Xinshun 1730

Chapter 694 Make it for the common people

Demand determines value.

It is unrealistic for a country that can instantly defeat the invincible Dutch in their eyes to expect them to return all the land and cities to themselves after driving the Dutch out of morality.

Such a country should only exist in mythology.In reality, definitely not.

If Rajsinghe had been so naive, it would have been impossible for him to convert to Buddhism immediately after succeeding to the throne, and to win over the priesthood to fight against the feudal aristocracy.

As an outsider, it will inevitably violate the interests of the local nobles.Those who can think of using theocracy and religious power to suppress the regime are definitely not kind.

As an outsider, his foundation is unstable, and there are not many choices he can make.

Or, fight against foreign enemies and perform great martial arts, so as to stabilize your position.

Or, use political means to win over the division, and use external forces to stabilize your position.

Even the Dutch couldn't beat them, so how could they expect to have great martial arts skills from the army of a country that is said to have captured Colombo without a single casualty?
Now this country, which only existed in distant stories, actually came to reality and appeared on the island of Ceylon. Rajsingh roughly guessed Dashun's attitude from several monks sent by Dashun who reported the news first.

He felt that if this matter was handled properly, it would be quite beneficial to his rule.

Because, it can be explained like this:

【The devout king converted from Hinduism to Buddhism and moved the Buddha.The Buddha then sent soldiers to drive away the evil spirits that forced people to convert to Jesus].

If this matter is explained in this way, two purposes can be achieved.

First, in the eyes of the people, the king is really pious, and the Buddha can answer the king's prayers.God-given kingship, chosen son.

Second, to improve the relationship with Dashun, it is convenient to suppress the restless nobles in the country.

However, this explanation may also be a double-edged sword.

In case Dashun is not as greedy as a snake and swallows an elephant, and is more ruthless than the Dutch, and directly destroys the Kandy Dynasty, then this sentence will become counterproductive: since it is the Buddha's will to drive away the Dutch, then is it the destruction of the Kandy Dynasty? Buddha's will?
Furthermore, what exactly Dashun meant here could not be figured out just by guessing.

It is best to ask what Dashun wants to achieve, if appropriate, they can betray the country.Selling the country is a technical job. If the king doesn't sell it, the feudal nobles will be busy selling it, so as to use external forces to gain power.

The reason why it is said that traitorousness is a technical job stems from the fact that as a king, you can't sell too much.If you sell too much and become a puppet, it would be better to be suppressed by the nobles.

The best traitor is to be able to suppress the nobles and stabilize one's own power, at least not to reduce more power in the established fact.

If the nobles want to rebel and resist, they need a reason.

The previous reason was to incite the hearts of the people and attack the Netherlands to prove that the nobles are the orthodox patriots, while the king is an outsider, and even reached peace with the Netherlands.

Now, the Dutchman disappeared almost overnight, replaced by a monster named Dashun.The monster was not aggressive, but kindly sent a monk to report the friendship in the past.

If this country called Dashun really wouldn't force conversions, then the nobles wouldn't have a legitimate reason to win the hearts of the people.

Moreover, Rajsinghe did not know how much difference there was between the Buddhism of the Celestial Dynasty and the Buddhism of Ceylon.It seems that there is no need to force people to convert to Buddhism in Dashun. In a country where people generally believe in Buddhism, forcing people to convert to Buddhism is simply a meaningless statement.

The key point is that Dashun was definitely not sent by the Buddha, and it was definitely not his own piety that moved the Buddha. Rajsingh knew this very well.

Then, Dashun must have come for profit.

The interests of Ceylon are nothing more than cinnamon, gemstones, and betel nuts. Anyway, the Dutch have basically obtained the monopoly power before. If they only ask for this, they can really cooperate.

In fact, the Kingdom of Kandy of course wants to engage in trade and business, and it can’t eat so much cinnamon and betel nuts at all. It is of course a good thing to sell them for money.

The problem is that the Dutch want to eat alone, so they can just monopolize the business. They actually set up their own cinnamon handmade factory and want to integrate production and sales. This made the Kandy Dynasty and many nobles quite dissatisfied.

You eat alone, you Dutch people are engaged in production and sales, what should we do?If the Dutch were in charge of the acquisition and only made some profits from second-hand traffickers, the Kingdom of Kandy would be very happy. Anyway, they couldn't sell it themselves, and they didn't have a ship to go to Europe.

In order to test the attitude of Dashun, Rajsinghe came up with a good way.

So he found a confidant, conveyed his meaning, and asked the confidant, together with the messenger from Dashun, to go to Du Feng who was on the way, and ask something.

If Dashun's attitude can really be used, then he can use the words of "moving the Buddha" to make himself a person who can communicate with the gods, and use the attitude of the common people to believe in and worship Buddha to strengthen his own rule .

…………

On the way, Du Feng met Rajsingh's cronies, and the communication between the two was very difficult.

Du Feng doesn't understand Sinhala at all, and there is no one in Dashun who understands this language.

