Ming Dynasty’s first ocean-going fleet went to sea last winter and was organized as follows——
Envoy: Cheng Yu.
Deputy envoys: Yu Yunwen, Hu Quan.
Chief Medical Officer: Yan Xiuqing.
Navy Commander: Ying Xuan.
Army Commander: Zhu Xiaozhong.
There is 1 large warship with 5000 materials, 10 medium-sized warships with 2500 and 2000 materials, 14 small warships with 2000 materials and less. 25 transport ships with 2500 and 3000 materials.
There are more than 60 officials, more than 5,000 sailors, more than 6,000 sailors, and more than 3,000 army infantry and cavalry.
There are also several private merchant ships that go to sea with the official fleet, including many Indian and Arab merchant ships.
(Note: There are three terms for the study of "materials" in academic circles: load, volume, and materials. This book used load to explain before. It seems that this term is outdated, and the current mainstream is more inclined to volume.)
(Here we use 100 materials = 1 cubic meter of cabin volume. The displacement of a sea-going ship with 1000 materials is about 330 tons.)
As the fleet sailed through the Malay Peninsula, a Guangdong maritime merchant said: "Cheng Angel, ahead is the outer port of Balimbang (old port). Merchants from the former Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty could only reach Balimbang and Jambi (Jambi) at most. Bahrain
Bang is the old capital of the Srivijaya Kingdom, and Jhanbei is the new capital of the Srivijaya Kingdom."
Palembang, the old capital of Srivijaya, was destroyed by the Chola Dynasty of India.
The new capital was Zhanbei, also known as Moluoyu.
Moluoyu can also be translated as Malay, which is the origin of the name of the Malay people.
Cheng Yu asked: "If we continue sailing, will Sriwijaya kill people and steal goods?"
"Yes!" Guangdong Maritime Merchant answered with certainty.
Cheng Yu asked the Arab businessman behind him: "Then how did you cross to China?"
The Arab merchant replied: "Whether it is a merchant ship coming from the west or a merchant ship going east, it must enter the port of Srivijaya and pay an expensive entry tax. The goods on the ship must be sold to Sriwijaya merchants. Until
Only the remaining goods that local merchants can eat are allowed to pass through."
"So most of us Seljuk merchants will trade when they arrive at Srivijaya. We will sell the goods to local merchants, and then buy the goods from local merchants and return. Only a few lucky ones can pass through every year.
Srivijaya arrives in China.”
Cheng Yu understood clearly that this was a monopoly trade, exactly the same as Xiliao.
On the Overland Silk Road, merchants from China could only send goods to Xiliao. Similarly, merchants from Central Asia and West Asia could only send goods to Xiliao. All transactions between the East and the West were carried out in Xiliao.
The Maritime Silk Road is controlled by Sriwijaya, and transactions can only be done in Sriwijaya.
The lookout suddenly shouted down: "I see the coast!"
Ying Xuan ordered: "Warships form a battle formation, and merchant ships and transport ships slow down."
In the field of view of the telescope, the coastline was getting closer and closer, and suddenly more than ten ships came from the direction of the port.
"There are fourteen unknown ships."
Following the shout of the lookout, the flag bearer immediately sounded the flag.
Ming's small and medium-sized warships accelerated to meet them, and more than a dozen ships on the opposite side were also approaching quickly.
The enemy ship sailed very fast at first, maybe because it found that it couldn't be defeated, but suddenly it slowed down and sent a ship over to negotiate.
This is an offshore galley. After approaching, it was taken to the Daming ship.
One person transferred to a small boat and was lifted onto the deck to see Cheng Yu.
This person was wearing a modified headscarf and asked in fluent Cantonese: "Are your distinguished guests from the Ming Dynasty?"
Guangdong merchants quickly translated.
Cheng Yu asked: "Are you here to greet the Ming fleet?"
"Exactly," the guy bowed, "I have a Chinese named Pu Xin. He has been to Guangdong many times and was granted an official position by the Emperor of the Song Dynasty."
There are many names of believers starting with "Ab", such as "Abdullah".
Chinese officials regarded first names as surnames and believed that all of them were named Pu.
This is similar to a person named Zhang Wei from Hebei and a person from Fujian named Li Wei who went to the West and were generally considered to have the surname "Wei". In fact, they are incompatible with each other because their surnames and place of origin are different.
Cheng Yu asked: "I heard that merchant ships must trade in Srivijaya. Do we also need to trade in your country?"
"No, no need." Pu Xin replied quickly.
Although the Ming Dynasty only has 25 warships, and the official transport ships have little combat effectiveness. However, there are more than 50 merchant ships from various countries following the sea, and the Srivijaya Navy really does not dare to take action rashly.
Cheng Yu said: "You go back and inform your officials that Ming Dynasty will soon send its credentials."
"Yes!" Pu Xin bowed and left.
Cheng Yu was from Fuliang (Jingdezhen), an orphan, and was raised by his aunt. He was born as a Jinshi, the first scholar in Etai Xue. He served as an envoy to Korea and Jin in the former Song Dynasty, and to Xixia and Japan in the Ming Dynasty.
Historically, Cheng Yu was demoted by Qin Hui because of the main battle, and his descendants were banned from taking imperial examinations and were not allowed to leave their hometown.
When Pu Xin left the deck, the deputy envoy Yu Yunwen said: "Barbarians cannot be trusted easily, and you must be careful of their deceit."
The Indian merchants who accompanied the ship said: "Srivijaya has one or two hundred warships, and they can also recruit domestic merchant ships at any time. If ships from various countries do not enter the port, they may not take action at that time, but they will soon call in more ships to kill them." .When Srivijaya fought a naval war with my country, they dispatched up to a thousand ships at a time."
