Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 51 The Mission's Journey North
The delegation, led by Long Huamin, set out from Macau and traveled overland to Guangzhou. They first needed to pay court to and spend money on the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Chen Bangzhan, and other officials of varying ranks. The Ministry of Rites' letter was not an imperial decree and did not hold the same authority as a customs document, so the necessary procedures, documents, and expenses had to be followed.

After paying a visit to the Guangdong officials, the Jesuit Longhua Mission traveled from Guangzhou to Hangzhou by sea, escorted by the Guangdong Navy.

Upon arriving in Hangzhou, the delegation, as usual, first visited Su Maoxiang, the governor of Zhejiang and the commander-in-chief of military affairs, and the various government offices below him, repeating the process of going through the formalities, spending money, and obtaining paperwork. Once all the necessary paperwork was completed, they then traveled the Grand Canal from Hangzhou to Tianjin. This essentially repeated the same route the letter had taken, but with some added complications not encountered in official imperial correspondence.

Long Huamin originally wanted to take the delegation to Nanzhili first.

After the Nanjing Incident, the Jesuit missionary work in China suffered a severe blow. Churches and monasteries were closed. Except for a few missionaries who were protected by Chinese believers and were able to stay in the inland, the rest were all expelled to Macau.

But the Jesuits did not give up. Since there was Xu Guangqi among the scholar-officials, there would be no problem finding a second one. So Long Huamin sent Father Ginique to Nanjing to carry out exchanges.

If they could gain the support of important officials at court and form a somewhat influential force, they would not be so besieged when facing attacks like the Nanjing Incident. At the very least, they would provide the emperor with more weighty advice when making decisions. The influence of the Junior Secretary of the Imperial Household Department and the Jiangsu Provincial Education Commissioner was still too weak.

In the spring of the 48th year of the Wanli reign, Ginnigu arrived in Nanjing with 5,000 taels of silver given to him by the Jesuits for his activities. According to his plan, he would travel to all the towns along the Grand Canal and look for like-minded people such as Xu Guangqi, Yang Tingyun, and Li Zhizao.

However, the huge expenses in Guangzhou and Hangzhou forced the Jesuit mission to abandon this expensive idea. There were more than ten important cities on the road from Hangzhou to Tianjin, so the less money they had, the better.

In the end, Long Huamin only sent Johann Adam Schall von Bell, with a small number of guards, to Nanjing to inform the Gnikardinisch Association to put the plan on hold and rush to Beijing.

Since the official letter from the Ministry of Rites only included an invitation to the Jesuits to come to Beijing to meet the emperor, and made no mention of the cargo, and Xu Guangqi's letter requesting people, money, and goods was an unopened private letter, rashly revealing it would not only be useless, but could also potentially serve as a venom to the new Minister of Rites' political enemies.

Therefore, the goods on board the ship were naturally treated as commodities by the officials guarding the checkpoints along the way. Since they were commodities, they were subject to taxes, fees, and tributes.

By the time they arrived in Tianjin, the 20,000 taels of travel expenses that the Macau Council had prepared specifically for this trip had been almost completely spent.

If one really wanted to go along the Yangtze River to Nanjing and then return to the Grand Canal, one would probably have to pay for it from the gifts offered to the emperor.

It seemed that the Jesuits and the Macau Council were well versed in the rules of Ming officialdom, even knowing to bring "travel expenses as a gift." But in reality, they only knew the basics, not the underlying meaning.

If they went to Nanjing and asked the Nanjing Jinyiwei to fly the flag of their headquarters and send them to Beijing in the name of escort, the travel expenses could be saved by at least half.

The officials guarding the checkpoints along the way did not dare to check the ships flying the Jinyiwei flag, so there was no such thing as fees and tributes.

If the Jesuit Longhua Mission went to Nanjing to bribe the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the letter from the Ministry of Rites would have played an extraordinary role.

The letter clearly stated that they were required to come to Beijing to see the emperor. It was legitimate for the Nanjing Jinyiwei to escort them to Beijing, and there would be no problems. The Jinyiwei only needed to make sure there were no Japanese pirates on the ship, and they could pretend not to know what cargo was in the cabin.

