In the spring of the third year of Yongle, it rained a lot, and the problem of subsidence in the Nanjing Imperial Palace was fully highlighted as a design flaw.

In view of the continuous improvement of the financial situation, and considering that the emperor who returned from the expedition could not be too ugly, part of the road in the imperial city was simply renovated with cement.

Cement road, for modern people, from the aesthetic sense, must not be compared with the bluestone road, but for people in this era, mixed with the cement road pounded into powdered tribute fine sand, under the sunlight "Bling", it looks like a miracle.

- At least that's what these European visitors think.

They were accustomed to gravel roads in Europe, and now that a straight, wide, and beautiful road was in front of them, it was hard for them to imagine how the Ming had done it.

In particular, there are no traces of paving at this road, and there are no cracks in the middle, as if there is such a big road naturally.

In the Yamen of the President of the Daming Imperial City, Jiang Xinghuo sat on the updated carved rosewood Taishi chair, behind which was a huge and abstract map of the country, highlighting the vastness and prosperity of the Great Tomorrow, although the geographical location above was already crooked for Jiang Xinghuo, a person who knew the correct direction of various places.

Cigarette smoke curls inside the house, and the light and shadow through the window lattices jump on the old tapestry carpets, creating an atmosphere that is both solemn and mysterious.

To be honest, I still have to thank Zheng He.

If it weren't for Zheng He's official trade in the West, relying on large-scale purchases to increase trade volume and bring down the prices of Nanyang specialties, such as all kinds of wood, furniture and incense, how could Jiang Xinghuo be willing to purchase?

"I hope that the change in the attitude of the Timurid Khanate will allow Zheng He to go to the Middle East as soon as possible to establish a trading post, so that he can also bring back some Persian carpets."

Jiang Xinghuo rubbed his shoes against the carpet that was about to fall bald, and thought.

With the sound of the chariot, the court envoy of the Spanish Kingdom of Castile, Ro Gozelaiz Claviyo, and the Bavarian knight Johann Hiltberg stepped into the heart of the empire.

Although their steps were slightly hesitant, their eyes could not hide their awe of Jiang Xinghuo and their strong curiosity.

The experience of traveling from Guanzhong to Henan, and then south to Huguang, by boat, has made these self-proclaimed well-informed Westerners fully aware of the narrowness of their horizons.

Because when they were amazed at a prosperous city, the accompanying officials told him that this was only a small county town, and there were thousands of cities of this size in Daming.

And when they arrived at Nanjing, which already had a population of more than a million, they could not imagine why a city could accommodate a population equivalent to that of a Western country.

The unexpected prosperity of the Ming Dynasty deeply shocked them, especially the further they went southeast, the more they found that unlike the Timurid Khanate, the Ming Dynasty not only had a larger territory and a larger population, but also that it was not a completely agricultural society, and some new factors were bred in it, in the ideological debates of the scholars, in the bargaining of the merchants, and in the eating, drinking, and merrymaking of the citizens, these factors that they could not explain were unique in the world, and they had never seen them.

And later, when they learned that this was the new atmosphere brought to Daming by a national teacher named Jiang Xinghuo, they became more and more curious about this national teacher who was known as an immortal in the local stories of Daming.

Jiang Xinghuo got up and bowed slightly, as a courtesy.

To these Westerners, his gaze is as calm as a deep pool, but it seems to be able to perceive people's hearts.

"Welcome to Daming."

Claviyo bowed and replied in the slightly stiff Chinese he had learned from Fu An: "Dear National Teacher, on behalf of the Kingdom of Castile, I would like to express my sincerest greetings to you, we have come from afar, not only to show our country's grace, but also to hope to establish long-term diplomatic relations with the Ming Dynasty." ”

Hiltberg on the side bowed with one hand to his chest with the etiquette of a knight: "The warriors of Bavaria salute you!" Although we are strangers, we have long heard of the prosperity and strength of the Ming Dynasty. ”

Jiang Xinghuo smiled slightly and motioned for the two to sit down.

