The Portuguese felt that the situation was very bad, and Zhang Yan, the governor of the Ming Navy, personally asked them to hand over the city of Malacca to the Ming administration, which made them feel very troubled.

It is said that this governor is the most trusted assistant to the emperor of this empire.

The two sides launched a negotiation in Macau on the issue of Malacca City. In the negotiations, the Portuguese naturally had the upper hand, they themselves were under the fence, and Macao was still under the control of the Ming Dynasty.

"Malacca used to be one of my Ming vassals, and as the suzerain, the Ming Dynasty cannot tolerate your Portuguese colonization of Malacca." Zhang Yan said to the Portuguese, "If you Portugal don't withdraw from Malacca, then our trade relations will not be sustainable, and we may look for the Dutch as a replacement." ”

"No, no, no, we in Portugal are very sincere in trade." The Portuguese relented on the spot, and the trade relationship with the Ming was too important for Portugal. Especially when the Spaniards and Dutch were driven out by the Ming Dynasty one after another, Portugal has become the only European country that can still trade with the Ming Dynasty, which means amazing profits.

Compared to such amazing profits, what is Malacca?

If the Ming Dynasty had bad relations with Portugal and chose to cooperate with the Dutch, then Portugal would not only be unable to maintain trade relations with the Ming Dynasty, but Malacca City would also be basically unable to keep it.

After the colonial battles with the Spanish and Dutch, the maritime strength of the Ming Dynasty has made these Europeans fearful.

The Portuguese were not confident that they would be able to hold the city of Malacca, and the Ming not only had an increasingly large navy, but also was closer to the city than the Portuguese.

"We are willing to withdraw from Malacca. I hope that the two sides will continue to maintain trade relations. The Portuguese officially replied.

"You don't have to quit Malacca completely. In the future, the trade between the two sides will be held in the city of Malacca. We will transport goods to Malacca to trade with you, and all European ships will not be allowed to enter the waters east of Malacca. Zhang Yan drew a line directly on the map, and with such a casual drawing, it became a maritime navigation rule, turning all the waters east of Malacca into the territorial waters of the Ming Dynasty.

What else can the Portuguese do, as long as they can maintain trade, they will pinch their noses and admit it.

……

On the other hand, Zhu Youxiao's situation is not very good. Because the explosion at Wang Gong's factory occurred, despite the advance preparations, hundreds of people were killed.

The day of the explosion was the sixth day of the fifth month, a period of time before the summer harvest. The explosion did not show any warning, and it exploded.

With Wang Gongchang as the center, the capital is shaken.

The palace was affected, and some people in the palace were crushed and injured by falling heavy objects. Fortunately, nothing happened to the ladies in the harem.

After receiving the news, Zhu Youxiao was silent for a moment, took a deep breath, and then ordered: "Everyone pack their things today." Return to Beijing tomorrow. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Now that the explosion of Wang Gongchang has passed. Zhu Youxiao felt that there was no need for him to hide in Chengde.

The next day, Zhu Youxiao set off early in the morning and returned to the capital with the people as quickly as possible, and rumors were already spreading in the capital at this time.

"I heard no, this natural disaster happened because the emperor was confused by traitors."

"That's right, the emperor is mediocre and arbitrarily modifies the ancestral law. Since the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, when have there been scholars paying taxes. ”

"It was because the emperor changed the ancestral law that made the heavens angry and resentful, so it attracted the punishment of heaven."

Those nobles who were harmed by Zhu Youxiao's interests still have a certain amount of power in the north, although they are not as large as the southern nobles, but there are more nobles.

Zhu Youxiao's comprehensive reform of taxation in the newly levied area has seriously touched the interests of the nobles, who have become the main force of rumor-mongering after the explosion of Wang Gongchang.

There are gossips everywhere to confuse the public, and as soon as Zhu Youxiao returned to the capital, he immediately sent Dongchang and Jinyiwei out to arrest those who spread rumors.

At the same time, we began to step up efforts to guide public opinion, while comforting the families of the dead and wounded.

First of all, on the explosion of Wang Gong Factory, "Daming Daily" reported it as an explosion of gunpowder magazine caused by the earthquake, and claimed that the emperor had already seen the potential safety hazards of Wang Gong Factory wisely, so the surrounding area was demolished, if it was not demolished, the number of casualties in the earthquake may reach tens of thousands.

Earthquake?

Many people don't believe it because they have seen it with their own eyes, and it doesn't look like a normal earthquake at all, but most people believe it because the explosion did have a shaking.

As for what kind of gunpowder exploded, some people even knew that Wang Gong's factory did not have gunpowder at all. But if the official wants to explain it like this, most of the people still don't know the truth.

At this time, Zhu Youxiao can only guide the explosion to the conclusion that 'the earthquake caused the explosion of gunpowder', otherwise how can he explain it?

If you use the set of gods and ghosts, it is obviously very passive.

Of course, the gods, ghosts, and ghosts are still in use, and the 'water army' planted in the market by Jinyiwei and Dongchang have rumored that this explosion was done by the demons of the Nether Realm in collusion with a thousand-year-old king and eight spirits, the purpose of which is to murder the Holy Monarch, so as to protect the interests of those nobles. Before this Wang Bajing rebellion, the emperor had already obtained the dream of Xianjun, who taught the emperor to avoid Chengde, and pointed out that Wang Bajing would cause chaos in Wang Gongchang, and then transferred the people of Wang Gongchang in advance......

Overnight, the millennium king and eight essences spread all over the market.

Many people wonder when they wake up, when will a thousand-year-old king and eight essences jump out? Many of those cultural people laughed at such rumors and did not believe them at all.

But the people in the market believe it!

Because this version of the rumor is the most acceptable one for them, and the story is very strong, there are villains led by the 'Millennium King Eight Spirits', and the righteous forces led by the current son, in the end, justice once again defeated evil, and the sun once again shone on the earth.

When the righteous role played by today's son is also deeply recognized by the people in the market, the emperor's reform and taxation on the one hand mobilized the interests of the nobles and magnates, on the other hand, it won the hearts of the people, and the people are actually not fools, such a simple truth can still be understood.

It's just that many ordinary people don't have a high level of education after all, and it is a very common phenomenon that they are easy to be taken advantage of, so Zhu Youxiao also relied on rumors to break the rumors this time, but he is the right medicine.

As for whether those cultural people believe it or not, it is okay for ordinary people to believe it anyway, so that ordinary people will not be instigated by those with ulterior motives to cause chaos. As long as this goal is not achieved, it will be useless for those nobles and magnates to compile another 10,000 rumors. (To be continued.) )