"Jingle bell... Jingle ......"

"Woo-woo-"

The seaport, as one of the important gateways of world trade in later generations, did not produce much value in this era, because owning the seaport for some countries without pillar industries would only lead to the country's excessive dependence on foreign goods.

However, if it is a suzerainty like the Ming Dynasty, it does not seem to be too much of a burden to rely on, at least in East and Southeast Asia.

By the time the bells and trumpets rang in the morning, the brand-new pier of Dagura had already begun to come alive.

On the dock of the harbor, several large ships slowly entered the harbor, the cables were raised, the water splashed everywhere, and the water shone with dazzling light.

Fish were dragged ashore one by one, and each boat brought tens of thousands of catties of fish.

The fish are processed by the people dressed in local costumes, then concocted into salted fish with expensive salt, and finally hung up to dry.

On the side of the wharf, due to the liberalization of the policy, merchants who used to only wear coarse linen clothes have also changed into silk clothes.

A month earlier, they had followed the fleet to the Western Ocean into the East and the West, and after visiting the country of Aceh, they went north to the Dagula Xuanwei Division of the Ming Dynasty, where they began to trade some goods of low value.

In their comings and goings, the Great Gula Wharf became more lively, and this scene was watched by everyone on a watchtower not far away.

"As I said, what the imperial court will bring you will only be civilization, knowledge, and prosperity, what do you think?"

On the three-zhang high cement guard tower, when Zheng He, who was wearing a white round-necked robe, turned around and asked a person who was wearing a military attache robe from the second rank of the Ming Dynasty, but looked like a local, this person also hurriedly spoke, and translated by the official of the Siyi Pavilion on the side:

"I admired the Celestial Empire for a long time, so I took the initiative to pay tribute to the imperial court, and now I can become an official of the imperial court and get the protection of the imperial court, which is my dream wish."

"Now being able to entertain angels and be sheltered by heavenly soldiers is something that I dare to hope for in my dreams."

"As long as there is one day left, the Great Gura will always be a courtier of the court."

This person who constantly praised the Ming Dynasty in his mouth was the comforting envoy of the Great Gura Propaganda Envoy Rassaduri.

He also has an identity, that is, the king of the Bago Kingdom.

Bago was a local secessionist regime established after the collapse of the Bagan Dynasty, and the main ethnic group was the Mon.

In the early days of the country's founding, the Mon were able to conquer the country, but with the continuous influx of immigrants into the country, coupled with the lack of ability of the rulers themselves, the political situation in Bago was unstable, bandits were rampant, and even a prince was assassinated by Shan immigrants.

Due to the lack of capacity of the royal family, there were frequent palace coups in the country, and wars at home and abroad continued.

In the eighteenth year of Hongwu, Rasadoli won the support of the people and became the new king of Bagu, and sent 700 people to conquer Xiandaowei and expand the scope of Bagu's rule.

However, as time went on, the pressure on him from the Awa, Shan, and Burmese in the north increased, and many ethnic groups in the south also attacked Bago frequently, causing Rathadoli to find himself in a diplomatic dilemma.

Bagu, which has a population of hundreds of thousands, cannot even take out 2,000 soldiers in armor, which makes it difficult for Bagu to deal with the north-south problem.

It is precisely because of this that Rasadoli will accept the canonization of the Ming Dynasty, and would rather be demoted from the king to the hereditary consolation envoy of the Ming Dynasty, and also join the Ming system.

As it turned out, Rathali was not wrong in his choice.

A month earlier, when the Ming army had arrived at the port of Dagura, Zheng He immediately summoned Rasutoli and discussed with Chen Xuan how to help Rasutoli stabilize the political situation in Dagura.

Economically, Zheng He led part of the army and the local people to build the port of Dagura, and set up the Acropolis of the West Sea under the rule of the Ming Naval Governor's Office.

Xihaiwei built a city wall outside, with warehouses, houses, and school yards inside, storing money and grain, and gathering goods for sorting and transshipment.

Under the escort of Xihaiwei, the safety of the port of Dagula was guaranteed, and Rasadoli was able to enrich the economy of the Dagura Propaganda Mission with the cost of ships.

