Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1520 "Navigation Treaty" (Part [-])
The Siamese palace, where no Siamese king lived, was divided into two parts, the front and the back, according to the custom of the Han Chinese palace.

The rear part is naturally where the so-called harem is located, and only about [-]% of the completed part has been completed, and a large area of ​​land is still vacant, only some divisions have been made.The completed part is a large bedroom hall with a courtyard, which is very close to "Siming Lake". Right now, it is Huang Zhiting's residence, and Gao Yuan, Gao Yuan, the eldest son of Gao Pragmatic, also lives here.

The front part is the so-called former palace, but the construction progress is also very average.In theory, the main hall used by the king to go to court has not only never been built, but there is even no conclusion on what it is going to be built - because Gao Yushi has not yet approved it.

The real construction is almost the same, but it is the east and west sides of the front. The east is the civil government office building complex, and the west is the military general office building complex. The construction progress is about [-]% to [-]%.

When Envoy Alfredo and Captain Pedro were introduced to the "East Court", they were curious about everything they saw.This kind of curiosity does not refer to the strictness of the three steps, one post and five steps and one sentry in the entire palace, but the buildings that are obviously very Western style.

Although Jinghua Company's "hobby" of recruiting European architects is well known, they actually built this palace—at least the current part in such a European style, which greatly surpassed Alfredo and Pedro. accident.

"It looks like a French palace, but it removes all the religious elements." Special Envoy Alfredo made a brief comment, and then asked: "Pedro, do you think this means that European culture has caused a great impact on Jinghua Company?" influences?"

"Sorry, Mr. Special Envoy, I'm not sure." Pedro shrugged and said, "I only heard that Your Excellency Gao Yushi is a very enlightened person and has always had a soft spot for Western-style buildings. He thinks that stone buildings are far away It is more durable than wooden buildings, and for this reason, an initiative to improve masonry buildings was launched within the Ming Empire.

If Mr. Gao Yushi was influenced by European culture, then perhaps the reason for the appearance of these buildings in the Siamese Palace is exactly as you said.However, I also heard a rumor that Mr. Gao Yushi likes stone buildings because the "shi" in his name has the same pronunciation as "shi" in their language.You may not know that people in this country sometimes do some unreasonable things because of their likes or dislikes of certain pronunciations. "

Alfredo didn't understand a word of Chinese, so he really didn't understand these situations, so he shook his head and said, "Okay, thank you for your explanation, but I don't think now is the time to think about these issues." He paused and asked Said: "Can the soldiers around us understand Portuguese?"

"These soldiers are Lady Huang Zhiting's guards and they are from Guangxi. They probably don't understand our conversation," Pedro said.

"Then what if we have something to communicate with them? Or if there is any misunderstanding between the two sides during the march."

"Mr. Special Envoy, you may be worrying too much. These guards of His Excellency the Countess are real killing machines. I don't think we will conflict with them." The Royal Palace of Portugal, we should be friendly enough, which will be beneficial to the negotiations later."

"Hmm... I hope His Excellency Gao Mengnan has prepared an excellent translator, otherwise I'm afraid that if he wants to renege on the debt later, he will say that it's because you set a language trap for him." Special Envoy Alfredo muttered.

Pedro raised his eyebrows: "I first learned Chinese from Father Michele Ruggieri. Through communicating with many businessmen from the Ming Empire in Malacca over the years, I have been able to communicate with Chinese businessmen proficiently in Chinese. And I have also been involved in their literature, presumably they will not doubt my Chinese understanding and expression ability. Of course, I think they will prepare excellent translators, because such people are not difficult to find in Jinghua Company.”

While speaking, the two of them had been brought to a long row building with three or four floors.This building is somewhat like the Austrian Cartelburg Palace (the predecessor of Schönbrunn Palace), with a square in front of the building, and a fountain near the steps of the gate of the main building.

However, Alfredo was a little puzzled by the two statues spitting water in the fountain, and asked Pedro in surprise, "What kind of animal is this? Is it some kind of prehistoric python?"

