Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

South of Wenhua Hall is the Red Book Repository.

"Your Highness, we've found it!"

The librarian presented Lu Chen with a stack of long-forgotten documents.

"Go down."

Lu Chen waved his hand, and the librarian quickly withdrew.

These documents are copies of the investiture documents, official seals, and seals of the Jiugang Pacification Commissioner, which were kept in the imperial archives when Shi Jinqing was appointed as the Third-Rank Jiugang Pacification Commissioner in the fifth year of the Yongle reign.

"Take a close look and draw what needs to be drawn."

After looking through it once, Lu Chen casually handed it to the middle-aged man standing to the side.

"How many days would it take to produce an exact replica of the original investiture document, the tally, and the seal of the Pacification Commissioner?"

"Return to Your Highness, seven days..."

The middle-aged man glanced at it briefly and quickly replied.

"No, I can definitely do it within five days."

"I'll give you ten days!"

Lu Chen thought for a moment,

"The investiture document dates back to the Yongle reign, more than 130 years ago."

This copy is in the Imperial Palace's red book archives, and although the preservation conditions are already very good, it still inevitably shows some signs of age.

The original copy had experienced many hardships in Southeast Asia, and given the hot and humid climate there, it should be even older than this copy.

The seal placed on the document must be exactly the same as the original seal, so that it can withstand comparison.

What I want is for it to be done flawlessly!

"Your Highness, please rest assured."

The middle-aged man immediately knelt down.

"For ten whole days, if the things I make cannot pass for the real thing, I am willing to die."

. . .

Inside an inn near the pier on Liuhang Island.

"Please take a look, you two."

Xu Quan placed a package on the table and carefully opened it.

"Old Xu is always good at pretending to be mysterious."

A man with a thick beard approached.

"I'd like to see what rare treasures you've managed to acquire!"

"Bichuan, Old Xu is a calm and collected person. Since he has called you and me here so solemnly, this thing must be extraordinary."

The speaker was a middle-aged man in his thirties, dressed like a scholar.

As the package was unpacked layer by layer, the contents were finally revealed.

There were two scrolls of documents, and a square copper seal with a knob that was 2.7 inches square and 6 fen thick.

"It looks like an official seal!"

Ye Bichuan picked up the bronze seal, walked to the window, and examined it carefully in the sunlight.

"Old Xu, where did you get this?"

"Today I ran into an acquaintance at a tavern run by the Portuguese on the island."

Xu Quan took the bronze seal back from Ye Bichuan.

"This man's surname is Qin. He is a steward of the Lin family. When the Lin family first came to the island and hired me as a guide, he was by the side of that ship owner from the mainland."

It's rare to run into an old friend, so we two naturally have to have a good drink together.

After a few rounds of drinks, Brother Qin became more talkative and started telling me about his experience traveling to Malacca in Southeast Asia last year.

We've all heard of Malacca. It was the closest stronghold the Portuguese had to the Ming Dynasty. The Portuguese on Six Heng Island all came from there.

The Lin family's fleet set sail from Shuangyu Port to Malacca, and sailed on the sea for more than forty days. That place is several times farther than Hirado, Japan, which we have visited.

The Lin family's business is indeed very large. Brother Qin's trip to Malacca this time was to set up a trading post for the Lin family there.

On their return journey from Malacca to Shuangyu Port, the Lin family's fleet passed through a place called Old Port, where thousands of households and tens of thousands of Han Chinese lived.

Most of these Han Chinese migrated to Southeast Asia during the Song and Yuan dynasties to avoid disaster.

In the early years of the Yongle reign, Shi Jinqing, a local Han Chinese leader, assisted the eunuch Zheng He in suppressing pirates and providing supplies for the imperial fleet. He was then appointed by the Yongle Emperor as a hereditary Pacification Commissioner of the third rank and in charge of the Jiugang Pacification Commission.

After the death of Eunuch Sanbao, the imperial court stopped sending fleets to the Western Ocean. The Old Port Pacification Commission lost the protection of the imperial court and was destroyed by the Majapahit Kingdom of Java.

Now the Majapahit Kingdom has also perished, and Old Port has become a tributary state of the Danmu Kingdom. Local officials are local Han Chinese who pay taxes to the Danmu Kingdom.

The Lin family fleet stayed in the old port for several days to resupply. While the Qin brothers were gambling at a local gambling den, they saw a local rich young master who had lost so much that he stole antiques from his home, intending to pawn them to the gambling den for some money.

The gambling den refused to accept it, saying that the item was a fake and the real one had been gone from Old Port for over a century.

When the Qin brothers heard that it was an antique from a hundred years ago, they became interested and secretly approached the rich young master to ask for it to take a look.

Upon seeing this, Brother Qin immediately spent fifty taels of silver to buy the items.

"This official seal of the Ming Dynasty was actually purchased in Southeast Asia, thousands of miles away?"

The middle-aged man dressed as a scholar took the bronze seal from Xu Quan and examined its surface carefully.

"It's Nine-Fold Seal Script! The strokes are twisted and folded, filling the entire seal surface!"

The official seals of the Ming Dynasty all used this font. The workmanship of this seal is so exquisite that it doesn't seem to be a fake.

Unfortunately, I haven't studied this seal script and don't recognize it.

"Brother Wang, look at the back; there are inscriptions in regular script."

Xu Quan pointed to the bronze seal in the other person's hand.

"This is?"

The middle-aged man surnamed Wang turned the copper seal over.

"The seal of the Old Port Pacification Commissioner!"

Sure enough, on the left side of the straight knob, the seven large characters "Seal of the Old Port Pacification Commissioner's Office" were engraved in regular script, while on the right side it read "Made by the Ministry of Rites in the fifth year of Yongle"!

"Brother Wang, please take another look at these two volumes of documents."

Xu Quan unfolded and flattened the two somewhat worn volumes of documents.

"They're all in regular script, you'll definitely be able to understand them."

"This document is the imperial edict conferring upon Shi Jinqing the title of Pacification Commissioner of Old Port."

The middle-aged man surnamed Wang leaned closer to examine it carefully.

"The other document is a certificate issued by the imperial court to Shi Erjie, the Pacification Commissioner of Old Port, during the Xuande era."

Old Xu, these things are so well made. I've never seen this document and tally before, but I have seen the official seal on the notice. Although the characters are different, the font and format are exactly the same.

I don't think these three things are fake!

"If this item was purchased from Southeast Asia by Manager Qin of the Lin family, how did it end up in your hands?"

"Brother Qin was indeed drunk, and he told me his original plan."

Xu Quan laughed.

"The Lin family also had business dealings with the chieftains in the southwest. Brother Qin was the Lin family's steward and had seen the chieftain's official seal."

This official seal is exactly the same as the official seal of the southwestern chieftain, except for the characters engraved on it.

The Qin brothers also believed it to be true; the gambling den owner simply didn't know its value.

Later, he inquired in Old Port and learned that when the last Pacification Commissioner, Sister Shi, surrendered to the Majapahit Kingdom, she had already handed over the Pacification Commissioner's seal.

This matter was common knowledge in the old port, so it was understandable that the casino owner didn't believe it was genuine.

However, the Qin brothers considered another possibility: when Sister Shi surrendered when the enemy was at the city gates, it was naturally against her will.

It is highly likely that the real seal of the Pacification Commissioner, as well as the imperial investiture documents and tallies, were secretly kept by trusted confidants and relatives.

What was presented to the Majapahit Kingdom was actually a forgery.

Anyway, they're not going to go to the Ming Dynasty court to verify its authenticity, are they?