Yingxuan laughed and said: "Thousands of ships are dispatched at one time, and that includes hundreds of small boats, right?"
"Yes." said the Indian businessman.
In fact, the Chola dynasty in India also wanted to monopolize trade between the East and the West.
However, the Indian Ocean can be bypassed and supplied in Sri Lanka, so the Indian Chola Dynasty does not have enough control over the route.
They were very jealous of Sriwijaya who firmly controlled the Strait of Malacca!
"Prepare to dock for supplies and leave three days for merchant ships from various countries to do business," Cheng Yu ordered. "The army will go ashore to protect the merchants, and the sailors will stay on board to guard!"
"yes!"
Zhu Xiaozhong asked the herald to raise the flag, and the horse infantry on the transport ship began to assemble on the deck.
Chief Medical Officer Yan Xiuqing said: "I need merchants to accompany me and soldiers to protect me. I need to hire local doctors and buy some local medicinal materials."
"Okay." Cheng Yu agreed.
Yan Xiuqing was from Zhejiang and came from a medical family. He was extremely proficient in epidemic diseases such as dysentery.
Historically, because the Jin soldiers were wreaking havoc southward, he named his son Yan Fengfeng. Xiaozong of Song Dynasty almost died of dysentery, and the imperial doctors were helpless. However, Yan Fengfeng, who came from the people, was able to cure the disease.
Zhu Guoxiang founded a medical school in Lingnan and issued an edict to recruit famous doctors from various places.
Yan Xiuqing became the vice president of Lingnan Medical College four years ago, and has become increasingly proficient in various southern infectious diseases. Now he always carries a microscope with him when he goes to sea.
…
At the outer port of Balimbang (Palembang), dozens of merchant ships are replenishing supplies.
There are also Arab merchants who take the initiative to sell goods. They sell some Chinese goods to Sriwijaya merchants in exchange for spices.
Several Srivijaya officers, wearing robes, were spying at the pier.
"It's not easy to fight, they all wear fine armor."
"These are the armies of the Ming Dynasty. We cannot attack without authorization. We must wait for the order from the Dragon Spirit (King)."
"What a pity, there are so many goods."
"..."
The state religion of Srivijaya is Mahayana Buddhism, while Brahmanism and Islam are allowed to exist.
Religiously, this place is relatively open and tolerant.
But trade monopoly is too disgusting.
At first they even turned into pirates, but later they decided that being pirates would not last long, and now they make profits through trade and tax collection.
However, if any merchant ship dares not to enter the port, it will soon be attacked by them.
Seeing that the Ming army was difficult to deal with, Srivijaya's navy and army all retreated and gathered towards the Jambei Outer Port further west.
More ships are also gathering there.
As long as King Srivijaya orders a war, hundreds of Srivijaya warships will besiege the Ming Dynasty fleet in the Strait of Malacca.
…
King Srivijaya is respectfully called "Dragon Spirit" by the people, and "King of Kings" by Arab businessmen.
All citizens only pay commercial taxes, and no other taxes are levied.
But whether they are merchants or farmers, they must accept the king's call. Once there is a war, they must fight for their lives.
This king's name is Sanusi, who is almost sixty years old.
He summoned the palace ministers and said: "The Ming Dynasty's warships, along with dozens of merchant ships from various countries, have been trading supplies at the outer port of Bahrain. But they only traded for part of the spices, and the rest of the goods were not sold. Do you think we should fight?"
"
State Minister Barney said: "The Ming Dynasty's ships cannot always protect merchant ships. We can let them pass this time, and next time we will order merchants from all over the world to trade."
"We can't let go of dozens of ships of merchandise!" said the financial officer Bodhidharma Wangsha.
Barney strongly objected: "We have always had good relations with China. It was the Song Dynasty before and now it is the Ming Dynasty. There is no need to offend the Ming Dynasty for dozens of shipments of goods."
Bodhidharma Wangsha said: "So what if we offend the Ming Dynasty? If you pass through this strait, you have to abide by our rules. If we let it go this time, we will lose our prestige. In the future, there will be more and more ships that do not obey the rules."
!”
"If the Ming Emperor becomes angry and orders the port to be closed, our losses will be even greater," Barney said.
Bodhidharma Wangxia sneered: "The emperor closed the port when he was angry? I don't believe they have money to make. We are not afraid of the Ming navy coming to kill us. We can dispatch hundreds or even thousands of ships. The Ming army comes from thousands of miles away, and we are waiting.
That’s how to ambush, encircle and annihilate.”
"Beware of the shaman!" Bani warned.
Srivijaya has been in decline. More than a hundred years ago, the South Indians attacked the capital, killed the king, and were forced to move the capital to the current Jambei.
Then the Java Kingdom of Java rose, Srivijaya was forced to recognize its independence, and then the two countries married to maintain superficial friendship.
If the Ming Dynasty and the Jhabo Kingdom join forces, the Jhabo Kingdom will definitely be willing to stab Srivijaya in the back.
King Sanusi thought about it and finally made a decision: "When the Ming fleet passes by, just collect taxes as usual. There is no need to force them to buy and sell goods. When they return, prepare a gift for them to take back to the Ming Dynasty."
emperor."
Barney complimented: "Your Majesty is really a wise king."
Bodhidharma Wangsha looked very unhappy. As a financial officer of a country, he supported many merchants.
Srivijaya forcefully buys and sells goods from various countries, and all profits earned are distributed to Bodhidharma Wangsha.
This time he was released and he suffered a huge loss!
Bodhidharma Wangsha bowed out of the palace. He felt that the king was old and fatuous, and His Highness the Second Prince was the enterprising and wise king.
The Ming Dynasty fleet is just passing by, but it will trigger a coup in Sriwijaya!