My son A Fei has the appearance of a sword master

Chapter 138 The foreshadowing of colonial rule

"I still remember more than 40 years ago, when I was still a child. Your Ming Dynasty envoys came here on a huge ship and brought exquisite porcelain and silk, as well as many interesting things that we have never seen before."

"Even the plows we use to plow the fields were improved under the guidance of your Ming Dynasty envoys, which is of great help to us."

"At that time, I was full of yearning for the Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, the Ming Dynasty was too far away. It is a regret of my life that I could not go there to see it."

"But since that time, I have never seen people from the Ming Dynasty again. More than 40 years have passed in the blink of an eye. I never thought that I would see you again in my lifetime."

Sam Singh talked a lot, and it can be seen that he admired the Ming Dynasty very much.

Xu Faming used simultaneous interpretation. Every time Sang Mu said a sentence, he would translate it softly next to Li Tianxin, so as to avoid saying too much at once and being unable to remember it.

After listening to Sang Mu's words, Li Tianxin sighed: "It's not that we don't want to come out to communicate with other countries anymore, but in the past few decades, our Ming Dynasty has been invaded by many neighboring countries one after another."

"It took us more than 40 years to finally destroy the country that invaded our Ming Dynasty. Once the country was stabilized, we immediately restarted our voyage."

"We are just the pioneers who came to explore the road. Our destination is the more distant west. In the future, there will be envoys sent to various countries to carry out exchanges and trade and bring the good things of the Ming Dynasty to various countries."

Sam said happily: "That's great."

He looked happy on his face, but he was secretly frightened in his heart.

Based on the weather of the Ming Dynasty that he had seen back then, he could imagine that the Ming Dynasty was prosperous and prosperous, and it was normal for it to be coveted by neighboring countries.

However, in this case, not only did the Ming Dynasty not perish, but it only took more than forty years to destroy all the neighboring countries that invaded the Ming Dynasty.

So how powerful was the national power and military power of the Ming Dynasty?

According to reports from the subordinates sent by Ashma, these Ming people did not even get off the ship. They used unknown firearms from a long distance and almost killed a thousand-man Sinhalese cavalry team.

These firearms should have been created by the Ming Dynasty in recent years. Otherwise, why would it take more than 40 years to wipe out the surrounding countries?

It would be great if we could also get this kind of weapon, but it's a pity that this is a weapon that others use to make a living, so how can they easily teach it to us?
After the banquet, you can try to mention that if they are unwilling to teach us how to make firearms, then we should settle for the next best thing and spend a lot of money to buy some powerful firearms from them.

As long as this kind of firearm can be obtained, the Sinhala Kingdom can be easily overthrown and the island of Ceylon will be unified.

After making up his mind, Sang Mu talked to Li Tianxin more enthusiastically.

Shen Lang and others had no interest in diplomacy, so they just sat aside and listened quietly while waiting for the banquet to begin.

Not to mention Ceylon, even today's Tianzhu is still in the cold weapon age. If the Tamil Kingdom can obtain sufficient firearms, it will really be easy to defeat the Sinhala Kingdom.

Before the Portuguese invasion in 1498 AD, the Tianzhu people did not even know how to prepare gunpowder, let alone create firearms.

Except for the Ming Dynasty, only a few countries in Europe began to use thermal weapons in this era.

The more advanced European countries include the Kingdom of Castile, the Kingdom of Aragon, the Kingdom of Portugal, the Frankish Empire, the German Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of England, the Grand Duchy of Moscow, and the Ottoman Empire.

Most of these countries were in the ranks of the Eight-Power Allied Forces in later generations, and were also on the list of countries that Li Tianxin wanted to destroy.

After finally traveling through time, Ming Dynasty's technology was hundreds of years ahead of the world. If he didn't sweep through these countries, Li Tian's thoughts would not be clear.

More than two hours later, a sumptuous banquet was prepared. Sam invited everyone to the table, and also called his children, grandchildren, wives and daughters to accompany him.

The status of Tianzhu women in this era was not as low as that of later generations, and they could be exposed. The main reason was religious factors, and I will not go into details.

The banquet was placed in the courtyard outside the hall, with a total of more than forty tables. Because of the dense shade of trees, the sun could not shine.

Sitting on the main table were eight people, Mr. and Mrs. Sam, Mr. and Mrs. Li Tianxin, Mr. and Mrs. Shen Lang, and Mr. and Mrs. Panda.

Ruyi Huancui and the four daughters of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter were accompanied by Sang Mu's daughter-in-law, grandson-in-law and unmarried granddaughter.

Sam's son and grandson sat next to the linguist, who was obviously dressed differently from the sergeant. It happened that there were two of them who also understood the Tamil language.

In the Middle-Turk Dynasty, Tianzhu and Sanskrit accounted for a large proportion of the study of foreign languages ​​and languages, accounting for almost [-]% of linguists.

