The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 418: Get Out If You Don’t Listen
In the cold winter, the capital was covered in ice and snow, and there were no boats or ships.

There was also a howling cold wind in the south of the Yangtze River, and it was extremely cold.

It is not very cold in Guangdong and Guangxi at this moment, especially in Macau where the Portuguese are entrenched. There is just a cool breeze and it is slightly chilly.

These colonial bandits probably never dreamed that the emperor of the Ming Empire, thousands of miles away, would actually send someone to convey his decree to them.

Wanli's imperial edict came from the snowy capital, all the way to Xuzhou, which was still unfrozen, and then boarded the navy's warships, sailed out to sea along the Yellow and Huai Rivers, and headed straight for Macau.

As the New Year approached, hundreds of naval warships brought the imperial edict to Macau.

The Portuguese don't celebrate the Lunar New Year, so there's nothing wrong with coming to them now.

The problem is that the Ming navy has hundreds of warships.

They were afraid of this kind of rowing warship because they had been beaten by this kind of warship four times.

Hundreds of ships came rushing over at once, so densely packed that they blocked the entire harbor. Their merchant ships seemed to be trembling in the waves.

What is the Ming Empire trying to do?

The Portuguese captain De Sierra was terrified. He had only a hundred soldiers under his command, and the Ming Empire had several times more warships than his soldiers. He was so scared that he dared not move.

As a result, the Ming Empire did not take any action, but a large group of people came towards him, carrying a man holding a yellow cloth scroll.

He was confused when the translator they had invited hurriedly pulled his sleeve and said, "Captain, kneel down quickly. This is the imperial decree of His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Empire."

Why should I kneel down to listen to the imperial edict of your Emperor of the Ming Empire?
When Deshala saw the countless Ming soldiers surrounding him, he immediately knelt down like an interpreter.

The man holding the yellow scroll read a lot of gibberish, but he didn't understand a word.

Fortunately, after hearing the imperial edict, the translator immediately leaned over and whispered, "Our Great Ming Empire Emperor orders you to send an envoy to Beijing to meet him."

Send an envoy to the capital of the Ming Dynasty?

Upon hearing this, Desela couldn't help but ask, "Can we just send anyone?"

Are you kidding? How can you just send anyone there?

The translator shook his head repeatedly and said, "No, you can't just send anyone. Our Emperor must have something to ask you. You have to send someone who can make the decision."

Still have to be able to make the decision?

I am the one who has the final say here.

Hearing this, Deshla said nervously, "You mean, I should go?"

His rank of captain is actually slightly different from the rank of captain in later generations.

At this moment, the captain on the European continent means both superior and leader, that is, the person in charge sent by the European colonial countries to those colonial outposts.

A colonial outpost is a place that is not large enough to be called a colony.

If it was a colony like Luzon and Goa, the governor would be in charge.

De Sierra is also the head of the colonial outpost in Macau, and he is the only one who has the final say here.

The translator thought for a moment and nodded, "Captain, you'd better go."

Ah, you really want me to go?
Desela said with some fear, "It's said that your emperor likes to chop people down. Will he chop me down?"

The officials you deal with would only say this if they have something fishy going on.

There is no such thing as an envoy hacking indiscriminately.

The translator shook his head repeatedly and said, "Captain, rest assured. Our Great Ming is a nation of propriety. Even when two countries are at war, envoys are not executed. Moreover, our Great Ming Empire is not at war with you right now. Our Emperor will not chop you down."

That's it.

Desela looked at the densely packed Ming army soldiers around him, gritted his teeth and nodded, "Okay, I'll go with them. You tell them I need to go and make some preparations."

The translator quickly said, "Then quickly obey my orders."

Is this imperial edict for me?

The imperial edict of the Ming Emperor must be very valuable. If it is brought back to Europe, it can probably be sold for at least several thousand or tens of thousands of taels.

If it were put up for auction, it could fetch thousands or even tens of thousands of pounds.

This treasure must be kept well.

Desela received the imperial edict, took his translator with him, and followed the Ming navy's express ship to the capital.

Along the way, he witnessed the vast territory of the Ming Empire.

The Ming Navy's express boat pulled them day and night for nearly ten days before they arrived at a large transit city. Then, they boarded a horse-drawn carriage and rode for nearly ten days before they arrived at the indescribably large Ming capital.

The New Year holidays are over by this time.

When Wanli heard that the Portuguese envoy had arrived, he did not hang him out to dry like clothes.

