"Woo-woo-"

"Woo-woo-"

When the horn sounded, hundreds of ships were moored outside a rudimentary dock in the South China Sea.

The ships were so large that they could be felt from a distance of a hundred paces from them.

Of course, compared to the grandeur of the warship, the sailors walking back and forth on the warship are the formidable existence.

On the dock, hundreds of soldiers in rough iron armor and thousands of soldiers in leather armor, holding long contradictory cards and short swords at their waists, watched the fleet vigilantly, anxiously waiting for something.

Suddenly, when the roar of an elephant sounded in the procession, a man wearing a golden hat and a jewel on his body, escorted by dozens of maids with swords and shields, rode an elephant to the edge of this simple dock.

He was followed by dozens of courtiers dressed in armor and silk with gold and silver ornaments on their heads.

The team targeted hundreds of people who had just disembarked from the docks.

These hundreds of people are dressed in bright and delicate armor, and each person's figure can be regarded as tall in this country.

At the center of the entire procession, a man in his thirties wearing a bullfighting suit and no beard was clearly the leader.

When the elephant procession with a golden hat on his head came to the dock, the man in his thirties also walked forward with the people.

The elephant knelt down, and the man in the golden hat slid down the silk carpet.

"The Lai of Chamba, the little king of the lower kingdom, represents the Champa country and welcomes the arrival of angels......"

When the thirty-year-old man walked up to the man in the golden hat, the words of the man in the golden hat also announced the identity of the two.

The Western fleet under the Ming Dynasty was making Zheng He, the king of Champa Lai.

Champa Lai could not speak the official language, so he brought the Chinese from Champa to act as interpreters for himself.

There are interpreters on both sides, which makes normal communication a lot easier.

"Zheng He, the Western Fleet under the Ming Dynasty, thank you for welcoming us."

Zheng He, who was wearing a bullfighting suit, raised his hand, which made the rulers and ministers of Zhancheng look at each other, and couldn't help but glance at the hundreds of warships and horse boats moored on the sea.

"The sun is too hot on the seaside, please angels go to the city of Vijaya, our national capital, and let the little king welcome you and your fleet."

Lai Bi of Zhanba welcomed Zheng He respectfully, not only because of the Western fleet behind Zheng He that was enough to destroy Zhancheng, but also because of his gratitude to the Ming Dynasty.

Before the Ming Dynasty conquered the Hu clan of Annan, Lai of Champa asked for help from the Ming Dynasty many times because of the disadvantage in the perennial battle with Annan.

Before the Ming Dynasty moved last year, the Hu clan of Annam raised troops to break through the national capital of Zhancheng.

If it weren't for the news of the Ming Dynasty's troops, the Hu family and his son were in a hurry to withdraw their troops to the north, and perhaps Zhancheng would have lost a large amount of land.

"Yes, I'm willing to go to Wangcheng to see the prosperity of Champ."

Zheng He smiled and spoke, and at the same time turned back to a servant and said, "You tell Yue Guogong and Cui Dudu to wait for my news on the fleet." ”

"Yes!" The officials responded, and then returned to the 200-material sand boat that escorted Zheng He to the shore, and drove the sand boat back to the fleet.

"Lord of the Kingdom, please."

Zheng He raised his hand to signal Lai of Zhanba, and when Lai of Zhanba saw this, he motioned for Zheng He to ride the elephant with him.

To tell the truth, Zheng He had never sat on an elephant, so at the invitation of Zhanba Lai, he also climbed on the elephant's back and sat in the sedan chair on the elephant's back with Zhanba Lai.

Soon, under the leadership of the animal trainer, the elephant slowly got up, turned around with Zheng He and Zhanpa, and walked towards the city of Vijaya, the royal capital of Champa.

Perhaps fearing that Zheng He would suspect that he had kidnapped him, Champa asked Zheng He's more than 100 guards and his maids to protect their safety, and let the Champa army be responsible for opening the way and breaking the rear.

"Xiao Wang admires the Celestial Empire very much, so he is very happy to know that the Celestial Empire sent troops to pacify the Hu family and his son, and he can't wait to go to the capital to meet His Majesty the Emperor in person."

Zhanba's words were translated by the overseas Chinese on the other elephant, and Zheng He also said with a smile:

"Your Majesty sent troops because I heard that Zhancheng was bullied, and the Hu family and his son acted perversely."

"The Celestial Empire will never treat any subject country badly, this is true for Champa, and it is also true for other subject states."

