Chapter 249 How to deal with Da Gama
Agriculture is the basis of industry.
The Ming Dynasty was an agricultural empire. When most of the population devoted themselves to industrial production activities, it naturally led to a food crisis.
Fortunately, the progress of industry also promotes the progress of agricultural productivity.
Yan Song, the governor of South Zhili, promoted chemical fertilizers in the Jiangnan area, significantly increasing grain production.
In addition, the dredging of large-scale canals and rivers has also provided better irrigation conditions for crops and further stimulated food production.
The emergence of the food crisis also further accelerated the pace of Ming Dynasty's external expansion.
However, so far, expansion has mainly been based on commercial expansion and migration of civilians, and military expansion has not been the main method.
In the north, a large number of commercial villages continued to appear, and the cultivated land area in Liaodong increased sharply.
At the same time, Zhu Houzhao also issued an edict to encourage people to leave the country.
As long as the people are willing to leave the customs, they can purchase large amounts of land from the court at low prices.
In the south, a large number of local gentry households, especially those from Fujian, Zhejiang and Guangxi, began to move to Taiwan and Manchuria in large numbers, to Luzon Island, Champa and other places to farm and export grain to be sold in the Ming Dynasty.
Now the central court and local governments of the Ming Dynasty have begun to purchase grain through grain banks for disaster grain reserves.
Ming merchants cultivated land in Southeast Asia and naturally hired local indigenous people for farming.
Of course, this also intensified the conflict between the Han people and the local indigenous people, because although it was not a military method, when the Han people exported a large amount of local food to the Ming Dynasty, it also harmed the interests of the indigenous people.
Let’s not mention this matter.
The Ming Dynasty is only now in a period of transition from a small-scale peasant economy to a commodity economy. The country has not yet fully opened its doors, foreign colonial expansion has not yet begun on a large scale, and many conflicts have not completely broken out.
Therefore, as if on the eve of a volcanic eruption, in this era when the Age of Discovery had just begun, the Ming Dynasty and even the entire world still seemed very calm.
It was as calm as the Atlantic Ocean that Xia Yan saw at this time.
For more than a year, Xia Yan never thought that he would be wandering on the sea for so long.
Along the way, based on the information left by Zheng He, he found the footprints left by the Ming fleet and re-erected monuments. Because he refused to recognize their control over the navigation route, he fought with pirates and even Western colonists. He even lost many soldiers of the Ming Navy who followed him on his western tour, and many died of illness because there were no antibiotics in this era.
So much so that when Xia Yan and his fleet arrived at Ceuta, the North African port controlled by Folangji, the number of officers and soldiers of the Ming Navy and other civil and military officials accompanying him had been reduced by more than a thousand.
At this time, Franji Kingdom also knew that the Eastern Empire of Ming Dynasty had sent their envoys.
If the Ming Empire had not previously destroyed the fleet of Fo Langji in the east, that is, the fleet that first established a colony in India and then captured Manraka, a fleet that has always been proud of Fo Lang Ji, Fo Lang Ji would be very They are willing to establish trade relations with the Ming Empire, because as Western countries at this time, they all dream of doing business with the Ming Dynasty, the ancient Eastern Empire, so that they can sell the tea and silk from the Eastern Empire to the West and earn huge profits from it. Of course, it would be better if you could plunder directly.
Westerners in this era were not just businessmen, they were often businessmen and robbers, and even more often played the role of robbers.
However, now that the Ming Dynasty has eliminated its fleet for overseas expansion, and even taken away the routes east of the Indian Peninsula of the Folangji Kingdom, it has even used force to force through the routes controlled by the Folanji Kingdom in the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. This makes Fo Langji's maritime interests were greatly damaged, so Fo Langji naturally did not welcome the appearance of Xia Yan, the Ming Empire's envoy.
But Xia Yan is not a peace envoy, but an armed envoy. It can be understood as an armed patrol.
Just like Zheng He's voyages to the West, he brought not only goods and his own scrutinizing eyes, but also guns and warships. Therefore, Fo Langji did not dare to drive away Xia Yan.
Xia Yan even took the opportunity to occupy Ceuta and captured Vasco da Gama, the governor who had just been appointed by King Momanuel I of Franji six months ago.
At this time, the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were already frantically plundering the gold and gems left by Fo Langji in and outside the city of Ceuta. Of course, there were also officers and soldiers who had been holding it back at sea for a long time and couldn't help but forcefully possess Fo Langji's woman and went crazy. Enter the behavior of the genes of the people of Ming Dynasty.
Xia Yan did not stop him because this was the condition he promised to the officers and soldiers of the Ming Navy. The officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty Navy escorted Xia Yan to the Western Ocean, and Xia Yan, the right minister of the Ministry of War, had to allow them to plunder a place they occupied, otherwise no one would be willing to follow Xia Yan across the ocean.
Zhu Houzhao taught Xia Yan nationalism at Capital University, and Xia Yan, who was deeply influenced by the traditional idea that family is country, believed in this very much. He didn't care whether he could make much money.
This is different from the original purpose of Vasco da Gama when he opened the Eastern route, which was just to make himself rich.
Xia Yan hoped that these officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty who accompanied him could make a fortune through overseas plunder, and attract more people from the Ming Dynasty to go to sea, instead of relying on the heaven and earth for a living on the ten or so acres of land at home, and to prevent the people from annexing their land due to natural disasters. And toward rebellion.
