golden scales

After Yuan Zongdi assisted in the recovery of Taiyuan, he followed Xingyuan.Later, the crown prince Xingyuan moved to Zhending, but he stayed in Taiyuan.Although there is a Ming army standing guard at the door, it looks like he is under house arrest, but as long as he does not go out, his servants go out to buy and sell things, or have old friends come and visit, he will not be made things difficult.

The imperial court did keep its promise and pardoned Yuan Zongdi for the crime of rebellion and deprived him of the pseudo-nobility, but no one came out to criticize him when he was called "Marquis".Sometimes official figures come here, and some call him "Mianhou".At such a time, Yuan Zongdi could only express that he did not dare, and at the same time repent for what he had done in the past.However, he soon discovered that those who called him "Mianhou" didn't take him seriously, nor did they intend to poke his scars.

This feeling of being ignored suddenly made Yuan Zongdi feel quite powerless.

Finally, news of the death of the old master Li Zicheng reached Taiyuan, and Yuan Zongdi knew that his peaceful life was coming to an end.Thinking of the heavy responsibility once again, and the treacherous mountains, he was a little excited, leaning against the door every day, waiting for the order of the crown prince.

Finally, the envoy from Zhending stood in front of Yuan Zongdi and presented His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's handwritten letter.

Yuan Zongdi had already prepared his luggage and bid farewell to his family. The gate of the city was only opened the next morning, and he left Taiyuan with his entourage and guards, and galloped southward.His task is to contact Liu Zongmin, Tian Wenxiu and other main force in Sichuan.

The situation of Liu Fangliang and Yuan Zongdi was similar, but he had to go to Gansu to find Li Jin (Li Guo) and Gao Yigong. The journey was longer and he had to pass through the Qing army-controlled area, so the degree of danger was greater.

After Wu Sangui broke through Yan'an, Li Jin and Gao Yigong's road to the south was cut off.Therefore, they could only retreat from northern Shaanxi to Ningxia Wei, and then from Ningxia Wei to Lanzhou to join forces with Zaihou Dangshousu.This is also the way the two of them walked in the original historical script, but in the original historical script, He Zhen once surrendered.Sniping Li Jin, Gao Yigong, and Dang Shousu in Hanzhong, but now He Zhen is still a loyal minister and good general of the Shun Army.

Liu Fangliang's task was to rush to Lanzhou and persuade Li Jin, Gao Yigong, and Dang Shousu to return to Daming.With this army of nearly [-] people guarding the northwest, together with Milayin and Ding Guodong stationed in Ganzhou, the Qing army will not bump into it easily.

According to the original historical script, Mi Layin and Ding Guodong were initially guards of the Ming Dynasty.Later surrendered to Dashun, and then surrendered to Manchu.After Dorgon issued the hair-shaving order, the army had to shave their hair, which aroused the so-called "Northwest Rebellion".

Today's Qing army is definitely unable to advance westward, and this famous historical event will naturally not happen.

As for the He Zhen Department in Hanzhong, after hearing the news of Li Zicheng's death, they immediately united with Luo Dai, Dang Meng'an, Guo Dengxian and other confidant lieutenants to report the uprising and defected to Ming Dynasty.Sun Shoufa, the defender of Hanzhong, took over He Zhen's troops and occupied the dangerous pass city.Even if He Zhen wanted to repeat herself, she still had to shed a layer of skin.

However, because of Zhu Cihong's accumulated reputation, He Zhen was very calm.After Yuan Zongdi arrived in Hanzhong, he met with He Zhen overnight, and He Zhen finally chose to settle down in Hanzhong and retire from the army, becoming a big landlord.Like him, his confidants and lieutenants chose to use the land to live a peaceful life.The family members who followed him naturally became his tenant farmers, and a few people were also allocated their own land.

The last remaining thousands of soldiers.Or don't want to farm, or have no land to grow.They were all assigned to the Sun Law-abiding Department.On the one hand, Sun Shoufa developed the military station in the station, and on the other hand, he had the food support from Huguang. He would not refuse the expansion of the thousands of Malays. To shoulder the important task of Hanzhong defensive war.

……

In June of the 18th year of Chongzhen.The summer harvest is just around the corner, and the southwest wind is blowing. Large ships loaded with grain sail from Hoi An, Vietnam ([-] kilometers south of Da Nang today) to Guangdong in the monsoon.

At the prow of one of the large ships stood a man with a long beard.The middle-aged man wearing a Confucian scarf, his surname is Shen and his name is Yiwen, is the distant nephew of Shen Yulong, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, and the governor of Guangdong. He is also related to Shen Tingyang, the admiral of the Shandong Navy.After winning the Juye, Shen Yiwen didn't care about the imperial examination, and went to the family uncle Shen Youlong's curtain to be in charge of money, grain and civil affairs.The reason why he appeared in this fleet was that he was ordered by Shen Youlong to go to Hoi An, Vietnam to raise food.