It was normal to bring tribute to the emperor. If the tax collectors and card officials could treat the cargo as merchandise, the Jinyiwei could treat the cargo as tribute. Who told the Ministry of Rites to only mention "to see the emperor" on the letter?

Almost a month after the people and goods were loaded onto the ship and they left Macau, the delegation arrived in Tianjin, marking the end of a journey full of stops and starts and constant tributes.

Tianjin, formerly known as Zhigu, was a city in the second year of the Jianwen reign of Emperor Huizong of the Ming Dynasty. Prince of Yan Zhu Di, under the pretext of "Jingnan," launched a brief battle for the throne with his nephew, Zhu Yunwen. Two years later, in the 35th year of the Hongwu reign and the 4th year of the Jianwen reign, Emperor Taizong Zhu Di ascended the throne, naming his reign Yongle. To commemorate the "Jingnan" campaign, Zhu Di changed the name of "Zhigu" to "Tianjin." "Tian" means "emperor," while "Jin" means "ferry." Thus, "Tianjin" means "the place where the emperor crossed the river." In the second year of the Yongle reign, a garrison was established in the area of ​​Xiaozhigu, southwest of the Sancha River estuary, and named Tianjin Garrison.

In the third and fourth years of the Yongle reign, Zhu Di established the Tianjin Left Guard and the Tianjin Right Guard, respectively. At the beginning of the Yongle reign, the three guards had a total of 16,000 soldiers assigned to defend the capital. It is unknown how many soldiers the three Tianjin guards had by the 48th year of the Wanli reign.

"Portuguese?" Because all kinds of cargo ships went up the river to Beijing every day, it was not until half an hour after the ship stopped that Tianjin Wei Commander Jiang Guangchun boarded the Jesuit delegation's ship with a team of guards.

"Sir, this is a letter from the Ministry of Rites." After bowing, Long Huamin handed the document from the Ministry of Rites to Jiang Guangchun.

Jiang Guangchun took the document and quickly read it through. "See the Emperor? Humph!" He didn't comment on the matter, but simply said, "You Portuguese really know how to do business."

His implication was very clear: what's in your ship is cargo.

"Sir, we understand the rules." Long Huamin produced the documents from the previous checkpoint and six silver notes worth one hundred taels each. "The notes are from Hangzhou Xuanchang, and the bank's code is included."

"Xuanchang Record, done." Jiang Guangchun nodded and accepted the document and silver note.

Xuanchangji had an excellent reputation and had branches in major cities along the Beijing-Hangzhou line, so their notes were practically equivalent to the currency in the area.

"Sir." Long Huamin took out about ten taels of silver from his pocket, which he had prepared in advance.

When silver bills were handed over, everyone from the commander of the guards to the soldiers on duty would receive a share. But when small change was handed to the steward, the steward kept it for himself.

Silver notes are the rule, and small change is a token of filial piety.

"Yes. Let's inspect the goods." Opening the hold for inspection is a necessary procedure, but if the garrison doesn't make it easy for you, it can drag on from the beginning of the month to the end of the month. "What's in it?"

"Books, cannons, muskets and some insignificant Western gadgets." Long Huamin answered honestly.

"Cannons, muskets? Sent to Liaodong?" Jiang Guangchun didn't think anything was wrong. "Where's the gunpowder?"

Artillery and firearms were not a problem. Buying or donating artillery was not a big deal, as long as the ship did not have enough propellant and was unable to attack.

"They know the rules. Only these servants brought some for self-defense." Long Huamin naturally referred to the group of mercenaries as servants.

"Very good. As long as no gunpowder is found after the inspection, you can enter the capital. However, those entering the capital must leave their muskets on board." Jiang Guangchun accepted the money and was in a good mood. "It's getting late today, so let's spend the night in Tianjin. We can go back tomorrow morning. If the city gates are closed, you will have to spend the night in the suburbs."

"Thank you, sir." Long Huamin bowed and expressed his gratitude.

(End of this chapter)