The only way is for the translator to translate Sinhalese into Dutch first, and then translate Dutch into Chinese. Fortunately, the Sinhalese have been dealing with the Dutch for more than a hundred years, and the Dashun military understands the Netherlands. There are also many languages, and the foundation of the navy is learned from Vitas Bering, an excellent graduate of the Amsterdam Naval Academy.

The envoy of the King of Kandy muttered a lot, and the translators on both sides carefully checked their respective meanings. After confirming that they were correct, they finally conveyed the king's meaning to Du Feng.

Excluding those nonsense like thanks, the confidant of Kandy King Rajsinghe made a very, very interesting suggestion.

The king is willing to take the initiative to "lease" the land that Dashun took from the Dutch to Dashun for use.However, Dashun needs to pay ten elephants every year as rent.

This very interesting suggestion made Du Feng stunned for a moment.

I thought to myself what the hell is this suggestion?

You agree to rent it to me for the place I have already laid down?If you had the ability to drive away the Dutch, you would have driven them away long ago.You can't even drive away the Dutch, so why do you say those places are yours?
Furthermore, there are many elephants in Ceylon. If you want ten elephants for rent, even if you believe in Buddhism, elephants have special meanings, so there is no need to use elephants as rent, right?
Just when he was puzzled, a young official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs tugged on Du Feng's sleeve lightly, and whispered to the side: "Master Du, this matter can be agreed to. As for the name, in China, we can say , as a reward for paying tribute, it's not a big problem."

"Besides, elephants are easy to get. You can actually buy them in Nanyang, Burma, Sinking, and Annan. Ten elephants don't cost much."

The other party was not in a hurry to ask Du Feng to answer, and the envoy on the other side did not understand Chinese at all, so Du Feng and the young official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs just communicated in Chinese like no one else.

"It's not that I don't think it's worthwhile. It's just that I didn't understand what it means? There are some things. If you don't talk about it, it's nothing. If you talk about it, it may be extremely important. Don't let someone sue me in the court. They say that I have insulted the state, that the smallest country has sacrificed elephants, and that the Celestial Dynasty has no face. This is not a matter of more money and less money, as you said, how much is ten elephants?"

The young official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs smiled and said, "Master Du is too worried. Diplomacy is still paying tribute, and this matter is mainly for the people in the country. Your Majesty did not send government officials here this time, but asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to preside over it." This matter is also for the sake of cheapness."

"As for why the Lion Kingdom made such a weird request, take history as a mirror, and if I say four words, your lord will understand."

Du Feng hurriedly asked: "These four words?"

The official paused, and said slowly, "Bai Deng's siege."

"Siege of Baideng?"

Du Feng was stunned for a moment, and the official smiled and said: "Hen Gao is trapped in Bai Deng. If Mao Dun can capture Hen Gao in one fell swoop, is it possible that he will really let him go? Chen Ping's plan is just to give him a step down, so that Mao Dun can fight against him." It’s good for the tribe to have an explanation, and let Henkel give an explanation to the country. In a real fight, both sides will suffer. There are still princes in the Han who have not yet accepted, and there are many conflicts among the Xiongnu tribes. Just the little gold, silver and jewels worth giving to his concubine?"

"In this way, the whole world will know about Chen Ping's plot, and who cares what kind of treaty Henkel and Modun have reached in private, and what interests have they discussed?"

"Some things are the real core interests. Some things are for others to see."

"This lion country already produces elephants. Is it true that there is a shortage of elephants? It's just that the common people don't see the gifts of money and porcelain and silk."

"But sending elephants is different. Elephants can't be sent in a box, they have to be sent along the road. Ten elephants are also a large scale, and the country is small. How can it not be known to the whole country? "

"So, the people of the Lion Kingdom know that Dashun uses elephants as rent and respects the king; but in fact, the common people don't care about what agreement we have reached."

"Furthermore, the lion country believes in and worships Buddha, and the Buddhas are quite partial to elephants. This also shows our court's intention to ensure that the people believe in Buddhism, and it also shows the shape of its king's respect for Buddha. I remember, Journey to the West, what kind of Bodhisattva came That’s right, riding an elephant and fighting with Monkey King.”

"In the end, it's just a test. If the dynasty is no different from the Portuguese and the Dutch, if they take it with brute force, they will be reprimanded for being rude, and of course they won't give it. Although it's not worth a lot of money, the key is This attitude."

"Give it to an elephant, which proves that this dynasty is different from them. When their force is weak, they will be reasonable and spend money to rent it. But when their force is strong, they will not be reasonable, and they will not rent it. They just rob it."

"Nowadays the dynasty has defeated the Netherlands in an instant, but it is still reasonable and rents elephants. This is very different from the Dutch and the Portuguese."

The young official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs finally smiled and said: "My lord, you need to know that this place is different from North Korea. If the throne of North Korea is not stable, you only need to get the approval and canonization of the Celestial Dynasty, and it will be no longer stable. But the Lion Kingdom has not yet Paying tribute, the people are not as convinced as the North Koreans, Jinghou said that this person's foundation is not stable, and he is going to do something to show the people."

"Elephants are big, beautiful, and conspicuous. As long as they are not blind, if they walk side by side on the road, which ordinary people can't see them? It's the most suitable."

(End of this chapter)