After Zheng He's construction in this month, there are more than 100 large and small ship spaces, and each ship space is charged according to the number of days, and the cost of renting and docking for one day is 200 Wen.

In other words, if these more than 100 ship berths are full, it will bring 20 guan of income to Dagura Port, which will be more than 7,000 guan in a year.

Of course, this is ideal, but even if it is not achievable, Dagura will be able to collect no less than 2,000 kan per year in ship tax.

For Rathali, the tax of 2,000 guan was enough to raise 400 soldiers.

In addition, the merchants also needed to pay taxes to the Dagura Envoy for their trade in Dagula, and the tax rate was one of ten taxes like the Ming Dynasty.

The specialties of Dagura include ivory, spices, wood and other things, and naturally there is no shortage of merchants to come, so the combination of the two, the arrival of the Western Fleet has brought thousands of economic benefits to Dagura.

This is only the economic aspect, what makes Rasaduri happiest is the military stability after the arrival of the Ming army.

When Zheng He led part of the army to build a port for Dagura, Chen Xuan had already led a large army of soldiers and horses to infested the territory of Dagura, eliminating the mountain bandits and barbarians, and at the same time, he also conveyed the news to various countries, that is, the Dagura Propaganda Division was an important member of the Ming Dynasty's three propaganda and six consolation system.

In this regard, the tribes in the Xuanwei Division such as Burma and Babai Dadian have become much more honest, which has stabilized the external environment of Dagula and stabilized the situation in the southwest of the Ming Dynasty.

With the big Gu Ra horse boy here, once a careerist emerges in Burma and Luchuan, Eight Hundred Dadian and other places, he will need to face the north-south attack from the Ming army, which makes many Tusi who do not have much strategic depth have to be honest.

It is precisely because of this that there are so many interests that Zheng He will support Da Gura so much, and Luo Sutoli will so eagerly welcome the arrival of the imperial fleet.

"After the Xihaiwei of the imperial court is established here, you can let the people under your rule plant the rice seeds of the imperial court and sell them to the officers and soldiers of Xihaiwei for profit every year."

Zheng He and Luo Suatori talked about the supply problem after the establishment of Xihaiwei, and Luo Suatori hurriedly said: "The minister has received the favor of the imperial court, and the minister should be responsible for the supply of the official army." ”

"No, your place is barren and you can't raise so many troops." Zheng He shook his head and refused, but he was afraid of hitting Dao Luo Sudhari, so he comforted:

"The imperial court wants to garrison 5,600 people, and these 5,600 soldiers and horses can protect Bagu at critical moments and maintain the smooth passage of waterways, you only need to be honestly responsible for the governance of the land, and hand over the sea to the imperial court."

Rathali was also very worried that the official army would capture him and go to Nanjing in the future, but when he thought of the situation he was facing, he thought about it and preferred to believe in the Ming rather than the Burmese in the north and the Tai in the southeast.

"In five days, the army of the imperial court will be assembled and go to the country of Banggara, and we will only leave a thousand people to build the Acropolis of the West Sea for the time being, and we will only station a guard and horses when we return."

Zheng He walked down the watchtower, while explaining everything to Rasutoli, and at the same time spoke: "The imperial court has already built a dock in the north of Manmo, and I believe that it will not be long before this Great Jinsha River (Irrawaddy River) can directly communicate with the Yunnan Dusi." ”

"What do you have to contact Xihaiwei, if Xihaiwei can't be the master, contact the Yunnan Metropolitan Division, after all, the three Xuan and six comforts are under the jurisdiction of the Yunnan Metropolitan Division."

"Yes......" Luo Sudtori nodded frequently, and Zheng He also returned to the acropolis of Xihaiwei after a few words of greeting when he saw this.

The Acropolis of Xihaiwei is made of concrete and stone, after all, limestone and iron ore powder are found in many places, and it is not particularly difficult to make ready-made cement.

The walls of the Acropolis of the West Sea are one foot three feet high, eight feet wide, and two miles in circumference, and two-thirds are still under construction.

