seat, and in the absence of outsiders, Zhu Jinglun could only pour tea for Rama V in person.

"I don't know and don't agree with His Majesty's tastes?"

Zhu Jinglun prepared green tea and added ice to it, he knew that the Thai people of later generations liked to drink iced tea, because it belonged to the hot tropical climate, but the Siamese people of this era obviously did not have such conditions, but they liked to drink it in later generations, which means that this tea is suitable for their taste.

King Rama V became addicted to drinking and brought the habit of drinking iced tea back to Siam, and the Ming merchants had another way to make money, and in the future, they could go to the north to dig ice in the winter and store it to sell to the Siamese.

Rama V took a sip of tea, a little reserved, and suddenly realized that this was the first time in the history of Siam that a king had an interview with an emperor of the Central Plains Dynasty.

"Siamese people love to drink herbal tea!"

Rama V said casually, adjusting his mood by the way.

Zhu Jinglun smiled: "I'm really sorry, I was negligent." ”

King Rama V hurriedly said: "Your Majesty is polite, and we Siamese people also know the truth that guests are as they please. ”

Zhu Jinglun continued: "Siam and our China are really connected by territory, and the people are good neighbors, and I Chinese also recognize this truth. ”

King Rama V sighed: "Such a good truth, but the foreigners don't recognize it." ”

Zhu Jinglun knew that Rama V wanted to lead things to foreigners, anyway, the two of them would definitely talk about these sensitive topics, and he didn't avoid it, but fortunately he sighed.

"Yes, the west wind is blowing eastward, and the arrival of foreigners has disturbed us. Foreigners also have a set of truths from foreigners, in fact, it is not necessarily bad, but they just don't understand the truth that guests follow the host and follow the customs, and they don't know how to respect the host. But they always think about anti-guest, and let the host do things according to their reasoning. ”

Rama V smiled bitterly: "They may not understand this truth, but they have never regarded us as the masters of the East, but they want to be the masters of the East, and we will either be their slaves or their enemies." ”

Zhu Jinglun immediately said bluntly: "I don't know if His Majesty wants to be a servant of Westerners or an enemy?" ”

Rama V knew that he was going to get to the point, and said: "Although Siam is a small country, I am willing to be a young man, and I don't want to make enemies, but I don't want to be a slave of people. ”

Zhu Jinglun sighed: "I don't know how Your Majesty plans to make friends between Britain and France?" Neither of these two friends is a friendship friend. ”

Rama V sighed: "Your Majesty is discerning. Britain and France are both countries of tigers and wolves. It is not easy to talk about being friends with them, but they can only cut meat and feed the enemy in order to preserve them. ”

Zhu Jinglun saw that he was pitiful, but he had no sympathy, and politics did not talk about this.

Instead, he continued to dig up the scars of Rama V: "I don't know how many catties and taels Siam can have, so that Britain and France can always be full?" ”

Rama V was silent for a moment: "Feeding the enemy with meat will not last long." Siam is a small and weak country, and only relying on a ceremonial state like the Ming Dynasty can it be long-lasting. ”

Zhu Jinglun sighed and said: "I am very sympathetic to the situation of Siam, England in the west and France in the east, both of which are great powers in Taixi. There is no respect at all in our eastern countries, and there is no excessive greed, and only self-improvement is the right way. Even if I am willing to help and save Siam for a while, I can't save Siam I. ”

Rama V guessed in his heart that the Ming Emperor was planning to protect Siam for a while? Help Siam through this?

Tan asked: "If the Ming Dynasty can protect Siam for a while, it is already a great kindness, and Siam should never forget." ”

Zhu Jinglun waved his hand: "Your Majesty, with all due respect." The Ming Dynasty is a big country, barely a strong country, and Siam is a small country and a weak country. Personally, I am very much in favor of the reforms that have been carried out in your country, and that they are proceeding steadily, without haste or impatience, and that in time Siam will surely become a paradise of prosperity and peace. However, the British invaded the western frontier and the French plundered the eastern frontier, and the reform of Siam was not sustainable. If Siam wants to stand on its own, it needs to be like Japan, bold and vigorous. ”

King Rama V sighed: "Siam is not Japan, and Siam cannot be changed at will." ”

Zhu Jinglun asked, "How long does Siam take?" ”

King Rama V replied: "Ten years at the least, thirty or fifty years at the most, we have patience." ”

Zhu Jinglun was very touched, that is, the lack of patience, the Chinese are still too anxious, the Chinese are conservative, but when they see that they must change, the heart to change is stronger than the old heart, but the problem is the lack of patience, today to learn from Germany, tomorrow to learn from the United States, the day after tomorrow to learn Japan, but always three days of fishing and two days of drying nets, a country has not learned thoroughly, it feels that it is not possible, think that this road is not passable, hastily change the path, always repeated.

Japan's fast, Siam's stability, in the end are considered successful, the reason is two words, patience, identify a road, fast or slow, gritted their teeth and persevered.

"Okay, then ten years! I gave Siam ten years to buy. ”

The monarchs can't be guilty of scheming, their own professionals must be compared, Zhu Jinglun said to this extent, it is already very straightforward, and then he will no longer talk about the details, but talk about some topics such as the people's livelihood, Rama V should know what Zhu Jinglun wants.

Zhu Jinglun was concerned about the livelihood of the Ming expatriates in Siam, and the business of the Ming merchants in Siam, so Siam should take care of these aspects, which is something that Rama V knows very well.

After all, the Ming Dynasty is a big and powerful country, and for Siam, it is an invincible superpower like Britain and France, the difference is that Britain and France eat meat, but the Central Plains Dynasty can eat vegetarianism.

The Western philosopher Hegel said that there are two civilizations in the world, one is animal and the other is plant.

Hegel believed that in the context of plant-based civilization, history is not linear forward, but in a continuous cycle, because yesterday and today cancel each other, so there is only time accumulation, no real history, no matter how long, there is always no essential progress, so animal civilization can catch up.

European civilization is an animalistic law of the jungle, full of competition.

And the ancient countries with glorious histories have withered away, but Europe is constantly improving, why did the former accumulate for many years and finally turn into nothingness?

It is nothing more than that animals follow the way of heaven, and the way of heaven is not enough to be worshipped, and the progress of Europe is not based on the plundering of the weak.

According to European standards, the Ming Dynasty and Siam are plant-like civilizations, following the continuous cycle here in the East, since it is a cycle, there are traces to follow, most of the Central Plains countries in history did not invade Siam, the Ming Dynasty can also not invade Siam, the Central Plains Dynasty in history pays attention to thin and thick exchanges, and the Ming Dynasty can also have thin and thick contacts with Siam.

But plant-based civilization, after all, also has to survive, Daming can be vegetarian, can not be like the animal-like Britain and France need to cut Siamese meat and feed, but vegetarian, and let Daming be full.

Therefore, Rama V knew that the ten-year protection period promised by Zhu Jinglun must make Siam pay a sufficient price.