"Ah, this should be a dragon, a special creature that represents the emperor of China... Oh, no, this is not a dragon that represents the emperor. Look at its claws, these two dragons have four claws, and the emperor uses five claws, So they represented princes—powerful local nobles, or individual kings who were subordinate to the emperor.

As for the meaning of these two statues, I think it should be "Shuanglong Xizhu", which means that two dragons are fighting or playing around the bead in the middle, which is a very common vocabulary in Chinese literature. "

"The difference between a king and an emperor is that there is one less claw? Well, this is very vivid. However, I have reservations about whether the king of Siam is considered a subject of the Ming emperor." Alfredo said.

Pedro chuckled, and said: "You don't know, even if this place is not the palace of the King of Siam, but the residence of His Excellency Gao Yushi, this statue can still be used, because he has been given the right to use it a few years ago. This symbolizes animals." [Note: Refers to Gao Yushi who was awarded the boa robe. ]
At this time, an interpreter finally walked down the steps from the gate, bowed slightly to them, and said in Portuguese: "Good morning, gentlemen, welcome to the Prime Minister's Office of Siam. Please allow me to introduce myself: My name is Lin Jizong , are the two translators on this trip, I hope we can have a happy cooperation."

"Good morning to you too, Mr. Lin." Alfredo took off his hat and bowed in return, and replied politely: "I also hope that we can have a happy cooperation, not only with you, but also with His Excellency Gao Mengnan. "

Lin Jizong smiled, but he didn't answer this sentence. Instead, he turned slightly sideways, made a "please" gesture, and said, "Please, two gentlemen."

When they got to the building, they realized that this place was somewhat different from the "Prime Minister's Mansion" they had imagined.Judging from the people coming and going inside, there are both Ming people and Siamese people. Of course, their commonality is also obvious: everyone is well-dressed.

Lin Jizong seemed to guess what they were thinking, and explained: "Don't be surprised, the Prime Minister's Office currently not only assumes the function of the official residence of the Prime Minister of Siam. In fact, after the "six reforms" of the Kingdom of Siam, because the construction of the royal palace has not yet been completed, officials The No. [-] Department of Hu Li Bing Criminal Industry is currently working in this building, and some members of the Jinghua Advisory Group are also working here."

Alfredo quickly expressed his gratitude for his explanation, but Lin Jizong stopped talking and took them directly to Gao Mengnan's "Prime Minister's Office" in the middle of the fourth floor.

After passing the pass, the two Portuguese were brought into Gao Mengnan's office, and they also saw the Mingren Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Siam and the chief advisor of the Jinghua Advisory Group for the first time.

In their eyes, Gao Mengnan is a majestic middle-aged man in his forties, with a long chest-length beard on his chin. Long, with a magical sense of elegance.

He was wearing a black Ming-style robe (neither of them was very familiar with Ming clothing styles, Pedro only spent time learning about Ming Dynasty official uniforms, so he didn't know exactly what kind of casual clothes Gao Mengnan was wearing), at this moment he Getting up from behind the desk and walking out.

Seeing Gao Mengnan approaching, the two Portuguese immediately took off their hats and bowed slightly.At this time, Gao Mengnan had already had experience in dealing with Westerners (mainly from missionaries and architects), and when he was about to walk in front of them, he had already offered his right hand to Alfredo.

"Welcome to Dingnan, please sit down."

After shaking hands one by one, Gao Mengnan waved his hand briefly, leading the two to sit down, and then asked: "I heard that your envoy is here on the order of the Governor of Goa in your country, do you have something important to discuss with me?"

After listening to the translation, Alfredo said quickly: "Yes, Your Excellency, I am here on the order of His Excellency De Alenker, Governor of Goa, Kingdom of Portugal. Your Excellency the Governor hopes to discuss with you and Jinghua Company about many important matters in the Nanyang region. , the Kingdom of Siam, etc., and if possible, it is best to form this agreement into a written contract."

Gao Mengnan didn't seem very surprised. He smiled slightly and asked, "What are the important things?"

