Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 109 Don’t Treat Westerners as Monkeys
After discussing official business, it was almost time for dinner. After receiving the emperor's approval, Xu Guangqi ordered the banquet to begin and sent someone to notify the five merchants.

The banquet specially prepared for Wang An was extremely luxurious, and just one table cost 1,200 taels of silver.

Xu Guangqi didn't feel bad about it. After all, it was money given by the Jesuits, and in the end it was considered that the merchants were treating themselves.

Although eunuchs are not humane, they still hope that others will respect them as men. They can call themselves slaves in front of the royal family like women, but if outsiders really treat them as women, they will probably have to start preparing their own coffins.

Xu Guangqi originally thought that only Wang An would come, so he specially invited two opera troupes according to Wang An's preferences, as well as a group of dancers and singers to accompany him drinking.

But when the Emperor and the eldest prince arrived, the singing girls and dancing girls naturally left the stage. The Emperor's reputation for having eight women at night had spread far and wide, and even Korea sent two rare beauties to the Emperor under the pretext of "sending him cooks."

The emperor was also impatient. Even though the Westerners had arrived first, he insisted that the Koreans deliver their tribute to the palace first. The implications of this are self-evident. If the singing and dancing girls' performances aroused the emperor and he wanted to have sex right then and there, would you let him do it or not? And if the woman got pregnant, whose child would it be? After all, to ensure the purity of the royal bloodline, no other men were allowed in the palace except the emperor and his sons (guards were not allowed near the harem).

After much deliberation, Xu Guangqi finally decided to only serve food and not the performance.

The merchants arrived early and waited in the living room at the back for more than half an hour before they finally saw Lord Xu. However, Lord Xu only showed up once and said a few polite words before leaving the living room and returning to his study on the pretext of being busy with official business, leaving behind only a few servants to serve them tea and water.

During their time in Beijing, the merchants had fully realized that the higher the rank of Ming officials, the less they looked down upon businessmen. But when it came to business, face meant nothing compared to money. So even if they had to wait another hour for the banquet to begin, they didn't mind. As long as they didn't cancel the banquet, they wouldn't have a problem.

Arriving in the hall, the merchants were surprised to find the main seat facing due north occupied by a strange man with a round face and a broad frame. He wore a vermilion robe, a color very similar to Lord Xu's. However, even without close inspection, one could tell that the pattern on the man's robe was a dragon, while Lord Xu's was a crane.

But they were completely mistaken. The scarlet fabric was embroidered with flying fish, not dragons. If they hadn't been specifically reminded before leaving the palace that the emperor wasn't the only man allowed to wear a "dragon robe" in Beijing, and not to shout about it casually, they might have imitated the Ming people, kneeling and kowtowing, and shouting "Long live" in a clumsy manner.

"This Lord Zhu is an official in an important position. He is specifically responsible for trade affairs. He has full authority granted by the emperor to do what you requested." Xu Guangqi had to make a sound after every word he said. When he finished speaking, he felt as disgusted as if he was blinded by greed.

Xu Guangqi consoled himself: "Although the Emperor didn't need to condescend to come here in person to discuss trade matters, it's normal for an emperor of this dynasty to have some unusual tastes." It's nothing unusual, nothing unusual.
Indeed, this was the case. Emperor Yingzong Zhu Qizhen loved knocking on doors, Emperor Xianzong Zhu Jianshen loved mature women, Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao had many elegant titles, Emperor Shizong Zhu Houcong enjoyed practicing Taoism, and Emperor Shenzong Zhu Yijun refused to attend court. After some self-deception, Xu Guangqi felt that it was not unacceptable for the current emperor to slightly violate ancestral rules.

"Lord Zhu is a much more noble lord than me." Xu Guangqi emphasized using Portugal.

"I kowtow to Lord Zhu and all the lords!" The foreign merchants had no psychological burden and kowtowed in accordance with the knowledge taught by Monks Guo and Tang.

"These red-haired devils really know how to behave." To Zhu Youxiao, these ocean savages looked very diverse. There were not only the so-called common blue eyes and white hair, but even the rare green eyes and red hair in legends.

"Don't look at people like monkeys. No matter how strange they look, they are still human beings." Zhu Changluo scolded softly.

"Your Majesty Zhu is absolutely right. The people outside the barbarians are also people. As long as they are willing to be civilized and receive education in etiquette, they can become subjects of the emperor." Xu Guangqi echoed.

Educating the barbarians and making them civilized is one of the lifelong ideals of scholars. Almost every official who has carried out such an act in a barbarian land has left his name in history. One of the important reasons Gongyin was called a sage of his time was that he taught classes and educated the barbarians while in exile in Longchang.

"I know I was wrong," Zhu Youxiao lowered his head, accepting the criticism with all his heart. Dinesh João was a diligent student, having already learned many important common sense points. For example, the Ming Dynasty respected the left. Logically, Lord Xu was an official directly under the emperor, and even if he was below Lord Zhu, he should have sat to his left. But in reality, the person sitting there was a hairless teenager.

Could it be that the so-called eunuch Wang was actually a child? The captain pondered, thinking he had figured out the key.

To arms dealer Harald Brandt, the meal was incredibly strange: Lord Zhu, seated at the head of the table, clearly showed little interest in the opera performance orchestrated by Lord Xu. The two elderly men seated to the side nodded frequently at first, but when they noticed Lord Zhu's lack of interest, they shifted their expressions, seemingly striving to align with him.

This was a difficult situation for these sea merchants. As for the content of the opera performance, they had no idea what it was about, but the social etiquette accumulated over many years of business told them that they should express their admiration for the performance prepared by Lord Xu, but doing so would go against Lord Zhu's mood.

After the performance, Master Zhu spoke up: "Let's not beat around the bush. Let's just tell us what we do."

Xu Guangqi consciously translated: "This is Dinesh Joao, a Portuguese shipowner. He owns four 1,000-ton ships, sixteen 500-ton ships, and the rest are insignificant."

"This is Harald Brandt, a Spanish national who is an arms dealer, but now he wants to open a factory. He said he has sent people back to hire gunsmiths, and he will receive a response as early as next summer." When Xu Guangqi introduced Harald Brandt, the other merchants showed surprise.

Dinesh Joao demanded, “Have you sent anyone back?”

"Hmph. Fortune and wealth are achieved through risk!" Harald Brandt's gambler's face was fully exposed.

"Quiet! Anyone who can't hold back and wants to speak can go outside." After scolding, Xu Guangqi turned his gaze to the next person: "Continue."

"This is Ryan Hobbs, also Portuguese, a mine owner."

"Mine owner? Where and what kind of mine is he digging?" Zhu Changluo asked.

"Your Excellency. He doesn't know the specific names of those mines. He only knows that they are in Ceylon and they mainly mine copper," Xu Guangqi translated.

"Next." Zhu Changluo didn't show much expression.

"This is Rogers Heydrich, a French plantation owner. He owns a sugarcane plantation and a cotton plantation in southern India near Ceylon, and the yields are quite high."

"The last one." Xu Guangqi frowned.

"What's wrong with this?"

"The last man was Władysław Amato, a slave trader."

(End of this chapter)