He didn't ask the question of "which is stronger?" but asked: "Have you all read the Decameron?" ”

"Decameron" is the representative work of the Italian writer Boccaccio, is a collection of short stories, depicting the life and love story of the Florentine citizens during the Black Death epidemic, reflecting the customs and morals of Western society at that time, this work came out fifty years ago, but with the current background of the severance of trade between the East and the West, it is obviously unlikely to reach the Ming Dynasty.

Spain and Italy are separated only by Sardinia and Corsica, and the Decameron reached Spain very early, but the Bavarians who are full of martial virtues do not like to read these things.

Claviyo looked at Jiang Xinghuo with a very surprised look, and then said, "Of course, this is a good work, and almost all the court members I know have seen it. ”

Jiang Xinghuo nodded and took out a few scripts from the drawer.

"Water Margin", "Journey to the West", "The Legend of Shushan Swordsman".

"This is Daming's popular script now, give it to you, you can take a look if you are interested."

Claviyo took it, flipped through it roughly, and only asked, "So it seems that the anonymous should be the Boccaccio of the Ming Dynasty?" ”

Jiang Xinghuo was embarrassed to say "contemptible made", so he nodded.

The Chinese language is broad and profound, and it will take them some time to understand the meaning of the pen name of the great writer.

"There are many good literary works in the West, and there are also in the East, and even more, but it is a pity that in today's world, it is precisely because of the difficulty of communication between the East and the West that not only commodities cannot be exchanged, but also cultures are difficult to exchange, which is really a pity."

If the First Northern Expedition hit the Tatar Department hard, but only had an impact on these forces around the Ming Dynasty, such as Warat, Tatar, Uliangha, and Korea, then from the overall geopolitical point of view, the Ming Dynasty thwarted the expedition of the Timurid Khanate, which is of even greater significance.

Because the Timurid Khanate, as the second most powerful country in the world today, punched Ottoman Turkey and kicked the Mamluks, firmly occupying the vast land from the Middle East to Central Asia, and a Timurid Khanate that was hostile to the Ming Dynasty would inevitably hinder trade and exchanges between the East and the West, because people were middlemen.

And now that the Timurid Khanate was hit head-on by the Ming Dynasty and fell into a brief period of civil strife, there has been a fundamental change in the attitude towards the Ming Dynasty, and it is also a good time for Jiang Xinghuo to lay out the world.

The Industrial Revolution inevitably required great geographical discoveries to dump industrial products.

The premise of the Ming Dynasty's geographical discoveries was to first communicate the unsmooth trade routes between the East and the West, and then go to open up the Americas.

The east-to-west route, with a large number of countries and supply points along the way, is much more stable than taking the Pacific Ocean that spans half the world, and the direct economic benefits can be greater.

At present, the Ming Dynasty has initially completed its control of the South Seas, obtained excellent ports and fleet bases in Annam, Champong, Luzon, Sriwijaya and other countries, and eliminated many pirates who had been entrenched in the South Seas for many years through joint strangulation.

Therefore, the trade routes east of the Manraka Strait can be said to be under the control of the Ming Dynasty.

The size of this trade area is enough for Ming to dump in the future.

But this does not mean that the Ming Dynasty can be stuck in the Manraka Strait to engage in "closing off the country" at sea.

Because with the increase of overall production capacity, there is always a limit to foreign dumping, and after reaching the limit, there is no way to dump internally, and then destroy the cottage industry in the small-scale peasant economic system, which Jiang Xinghuo does not want to see.

Therefore, we must not be satisfied with the status quo, and we must continue to expand externally.

Of course, there is a small episode here, that is, Zheng He's fleet ran into a little trouble when it left the Manraka Strait and continued westward to the states south of Tianzhu, and the Kingdom of Ceylon, which was stuck in the toll between the Manraka Strait and Tianzhu, was not very happy.

Considering that further west is the territory of the Timurid Khanate, the Timurid Khanate also has a fleet, and the two countries are currently in a hostile state, so Zheng He returned from Tianzhu with local goods after selling the goods this year, and there was a little friction with the Ceylon Kingdom that was used to setting up cards to collect taxes here, and he told Jiang Xinghuo about it after he came back.

