The envoys came to the borders of Persia and were warmly welcomed by the governors along the way.

But after arriving in the Persian capital, the situation changed somewhat. The nobles and officials were still very enthusiastic, but they could not see the Persian emperor alive or dead, and the new emperor was a drunken man, and he was drunk all day long.

Whoever wanted to see the emperor had to go through the eunuchs.

Xie Yuan had to visit the eunuchs first, but the reply he got was that if he wanted to meet the emperor, he had to pay bribes to the eunuchs first, and the money was too small.

Xie Yuan turned to look at the deputy envoy Pang Anguo: "We're from Persia?" How do I feel back to Daming. ”

Pang Anguo said: "It is still the Ming Dynasty of Zhengde and Wanli. ”

"Let's go, there's no need to see you. Within ten years, Persia would surely decline. Xie Yuan sneered.

Not only is it declining, even the Turks went to Persia to rob it, and the huge Persian Empire had no temper.

The great nobles of Persia were very satisfied with Emperor Jiumengzi. The first two emperors engaged in centralization of power, which caused a lot of headaches for the great nobles, and now it is just time to regain the privileges of the past, and they are eager for the new emperor to never show up.

The envoys came all the way to the Persian Gulf, and after waiting for two months, a Persian merchant ship finally went to Southeast Asia.

You have to negotiate the price, the ticket is expensive, and the envoy has more than 2,000 horses and hundreds of camels.

Hundreds of camels were sold, as were the horses used to carry the armor, and only the best horses were brought back with the ships.

Just as they were about to board the ship, the Persian merchants brought several "natives".

One of the "natives" asked, "But the Celestial Envoy?" ”

"Are you Chinese?" Xie Yuan wondered.

This person has a Han face, but wears clothes that are ...... Well, it's also the costume of the Han people, but I always feel a little nondescript.

Hearing the familiar Chinese, the man suddenly burst into tears, and after crying for a long time, he finally said, "Angel, we are navy non-commissioned officers who have been living on the island for more than ten years!" ”

"More than ten years?" Xie Yuan immediately came to his senses, "You are the first batch of envoys to Europe?" ”

The man nodded hurriedly: "We encountered a storm, and more than a hundred people were stranded on a desert island. There are a few boatmen, but it is possible to let them repair the ships, but it is very difficult to build the ships themselves. It took more than ten years to build a small sailing ship. Governor...... Brother Deng proclaimed himself governor, and he asked me to take people across the sea by boat. Luckily, we soon saw land to the west, and we made our way north along the shore to the Omani harbour citadel. The Omanis sent us to Persia and said that we could return home on a Persian merchant ship. ”

Xie Yuan was not in a hurry to go back, and hurriedly asked, "How big is that island?" ”

"It's big, I'm afraid it's the size of several Qiongzhou [Hainan Island]," the man said, "We have occupied the west shore of the island, and we are conquering the indigenous countries in the middle of the island." ”

Xie Yuan listened stupidly, several large islands in Qiongzhou, more than a hundred Chinese are still expanding?

In fact, the island of Madagascar is larger than the 17 Hainan islands.

Xie Yuan immediately went to the local governor, contacted the Persian merchants through the governor, and got a few ships from the merchants to go south.

All expenses were to be paid by the governor in return, and the reward was to bring in a consignment of goods belonging to the governor, which was placed in Chittagong for the Persian merchants to pick up. They must be rare and good goods, such as Yunjin, Ru porcelain, excellent tea, etc., which ordinary merchants can't buy with money.

Xie Yuan first went to visit the King of Oman, who was very relieved and sent two warships to escort them south.

By the way, there was an Omani prince who was still studying in Nanjing at this time.

Finally arrived on the island of Madagascar, the original "Boyina City" was changed to "Wangxiang City" by the Chinese.

The oldest mixed-race child born to Chinese and indigenous women is fourteen or fifteen years old. There are also teenagers between the ages of 16 and 20, the indigenous children who were first captured or rescued by the Chinese, who have learned to speak Chinese and write Chinese characters since they were young Chinese...... It's not very good to tell the difference by looking at the looks.

The complex river network around Wangxiang City is full of rice cultivation and many drinking water irrigation canals.

There are many "mansions" around the city, all of which are houses of large Chinese landowners. The shape of the house is also like that of China, and at first glance, it looks similar to the countryside in southern China.

Governor Deng Youzhang led dozens of people out of the city to greet them, and when they saw the envoys, they also cried.

"Leader Deng, you are tired." Xie Yuan said with emotion.