At this time, Vietnam was in the separatist regime of North Zheng and South Ruan. In order to fight against the Zheng family in the north, the Ruan family opened a port in Hoi An to attract merchants from all over the world and enrich the country.Therefore, Hoi An has become an important trading port in Southeast Asia. Because it is only seven days away from Qiongzhou (Hainan Province) by sea, and it only takes half a month to get to Guangdong with the wind, many Ming merchants settled in Hoi An.

After Shen Yiwen arrived in Hoi An, he felt that there was almost no difference between this place and the prefectures and counties in Guangdong, especially the Ming Township Society where Ming people gathered. If you pay attention, you will forget that you are in a foreign country.

Some of these Ming Dynasty merchants have been operating here for decades, and some have lived in Annan for several generations and controlled a large number of fields.Under the influence of the Little Ice Age, Hoi An, which is located in the tropics, has bumper harvests year after year.Because the profit of grain resale is not high, merchants are not keen on purchasing a large amount of grain. For them, it is king to load the maximum amount of high-priced goods with limited space.

However, what Daming lacks now is food, which is also the main purpose of Shen Youlong sending Shen Yiwen to communicate with Anming Shang.

As a semi-official envoy, Shen Yiwen also brought the conditions promised by Shen Youlong as the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi: as long as the Ming merchants can do their best for the country, he will speak to the imperial court as the governor and ask the imperial court to grant these aliens asylum.

Shen Yiwen once felt that this promise was too expensive, even if those merchants lost their fortunes, it would not be enough to repay Hao Dang Long En.Unexpectedly, after arriving in Hoi An, he found that he was the envoy of the governor, and he couldn't even see the real big boss of the Ming business in Hoi An.This kind of loss made Shen Yiwen wish he could go back and report to the governor, so that he could mobilize a large army of heavenly soldiers to sweep him up.

However, after two months of searching around, Shen Yiwen finally found that he was a frog in a well, completely unaware of the status of these Chinese businessmen in Hoi An.

Hoi An is a port city, and the ruler with real power is "Weng Gaixian" stationed by the Nguyen family.Weng Gaixin is responsible for the management of "Tang people" and all ship affairs, and has civil, judicial and taxation rights.However, Weng Gaifu could not really manage the Chinese businessmen living in Hoi An simply by relying on the "Guanan" - the soldiers under his jurisdiction.

As a matter of fact, as early as the Jiajing period, Chen Quanzhi, a Cantonese, proposed that the imperial court confer official positions, and that maritime merchants from Guangdong, Fujian and other places "divide land and establish houses" in Champa, and protect Champa from the Ruan family. Invasion, outside became the Indian Ocean bridgehead, transportation of local products, transshipment trade.According to what Chen Quanzhi said: Within a few years, the Ming court will send officials and managers here, and draw points from the example to enrich the country and the people.

It was impossible for this naked colonialist argument to gain support in the Jiajing Dynasty, so naturally it was left alone.But this also shows the strength of the Ming merchants in Southeast Asia—they only need the Ming court to give them a name, and they can handle everything else by themselves, and even influence the fate of several small countries.

With such strength, perhaps Shen Youlong can still receive the respect he deserves when he comes to Hoi An in person.As an aide, it is already a great deal of face for someone to send a butler to deal with it.

After clearly identifying the situation, Shen Yiwen adjusted his mentality in time, asked the wealthy merchants to take care of him, and at the same time contacted the small merchants with no deep foundation, promised benefits, and finally successfully completed the grain procurement task.However, the shock brought to him by this trip has completely impacted the sense of happiness of fulfilling his mission.

"Isn't Mr. Shen afraid of the strong wind at the bow of the ship?" Li Daiwen, another of Shen Youlong's staff and neighbor in the same neighborhood, walked to Shen Yiwen's side and laughed loudly.

Shen Yiwen turned his head and chuckled at the deputy, turned his eyes to the vast sea again, and suddenly asked: "Brother Doubt, how long has Annan betrayed me, Daming?"

Li Daiwen, as a staff member who is not in charge of special affairs, what he wants is a mixed knowledge, no matter what he wants to be able to say one, two, three.He thought about it, and said: "It has been more than [-] years since the imperial court formally abolished Jiaozhi Chief Envoy in the third year of Xuande."

Shen Yiwen responded: "210 seven years."

"Mr. Shen forced it!" Li Daiwen said with a smile.

"It hasn't been long." Shen Yiwen felt an inexplicable feeling in his heart, his whole scalp was numb, and the six words "Jiaozhi chief envoy" kept circling in his mind, and he almost blurted out. (to be continued..)

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