"Small episodes, small troubles, small frictions, these are not actually problems, as long as the person who has the problem is solved."

"It's really not good, change the king of Ceylon, aren't they composed of two tribes because of the reason for resisting the invasion of the Southern Tianzhu State? This disobedient replaced the other. ”

This was Jiang Xinghuo's suggestion to Zheng He at that time.

However, in the final analysis, the Kingdom of Ceylon that blocked the trade routes between the East and the West in the Ming Dynasty was only a disease of ringworm, and the real obstacle was the Timurid Khanate.

As long as the Timurid Khanate is stuck in the middle, the fleet of the Ming Dynasty can certainly force its way through, and there is nothing to fear in exchanging fire with it, but what about merchant ships?

Now the maritime trade of the Ming Dynasty, in addition to Zheng He, the fleet that opened up routes and trade on behalf of the official, there are also many civilian merchant ships, and the Ming Dynasty cannot escort them on every trip, so the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty can only operate in the safe trade zone east of the Manraka Strait, and cannot go further west.

If the trade route cannot guarantee absolute safety, then how many goods are transported are to deliver food to people, so solving the obstacle of the Timurid Khanate is of great significance for opening up the trade between the East and the West.

And now after the battle, the Haril of the Timurid Khanate has already made overtures to Da Ming and sent envoys to talk to Jiang Xinghuo about opening up sea trade routes and coastal ports.

It is precisely with this foundation that Jiang Xinghuo will talk to these two Westerners about further things to lay out the West, otherwise there is no basis for talking about it at all.

Jiang Xinghuo gently moved the inkstone in his hand, and the topic gradually turned to the world situation: "Two distinguished guests, in today's world, the situation is unpredictable. Although I am located in the East, I am always concerned about the general trend of the world, I wonder what the two of you have about the pattern of the world today? ”

When Claviyo and Hilterberg listened, they first looked at each other before they began to ponder every word that the national teacher said.

They already knew that this national teacher had a very thorough understanding of the world, so they definitely didn't ask about the superficial world situation.

If it is a superficial world situation, as far as the world is currently known, it must be from west to east: the Holy Roman Empire and other European states, the Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman Turkish Empire, the Mamluk Dynasty, the Aries Dynasty, the Timurid Khanate, the Delhi Sultanate, the Southern Tianzhu States, the Nanyang States, and the Ming Empire.

Jiang Xinghuo knows all this, so the question he asked is actually how they Westerners think about the world pattern that Jiang Xinghuo wants to change now with Daming as the center.

The two have different ways of thinking about this issue, and this is because of their different life experiences.

Unlike the professional diplomatic envoy Klaviyo, Hiltberg did not come to the Timur Khanate on his own initiative, in fact, he was a prisoner, and a second-hand prisoner.

At the age of fifteen, Hilterberg's family had been part of the Duke's guard of Bavaria, so at the age of fifteen he fought as a knight's squire at the famous Battle of Nicopolis, in what many have called the "Last Crusade", in which Hiltberg became a prisoner of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, and was chosen by Suleiman, the eldest son of Baziyed I, to serve as an attendant to the Ottoman Guard.

And at the age of twenty-one, Hilterberg followed Suleiman to the battlefield, and in the battle of Ankara, all the armies were defeated, only the Ottoman Guards in the central position, who remained in place and fought until the last moment, Hiltberg was captured in the breakout and became Khalil's attendant, and his fate was much better than that of Baziyed I, who was reduced to a circus clown.

Now that Hiltberg has regained his freedom, his years of exile have made him cautious: "The Ming is the most powerful empire I have ever seen, and I believe that after the Ming Dynasty defeats the Timurid Khanate, it will sweep across the world like the Mongol Empire." ”

Jiang Xinghuo smiled.

Just listen to this, there is only one Mongol Empire in the world, that is because the Mongols can ride a bantam horse and rely on endurance beyond the limits of human beings, with cattle and sheep can go on expeditions, which is basically impossible for the military system of the Han Dynasty, pure cavalry is no problem with thousands of horses or tens of thousands of horses running thousands of miles, no matter how far it is.