Deng Youzhang hurriedly said: "Don't be tired, it's good to meet Chinese people." We didn't expect to return to China, so we wanted to know what happened to our families. My old mother is almost seventy years old, and I don't know if she is doing well for more than ten years. ”

Xie Yuan asked, "What is your specific situation here?" ”

Deng Youzhang immediately elaborated: "At first, there were 88 marines, 73 civilian, logistical, and sailors, as well as 4 Persian slaves and miscellaneous servants. Those 4 Persian slaves also learned to speak Chinese, and now they are brothers with us. 165 people floated onto the island, and in the past ten years, 7 people have died of illness and war, and now only 158 old brothers remain. ”

"More than 830 children were born, and there was a lack of herbal medicine for the military doctors on board, and many of the children died young. We have also adopted many orphans, more than 500 in total, and taught them to speak Chinese and write Chinese characters. The oldest group is already able to fight with knives. ”

"At first, you could use firearms, but now you've run out of gunpowder. We knew the recipe for gunpowder, but we didn't know how to make it, and now we had to fight the natives with bows and arrows, knives and guns. ”

"We've built six cities, and when we say they're cities, they're like small towns in the Celestial Empire. The elder brothers brought their children to become the lords of the city, the righteous sons served as officials, and the indigenous tribes lived around the city to farm. With the exception of the newly conquered natives, the rest of the natives obeyed the rule. After all, we taught them how to plant the land and dig ditches, and the grain was harvested more than before. ”

"There are also natives who learn to speak Chinese, but those indigenous nobles are brainless, and they regard Chinese as an aristocratic language, and the commoners of the tribe are not allowed to learn it. If an indigenous civilian dares to speak Chinese, he will be beheaded if he is caught, and I can't stop it. ”

“……”

Deng Youzhang chattered for a long time, and Xie Yuan had already heard a lot of content on the way.

Xie Yuan was surprised: "There are more than 100 of you, and you have given birth to more than 800 children in more than ten years, and this is still a large number of leftovers?" ”

Deng Youzhang smiled bitterly: "The surroundings are all indigenous, we are afraid." Those who are born and adopted by themselves can be regarded as their own people. I married eight wives and had more than 20 children, but only 11 died. The other old brothers, who had the least wives, also married four. ”

"By the way," Deng Youzhang said, "the wives of the old brothers, many of whom are the daughters of nobles of various tribes. The tribes that voluntarily belong to the nobles will send their daughters to marry, and if they don't accept them, they will feel uneasy. More and more daughters were sent by the tribal nobles, and more and more wives were sent by the old brothers. ”

Xie Yuan glanced at the teenagers behind Deng Youzhang, he couldn't see the appearance of mixed race at all, and he was a Chinese person.

This is because the indigenous people of Madagascar, like the indigenous people of the Hawaiian Islands, belong to the Polynesian race, and are very close to the Chinese genes.

Deng Youzhang began to introduce the main officials, exactly according to the set of overseas governors.

Under the Governor's Palace, there were also three prefectures, each with two counties, and each county had many villages and towns.

The administration is very extensive, and the area of a province is roughly equivalent to the island of Taiwan. There were six counties in total, and the six cities were directly ruled, as well as the natives of the countryside outside the city. Those that are a little farther away from the city still belong to the tribal autonomy, and pay some tribute to the county every year.

Deng Youzhang invited the envoy group into Wangxiang City, and said as he walked: "The reason why we are in a hurry to expand is that many old brothers can't wait. They also want to be the county magistrate and the city lord, but now there are only six city lords, and there are only more than 30 high-ranking officials. ”

Xie Yuan couldn't cry or laugh: "You are engaged in dividing the feuds, after a hundred and ten years, the city lords and counties that are divided will all become princes." ”

"No way, everyone wants to be an official, even the illiterate wants to be the lord of the city." Deng Youzhang said helplessly.

Xie Yuan suddenly asked, "Do you want to go back to China?" ”

Deng Youzhang was stunned for a moment, and he didn't know it himself.

Rushing to build a ship and get in touch with the motherland is the common will of all old brothers, and no one can go against the collective consensus.

But if you really want them to leave, it's really reluctant.

More than 100 old brothers, including the four Persian slaves, are now all big landowners. The slaves they emancipated all became tenant farmers, farming and paying rent for their brothers.

When you return to China, you will definitely be able to buy more supplies, eat more exquisite food, and wear more comfortable clothes. But when they go back, they can still own so much land? Bring back a bunch of wives and children, will they be able to support them?

After thinking about it for a long time, Deng Youzhang said: "I don't want to return to China, but I want to contact my family and want to know if my old mother is still alive." I also have wives and children in my hometown, and if they want to come, I will bring them. If they don't want to come, I'm going to send some money back...... I've got money, I've found gold on the island! ”

"Gold mines?" Xie Yuan's eyes widened.

Deng Youzhang nodded and said: "Now we can only pan for golden sand, and mercury is needed to refine gold, and mercury cannot be found on the island at all." I've also found iron ore and can already craft my own swords. Many natives still use bronze weapons, and they can be conquered with iron swords. ”

Xie Yuan said: "After I return to China, I will explain the details to Your Majesty. Your Majesty should officially appoint you as Governor, and then bring you mercury and supplies, and you will be responsible for exchanging them for gold. Of course, how much gold mined belongs to you is up to Your Majesty and the Cabinet. ”

"It's all up to the angels!" Deng Youzhang was willing to give the gold to the imperial court, because he couldn't get mercury, so he could only pan for some sand gold.

Moreover, with the supplies sent by China, they have cotton clothes to wear, and a steady supply of ammunition, which can conquer the island tribes more quickly.