"I went to the West this time because Your Majesty heard that there are many countries in the south and there are endless wars, so I came here to maintain local peace."

Zheng He's words were translated into the ears of Zhanba Lai through overseas Chinese, which made Zhanba Lai a little uncomfortable.

Although Champa Lai hated Annan's invasion of him, he was plotting to invade Chenla in the west.

Zhenla was called Gan Xiaozhi by the Ming Dynasty, and its country was also a subject country of the Ming Dynasty.

If the Ming knew that Zhanpa's Lai wanted to invade Chenla, the Lai of Chamba had no doubt that the Ming had the ability to destroy the city.

Thinking of this, he could only temporarily put aside the idea of invading Zhenla, and smiled awkwardly:

"What the angel said is that we also have a headache for the war in the south, and now that the angel is here, the countries of the south will definitely welcome it."

"I hope so." Zheng He responded with a smile, and at the same time glanced at the road leading from the dock to the capital of Champong.

Before coming to Zhancheng, Zheng He learned about the general situation of Zhancheng through many smuggling merchants who wanted to transform into regular maritime merchants.

With a population of hundreds of thousands and an army of more than 20,000, the country was divided into five constituent states, each ruled by a local hereditary chieftain.

In other words, Champa Tirai was actually the king of the United Nations elected by the five combined kingdoms, and was recognized by the Ming Dynasty.

As for the situation of the Champa city, although it has been in contact with China for thousands of years, and with the development of the sea trade between the two Song Dynasty, a sea route to the east to Guangzhou was opened, but the social economy of the Champa country was not developed.

This can also be seen from the gravel road leading to the royal capital.

"Angel ......"

Since the distance from the wharf to Wangdu is more than ten miles, Lai and Zheng He of Champa introduced the customs of Champa and let Zheng He have a deeper understanding of Champa.

Because there were strong enemies in the north and south, and the only way to communicate with China was by sea, Champa could not be influenced by Han culture like Annam, and it was still semi-feudal and semi-slavery.

Many of the laws and systems in their country are basically related to the "Shiwu Liansit" system and laws in the Qin and Han dynasties.

For example, when officials go to the king's court, they have to get up for one prayer, and when they have finished their prayers, they bow down again.

Women prostrate in the same way as men, and both men and women are sentenced to death for adultery, and thieves are sentenced to have their fingers and toes cut off.

In battle, five soldiers formed a group, and if one soldier escaped, the same group was put to death.

As far as these systems are concerned, they are certainly backward in Northeast Asia, but they are "institutional powers" in the central and southern regions.

However, regardless of whether it is a strong country or not, for Zheng He, who has just destroyed the small overlord of Central and Southern China, the Champa State does not have the strength to threaten the Western Fleet.

Compared with these institutional things, Zheng He was more concerned about the economy, culture, politics and other issues of Zhancheng, because he was burdened with the tasks assigned by Zhu Gaoxu.

In response to these problems, Zheng He initiated an inquiry into Zhanba's Lai, and he also discussed it openly and honestly with Zheng He.

The first is the issue of foreigners in Champa, which is harsh on foreigners from other countries who break the law, but Chinese from Daming need to lower their standards or even not give punishments.

Of course, the former is the previous rule, and the latter is the rule that was urgently formulated after the Ming Dynasty destroyed Annan.

In addition to these, in the Champa state, if a Chinese from Daming were killed by a native, the local would be wanted and sentenced to death.

Zhanba's Lai told these things first, mainly to gain Zheng He's favor, but Zheng He said in this regard:

"If they really sinned, the lord of the kingdom could deal with them according to the law."

"I told the prince that the Son of Heaven is guilty of the same crime as the common people, and overseas crimes will be severely punished by his own subjects."

"Whether it is the people of the Ming Dynasty or the people of the country, they are all the people of the Son of Heaven, and there is no distinction between high and low."

"Anyone who violates the law, as long as it is not an unintentional mistake, should be severely punished."

Zheng He's words made Zhanba's Lai feel better about the Ming Dynasty, after all, in addition to overseas Chinese, there were also a large number of Ming smuggling merchants living in Zhancheng.

This group of smugglers often gained an inch by virtue of Champa's tolerance of the Chinese, and many times the Chamba Lai was unbearable, and if it were not for the scruples of Daming, he would have brought this group to justice long ago.

"This time, I have brought with you the robes, gold seals, civil and military official uniforms, cultural books, and the "Ming Law, Dependent State Law" and "Ming Law: Foreign Law" promulgated by the crown prince of my dynasty."