The next morning, around noon, he ordered the Portuguese envoy to be brought into the palace and taken to a side hall reserved for receiving court officials. De Serra and the translator fell to the ground as soon as they entered.

However, both of these guys seemed to be trembling.

They were not shivering with fear, they were just shivering with cold.

In Macau, you only need to wear two pieces of clothing at most all year round, and you don’t need to wear too thick clothes. They don’t have cotton-padded clothes to keep out the cold.

Fortunately, the Ming navy officers and soldiers saw that they were freezing when they arrived in Xuzhou, so they specially gave them two sets of sheepskin coats and uniforms.

The sheepskin coats and military uniforms were warm, but it would take them a while to adapt after coming from Macau where the temperature was over 10 or 20 degrees Celsius to Beijing where the temperature was below 10 or 20 degrees Celsius.

When the cold wind blows outside, they can't help but shiver.

Seeing the two men kneeling on the ground and trembling, Wanli couldn't help but ask curiously, "What happened to you?"

The translator quickly explained, "Your Majesty, we can't stand the cold wind right now. We shiver uncontrollably if we do, but it will be fine after a while."

Oh, it turned out to be the wind. I thought you were frightened by someone.

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "What's your name, and where are you from?"

The translator quickly introduced himself: "I am Huang Cheng, a native of Zhangzhou Prefecture, Fujian Province."

People over there really like to go out.

Wanli nodded slightly, then said solemnly, "Tell him that our navy ships discovered the Portuguese cannons they sold to pirates while they were suppressing them. What do they mean by that? Are they deliberately trying to cause trouble for our Ming Dynasty?"

what?
How does this involve pirates?
After listening to Huang Cheng's translation, Desela quickly explained, "I didn't know they were pirates. I'm just a businessman. We sell to people who want to buy. Your Majesty, if you want to buy artillery from us, we will sell it to you too."

Are you still selling your muzzle-loading cannons to me?

just kidding.

I don't want it even if it's given to me for free.

Upon hearing this, Wanli said coldly, "You are doing business in the Ming Dynasty without the approval of the Ming Dynasty court, and you haven't paid customs duties. Do you think you can do business in the Ming Dynasty by giving some money to local officials?"

The Emperor of the Ming Empire seems to be very dissatisfied with them. What should they do?
Deshla lay there with his eyes rolling around, not knowing what to say.

Wanli suddenly asked again: "Your Portugal has been destroyed a long time ago, right?"

Huang Cheng was shocked when he heard this.

Did Portugal perish?
Upon hearing this, Desira's eyes became flustered and he shook his head repeatedly, saying, "No, no, we are only temporarily ruled by the King of Spain."

The beating was almost enough and the guy was getting panicked.

Upon seeing this, Wanli said solemnly, "You may do business in the Ming Dynasty, but you must agree to a few conditions."

Oh, so you don’t want to chase us away.

Desela quickly asked, "Your Majesty, what are the conditions?"

Wanli held up a finger and said, "First, you must pay the customs duties, 50% of the transaction price."

Uh, this.

Well, for Ming Dynasty merchants going to Europe, the price would be several times higher, which is considered a small amount.

Deshera gritted his teeth and nodded, "Okay, Your Majesty."

Wanli suddenly asked, "You have colonies in America, right?"

What does this mean?
Desela nodded slowly and said, "Yes, we have colonies in America."

Wanli pointed again and said, "I need a lot of plant seeds over there. Please send someone to lead my fleet there."

This is indeed true.

He needed seeds of sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, rubber and other plants, which were important for resisting the Little Ice Age and developing industry.

However, he needed a route to America more, which was very important for the subsequent maritime hegemony.

Deshla hesitated when he heard this.

He certainly knew the importance of waterways.

Upon seeing this, Wanli immediately frowned and said coldly, "Is it difficult for you to send someone to lead my fleet to America?
In a word, lead the way or not? If not, get out of the Ming Dynasty. From now on, the Ming Dynasty navy will attack you when they see you. Don't even think about making a penny from the Ming Dynasty anymore."

what?
So serious!
After hearing this, Desela thought about it carefully, gritted his teeth and nodded, saying, "Okay, I'll send someone to lead the way for you."

That's more or less.

That's it for now. He still has to attack the Japanese mainland and has no time to expand overseas right now.

Wanli nodded slightly, then waved his hand, signaling them to leave.

(End of this chapter)