prosperous age

After hard encounters, there are few stars all around.

The mountains and rivers are broken and the wind is fluttering.

Pantou said panic, sighing separately.

Who has never died since ancient times? Keep your loyalty and history.

This is a poem by Wen Tianxiang, a minister of the Southern Song Dynasty. It describes in depth the reality of the country's destruction and the family's demise from both the national and personal perspectives, and recounts the different situations and moods of the past and present. In the past, he was worried about the country and the people on the beach, but now he is alone in the ocean. The last couplet expresses his determination to die, which is the author's unhesitating choice for his own destiny.

The whole poem expresses the passionate patriotism, the noble character of facing death with indifference, and the outlook on life of sacrificing one's life for justice. It is a lofty expression of the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation.

The style is majestic, the emotions are sincere and natural, the language is neat and exquisite, vivid and rich in meaning.

Lingdingyang, also known as "Lingdingyang", is the waters at the mouth of the Pearl River and the confluence of the eastern four of the eight gates where the Pearl River flows into the sea.

At this moment, on the quiet Lingdingyang Sea, countless masts suddenly appeared on the distant horizon like thorns piercing the sky, and hundreds of large and small sailboats pushed the waves towards the port.

The canvas swelled into a series of mountains in the strong wind, and the sunset was torn into bloodshot, seeping into the bay through the gaps between the sails.

The ropes screamed at the masthead, the old wooden sides creaked, the sails were upside down on the water, and the entire port seemed to fall under the folded wings of a giant bird.

Over the rusted bronze gun barrels in the cargo hold, flocks of seagulls flew in panic like exploding pearls, and the stone bricks of the dock cracked inch by inch in the shadow cast by the figurehead.

The wind was filled with the scent of whale oil and gunpowder. The lookout tower of the tallest flagship suddenly caught fire. In an instant, thousands of golden-scale flags lit up one after another among the sails that covered the sky, like a rain of bloody arrows thrown by the gods in the clouds.

"I'm back, I'm finally back."

At this time, on the large tribute ship at the front of the entire huge fleet, two old men were standing by the railing and looking at the land in the distance.

They were, of course, Yin Zhengmao and Yu Dayou, the ambassador and deputy ambassador sent by the Ming Dynasty to the West.

They were all familiar with Guangzhou. Yin Zhengmao had served as the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi during the Longqing period, pacifying the people of Guangdong. Yu Dayou had also served as the Commander-in-Chief of Guangdong, responsible for the suppression of Japanese pirates in Guangdong.

Returning to Lingdingyang again, both of them were filled with emotion.

This diplomatic mission took nearly two years and covered tens of thousands of miles. Needless to say, it was very difficult for the two old men.

But fortunately, they all came back and successfully completed the court's mission, which is better than anything else.

"When we get to Guangzhou Port, I'm going to take a good rest after getting off the ship. I really don't want to move."

Yin Zhengmao stroked his goatee and smiled.

"Master Yin, you can't rest. We have to send the people to the capital, and then our mission will be completed."

Yu Dayou smiled at him happily with his dark face.

"This time when I return to the capital, I will submit a petition to retire after His Majesty's wedding. Anyway, whoever is willing to work in the court can do it."

Yin Zhengmao shook his head. He had actually begun to think about quitting when he was in the West, and was worried that he would not be able to return to the Ming Dynasty alive.

The mission was too dangerous. He had no idea what Zheng He's mentality was when he sailed to the West two hundred years ago. Perhaps it was simply to make money for his master.

The land ahead became clearer and clearer at this moment, and the earth seemed to be torn apart to the left and right by a huge force.

"We've arrived at the mouth of the Pearl River."

Yu Dayou pointed forward and said.

"Yes, we have arrived at the mouth of the Pearl River. We will soon reach Guangzhou."

Yin Zhengmao murmured.

Guangzhou has always relied closely on its location at the crossroads of the South China Sea shipping route to connect with overseas countries, fully utilized the Pearl River waterway to radiate the inland, and used the prosperity of ports and overseas trade to create the development form and pattern of the city's business district.

The Ming Dynasty's maritime trade policy was a change from the previous dynasty's openness, and a strict maritime ban was implemented.

At that time, most of the traditional foreign trade ports were closed. Only the three major ports of Guangzhou, Quanzhou and Ningbo, where the Maritime Customs were located, remained open to the outside world, but there were often strikes.

Among them, only the Guangzhou Maritime Customs maintained relative stability, and the foreign trade it managed was the widest and most prosperous.

In the third year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty established the Maritime Customs Office in Guangzhou.

In the second year of the Jiajing reign, the Quanzhou and Ningbo Maritime Customs Offices were abolished, leaving only Guangzhou to manage overseas trade.

Tribute trade was carried out through this, and private trade flourished as a result. Guangzhou became the only port for foreign trade in the country and has long held a monopoly position.

