Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan is sixty years old this year.
His second wife, a Persian girl, died in childbirth twenty years ago. Shah Jahan was so grief-stricken that he spent more than ten years building a luxurious mausoleum for his wife.
This mausoleum is called the Taj Mahal.
Such a poignant love story, but it is a pity that Taj gave birth to an unfilial son. A few years later, when Shah Jahan was seriously ill, his son put him under house arrest. He was imprisoned for a full five years and was kept under house arrest until his death.
"Your Majesty, the Lucky Prince (Crown Prince) sent someone back to report that the Chinese envoy with three thousand soldiers wants to go to Delhi to meet with Your Majesty."
"China? Let us go quickly and receive them with the highest etiquette!"
Shah Jahan was very happy. He had heard many legends about China.
As for the Chinese envoy bringing three thousand soldiers, this was nothing to Shah Jahan.
The army of the Mughal Empire quadrupled in the hands of Shah Jahan. During his reign, he put down the Green Religion rebellion, defeated the Portuguese, and even captured a Portuguese colonial port. He destroyed two countries in the west, and in
It destroyed two countries in the Deccan Plateau, expanded beyond the Khyber Pass in the northwest, and seized large areas of Afghan territory from Persia.
How could an emperor with such great martial arts be afraid of three thousand foreign troops?
In Gujarat, the Mughal Crown Prince Dara Shuko personally received the Chinese envoys.
This man, the eldest son born to Taj, has been confirmed as the heir. His title is Lucky Prince, and his actual position is: Governor of Gujarat, Governor of Allahabad, President of Multan, and President of Kabul
president.
The crown prince holds local military and political power, and other princes also hold local military and political power.
Such a system will inevitably lead to internal strife.
Historically, the crown prince was beheaded by his own younger brother. He was the one who placed the emperor under house arrest. After the emperor fell ill, he first led troops to kill the crown prince's brother, and then put the emperor's father under house arrest until his death.
Dara Shuko's failure was mainly due to religious reasons.
As the crown prince, he actually advocated Hinduism. This resulted in that, although the emperor continued to grant him great power, religious forces and local lords turned to his brother's side.
"It's a great honor to receive Chinese friends." Dara Shuke said with a smile.
Lu Tianxiang cupped his hands and said, "I have long admired the name of Your Highness!"
After the two sides reported their identities to each other, Dara Shuko was a little surprised that the Chinese emperor actually sent his concubine as an envoy. Moreover, are all Chinese people's skin so dark? Although they are whiter than the untouchables, they still look like low-class people.
etc. Caste.
But that's not right. This messenger named Zhang Ruifeng has skin as white as the upper caste.
It seems that the Chinese emperor's taste is very unique...
Dara Shuko made up her mind to give a Persian slave girl as a gift so that the Chinese emperor could appreciate the charm of fair-skinned women.
The crown prince advocates Hinduism and attaches great importance to skin color. Apart from the initial greetings, he did not talk to Lu Tianxiang much and kept communicating with Zhang Ruifeng through an interpreter.
Such is his character: enthusiastic and generous, cheerful and gentle, arrogant and irritable!
If he likes you, he will be gentle and warm to you. If he doesn't like you, he will be arrogant and violent towards you. This kind of person is not suitable to be an emperor, but is more suitable to be a scholar.
In fact, Dara Shuko was indeed knowledgeable and even served as editor-in-chief himself, carefully translating Hindu classics and poems into Persian texts.
He discussed Chinese poetry with Zhang Ruifeng, but the translation was too poor, so he asked again: "How is Chinese painting art?"
Zhang Ruifeng smiled and said: "I have an accompanying official who is proficient in Chinese painting."
Pan Wei, who was responsible for recording the local customs and customs with the group, immediately took out his pen, ink, paper and inkstone and made an ink painting on the spot.
Darla Shuke couldn't put it down and watched and tasted it repeatedly. After admiring it, he asked: "Are all Chinese paintings in black and white?"
Pan Wei replied: "There are also color paintings, but they need to be mixed with paint."
