Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Sun Yuanhua, who was sent by Zhu Youjian to the West, set off in September.

Since being designated as an envoy in June, Sun Yuanhua actively prepared and carefully took note of the tasks assigned to him by the emperor.

He also communicated with missionaries such as Long Huamin, and according to their instructions, selected six ships that could be used for ocean voyages from the navy, and asked Tianjin's shipbuilding craftsmen to modify them to meet the requirements of the mission.

Many officials objected to this. They thought that either they should not send an envoy, or they should build a huge ship to show the power of the Ming Dynasty. Just like the enthronement of the King of Ryukyu, they should spend several years to build the ship.

Zhu Youjian ignored this idiotic speech. He also released Ruan Dacheng, who was originally planned to be exiled overseas, and appointed him as the deputy envoy in charge of cultural exchanges.

This person was quite talented in drama, and Zhu Youjian wanted to collect Western musical instruments and dramas, so he made use of him and threw him into the diplomatic team.

Some eunuchs who were loyal to Wei Zhongxian, such as Liu Yingkun and Ge Jiusi, were also punished in the same way. They were appointed as the emperor's personal envoys to the Vatican.

After several months of training and preparation, and after Xu Guangqi revised and printed the Four Books translated by Matteo Ricci, Sun Yuanhua, Ruan Dacheng and others, carrying gifts and commodities such as books, silk and porcelain, headed south in a mighty procession.

When they arrived in Fujian, they rested in Yuegang and waited for another deputy envoy, Xu Xianchun, to join the delegation.

Xu Xianchun had finally adapted to life in Dongning and was unwilling to go on a diplomatic mission to the West because he knew the dangers at sea and that many people had died during the development of Dongning.

But after learning that the emperor wanted him to go on a diplomatic mission in the name of a royal relative and earl, he quickly agreed. Because according to his understanding of the current emperor, with this title, as long as he made contributions in the future, he would have a great chance of obtaining the title of earl.

So he left Dongning, where he had just adapted, and joined the diplomatic team, serving as the military attaché of the mission and concurrently as deputy envoy.

His main duty was to use his status as a noble relative to communicate with Western nobles, so as to avoid sending out civil officials who would not be able to communicate with the nobles.

At the same time, Xu Xianchun also took charge of the military forces of the delegation as the commander of the Jinyiwei, and collected intelligence from the West with eunuchs such as Liu Yingkun and Ge Jiusi.

When several eunuch party criminals met in the diplomatic fleet, they all looked at each other and sighed.

None of them expected to meet again in this place.

After asking about each person's situation and learning that Huo Weihua, Tian Ergeng and others were planning to go to Liaodong to fight and use their merits to clear their names, Liu Yingkun, who had served as the eunuch in charge of Liaodong, said:
"I still have some connections in Liaodong. Even though they may not recognize me, I can try to contact them."

"I'll write a few letters and have someone deliver them to Mr. Huo later."

Ge Jiusi also said:

"When I was at Xuan University, I had a pretty good relationship with Qin Shiwen. He is now the Minister of War. He should be able to help out for our past friendship."

"We are in this situation, so we should help each other."

When Qin Shiwen was promoted from the governor of Xuanfu to the Ministry of War, he made a lot of efforts. And because Qin Shiwen spoke well of him, the emperor thought he had some ability and got the opportunity to go on this mission.

Although this journey was quite dangerous, it was a rare opportunity for these eunuchs and criminals.

The emperor has promised that as long as they can complete their diplomatic mission and stay in the West for more than ten years, they will be granted hereditary titles of knighthood, which will be inherited by their brothers and nephews.

Liu Yingkun and Ge Jiusi took this mission very seriously in order to enrich their families and be worshipped in the ancestral temple for generations. They not only selected many exquisite objects from the palace as gifts for the Vatican, but also learned Latin used by the Vatican from Sun Yuanhua, Long Huamin and others.

After Xu Xianchun joined the delegation, he was taken by them to learn Latin.

This is also the reason why Sun Yuanhua is not too worried about so many remnants of the eunuch party.

After all, he is the teacher of these people, and his status naturally suppresses them.

Moreover, as the plenipotentiary ambassador appointed by the emperor, he had the imperial sword and seal, and was accompanied by martial arts masters selected from the martial arts conference.

Even if Ruan Dacheng, Xu Xianchun, Liu Yingkun and Ge Jiusi joined forces, they could not threaten his position in the delegation. Instead, they had to ask him for help in order to complete the mission.

After mutual communication and coordination, the fleet continued to move south and soon arrived at Xiangshan Bay.

Here they rested for a while and planned to go to Goa with a fleet familiar with the route, and then from Goa to Lisbon.