The middle and late Ming Dynasty was a period of transition for overseas trade. Tribute trade declined, while merchant trade flourished and became dominant. A new operating mechanism was formed, including the taxation of tribute trade and merchant trade. The Maritime Customs Office also changed from being in charge of tribute trade to being responsible for the management of Maritime Customs.

In the later period, as the maritime trade system gradually declined and disintegrated, "Yahang" came into being and developed into a commercial group specializing in foreign trade, becoming the forerunner of the Thirteen Factories in Guangzhou.

Due to the siltation of the waterway, it has become difficult for merchant ships to dock at Fuxu Port, the former outer port of Guangzhou. Therefore, the outer port has gradually moved from Fuxu Port to the waters around Huangpu Island and Pipa Island, that is, from the east side of Huangpu Deep Water Bay at the mouth of Dongjiang River to the west side of Huangpu Deep Water Bay.

Huangpuzhou and Pipazhou are two small islands on the Pearl River waterway, only ten miles away from Guangzhou city. Chinese and foreign merchant ships had already docked there during the Song Dynasty.

Moreover, compared with Fuxu, this place is closer to Guangzhou and has more convenient communication. It is the last barrier to protect the safety of Guangzhou. In the Ming Dynasty, the main ships that docked here were merchant ships from other parts of the country.

Of course, there are also trench mirrors.

In the 32nd year of Jiajing's reign, the Portuguese moved into Haojing and started East-West trade. As an important base for Sino-Portuguese trade, Haojing quickly emerged as an international trade center in the Far East, also known as the Outer Port of Guangzhou.

The Ming navy certainly would not dock at Haojing, so it chose to dock at Huangpuzhou and Pipazhou.

The appearance of the huge fleet immediately awakened the patrol soldiers on the shore, and they quickly reported it step by step.

Fortunately, the alarm only sounded for half an hour before it stopped. The officials in Guangzhou city knew that a Ming fleet would arrive in Guangzhou for rest and recuperation in the near future.

Upon hearing the news, officials in the city dressed up and went to the port to welcome him.

When had so many ships ever appeared in Guangzhou Port? When the Ming Navy appeared outside Guangzhou Port, the spectacular scene shocked all the Guangzhou officials in the port.

The sails blocked out the sun, making it impossible for the officials at the port to see the distant horizon.

The port's dock is unable to accommodate so many ships at the same time, so the fleet can only dock in batches.

Tribute ships naturally had priority in docking, because they contained not only the ambassador and deputy ambassador of the Ming Dynasty, but also envoys from Western countries.

The Guangzhou garrison soldiers, who had been trained long ago, lined up neatly near the port, with their flags fluttering in the wind.

These were soldiers carefully selected by the garrisons in order to leave a deep first impression on the overseas delegations.

The tribute ship docked, tied the ropes, and put up the gangway. Yin Zhengmao and Yu Dayou were the first to get off the ship and greeted the officials who came to greet them.

At the same time, they also received an order from the capital. "Admiral Yu, this is an urgent order from the Ministry of War."

Yu Dayou took the document from the governor, bowed to the officials around him, and then stepped aside to look at it.

Yin Zhengmao also had an official document, but it was about the route planned for him to go north, and the reception work along the route had already been done.

The order given to Yu Dayou by the Ministry of War was a bit strange to him. In addition to instructing him to continue leading the navy northward and escort the delegation carefully, he was also asked to quickly select the best tribute ship from the tribute ships and immediately head north to Tianjin.

At first, Yu Dayou was a little surprised by this order. What was the purpose of the tribute ship going to Tianjin?
However, it was not until he saw the last and most important command that he suddenly realized.

The imperial court prepared to assemble the South China Sea and East China Sea navies in Tianjin and hold a naval review.

Then it makes sense to dispatch the best tribute ship to the north first, as the court officials would certainly board this tribute ship to watch the grand review.

In addition, he also needs to select a team of elite musketeers and artillerymen from his subordinates to train a square formation to participate in the grand review ceremony in the capital.

"Hiss, the imperial court is making such a fuss."

I took a deep breath. It's quite troublesome to prepare so much.

The imperial court has tried very hard to show off its power.

Yu Dayou could only think about it in his heart, put the document in his arms, and he quickly integrated into the team of officials. Now Yin Zhengmao was leading the officials in Guangzhou city to welcome the foreign guests getting off the big ship behind.

Of course, the status of the Ming Dynasty was there at that time, and all they wanted to show was the hospitality of the Ming Dynasty. There was absolutely no situation of worshipping foreigners or fawning on foreigners.

In fact, when the Ming officials saw these foreigners with different appearances, they inadvertently showed a hint of arrogance.

Yes, the Ming Dynasty was so powerful at that time.

Before the Jianzhou Jurchens rebelled, the Ming Dynasty was definitely the most powerful country in the world.

Even Spain, which has vast overseas territories, may have enough money and equipment, but its overall national strength is still far inferior to that of the Ming Dynasty.

But just with that population of hundreds of millions, they are far ahead of the West as a whole.