After all, it is the largest country among the neighboring countries of the Ming Dynasty, so it naturally deserves enough attention. There is a Mongolian steppe between the Grand Duchy of Moscow and the Ming Dynasty, and Tianzhu directly borders it.

There are more than 600 languages ​​and dialects in India in later generations, and there are more than [-] major languages.

There are not so many in this era. There are only a dozen major languages, divided into four major language families: Dravidian, Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, and Austro-Asiatic.

The languages ​​spoken in the two countries of Ceylon belong to the Dravidian language family and are mainly distributed in southern and southeastern India.

The Sino-Tibetan language family is concentrated in the area near the Usi Tibetan capital of the Ming Dynasty.

In addition to staple foods such as rice and barley, the main dishes of the Tamil Kingdom are beef, sheep, venison and seafood.

Among them, the curry chicken is considered a local specialty, and the large lobsters and crabs are very appetizing.

Vegetables are also very abundant, including eggplants, cucumbers, spinach, lentils, etc. Many vegetables originate here, and they are all passed down from China.

As Shanxi people, they really can't eat seafood often, but this time they can enjoy it.

The wines are equally rich, including more than ten kinds of wine, including Japonica rice wine, barley wine, pear juice wine, Jambu fruit wine, sugar cane wine, Saruga fruit wine, and wine.

Not to mention, although the alcohol content of Tamil people is not high, the taste is quite good. Even if Panda is picky about drinks, he drinks them full of praise.

Japonica rice wine is similar to the undistilled low-alcohol liquor of the Ming Dynasty. Barley wine is actually the beer of later generations. Of course, the taste is somewhat different from the beer of later generations.

The others were all fruit wine, and a group of female relatives drank it with gusto.

The officers and soldiers of the Three Branches and Hundred Household Stations were very conscious. Although Li Tianxin did not issue a military order not to drink alcohol when they were out, they did not drink too much, let alone get drunk.

When you are in a foreign country, you must remain vigilant at all times. This is the basic quality of a sergeant.

This meal was the most comfortable meal they had had since they went to sea for more than half a month.

When the banquet was about to end, Sang Mu was already six to seven points drunk. Taking advantage of the wine, he said to Li Tianxin: "Duke Li, I have a request. I hope you can help me."

As the saying goes, eating people has a short tongue. Of course, Li Tianxin knew that this meal would not be in vain. He immediately stretched out his hand and said: "City Lord, please tell me, if I can help, I will never refuse."

Sam sighed and said: "As you have seen today, our city of Lahu is located on a low and flat terrain, making it an easy target for Sinhalese cavalry to raid and plunder."

"On the plains, the Sinhalese cavalry came and went like the wind, and they were good at riding and shooting. We basically only had to be beaten, and we couldn't even chase them."

"The Sinhala cavalry has several thousand troops, which are scattered along the coast and peripheral areas of our country all year round. They are constantly harassing us as rogue bandits, killing our people and making it impossible for us to farm well." Li Tianxin felt a little helpless after hearing this. Said: "If you can grasp their whereabouts, I will be happy to help you destroy them."

"But they are following the route of rogue bandits. They have no fixed abode and are always moving around. I can't help you with this."

Sam said gratefully: "I am very grateful that Archduke Li is willing to take action for us, but just destroying a few cavalry teams does not mean much."

"The envoy from the Ming Dynasty said something that left a deep impression on me. He said that it is better to teach others how to fish than to give mermaids."

"So I was wondering... could you teach us how to make firearms so that we ourselves could be able to resist the Sinhalese cavalry."

Hearing Sang Mu's words, Xu Faming laughed and shook his head. After he translated the words to Li Tianxin, Li Tianxin also smiled bitterly.

Seeing the reaction of the two people, Sam's heart suddenly sank. Then he heard Li Tianxin speak, and Xu Faming translated: "Unfortunately, it's not that we don't want to teach, but that even if we teach you, you can't do it."

"Making firearms is not just a technical issue, it also requires a country's overall industrial level and mineral resources to support it. You currently do not have these conditions."

How can an island country without coal mines produce high-strength steel?
As for the cold weapons made of charcoal in the Tamil Kingdom, not to mention his sword, even the Yan Ling Dao equipped by the Ming Army can probably cut one in two.

Sam looked gloomy. He also knew that his idea was a bit fanciful. After all, Ceylon Island was still too small and many resources were scarce. It seemed that if he wanted to obtain firearms, he could only import them from the Ming Dynasty.

He said to Li Tianxin: "In this case, can we buy some firearms from you to use against the Sinhalese?"

Li Tianxin heard this and said seriously: "Theoretically, it's possible, but our trip this time is mainly to explore the road, and we didn't bring any extra firearms."

"But if you just want to destroy Sinhalese and unify the island of Ceylon, you don't actually need to buy firearms at all. There is another way to go."

"Because this thing is a consumable, the manufacturing cost is extremely high, and the purchase price cannot be low. If you rely on purchasing to equip the army, your national strength will become weak."

Sam asked curiously: "Which other way can we take?"