"In these two laws, it is recorded what circumstances can be dealt with in our court's subject country and foreign people, and what situations need to be communicated with our court's subject country and foreign officials."

Zheng He said, but Zhanba's Lai was a little nervous and said: "In the subject country, foreign officials? ”

He thought that the Ming Dynasty was going to send troops to forcibly occupy the territory of Zhancheng, but Zheng He explained with a smile:

"That's right, this time in the West, the imperial court will lease a piece of land among the capitals of various subject countries that are willing to join the tribute, and we will pay rent for this land, and the area will not exceed two acres."

"After the lease, we will build a yamen for the subject country of the Ming Dynasty Rite Department on it, whether the subject country is invaded in the future, or the people of this dynasty violate the law on the subject land, they can ask for help through this yamen."

"As for this yamen, I really want to leave some soldiers and horses, but it will not exceed a hundred."

"If the lord thinks that a hundred is too much, then we can also discuss reducing it to fifty."

"In the future, if the lord of the country feels that he has been violated, he can also unilaterally terminate this lease, and the officials of our dynasty will leave the country within a month."

"In addition, if there is turmoil in the subject country, the lord of the country can also apply for protection, and they will escort you to Daming to accept asylum and wait for the return of the country in the future."

Zheng He said a lot, and after the translation of the overseas Chinese, Lai of Zhanba breathed a sigh of relief.

In fact, this form of permanent diplomacy has existed for a long time, but this kind of residence is generally purchased by the envoys in the city, and the envoys themselves can bring escorts.

It's just that now the Ming Dynasty has set this mansion as a yamen, and the resident envoys have been made into liuguan.

As long as Champa does not take the initiative to ask for it, these retained officials will be replaced after the three-year term.

These diplomatic officials have the right to prohibit criminal punishment in subject countries and foreign countries, which means that after committing a crime, officials need to be sent by the Ming Dynasty to investigate, and the subject country cannot use the punishment privately.

Similarly, Champa can also send officials to the capital of the Ming Dynasty to stay in diplomacy, and if there is no money to rent a house, then you can live in the Siyi Pavilion arranged by the Ming Dynasty.

If something happens in the country, diplomats can also directly report to the crown prince or the emperor.

In this way, it can also avoid the words of one family, which makes it possible for the emperor to confide in the diplomatic officials of the subject countries.

After some explanations from Zheng He and overseas Chinese, Lai of Champa quickly nodded, and even said: "One or two acres of land is nothing, the Celestial Empire needs it, I can directly set aside a hundred acres of land for the Celestial Empire." ”

"No, no, no......" Zheng He hurriedly refused: "Leasing is different from buying and selling, my Celestial Empire will never encroach on the land of the subject country, but wants to bring long-term peace and stability to the subject country." ”

Zheng He's refusal made Zhanba's Lai very emotional, and in his opinion, this was simply a symbol of civilization.

It was also when he sighed that the procession also came to the royal capital of Vijaya.

The city of Vijaya was a city made of stone bricks, with low walls, and many people came and went outside the city.

They were thinly dressed, and some bathed in the moat outside the royal capital, and their bodies were covered with many spices to hide the smell of sweat on their bodies.

Seeing that Zheng He looked at it seriously, Lai of Zhanba also introduced him to the humanities of Zhancheng.

Because they live in the sweltering tropics, the Cham people, both nobles and commoners, love to clean and take a bath three or five times a day.

Zheng He had no doubt about this, because he had only landed in Zhancheng for less than half an hour, and he felt slimy and very uncomfortable.

If he had lived in Champa all year round, he would probably have developed such a habit.

In addition to bathing, Chamba Lai also told Zheng He about the festivals and customs of the Champa people, such as the annual January when people would lead an elephant around their dwellings for a week and then drive it outside the city gates, a custom called "chasing evil spirits".

In addition to this festival, every year in April, boat cruises are held all over the city, and people also go to watch the boats in the river.

The winter solstice of Champa is November 15, and before this day is approaching, each prefecture and county will present its native products and cloth to the king.

These three festivals are relatively important, in addition to these three, there are more than a dozen festivals large and small, but Zheng He didn't pay much attention to them.

At this moment, his eyes were set on the cultivated fields outside the royal capital, where the people of Champa were driving their oxen to plough the land, and few people were sown.

There is no wheat in the field, only japonica rice, millet, sesame, and soybeans.