When the citizens of Xiangshan'ao saw the Ming Dynasty delegation, they welcomed them very much.

After being skeptical about the free trade zone in the early stages, the citizens of Xiangshanao now strongly support the establishment of the free trade zone.

After the establishment of the free trade zone, not only were their interests not infringed upon, but many people also gained the right to vote and be elected, improving their status.

The citizens of Xiangshan'ao have now elected a provisional parliament, and formulated autonomous laws for the free trade zone in accordance with the emperor's request.

After hearing the decree brought by Sun Yuanhua from the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, which determined that the Portuguese who had donated money to become officials would enjoy all the rights and interests of Ming officials overseas and could serve as Ming officials.

Many merchants in Xiangshan'ao were even more delighted and asked to donate to the Ming Dynasty officials on the spot.

For these wealthy sea merchants, one thousand taels of silver was not a big problem at all.

They just didn't think it was necessary before, so they weren't proactive enough about it.

Now that they knew that these foreign officials enjoyed all the rights and interests of Ming officials while overseas, except that they needed to report when entering and leaving the Ming Dynasty, these people could not sit still and actively donated to become officials.

While some merchants were holding other plans, thousands of people in the small city of Xiangshan'ao donated money to Zhu Youjian's inner treasury, bringing a million taels of silver.

It can be said that there is a source of immigration funds for next year.

Sun Yuanhua did not understand why they were so active in donating to the government. After asking, he found out that the Portuguese merchants in Xiangshan'ao were not having an easy time.

Their interests in Southeast Asia were severely squeezed by the Dutch, and even Xiangshan'ao was invaded by the Dutch several times.

After hearing this, Xu Xianchun, who came from Dongning, immediately said:

"The Dutch have surrendered in Dongning and have all been relocated to Xiangjiang Island."

"From now on, they have a place to stay and will no longer covet Xiangshan Bay."

Upon hearing this, the Portuguese people shook their heads.

They had known about this for a long time, and this was even the reason why they established a free trade zone as requested by the Ming Emperor.

If Xiangshan Bay does not establish a free trade zone, it will face pressure from the Xiangjiang Island Free Trade Zone.

Moreover, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty might send troops to drive them out.

In order to protect their rights and interests in Xiangshan Bay, they followed the advice of Jesuit missionaries and reorganized Xiangshan Bay into a free trade zone.

Peter Luo, a citizen of Xiangshanao who was elected to the Provisional Parliament, said:

"The Dutch attacked Xiangshan'ao not only because they coveted the interests of Xiangshan'ao."

"Also because they are fighting the Spanish. The two countries are at war."

"Our business in Nanyang has been greatly damaged." "Xiangshan'ao is now far less prosperous than before."

Xu Xianchun was puzzled and asked:

"Aren't you Portuguese?"

"What does the war between the Dutch and the Spanish have to do with you?"

Another councillor, Agostinho, said:
"Although we are Portuguese, Portugal and Spain now have the same king."

"Before, the Ming Dynasty also called us and the Spaniards the Portuguese."

"Thanks to the Ming Emperor for separating Portugal and Spain!"

This was something that made them very happy. The Portuguese in Xiangshanao generally did not agree with the rule of the Spanish king.

Otherwise, they would not have held on to their power in Xiangshanao and prevented the Spanish from interfering.

They were even unwilling to interfere with the Portuguese-Indian Governor-General and boycotted the Governor of Xiangshanao sent by the Portuguese-Indian Governor-General, limiting the Governor's power to defense.

Now after being reorganized into a free trade zone, they have completely deprived the Governor of Xiangshanao of his power. The parliament has appointed a defense captain, who is responsible for the defense of Xiangshanao together with the Qianhusuo sent by the Ming Dynasty.

It can be said that in today's Xiangshanao, with few public officials from the Ming Dynasty and other countries, power is almost entirely seized by Jesuit priests and Xiangshanao citizens.

This is also the reason why many people actively donated money to the government and welcomed the delegation sent by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

They all hoped that this situation could be stabilized so that they could enjoy the rights and interests of this area under the protection of the Ming Emperor.

Many people even feel fortunate that they listened to the Jesuit priests’ advice and reorganized Xiangshan Bay into a free trade zone.

Today, this place is a paradise for Portuguese merchants, and has even attracted many Portuguese merchants from Southeast Asia to settle here.

Sun Yuanhua listened to their explanations and gradually understood what these people were thinking.

Today, Portugal has been annexed by Spain as a co-owner, but the Portuguese are not satisfied with this situation.

There are many reasons for this, the main one being that the war between Spain and the Netherlands and other countries brought a huge financial crisis to Spain.