This city is not tall, after all, there are 5,600 Ming troops stationed on the acropolis, and it is difficult for the entire Indochina Peninsula to pull out an army to capture it, not to mention that if there is really a siege by a large army, Wang Xuan in the upper reaches can immediately drive down from the Manmo Shunjiang River.

Therefore, after a brief round-trip, Zheng He returned to his residence, a simple wooden house.

Here, he saw Chen Xuan, who was making tea and looking at the charts.

"Coming back from the south?"

Zheng He was not very surprised to see Chen Xuan, after all, when he set off, he said that he would be back in a few days.

"It's all shirtless bandits, it's not very interesting."

Chen Xuan took a sip of tea, then pointed to the northern state of Rakhine and asked, "Isn't the imperial court ready to build a port in Rakhine?" ”

"There is no need, it is enough to have Da Gura, there are mountains between Rakhine and Myanmar Xuanwei Division, and Da Gu Ra is directly connected to Manmo by the Dajinsha River, which is more convenient."

Zheng He sat aside and took off his shoes, soothed his feet, and relaxed:

"The Punggara (Sultanate of Bangladesh) in the north sent a boat half a month ago to ask if we were visiting the area."

"I sent people from Xichang to the local area to find out the intelligence, and sure enough, their enthusiasm was problematic."

"Ready to ambush us?" Chen Xuan's eyes lit up, obviously thinking that his military exploits were coming, but Zheng He's words disappointed him.

"No" Zheng He shook his head and said: "Banggara is being threatened by the northern power of Tianzhu, Nunapuer (Jangpur Sultanate), and I hope that the imperial court can intervene, and even willing to let the imperial court build an official factory in Chadi Port (Chittagong). ”

"That's a good thing!" Although Chen Xuan was a little disappointed, he was still happy: "It's too far from Dagula to Ceylon, if there is a Banggara in the middle as a transit, then things will be much easier." ”

"I think so too, so I'm going to set up an official factory in the local area at that time, if the king of Punggara wants to......"

Although Zheng He said this, he had already thought of the happy look of King Banggara when he heard the news.

Along the way, whenever the coastal countries saw the size of their fleets, they all nodded their heads at the requirements they needed.

Even if they have a tough attitude, they will agree to it after the shelling of the Ming army's daily training.

Therefore, in the establishment of guards and official factories along the way to the West, Zheng He was only worried about how to set up official factories and ports in Kulmus, and he never worried about the rest.

"Although this trip to the West is interesting, there are too many miscellaneous things, and it feels no different from my errand in dredging the canal in Zhili."

Chen Xuan lamented that he didn't meet a good time, or lamented that he was not as good as his old partner Yang Li's family.

Under the leadership of Yang Zhan, the first time he went to the West, he was able to exterminate Chen Zuyi and make a forced landing on Manchu Boyi and other countries as merits.

To himself, as Yang Zhan's reputation for encircling and suppressing Chen Zuyi spread, all the countries inside and outside the Manraka Strait knew the power of the imperial fleet, and no one dared to stir up trouble.

Every day, I help my territory fight mountain bandits, which is really meaningless.

"Hehe......" Looking at Chen Xuan's sigh, Zheng He smiled: "Maybe when you pass the West, it's time for you to show your strength." ”

"Hopefully......" Chen Xuan shook his head and took a sip of tea by the way.

Afterwards, the two of them brought back some interesting stories along the way, and time passed slowly as they talked.

Soon, the day came when the Western Fleet would be launched.

Early in the morning, Rasadoli led the people of Dagura to the port to help, carrying the vegetables, fruits, dried salted fish and grain needed by the Ming army onto the ship.

For all countries and regions, the supply trade of the Western Fleet under the Ming Dynasty can also bring considerable income.

Although the Great Gu Lai Xuanwei Division was a Ming territory, Zheng He still paid 5,000 yuan of new Ming money to buy supplies.

The supplies they needed this time were not much, they only needed to maintain the fleet for two months, and no matter how much, the Great Gura would not be able to meet them.

Although there were only 5,000 guan, and most of them went into the pockets of Rasutoli, for the tens of thousands of people near the port of Dagura, the business of more than 2,000 guan made each of them a lot of money and smiled.