"Are there a lot of ploughing cattle in Champa?"

Zheng He's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but ask Lai of Chamba when he heard this, and Lai of Chamba also said proudly: "There are many bison in Cham, Chenla and Siam countries, which can be used for labor after domestication, and near the royal capital, many farmers have cattle in their homes, and the price is not too expensive." ”

"This time I went south, in addition to bringing gifts and rewards to the lord of the country, I was also in charge of trade." When Zheng He heard the words of Zhanba's Lai, he quickly changed his identity and said:

"If there are enough cattle, ivory chips, agarwood, yellow wax, ebony, rhinoceros horn, red parrots and other goods can be traded with our DPRK at the dock."

"The goods we brought were silk, porcelain, tea, rice wine, silk fans, lacquerware, silk, sugar, and so on......"

Zheng He said a lot of goods that the two parties needed, which made Zhanba's Lai eyes shine.

Champa does not produce tea, and people don't know how to make wine, just drink coconut wine, because coconut wine is a naturally fermented fruit wine, even if there is no artificial treatment, it can be naturally fermented into wine, so the locals have wine even if they don't know how to make wine.

However, as the saying goes, drinking too much of a wine will always get tired, so rice wine and rice wine also account for a large proportion of the trade between the two countries.

As for silk, silk and tea, calligraphy and painting, not to mention, they were all things that the nobles of the city needed.

Things such as ivory chips, agarwood, yellow wax, ebony, rhinoceros horn, red parrots, etc., are the local specialties of Champa, and the price is very cheap and affordable compared to the domestic price of the Ming Dynasty.

"Does the angel want Kunlun slave?"

Lai of Champa asked Zheng He, after all, the slave trade in Champa was very prosperous, and it was also an important foreign trade commodity of Champa.

It's just that for his proposal, Zheng He smiled and waved his hand: "Slaves are not needed, there are too many slaves and maids in the palace, and North Korea often offers slaves and maids." ”

"That's ......" Hearing Zheng He say this, Zhanba's Lai was a little disappointed, but when he thought of other commodities that Daming needed, Zhanba's Lai told the overseas Chinese not to translate, and at the same time asked his ministers to buy the goods needed by Daming with the merchants in the city.

After doing all this, Champa Lai began to invite Zheng He to visit the city of Vijaya.

For five days, Champa Lai would invite Zheng He to have breakfast every day when he got up, and then take him on a tour of the royal capital, and privately let the minister buy the goods needed by the Ming Dynasty at market prices.

Five days later, when the visit came to an end, Zheng He also leased a piece of land not far from the palace, and left behind one ambassador of the 100 Ming army and the Ministry of Rites who accompanied the army south, two deputy envoys, and ten officials.

Chamba Lai personally led the army to escort Zheng He to the wharf, and transported a large amount of goods needed by Zheng He to the wharf, where the household officials and Champa officials who accompanied the army counted each other.

The difference is that at this time, the officials of Zhancheng put on the official robes of the Ming Dynasty, and the Lai of the Champa also wore the clothes of the county king given by the Ming Dynasty.

"This is a gift to the angels, which can be regarded as repaying the angels and heavenly soldiers for taking care of the small country."

Lai Bi of Champa on the pier saluted respectfully and presented several chests full of gold, copper coins and coral.

Seeing this, Zheng He also knew that he would not be able to reassure Zhanba's Lai if he did not accept gifts, so he motioned to the officials around him to accept them.

At the same time, he glanced at the trade officials who had reached the end of the count.

Seeing that the trade official of the household department nodded, Zheng He returned the salute to Zhanba's Lai:

"When our fleet returns, I will take the lords of the South China Sea and the South Seas or their envoys to Nanjing, so that His Majesty the Emperor will recognize your territory and rule, and let the South China Sea and the South Seas remain peaceful, and the countries will be like one family."

Zheng Hezuo, who was wearing a white bullfighting suit, persuaded Lai of Zhanba, who still wanted to continue to send them off, and added some things to him that he had not talked about.

Facing hundreds of warships and nearly 20,000 troops at the doorstep, Lai of Champa honestly listened to all the things that Zheng He added, and then said:

"The clothes and golden seals rewarded by the emperor of the Celestial Empire, Xiao Wang will use them well and wear them, the Celestial Empire is going south this time, if there are people who are not long-sighted and dare to stop it, Xiao Wang is also willing to obey the dispatch of the angels and send a large army to quell the rebellion."