And with the development of ship technology, such an expedition of the Timurid Khanate is destined to become the swan song of history.

Trade by sea is much more convenient and low-cost than by land, even in modern times, bulk commodity logistics is not by air, mainly by sea, the advantages of shipping are too great, and there is no substitute.

Therefore, the future of the Ming Dynasty must be mainly on the ocean.

Jiang Xinghuo comforted the two Western European visitors with words that he didn't necessarily believe in all: "The Ming had no intention of conquering the Timurid Khanate (present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia), nor did he have any interest in conquering the Aries Dynasty (present-day Iraq, Iran) and the Mamluk Dynasty (present-day Egypt and Syria). ”

Both of them are smart people, and after a moment of silence, Claviyo said tentatively: "I heard that the Ming Dynasty has just sent an army to conquer Mongolia, I wonder if it's true?" ”

"I did."

Jiang Xinghuo nodded and said, "Not only Mongolia, but also between the Ming Dynasty and the surrounding tribes and countries, there is a 'Fanbang tributary system', any country or tribe that offends the dignity of the Ming Dynasty will usher in the punishment of the Ming Dynasty, and when they come, they may see people in different clothes and dark skin being dragged through the streets, this is the prisoner sent by Xiping Hou Mu Sheng who has just conquered the Eight Hundred Dadian." ”

Eight hundred Dadian is a magical tribe, the reason for this name is because the chief of the tribe has eight hundred wives, and let each wife receive a village.

The geographical location of the tribe is located in the south of the Yunnan Buzheng Envoy, Hongwu 21 began to pay tribute, Lao Zhu casually sealed a consolation envoy, let him pay tribute for five years.

The reason why he was beaten by Daming was because the chief was a little arrogant and regarded the surrounding tribes as his own family, and after Zhu Di ascended the throne, he sent eunuchs to summon Sanxuan and Liuwei to be blocked in 800 Dadian, so Zhu Di asked Xiping to wait for Mu Sheng to lead the army to recruit, and 800 Dadian was honest after being beaten.

Claviyo raised his eyebrows slightly, and asked, "So it seems that the Ming Dynasty will bring this unique relationship to the West?" ”

Jiang Xinghuo shook his head: "No, you witnesses should know better than us that there are not many Armenians and Georgians, and they still believe in Christianity, but even so, relying on the complex mountainous terrain, the Timurid Khanate cannot completely exterminate them, so they can only be resigned. This world is so vast, although the power of the Ming Dynasty is the first in the world, it cannot be completely projected to all corners of the world, and it is already very good to be able to manage the circle of Mobei, the Western Regions, the East China Sea, and the South Sea. ”

"Then what does Da Ming want?"

Very good, Claviyo also learned "what to ask for" with Fu An, which seems to be very authentic Chinese.

Jiang Xinghuo replied very sincerely: "——Free trade." ”

Claviyo's face darkened.

He wanted to say, do you think we Westerners don't want to trade with the Ming Dynasty?

You must know that all the fist products of the Ming Dynasty, such as silk, tea, porcelain, etc., are all in-demand goods that Westerners cannot make themselves, and these things are sold at sky-high prices in the West, and some people rush to buy them.

Unfortunately, because there is no Suez Canal and no Cape of Good Hope can bypass Africa, if you want to trade between the East and the West, you can only transit by land and then load ships into the Mediterranean Sea and sell them to Western countries.

Claviyo sighed: "But across the Mamluks and the Aries Dynasty, we can't trade freely directly. ”

"Tell me, how did you get to Samarkand?" Jiang Xinghuo suddenly asked.

Clavieux set out from Spain, so his route was actually the trade route from the West to the East in this era.

Claviyo pondered for a moment and said, "Our mission departed from the home port of Cádiz, then sailed from Corsica in the Mediterranean to southern Italy, and then from the Kingdom of Naples across the Greek coast to the base of Rhodes, which was controlled by the Knights Hospitaller, and then sailed north along the coast of Asia Minor to Constantinople. ”

Spain - Corsica - Italy - Rhodes - Constantinople.