"The most important thing is the right of free navigation in the Nanyang region." Alfredo said: "Your Excellency believes that in view of the fact that the current pirates in the Nanyang region have been greatly reduced, and the Royal Portuguese Navy has the ability to guarantee the merchant ships of the country in this region, Therefore, it is very unreasonable for Jinghua Nanyang Fleet to collect navigation fees from Chinese merchant ships and even warships within this range.

At the same time, there are many countries and political entities in the Nanyang waters, and the Nanyang seas should be public seas of all countries.Moreover, since the Jinghua Company is only a private enterprise belonging to the Ming Empire, the company obviously has no right to decide who can and cannot pass within the Nanyang waters from a legal point of view..."

"If your envoy is here to discuss the issue of 'Who belongs to Nanyang', I suggest that your envoy learn about the history of the major countries in Nanyang - they have already submitted tribute to Ming Dynasty more than a hundred years ago, so Your so-called public seas actually have a higher legal sovereignty owner, which is me, Daming.

As for the Jinghua Company or its Nanyang Fleet, everything we do in this sea area is to exercise this power on behalf of the Ming Emperor and the imperial court.Whether or not to charge navigation fees, and even what amount and standard of navigation fees to charge, are all my freedom.

According to the instructions of Gao Qiuzhen, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs of the Ming Dynasty and also the owner of Jinghua Company, the legal reason for Jinghua Company’s two ocean fleets to charge navigation fees is that Jinghua Company has always paid customs duties at the highest tax rate in Daming.Therefore, the imperial court gave it the power to collect navigation taxes in the East and South Seas.

If you or the governor of Goa have any dissatisfaction with this, you can choose from two options: one, file a complaint with the Ming Dynasty’s household department; the other, declare war on the Ming Empire. "

Alfredo was literally pissed off.Appeal to the Ministry of Finance of the Ming Empire?Fuck you, your finance minister is highly pragmatic. I asked him to complain that his company's behavior was illegal. Am I overeating?

As for the second choice, it was a face-to-face ridicule: If I had this kind of strength, I would have done it decades ago, why wait until now?What's more, a few decades ago, Ming was only able to win by relying on its numerical advantage along its own coast. Now, the highly pragmatic private fleet can beat the Castilians violently. At this time, the Kingdom of Portugal will jump out and fight against the Ming Empire. declare war?
"Your Excellency, I think we should discuss the solution to the problem more from a political point of view instead of lightly talking about war. After all, war is not good for anyone." Alfredo coughed lightly and said: "About the issue of sovereignty , since there is a huge difference between your views and ours, I think we might as well put it aside for a while and talk about some more operational issues first."

Gao Mengnan snorted indifferently, and said, "It's also possible, envoy, please tell me."

Alfredo said: "In less than half a year, General Musali, the guardian of Siam in the Kingdom of Siam, held large-scale military exercises in areas very close to Suluoge and Dani. We believe that his behavior It has seriously threatened the peace and stability of the region, caused serious disturbance to businessmen from all over the world, including Chinese businessmen, and severely impacted regional commercial trade..."

"Wait a minute." Gao Mengnan interrupted: "The Luowei area where General Musali held military exercises is nearly a thousand miles away from the city of Malacca. How could his actions thousands of miles away have affected Malacca? Did it really affect it? Merchants from all over the world, or does it only affect merchants from your country?

The news in my hands is that since this year, the number of ships from Daming Marine to Malacca has continued to increase. According to the current situation, the number of merchant ships sailing from various ports of Daming to Malacca this year may increase by [-]% compared with last year.

Based on this, I don't see that the commercial and trade activities in this area have been affected.I even think that because of General Musali's actions, some unscrupulous businessmen in the region have been greatly deterred, and various illegal activities have also decreased significantly. "

As a naval officer, Pedro was not used to hearing the two of them arguing over a few words here, so he couldn't help it at this moment and said, "Your Excellency Gao Mengnan, I'm from the Royal Portuguese Navy's 'Grandura'. Captain, as a soldier, I just want to ask you briefly: Does the behavior of General Musali imply some kind of war threat? Please note, my war threat here is not only referring to the Su Luoge and Da Ni countries , also refers to the city of Malacca.”
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(End of this chapter)