The annexed Portugal also had to pay a lot more taxes.

Moreover, the Dutch attacked their colonial outposts around the world.

The merger with Spain has no benefits at all, but has added a lot of burdens. The Portuguese are now increasingly dissatisfied, and many are already preparing for independence.

In Xiangshanao, which was squeezed by the Dutch in the South Seas and even invaded by the Dutch several times, almost everyone in favor of Portugal's independence from Spain and no longer being under the pressure of war.

This is also the reason why the Xiangshanao Free Trade Zone was established. After they found that the Ming Emperor kept his promise to allow them to govern themselves, they became more and more in agreement with the Free Trade Zone.

Because they have felt that the danger of war is getting away from them. In addition, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty did not impose much tax on the free trade zone, mainly collecting land rent and berthing fees. In fact, due to historical reasons, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty also confirmed the ownership of houses and land for some people, allowing them to continue to operate without paying rent.

This makes them very satisfied with the organizational form of the free trade zone, and they are preparing to turn more places into free trade zones.

This was the situation Sun Yuanhua encountered, because he found that some Portuguese businessmen were asking indirectly whether they were willing to turn Malacca into a free trade zone of the Ming Dynasty.

This surprised him and he asked:
“Why do you want to turn Malacca into a free trade zone?”

"Is that also being invaded by the Dutch?"

These Portuguese merchants said excitedly:
"Malaka was under attack from the Dutch and the Kingdom of Johor."

"Also, the Aceh Kingdom on the southern island has become stronger and wants to compete for Malacca."

"We have already fought a war this year, and there may be a larger war next year."

Not many Portuguese people were confident about the upcoming war, especially the merchants, who generally had no confidence in the soldiers.

After all, there were too many soldiers from Aceh, at least 260, while the Portuguese garrison in Malacca only had men.

What they don’t know now is that the Kingdom of Johor will help them defend Malacca because they are afraid that the Acehnese will gain power.

Many Portuguese businessmen believe that only by transforming into a free trade zone like the Ming Dynasty can their interests be protected.

As a disciple of Xu Guangqi, Sun Yuanhua understood many things in the court. He knew that the emperor had established the Governor of Nanyang and attached great importance to the development of Nanyang.

Malacca was an important place, and the emperor could not help but like it, so he said to these Portuguese merchants:
"Although I cannot make any guarantees, if a citizen of Malacca requests it, your Majesty will most likely agree to it."

"Malaka was a transit point for Zheng He's voyages to the West. Your Majesty will be happy to recapture it."

(Zheng He's Voyages to the West)
Since accepting the mission to the West, Sun Yuanhua has conducted in-depth research on Zheng He's voyages to the West and learned that the Ming Dynasty had established a foreign government and built city warehouses in Malacca.

If he could take this place back, it would be a great achievement.

Xu Xianchun and the others were even happier. They had not expected that they would receive a ready-made reward before leaving the coastal waters of Daming.
"I am your Majesty's relative and the commander of the Imperial Guard. I can write a letter for you and present it to your Majesty through the Imperial Guard."

"But you have to guarantee that what you just said is true. Malacca is willing to take the initiative to become a free trade zone of Ming Dynasty."

These businessmen were very happy when they heard this. Not to mention Sun Yuanhua's statement, Xu Xianchun's identity made them trust him even more.

They didn't know that Xu Xianchun had been exiled overseas because of his status as a member of the eunuch party, so they attached great importance to this relative of the emperor. And after learning of his status as the commander of the Jinyiwei, they were even more in awe of him.

Because after the establishment of the Xiangshanao Weiwei Office, they knew that the Weiwei Office was a subordinate of the Weiwei Temple. The Weiwei Temple in the capital was the Western Office of the Jinyiwei, and the chief officer was concurrently the commander of the Jinyiwei.

Compared in this way, Xu Xianchun's status is similar to that of the Minister of the Imperial Guards, and he is a big shot in their eyes.

So they treated Xu Xianchun with more respect than Sun Yuanhua—

After all, no matter how high Sun Yuanhua's position was, he couldn't control them. Xu Xianchun, a Jinyiwei, could possibly interfere with the Weiwei Office in Xiangshan'ao through the Weiwei Temple.

It can be said that Xu Xianchun relied on his status and quickly established his first merit.

The requests of the Portuguese and Malacca citizens were quickly transmitted to the capital through the Jinyiwei channels.

Zhu Youjian, who was in charge of the reform of the Five Academies in the capital, received this good news with a lot of doubts.

Because he really couldn't imagine that the important land of Malacca would be given to him by Portuguese merchants without him having to fight for it himself.

This forced him to think about how to deal with this matter. (End of this chapter)