Darla Shuko said: "I can provide any paint you want."
This guy was so happy to see that he was hunting, so he kept Pan Wei and insisted on competing with him on his painting skills.
The envoy could only leave Pan Wei in Gujrat, while the rest continued to Arag to meet the Mughal Emperor.
Before leaving, Pan Wei said: "Empress, Ambassador Zhang, this Indian crown prince looks like Song Huizong no matter what."
Zhang Ruifeng said with a smile: "It is the Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty. The Mughals are really a big country. It is best for China to be divided into pieces. And as the crown prince, he actually serves as the governor outside. Isn't the Mughal emperor afraid that the crown prince will lead troops to Qing Dynasty?"
"Barbarians are like that, they don't know how to establish proper systems." Pan Wei said disdainfully.
Zhang Ruifeng said: "You stay here in Gujarat, make more friends with the Crown Prince of India, and find out more detailed information."
Lu Tianxiang knew that she had a special status. She didn't usually communicate with men, and she always had several female officials around her. At this time, when the two of them were talking, she remained silent and just listened silently.
The envoy continued on its way, and the Crown Prince sent five hundred cavalry to escort it.
Before they left Gujarat, they encountered a religious conflict. A few princes from the princely states led their troops to attack the mosque, and they rushed into the temple and killed everyone they saw.
With the crown prince sitting in Gujarat, the Hindu princes began to wander, and they have been attacking green believers in recent years.
The situation in the north is even more complicated. The Sikhs, who have always advocated peace and have never been involved in politics, actually participated in the struggle for the throne decades ago. At the same time, they abandoned the purpose of a purely religious group and openly levied taxes on the Sikhs, openly challenging the situation.
Government functions and authority.
During the day, he witnessed religious disputes. During dinner in the evening, Zhang Ruifeng summoned the accompanying civil and military officials for a meeting.
Zhang Ruifeng asked: "How about the cavalry escorting us?"
Zheng Dayong, the leader of the emperor's personal guard who accompanied the regiment, said: "They are extremely capable. In terms of armor, they are not inferior to our cavalry. These cavalry wear chain armor. The waist and abdomen are plate armor, and the rest of the body is covered with armor."
It's chainmail. Their lances are very similar to those of our valiant cavalry. We won't know until the end of the battle how effective they are."
The style of Mughal melee cavalry is a hodgepodge.
The armor is a combination of chain mail and plate armor, with both a Mongolian scimitar and a European cross sword, and the boots are of Mongolian style.
The naval general Shi Lang who led the troops ashore said: "I saw that the crown prince also had firearms troops under his command. They used matchlock muskets, which are not as good as our flintlock muskets, and the military appearance is quite powerful. However, these are the crown prince after all.
Our army may already be the best among the best. When it comes to actual fighting, it still depends on how the soldiers of the ordinary troops are. In the city we passed by today, the defenders were quite unbearable, just like the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty."
Lu Tianxiang suddenly spoke: "I have communicated with the two maids sent by King Jinji. According to them, the Green Sect and the Hindus here often kill each other. Emperors, kings and noble lords mostly believe in the Green Sect, and there are also many untouchables at the bottom.
They believe in Green religion. The princes of the feudal states and common people of various surnames basically believe in Hinduism. If we really want to go to war, we can provoke believers, and all Indian states will inevitably be in civil strife."
"What you say makes sense." Zhang Ruifeng nodded and said.
After Lu Tianxiang went to sea, he didn't talk much, but he spent the whole day reading military school textbooks, observing how the navy operated, and how to set up camp when marching on land.
Zhang Ruifeng said: "I heard that the Mughals had four princes, all of whom were appointed as governors. Not only did they control local military and political power, they could even collect taxes on their own, which was almost equivalent to a state within a state. And this crown prince also believed in
In Hinduism, once the Mughal emperor dies of illness, the remaining princes will inevitably break into chaos. At that time, I am afraid they will all fight together."
This tone is a bit gloating.