Not to mention those handicrafts that were regarded as treasures by the West but were commonplace in the Ming Dynasty. It is not an exaggeration to say that the productivity of the Ming Dynasty was several times that of the West.

The only thing the West could compare with the Ming Dynasty was the maritime industry created by their concentrated shipbuilding and the gold and silver looted from the colonies.

As for firearms, the same thing applies: the technological gap in firearms was not that big at that time.

When the Ming Weapon Bureau focused on the research and development of long-barreled cannons at Wei Guangde's request, this gap was almost narrowed.

The Ming Dynasty had no shortage of firearms experts, but they were not doing their jobs properly and liked to tinker with strange things, such as the swarm of dozens of rockets launched continuously.

The scene was indeed spectacular, but the actual combat effect was not satisfactory and was far less practical than the combination of muskets and artillery.

There are also firearms of the navy, such as ancient version of torpedoes and anti-ship rockets, which are actually not as practical as cannons in this era.

Of course, the Ming navy’s warships were also equipped with bows, crossbows, rockets, and fire bricks, but they were used to ignite the enemy’s sails at close range in preparation for boarding battles.

All Wei Guangde could do was to remove those fancy things and let them concentrate on research and development to enhance the power of muskets and cannons.

The foreign guests were arranged to ride in horse-drawn carriages, which were borrowed by the Guangzhou prefectural government from wealthy private businessmen. Otherwise, the government would not have so many means of transportation.

Yin Zhengmao and Yu Dayou rode in sedan chairs, but before getting on the sedan chair, Yu Dayou and Yin Zhengmao whispered a few words to each other. Then Yin Zhengmao took the sedan chair into the city first, while Yu Dayou stayed at the dock and inspected each of the tribute ships that had docked.

The imperial court wanted the best ships, so Yu Dayou naturally did not dare to neglect this. He boarded the ship to inspect it personally. Finally, he picked out two sealed boats and asked the foreign delegation members who remained on the ship to watch while he unloaded the supplies on the ship and transferred them to other ships.

Yu Dayou personally selected the best sailors, took the order with his own signature, and drove two sealed boats away from the shore and headed north first. His destination was naturally Tianjin.

At the same time, he asked his clerk to quickly report the matter to the Ministry of War and ask Tianjin to accept the two sealed boats.

Originally, the Ministry of War only wanted one sealed boat, which would stay in Tianjin and have the people in the inner court dress it up appropriately as the imperial carriage of Emperor Wanli.

Because of this matter, Wei Guangde discussed with Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao for a long time before they got such an opportunity.

Yes, no one wanted to send the emperor to the sea, even near the coast.

Even though Wei Guangde said there would be no safety issues and there would be many Fujian ships protecting Fengzhou, he barely convinced Feng Bao to agree.

Of course, a naval review is more interesting when it is held at sea. If it is just held on land, it will definitely not be shocking enough.

Just as the postman was rushing the news from Guangzhou to the capital, the old port in the south also welcomed a tall warship, the British Navy's HMS Jessie.

After rounding the Cape of Good Hope, the Jesse chose to cross the Indian Ocean directly instead of sailing along the coastline to shorten the voyage as much as possible.

Fortunately, the Jesse did not encounter bad weather at sea and successfully arrived at the west side of the Strait of Malacca.

The appearance of such a thousand-ton caravel in the strait made the Portuguese nervous, especially after they discovered that the ship belonged to Britain.

If it were in the past, perhaps the Portuguese would choose to attack it. After all, in their eyes, this sea area was already Portugal's territory granted to them by the Pope.

Unfortunately, times are different now. The strong presence of the Ming navy here has made the Portuguese dare not attack maritime targets wantonly.

When the Jesse approached the Old Port, it was discovered by the Ming army early on.

Faced with such a huge ship, a Ming army gunboat approached quickly.

Although the Jesse is still considered a giant ship in Britain even now, it is only larger than an average large Fu ship and close to the level of a tribute ship.

Moreover, the caravel actually has many similarities with the Fu ship, that is, it has a high stern, but the bow of the caravel is also higher than that of the Fu ship.

In fact, as a type of ship that is being replaced, the galleon is the best choice for warships, ocean-going merchant ships and exploration ships.

After the Ming army gunboat approached the Jesse, Drake on the bow communicated with the Ming warship in Portuguese.

Yes, as a big pirate holding a "letter of marque", Drake has now attracted the attention of the Queen of England because of the huge amount of treasure he brought back.

He was knighted by the Queen after he donated a third of a shipload of treasure to her.

And now, returning to Old Port again, Drake came here as his deputy envoy to Britain.

"Follow us, we'll take you to the port."

From the exchange just now, the Ming navy already knew that the other party was British. It was the British captain who had briefly visited Old Port before, and who had come to Ming with his country's delegation to attend the emperor's wedding ceremony. Naturally, their attitude softened a lot.

Then, two boats, one large and one small, slowly sailed into the old port. (End of this chapter)