"Woo-woo-"

As the horn sounded, hundreds of warships and armed merchant ships slowly anchored and set off from the sea south of the port of Dagura.

The northeast monsoon current in July was no longer strong enough, but even so, the fleet stubbornly marched north.

When entering the waters of the Arakan State, the Arakan State did not let go of this good business of replenishing the fleet.

Although the goal of the fleet was to go to the port of Chadi in Punggara to resupply, in order to take care of the subject country, Zheng He still sent a few empty ships to the port of Rakhine to resupply.

After ending this episode, when Zheng and the others entered the Punggara Bay and led the way into the Chadi Port in the Punggara small boat, the Chadi Port had been completely cleared out at this time, and countless ships were docked for the armed horses and ships of the Ming army to supply and the merchant ships of the private merchants.

Since the size of the ships of the Ming fleet far exceeded the capacity of Chadi Port, most of the warships and horse ships were anchored at sea.

"This Banggara looks as prosperous as my Central Plains, and it is also a civilized and polite country."

Chen Xuan's feet slowly lowered from the artillery, and while muttering to himself, the whole picture of Chadi Port in the distance was also exposed to their eyes.

It was noon at this time, so when Zheng He slowly sailed into Chadi Port by boat, a town port with a halal style slowly appeared in front of them.

On the pier, the crowd of Punggara troops who came to welcome the fleet wore white robes, and the women covered their faces with scarves, revealing only their eyes, and the men wrapped their heads in white cloth, revealing their thick beards.

Behind them, the houses of the town are mostly white and blue, and the mosque can be seen in the distance.

"It is strange that the king and the officials and people of this country of Punggara are all colored people."

For the Ming soldiers and civilians, as long as their heads are wrapped in white cloths, those who cover their faces seem to be lustful people, and Chen Xuan naturally thinks the same.

Although Zheng He is also a man of lust, he believes in Buddhism more than religion.

With the boat docking, hundreds of Ming soldiers in bright armor walked down the boat ladder and lined up on the dock to guard Zheng and safety.

Chen Xuan was on the boat to ensure that Zheng He could be rescued in time when he was in danger.

Under Chen Xuan's gaze, the Banggara Kingdom came to welcome Zheng He's arrival with more than 1,000 cavalry, and the national strength of 1,000 cavalry alone should not be underestimated, which also made Zheng He, who was welcomed, very headache for the next mediation.

Under Zheng He's gaze, a guard of honor slowly walked out of the ranks of more than 1,000 cavalry.

Dressed in bright and exposed armor, the Punggara guards a forty-year-old man wearing a crown of eight jewels and a silk robe.

He was followed by a Han man, and when the Han man saw Zheng He, he took the lead in making a move: "Banggara overseas Chinese Wang Gui, see the ...... of your lordship."

"I didn't expect that my Daming overseas Chinese could actually involve Banggara, it's interesting." Zheng He smiled heartily, and at the same time, the gorgeous forty-year-old man beside Wang Gui also spoke his own Chinese.

After he finished speaking, Wang Gui and a merchant beside Zheng He translated in unison: "This is the Shah of the Banggara Kingdom, that is, the king of the Misty Siden. ”

The two looked at each other after translating, and Zheng He smiled and said, "You can help this king translate, I have someone who can translate." ”

"Yes......" Wang Gui returned the salute, and Zheng He also spoke:

"Hello King, I am Zheng He, the envoy of the Western Ocean under the Heavenly Empire, and this time I accept your invitation and come on behalf of the Great Tomorrow."

After Zheng He spoke, Wang Gui translated his words, but the misty Siding was obviously more concerned about the fleet brought by Zheng He, and he looked at the fleet that was crowded with Chadi Harbor and was still anchored at sea, and sighed:

"I've never seen a fleet as large as yours, you should have a fleet of 10,000 people, right?"

"Including merchants, it's almost twenty-four thousand." Zheng He's answer couldn't help but make him speechless.

The more than 1,000 cavalry he pulled out to welcome Zheng He were almost half of the cavalry of Bangladesh, and if Zheng He's army was all heavily armored soldiers like the one behind him, then I am afraid that he would be able to capture Chadi Port in a short time, and even divide Bangladesh with the Zhangpur State in the north.