A few days of getting along with each other allowed Lai of Zhanba to understand what kind of person Zheng He was, and also knew what kind of character the Yongle Emperor of the Celestial Dynasty and the Prince of the East Palace were, so he would support him wholeheartedly.

His support brought a smile to Zheng He's face, and he ended the trip after a few pleasantries.

Under the reluctant gaze of Lai Na of Zhanba, Zheng He led the officials to get on a sand boat with 200 materials and sailed towards the fleet that looked like floating islands in the distance.

Seeing them walk away, the general who occupied the city couldn't help but speak: "Your Majesty, the Celestial Empire shouldn't use troops against us, right?" ”

"......No," said Lai of Champa, shaking his head, and pointing to the large fleet, "If they want to move, the royal city will probably fall on the first day they come." ”

"That's fine, there is a Celestial Empire to rely on in the north, and once Zhenla wants to go against us in the future, he will have to weigh it."

Lai of Zhanba happily touched the luxurious clothes he was wearing, and couldn't help but think of the exquisite gold seal in his palace, and couldn't help but smile and order:

"Let the people of the whole country wear clothes like this, as a sign of our faith in the Celestial Empire."

"Yes!" The general nodded in agreement, after all, he also received the costume rewarded by the Ming Dynasty as a minister.

People love beauty, even men.

The silk and satin, porcelain, tea, books, ready-to-wear and other things with cultural attributes of the Ming Dynasty are all dimensionality reduction attacks all over the world.

If Zhancheng wants to follow the Ming Dynasty closely, then it is natural to learn from the Ming Dynasty.

This is a problem that Chamba Lai is very clear, and Zheng He, as the giver of the gift, knows even more.

"I really don't know why His Highness sent so many free clothes, silks and books."

The sand boat sent Zheng and the others on the boat, and the accompanying officials saw that they had returned to their own territory and asked the questions they cared about.

On this trip to the West, Zheng He brought a lot of county king's costumes, as well as a variety of gifts, as well as official uniforms, official seals, and a large number of translated books on culture.

These things are basically reward-type items, and there is no doubt that they are a loss-making transaction, but Zhu Gaoxu is happy to do this loss-making transaction.

Throughout the Ming Dynasty, the cultural infiltration of the Ming Dynasty into the surrounding countries was mainly in Korea, Annam, Ryukyu and other countries, although there was also an infiltration of the Indochina Peninsula, but it could not be maintained for a long time, so after the Europeans entered, it was easy to destroy the local Sinicization work.

Productivity doomed the Ming to be unable to control the whole of Southeast Asia, but the Ming could slowly infiltrate and control them through culture.

Establishing a stable tributary system, and at the same time carrying out cultural infiltration of these vassal states, is what Zhu Gaoxu hopes to accomplish and establish order in his lifetime.

Right now, Zheng He is following Zhu Gaoxu's words, carrying out cultural infiltration of the entire Southeast Asian region.

"Let them learn our Han culture, so that it is convenient to control them in the future."

In the face of the officials' words, Cui Jun, who stepped forward to greet Zheng He, opened his mouth to explain.

Although he was young, he was very far-sighted, which made Zheng He nod his head in approval.

"That's true, but it has to be sustained, after all, this group of countries is different from Annan and North Korea."

Yang Zhan sat on the horse on the deck, wiped the sweat from his forehead and said to Zheng He:

"Although the population of Champa is okay, the business is not developed, and the proud slave commodity court does not need it, so it is estimated that this transaction will not make much money, right?"

He told the general situation of the Champa Kingdom, but Zheng He shook his head: "I have made a lot of money." ”

"Earned?" Yang Zhan was stunned for a moment, and then saw Zheng He take out the book that had been counted and summarized.

"5,200 catties of ivory, 20,000 catties of agarwood, 60,000 catties of yellow wax, 34,000 catties of ebony, 600 rhinoceros horns, and ......"

Zheng He said a lot, and finally ended: "Seven hundred and sixty-two ploughing oxen." ”

"Ploughing cattle will be sent to Annam by boat to send to the immigrants, and the rest of these things will be transported back to the country and sold by the household department, and at least 100,000 yuan will be harvested."

"Coupled with the net profit of more than 60,000 guan from our commodity sales, Zhancheng alone has gained 160,000 guan."

Speaking of this, Zheng He couldn't help but look at the boundless sea.

"After this trip to the West, I really don't know how many things I can bring back......

(End of chapter)