A right young minister of Honglu Temple, who had just arrived in India, accurately guessed the future situation, and was qualified enough to stay and serve as a military advisor to a certain prince.
Couldn’t the Mughal emperor understand?
Of course I understand, but because he is old and frail, he is unable to do many things, so he can only continue to give power to the crown prince, so that the other sons dare not act rashly. When the Chinese delegation arrived in Arag, the Mughal emperor fell ill again.
As early as two years ago, this old guy began to fall ill habitually, and every time he fell ill, the crown prince's governorship was increased by one.
He stayed in Arag and waited for half a month before Emperor Shah Jahan ordered to summon him.
In the palace, Shah Jahan tried to cheer up, but he still looked weak.
Shah Jahan said: "I heard the story of the Chinese emperor from the British businessmen. He reminded me of my ancestors, the founding emperors of the Mughals. When they were very young, they led the army to fight against powerful enemies. In the end,
I have established a country. I admire such a person very much and am willing to be friends with him. In the past few decades, I have destroyed four countries. Even the Persians in the west are no match for me and were defeated by me.
We are retreating steadily. The Persian emperor is not worthy of making friends with me, but the Chinese emperor is qualified."
Although this statement is generally true, it also contains elements of bragging.
Shah Jahan went on a military rampage, expanded his army fourfold, and the treasury had long been emptied. How bad was the lack of money? After driving away Portugal, he found that trade profits had declined, and he actually took the initiative to invite the Portuguese back to do business.
Firstly, the treasury is empty, and secondly, the emperor is old, and the Persians are taking the opportunity to counterattack.
Just two years ago, the Persian army marched eastward and recaptured the important Afghan town of Kandahar in one fell swoop. Shah Jahan could only choose to accept this situation. He was no longer able to fight Persia.
Zhang Ruifeng took out a letter: "His Majesty, the Emperor of our country, has long admired the reputation of the Mughal monarch, so he wrote a letter himself."
The waiter took the letter and handed it to Shah Jahan with a bow.
Shah Jahan opened the letter on the spot. Zhao Han's handwriting used Chinese characters, but had been translated into Persian characters.
The general contents of the letter are threefold:
First, I have admired the Mughal Emperor for a long time and am willing to make friends.
Second, China and the Mughals have a profound historical relationship. The ancestor of the founding emperor of the Mughal state, Babur, was Timur, the overlord of Central Asia. Timur was a Turkic Mongolian, and both Han and Mongolians were
They are descendants of Yan and Huang. Therefore, the Chinese royal family and the Mughal royal family share a common ancestor.
Third, Emperor Zhao hated Europeans and successfully recovered Macau controlled by Portugal and successfully defeated Spain and the Netherlands. China hopes to establish diplomatic relations with the Mughals and bypass those damn Europeans. Merchants from the two countries can directly conduct maritime trade. If there is an opportunity,
The two countries can join forces to attack the armies of various European countries.
Shah Jahan felt very satisfied after reading the letter and asked many more specific questions.
After sending the envoy away, Shah Jahan called the court scholars: "Are my ancestors, the great conqueror Babur, and the great distant ancestor Tamerlane really Mongols from China?"
The court scholar replied: "The great Timur was indeed a Mongolian nobleman of the Chagatai Khanate."
"That's it." Shah Jahan was quite sad.
His bloodline is very mixed. He first intermarried with Indian Kshatriyas and then with Persians. It is difficult to find oriental features in his appearance. .
Shah Jahan called his court officials and said, "Send an order to the merchants on the coast to organize a trading fleet." He also said, "Ask your son to form an envoy to visit the emperor in China and bring me to the Chinese emperor."
Go present."
The gifts from the Mughal Emperor include one hundred kilograms of iron, twenty war horses, two elephants, ten Persian slave girls, ten boxes of Indian cotton cloth, and some jewelry...
This guy is very generous and is willing to give anything as long as it suits his appetite.
British merchants catered to his appetite and immediately reaped huge benefits. The British East India Company's business in Mughal territory was all tax-free.
Otherwise, it would be difficult for the UK to gain a foothold in Asia.