Li Tianxin smiled and said: "Enter trade cooperation with the Ming Dynasty. We, the Ming Dynasty, will send troops to help you destroy Sinhalese."

"After you unify Ceylon, you can use the mineral resources Ceylon possesses to exchange with the Ming Dynasty for the supplies you need."

"As long as we sign a cooperative trade contract, Ming Dynasty will naturally protect your safety. In the future, any intrusion and threats from any quarter will be resolved by Ming Dynasty."

Li Tianxin's words sounded like the Ming Dynasty was certainly beneficial, but the Tamil Kingdom seemed to be making a sure profit without losing anything, and Sang Mu was very excited.

But he suddenly thought that there didn't seem to be much mineral resources on Ceylon, so how many good things could be exchanged for them?

He expressed this concern, and Li Tianxin said with relief: "Although Ceylon Island's mineral resources are scarce, some of them are of no use to you, and some of them have not even been discovered by you, but they are useful to us. You can rest assured about this. "

Sam asked curiously: "I wonder what minerals Grand Duke Li is talking about?"

Li Tianxin smiled and said, "You don't even know, have you heard of Shi Nie and Titanium Iron?"

Not to mention Sangmu, even Xu Faming, a Mingren, had never heard of it. He didn't know how to translate it, so he had to transliterate it directly.

Sang Mu was really confused when he heard it. Li Tianxin described: "These two things are both black and gray stones."

"Stone can be used to make a special pen, and titanium iron can increase the strength of steel."

The so-called "stone nirvana" is later known as "graphite", which is a transitional crystal between atomic crystals, metal crystals and molecular crystals.

It has the advantages of fire resistance, conductivity, wear resistance, lubrication, and corrosion resistance. It can be used as a high-temperature metallurgical material to manufacture crucibles, electrodes, brushes, dry batteries, graphite fibers, heat exchangers, coolers, electric arc furnaces, arc lamps, and pencils. Pen refills and other items are of great use.

Ferrotitanium is also very useful. Its main component is an alloy of titanium and iron, and it also contains impurities such as aluminum, silicon, carbon, sulfur, phosphorus, and manganese.

It can be used as steelmaking deoxidizer, desulfurizer, degassing agent and alloy agent.

When added to steel as an alloying element during the steelmaking process, it can refine the structure grains, fix interstitial elements, and improve the strength of the steel.

The most abundant mineral resources in Ceylon are these two rare minerals.

After listening to Li Tianxin's words, Sang Mu's doubts disappeared and he finally started to get excited.

He said with great interest: "Duke Li, as an individual I really want to directly agree to cooperate with you, but after all, I am just a city lord. I must report this matter to His Majesty the King, who will decide whether to sign a contract with the Ming Kingdom, but I I think His Majesty the King will definitely not refuse."

Li Tianxin nodded and said: "It doesn't matter. The Ming Dynasty's envoy fleet will be here within half a year. I will leave you a letter."

"If the king agrees to sign a cooperative trade contract with Ming Dynasty, you will give the letter to the envoy."

"If the king is unwilling to cooperate, you can choose to burn the letter, or sign a cooperation contract with Ming in a private name."

When he set out, he had already made an appointment with Zhu Jianshen. Three months after their departure, Zhu Jianshen would send a fleet of envoys to follow Zheng He's route to the Western Ocean.

On the surface, it restarts exchanges and trade with Western countries. In fact, it is collecting intelligence from Western countries to prepare for future annexation.

Secondly, he also stopped by to pick them up. Before setting off, Li Tianxin had drawn the fleet's sailing route and handed it to Zhu Jianshen.

The envoy who will be sent out at that time will be Wang Zhi. After all, he has served as the admiral of Xichang for so many years and has achieved outstanding results. It is time for him to be promoted.

Li Tianxin once said that he would train him to be a talent like the Three Treasures Eunuch, and this could be regarded as fulfilling his original promise.

Sang Mu was stunned when he heard this, and asked in confusion: "Is it okay to do it privately? But with the power of my city alone, I'm afraid I won't be able to dig out enough mineral deposits."

Li Tianxin smiled brightly and said: "Of course, we are friends. The power of one city is not enough to dig out enough mineral deposits, so we will help you conquer the entire island of Ceylon."

"When the time comes, you will become the king of Ceylon. Don't you have enough capital to start cooperative trade with the Ming Dynasty?"

Hearing his words, Sam and his wife were shocked, their eyes flashed, and something called "ambition" began to grow in their hearts.

Little did he know that the "cooperative trade" proposed by Li Tianxin was actually paving the way for colonial rule.

However, his methods of colonial rule were relatively mild and not so violent and bloody.

The geographical location of Ceylon Island is so good that it can directly become the bridgehead for the Ming Dynasty to attack Tianzhu.

Although Ceylon Island is lacking in resources, Tianzhu is quite rich in resources.

As long as they can occupy even a small area in southern Tianzhu, they can directly attack here, establish a base, and then slowly immigrate here to completely devour this land.

(End of this chapter)