Lu Ming

Chapter 543 Envoy Training
The official of the Ming Dynasty standing outside the gate of the Macau City Council was named Zhong Mingsheng.In the official sequence of my Ming Dynasty, since he was wearing a flamboyant grass-green official robe with a quail patch, then this person was undoubtedly an eighth-rank official, to be more precise, the county magistrate.

In other words, this middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance and long beard, although he is a sesame official, has a lot of background.Gai's younger sister was married to Huang Ping, Zanhua of the Governor's Mansion of Guangdong and Guangxi.

Yes, Zhong Sheng is Zhong Xiuxiu's brother, the eldest son of Master Zhong in Hangzhou, and the brother-in-law of Huang Ping, the time traveler, as I said before.

To say that Huang Ping is now considered to be the person who has more brother-in-laws among the time-traveling crowd.The family where Zhong Xiuxiu was trafficked when she was young had seven elder brothers/brother-in-laws.After that, Zhong Xiuxiu returned to Hangzhou, and Zhong Sheng and other brothers-in-law of the same family were added.This kind of big family scene with a large number of people once made Master Huang, the only son of time travel who grew up in a family of three, extremely uncomfortable.

As for the real brother-in-law Zhong Sheng, the magistrate of Xiangshan County, who was originally unknown in history, is destined to leave a mark in the history books because of the arrival of the traveler.

In other words, during the period when the Nanyang head office was established and was constantly recruiting talents, the high-level time-traveling forces hidden behind the scenes were not idle.

First of all, through telegram remote command, the cabinet coordinated the pro-Cao faction in the capital and the local conservative forces in Guangzhou, so that a group of letters to expel the Portuguese in Guangdong appeared at the Ming court at the right time, and delivered ammunition to the pro-Cao faction. In the end, the imperial court issued a decree and gave Xiong Wencan, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, permission to act cheaply.

When the imperial court's decree arrived in Guangzhou in April, it seemed to be calm on the surface, but behind it was a series of intense preparations for war.

These tasks are tedious.It not only includes various preparations for the traversing forces themselves, but also promotes the Guangdong administrative system of the Ming Dynasty to make a difference.The latter point is particularly difficult, as it takes a lot of effort to keep a blob of sludge moving along a given path.

Fortunately, relying on financial resources and technology and management levels ahead of this era, in the end, when the time came to April 1631, the Time Travel Group secretly took care of most of the mess.

The big mouth of Commander Wang Bo at the Baietan Merchants Conference before was actually a premeditated briefing after the finishing work started: the war is about to start, giving partners an advantage of information asymmetry.As for how to use this advantage, just look at the boss of Zongbenzong. The Ming people just lack the knowledge of hundreds of years later, and in terms of IQ, they are not lacking at all.

After that, of course, it was time for an official ultimatum.Thus, there was the "feat" of my uncle's brave trip to Haojingao today.

Having said that, Mr. Zhong stood in front of the Macau City Council today, and he himself was quite excited.

In the years when the crossing people did not come, as the magistrate of Xiangshan County, Mr. Zhong's life was actually very "busy".Unlike the leisurely and powerless magistrates in other counties, the magistrate of Xiangshan County, because of the existence of Macau occupied by Franji people under his rule, usually sleeps with one eye open-whenever Franji people make trouble, Whether it is a major event such as building the city wall or a trivial matter, it will alarm the chief envoy and the governor level, and it must not be ignored.

However, things are unpredictable.Ever since his sister-in-law got married, Zhong Sheng's life as the county magistrate has been getting better day by day.

First, my uncle followed Xiong Wencan to take office in Fujian.After the two parties established contact, Zhong Sheng realized that he had inadvertently gained a powerful backer.After that, the aunt introduced Zhong Sheng to a new strongman in Fujian and Guangdong.

Later, as this group of strong men recruited security and quelled thieves, King Qin became bigger and bigger and became a pillar of the imperial court. Zhong Sheng was also pushed by the current situation involuntarily, and unknowingly, he became a peripheral official of the "Cao Clan".After all, he was already inseparable from Huang Ping, and the real political leader of the Zhong family's generation was Huang Ping, so Zhong Sheng could only follow along.

It's not over yet.In August last year, Zhong Sheng was pleasantly surprised to receive the news: Xiong Wencan has come to be the governor of Guangdong!
This time Zhong Xiancheng really shook, and even the county magistrate's attitude changed a lot when he saw him.After all, his relationship with Xiong Wencan's family is no secret.In the past, it could be said that the mountains were high and the emperor was far away, but now that the old bear is fondling Yue, that good son-in-law of the Zhong family can reach any official in Guangdong and Guangxi.

This needs to be treated with care: the more this kind of staff is trusted by the big boss and has real power, the more afraid the people below are. If you fiddle with any official document, the people below will be overwhelmed. .

In this way, Zhong Xiancheng spent the first few months of the old Xiong Fuyue happily and leisurely.Until one day not long ago, his good uncle Huang Ping personally called him to Guangzhou City, informed him of the current situation, and assigned him an errand: to deliver an ultimatum to the Frangji people.