"You are a confident and generous person, with such an army, you can still maintain such etiquette."

Misty Tooth Siding praised Zheng He, but Zheng He smiled when he heard this: "This is nothing, in the Celestial Empire, there are still millions of troops like this. ”

"Millions?!" Misty Tooth's eyes widened, he didn't expect that the Ming Dynasty, who claimed to be China, was so powerful, knowing that his country was only twenty or thirty thousand troops.

"Really?" He asked Wang Gui to get an answer from Wang Gui, but Wang Gui nodded and told the Ming Dynasty that there were tens of millions of people and millions of troops.

After all, the stronger Da Ming's strength, the more he will be valued in Bangladesh.

"I really can't imagine that there can be such a powerful country in the world."

He sighed, in his impression, a country can have a population of several million, and an army of 100,000 is already an absolute power, but he did not expect that there are countries in the world with tens of millions of people and millions of troops.

Thinking of this, he was full of confidence in Zheng He: "I sincerely invite you to rest here with me for one night, and then go to the capital of my country, I will entertain you well in the palace, and at the same time ask you to mediate the contradictions between my country and the country in the north." ”

He was a little worried that Zheng He would refuse because he was worried about trouble, but it turned out that he underestimated Zheng He and underestimated the ambitions of the Ming Dynasty to go to the West.

"You can rest assured, my Chinese Son of Heaven advocates peace, I have been to the West this time, and I have also mediated the contradictions of many countries, although I do not know about the situation of your country, but I believe that with such an understanding of you, as the king, your country must be an innocent victim."

Zheng He said polite words, although they were a little false, but at least they calmed the misty tooth Siding.

Soon, Misty Siding invited Zheng He to sit with him in a sedan chair on the back of an elephant, and walked to the temporary palace of Chadi Port under the escort of more than a thousand cavalry and hundreds of cavalry of the Ming army.

They crossed the town's main road, and could see a clear river flowing all the way to the town's harbor, where hundreds of horse-boats with the Ming flag were docked.

"Your ships are the largest I've ever seen."

Misty Tooth Siding did not forget to get closer, and Zheng He also responded with a smile: "The largest ship in my dynasty can't enter the port, otherwise you can go up and have a look." ”

Misty Tooth Ding took a deep breath, he didn't know if what Zheng He said was true or not, but judging from the big ships moored in the port, maybe the Ming army really had bigger ships.

It was my luck to be able to invite Zheng He to mediate the conflict between him and the country in the north.

Thinking of this, Misty Tooth Siding's attitude towards Zheng He was even more eager, and after arriving at the temporary palace, he also took Zheng He with him, and talked with him passionately about the power of the Ming Dynasty in the distance, and why the Ming Dynasty called China.

"I live in the middle of the world, responsible for maintaining peace around me, and all the countries around me are his subjects in the eyes of the Son of Heaven, and if there is a conflict between the subjects, China will naturally mediate, which is why I am willing to come."

"I see."

Listening to what Zheng He said, although he felt that Da Ming was a little arrogant, but when he thought about the strength shown by Da Ming, he felt that this was the right thing.

The same thing is put on him, he estimates that he can only organize a fleet of more than 100 people to mediate some small things, but the emperor of the Ming Dynasty can organize a fleet of more than 20,000 people and hundreds of large ships to mediate thousands of miles away, such a strength is indeed unheard of in Haze Ya Siding.

Because of this, Misty Tooth Siden couldn't help but be curious about the Ming Dynasty, and Zheng He, while promising to help him mediate the conflict between the two countries, also sincerely invited Misty Tooth Siden to go to the Ming Dynasty when the fleet returned, and hoped that the fleet could build an official factory in Chadi Port to supply the fleet.

There was no reason to refuse Zheng He's requests, so he promised to give Zheng He a piece of land in Chadi Port to build an official factory after the mediation was over.

It was precisely because of his generosity that Zheng He also decided to help him solve the problems of the northern country, after all, he had listened to Chen Xuan's nagging a lot in the past few days.

If the country in the north doesn't listen to reason, then Zheng He has no choice but to let Chen Xuan go to the north to reason with it......

(End of chapter)