Jiang Xinghuo's mind already appeared in his travel map, which was actually from the northwest corner of the Mediterranean Sea to the southeast corner.

"And then?"

"Then we went through the Black Sea, and the Greeks of Trabzon, who at that time had submitted to the Timurid Khanate, then went to the Caucasus Mountains, passed through the territory of the Armenians and went south, and then went east along the post road of the Timurid Khanate to Samarkand."

"It's been a tough journey."

Jiang Xinghuo smiled: "Then do you think there is another way from Spain to Daming?" ”

"Territory controlled by the Mamluks?"

"No, think again."

Claviyo's eyes lit up: "Does the National Teacher have a way?" ”

"It's easy."

Jiang Xinghuo said lightly: "All the way to the south, along the coastline to the south, to the end." ”

"Oh my God, it's the land of the devil, it's Satan's territory, and no one can pass through it."

For the Western Europeans of this era, even the Spaniards in the southwestern corner of Europe, it was unthinkable to go all the way south along the endless road.

"Da Ming will pass."

"If it goes well, you will be able to reach your country by this time next year, and you can choose to go home with the Ming fleet, or walk the way you came for three or four years and go back slowly."

Claviyo froze, wondering if something was wrong with his ears.

His first reaction was that this was impossible, after all, in his opinion, no one had ever walked this route in history, and it was not even clear whether it would lead to hell or some indescribable place all the way south, and if this road was not passable, and it was too late to turn back, then they would have to stay on the ship and starve to death.

The main reason for this is that although the world at this time is in a turbulent and initial era of change, on the eve of the Age of Discovery, but in general, the European continent is still plagued by feudal secession and the struggle between clergy and royal power, and the wars and alliances between countries are complicated, and although the dawn of the Renaissance has emerged, the people of Europe have not yet gotten rid of the haze of the extremely conservative Middle Ages, and it can be said that Europe is fully degraded in the Middle Ages, rather than progressive.

In fact, Hiltberg's experience is a good reflection of this, the last crusade defeat itself can be regarded as the deterioration of the war strength of the medieval knight class, in the era of Hiltberg's birth, the Ming Dynasty was fighting with the Northern Yuan Dynasty at the scale of more than 100,000 people, but the European knights' past combat drills have been replaced by more ornamental individual heads-up, most of the knights are trained to be good at fighting and lack the overall overall picture, basically have not fought any major battles.

Because of this, the fragmentation of Western Europe and the haze of the Middle Ages led to the long-term stagnation of the technological level of various countries, taking the shipbuilding industry as an example, the main ships used in Western Europe during the period of geographical discovery were also a small sampan in the eyes of the Ming fleet.

And if the small sampan wants to cross the ocean, the difficulty can be imagined.

So for Western Europeans, it was simply unthinkable to follow the coastline from the southern continent to the east.

But it is impossible for Western Europeans, but it is not difficult for Daming.

Zheng He's second voyage to the West has fully verified the fleet's ocean-going capabilities, and under the guidance of Jiang Xinghuo, the hull and navigation and positioning technology have been improved, and it is completely possible to bypass the Cape of Good Hope.

The current Ming Dynasty can be repaired in the east of the Manraka Strait, and then wait for the wind direction to be favorable, and then resupply in Nantianzhu, after signing a peace treaty with the Timurid Khanate, the coastal ports of the Timurid Khanate can also be used for supply, and now the Aries Dynasty is superficially subject to the Timurid Khanate, so the ports of the Aries Dynasty (Iran, Iraq) are also available for supply.

In this case, to complete the supply in the port controlled by the Aries Dynasty, with the tonnage of the Ming fleet, it doesn't matter if there are not many places in Africa that can be replenished along the way, it can be completely driven around a big "U" to Spain in one go.

The ship is big and can do whatever it wants.

"Can I come with the boat?"

This invitation is very tempting for an adventurous Spaniard.

"Of course."

The discovery of the Cape of Good Hope is not a secret, it is a matter of time, the Ming fleet bypassed the Cape of Good Hope to Europe to dump goods, which means that the Europeans knew that they could go to the East along this road.