To be honest, Zhong Sheng was quite shocked when he heard the news: Is the fight about to start?

As a member of the outlying faction of the Traveling Group and an official of Xiangshan County, Zhong Sheng still has the exact information that some high-level officials know.He knew that the Cao family and Franji were at odds with each other, but he didn't expect that Xiong Wencan was so deeply trapped that he abruptly asked the imperial court for a suppression order to open the way for the Cao family.

Since Xiong Wencan rolled up his sleeves, Huang Ping, who was used to being in close contact with the Cao family, naturally couldn't get away with it.Huang Ping couldn't get away with it, let alone his brother-in-law.

After figuring this out, Zhong Sheng stopped boycotting and agreed with the matter with a nod.After all, his position was originally the most suitable for issuing ultimatums, and he was "one of his own" in Huang Ping's eyes, so he would not lose the chain at critical moments.

Only at this time did Zhong Sheng realize that the relationship between his uncle and the Cao family was far deeper than he had imagined.

Because right after he returned to Xiangshan County, the "Cao family" came to visit him.To be precise, it was a team sent by the General Military Mansion.

In this team, there are not only warriors in charge of military strategy, but also scholars in charge of copywriting. In addition, there are "staff officers" with weird official titles.

Zhongxian Cheng warmly received the visitors.He is very clear that everyone is "one of our own" now.

Next, Zhong Xiancheng was surprised.

He really didn't expect that a simple errand to deliver a letter to the door would be so particular.Master Zhong was a little surprised when he saw the group of people took out thick bound paper and began to explain to him item by item, and then asked various pre-set questions and asked him to remember the answers.

This is the Ming Dynasty version of envoy training.

The training is very detailed, from manners, to the words to deal with various situations, and even how to deal with being under house arrest or detention.In short, what kind of training did the embassy officials who went to take up posts in other countries receive in later generations, and what Mr. Zhong also received this time.

After all these projects were completed, the time quietly came to April 1630.

On April 4, the Xiangshan County Government officially received the official document from Shangfeng.This official document is stamped with the seals of the Governor's Yamen, the Chief Envoy's Yamen, and the Guangzhou Mansion, and it can be said that the procedures are complete.

The county magistrate, who had been greeted before, hurriedly delivered the official document to Zhong Xiancheng himself this time.And told him with the eyes of a hero: I am afraid that my brother is going to Haojingao for a walk.

"It's easy to talk about, my lord has something to ask, how dare I refuse to obey my orders?"

So on the morning of April 4rd, Mr. Zhong left the yamen after packing up, got into a sedan chair, and went straight to Macau City.Accompanying him, of course, was not those treacherous servants in the Xiangshan county government office, but a team of people who had been waiting in front of the county government office for a long time.

It goes without saying that this team must be named Cao.

Under the circumstances that no one seemed to be paying attention, Mr. Zhong and his party passed through the gate of the lotus stem, swaggered into the city of Macau, and arrived in front of the city council.

The Macao City Council in this period was a stone building with a Balotte architectural style.

Seeing Mr. Zhong in an official robe get off the sedan chair, and the city council door wrapped in a turban, the dark-skinned Indian guards hurried in to report.After a while, four or five white men in gorgeous silk robes came out in a hurry.

Speaking of which, among the few white people who came out to greet them, Cheng Zhongxian knew two of them seriously.After all, the Xiangshan County Government Office is the government office of the Ming Dynasty that the Franji people deal with the most. After decades, the Franji people have given gifts and bribes to the gentlemen in the Xiangshan County Government Office, so when there are no conflicts on weekdays, Francois can also be regarded as an international friend.

But today is different.

When several international friends came to Mr. Zhong, they found that this smiling man had changed his template today.I saw Mr. Zhong standing on the stone steps in front of the city council, with his hands behind his back and his feet uneven, looking up at the sky with his neck stuck. Those who didn't know probably thought that the old man had a nosebleed.

"Dear Zhong, I don't know where the wind blows to you. Haha, this is so happy, please come with me, today you will enjoy a special, sincere hospitality from the Franji merchant."

It was Andrade, the clerk of the Macau City Council, who spoke the welcome speech in Chinese with a bit of grammatical error.

After hearing Andrade's voice, the trained Master Zhong slowly lowered his neck and left the B mode: "Hmph, I know who it is, it turned out to be Master An."

"Forget it, it just so happens that I know that you are capable of managing affairs." Master Zhong was full of official air at this moment, without any pretense: "This is an official document from the governor's yamen, and it is for you. Master Ander, this is the Have you signed it and taken it?"

At this point, Zhong Xiancheng stretched out his hand, took the official document wrapped in oiled paper from his entourage, and handed it to the Portuguese.

Although Andrade felt something was wrong at this moment, but the matter had come to an end, he had no choice but to reach out and take the official document.

(End of this chapter)