Therefore, Xia Yan allowed these Ming officers and soldiers to engage in predatory behavior with the nature of primitive capital accumulation.
"This is overseas. The laws of the Ming Dynasty cannot control here. But you are the people of the Ming Dynasty and the people of the Kingdom of Heaven. Your behavior can only be controlled by the officials of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, no one can control you here. I am the right minister of the Ministry of War and the Western Inspector. I am only responsible for directing your military operations. Therefore, go and increase the wealth of your family. Remember to take a share for your dead brothers!”
Xia Yan's seemingly logical words still seemed to ring in the ears of the officers and soldiers of the Ming Navy, and also gave them enough motivation to participate in the Ming Empire's primitive capital accumulation behavior and sometimes went crazy.
Of course, Xia Yan's visit to the West was not just to bring a group of naval officers and soldiers to act as robbers. He also came to the West for another purpose, which was to investigate why the West was different from the Chinese civilization. The Greece and Florence that His Majesty mentioned No matter what, there are so-called Christ and the Pope and so on here.
"Be honest!"
At this time, Vasco da Gama was brought over by a military attache. The military attaché also said to Xia Yan: "My lord, this is Vasco da Gama, the governor of Ceuta that Pires mentioned. He was caught by the general. Please sir." Falu, beheading or feeding fish? ”
"Da Gama, is this the Vasco da Gama your Majesty said?"
At this time, Zhang Yanling, the Marquis of Jianchang, who traveled westward to Ceuta with Xia Yan and was preparing to continue westward for a global voyage, couldn't help but ask after hearing Vasco da Gama's name.
"Back to the Marquis of Jianchang, it was him. He is the now famous hero of Fo Langji. He was the first person to discover a new route to the East. He also made a lot of money and was granted a title by King Fo Langji. Lord".
Pires now really enjoys the benefits of being a citizen of the Ming Dynasty. Like other officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, he also robbed a lot of property during the westward journey. Therefore, he is now very accustomed to thinking of himself as a citizen of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, after Zhang Yanling asked, he immediately answered.
"What a great hero, he is just a robber! Of course, for Fo Langji, he may be a great hero." Xia Yan said, then looked at Vasco da Gama and asked: "It has always been you, Fo Langji. What does it feel like to be robbed by people from the Ming Dynasty? Have you ever thought that revenge would come so quickly? ”
"Dear Easterners, I have to admit that you are very powerful, but I hope you can see our sincerity. I apologize for the previous conflicts. At the same time, I also paid the price for my stupidity. Now I only I hope you can protect my life and I can provide compensation!”
Vasco da Gama now also knows that he cannot defeat the Eastern Empire's fleet and guns, so he does not behave in any arrogant manner. In addition, Westerners have always been more concerned about personal life and do not value national interests. Therefore, after being captured by Xia Yan, the first thing he hoped for was that Xia Yan could forgive him.
Of course, this was also the bandit mentality of Vasco da Gama, a senior Western colonial bandit. In his opinion, he would naturally have to pay compensation if he was captured. It seemed that people in the East, like him, only cared about making money.
Xia Yan did not intend to make a fortune relying on Vasco da Gama. As mentioned before, he mainly came to inspect the Western Seas. He may have used force a little during the inspection, which seemed a bit too bloody. However, He did not affect the original intention of his peaceful visit.
Therefore, Xia Yan felt that there was no need to keep Vasco da Gama, lest Vasco da Gama become a threat to Ming Dynasty's maritime interests in the future, so he waved his hand and said:
"Although His Majesty said that you are a great hero who opened up new routes in your Fo Langji, but it is not a good thing for my Ming Dynasty. To the people of the whole world, you are a robber and you started the crime. plunder and massacre, so I decided to behead you.”
"Wait! Shilang Xia, I suddenly feel that he can still be used. After all, he is the most familiar with the route from this Folang plane to India, and he also has experience at sea. You might as well leave it to me, but he will be exempted from death. There is no way to escape the crime. This Vasco da Gama is not a citizen of the Ming Dynasty and is not qualified to enjoy the protection of the Ming Dynasty's laws. As the Celestial Kingdom of the Ming Dynasty, we are naturally conducive to justice for those foreign people who died at the hands of Vasco da Gama. Therefore, it is better to castrate him, castrate him, and then leave it to me. I just want him to use it. Help me continue westward and see if this land is a ball!”
Zhang Yanling, the Marquis of Jianchang, asked with a smile.
Xia Yan thought for a while and nodded: "Okay! It's just the people who haven't been executed."
"Our family can do it!"
At this time, Zhang Zhong, the accompanying eunuch, stood up and said with a smile: "My family used to be in charge of this in the palace, and I was famously good at it. Now your Majesty has trained me to be a doctor at the Imperial Hospital, and he said that I am There are few surgeons in the Ming Dynasty, but my surgical operations are mainly to cut people's skin. Although the purpose is different, the technique is still not forgotten."
Hereby declare: Any unjust behavior of the people of Ming Dynasty overseas does not represent the will of the protagonist. The protagonist expresses helplessness about this. If you want to blame it, it is because the ancients were not civilized enough. As a time traveler, the protagonist should not be responsible for the actions of these ancients in history.
(End of chapter)