But what's the use of knowing?

Not to mention that the Ming Dynasty can collect tolls by stuck in the eastern section of the Manraka Strait, and when the Europeans sail around the Cape of Good Hope, the Ming Dynasty will have already established a stronghold and military base, and the western section will collect tolls.

"How is that possible?"

Hilterberg, the Bavarian warrior, was still incredulous, and said with a wry smile: "That place is tens of thousands of miles away from us."

Jiang Xinghuo smiled slightly: "Believe it or not, but no one can stop the pace of Daming's goods going to the West, if you can't talk about free trade, there are so many countries in the West, there are always something that can be discussed, which one can't be Yinggelan or Falangxi?" ”

Claviyo asked thoughtfully: "Master Guoshi, you mean that if the Kingdom of Spain can form an alliance with the Ming Dynasty, then we can have priority to obtain the right to sell the Ming goods?" We have many coastal ports, and the Kingdom of Spain is the closest to the route of the National Teacher. ”

Claviyo was a little excited, because the Kingdom of Spain was in the northwest corner of the Mediterranean, and the trade hub was in the southeast corner of the Mediterranean, so the Spaniards could not even drink soup before.

Blessings and misfortunes depend on them, and misfortunes and blessings lurk.

Unexpectedly, feng shui took turns, and this route was the first place that the Spaniards could grab.

You know, Daming will definitely not enter the interior of Europe for sales, so they are all sold to coastal ports, and whoever can get these unique and in-demand goods first will be able to make a big profit!

"That's not what I mean, the size of the Kingdom of Spain is not worthy of an alliance with the Ming Dynasty, or to be precise, there is no empire in the entire West that can communicate with the Ming Dynasty on an equal footing."

Jiang Xinghuo took a sip of tea from the teacup and said slowly: "But I can help the Spaniards get a little more benefits in free trade, provided that if the Spaniards are willing to join the trade and monetary system of the Ming Dynasty, just like Annan, Champa and other countries do, but the contract can be a little less harsh." ”

Kraviyo and Hilterberg glanced at each other, and then Claviyo spoke as a representative: "National Teacher, as you said, the world today is in a period of unprecedented change, the territory of the great empires is constantly expanding, and the exchanges between countries are becoming more and more frequent, which brings both opportunities and challenges, and our Kingdom of Spain has always tried to explore new paths in the vast ocean, seeking more possibilities for cooperation, if there is an opportunity to sign a trade contract with the Ming Dynasty, I'll do everything I can to convince us of the Spanish royal family. ”

Hilterberg then added: "My lord, Bavaria (Bavaria is the largest and richest region in modern Germany) is a landlocked country, but our chivalry has long been spread far and wide, and we are in good neighborliness with our northern neighbors, and trade is absolutely not a problem, and we are in the center of the West, so it is easy to transport goods wherever we want." ”

Then Hilterberg patted the ass again: "In this era of change, we firmly believe that only by attaching equal importance to force and wisdom can we be invincible, and the strength of the Ming Dynasty is the best example, and I believe that the lords of Bavaria will see this." ”

Jiang Xinghuo raised his head slowly, and there was a hint of playfulness in his eyes: "What the two distinguished guests said is extremely true, I uphold the concept of free trade and am very willing to develop together with Western countries. ”

"Today's exchange is just the beginning, there is still a long way to go, you two can visit Nanjing first, I will let Fu Shaoqing accompany you on the tour, and then arrange for you to go to the West with Zheng He's fleet."

Claviyo and Hilterberg took their leave.

In fact, from the perspective of the Westerners of later generations in this world, the world of Yongle is at a turning point, the old order is gradually disintegrating, and the new power is quietly rising, the Ming Dynasty as one of the most powerful countries in the world at that time, under the leadership of Jiang Xinghuo's reform, its foreign policy, economic development, culture and art have reached an unprecedented height, and with the opening of direct shipping routes between the East and the West, the world trade and monetary order centered on the Ming Dynasty are also quietly established.

(End of chapter)