The prime minister and prince of Srivijaya rebelled and were quickly suppressed by the old king.
The prime minister was executed, and the prince fled to his grandfather, the Kingdom of Java, which also had some territory on Sumatra.
The old king was extremely respectful to the Ming Dynasty, which made it difficult for the envoys to take action, otherwise the diplomatic impact would be too bad.
After all, the envoys from all countries are watching.
The purpose of sending troops to the island of Ceylon was to restore the prince's kingdom and show off his force to the envoys of the various countries. Attacking a vassal country that had made no mistakes for no reason would only make the envoys of the various countries feel wary, and they would be extremely wary of the Ming Dynasty from then on.
So the two sides had a friendly exchange. Cheng Yu praised Srivijaya for his respect, and Srivijaya sent an envoy to pay tribute.
The fleet stopped at the outer port of Guangzhou.
Those willing to sell goods went to trade, damaged ships were towed for repairs, and horses were disembarked for treatment and rest.
While the ship was being repaired, Cheng Yu took envoys from various countries to Guangzhou to see the world.
As a result, before we even arrived, we saw a large construction site.
The official of the Municipal Maritime Department who was responsible for leading them to Guangzhou City pointed to the construction site and said: "A new city will be built there. Guangzhou City was built many times in the Song Dynasty, but the population increased too fast. After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, it encouraged maritime trade.
Trade has attracted many surrounding farmers."
Abnormal urbanization.
Many prefectures and counties in Guangdong are sparsely populated, but the city of Guangzhou is densely populated, and a large number of farmers come here to make a living.
Although the local officials were light on corvee and low on taxes and encouraged land reclamation, there were still farmers who were unwilling to open up wasteland in the mountainous areas and were determined to come to Guangzhou to work.
Cheng Yu stood on the bow of the river boat, observed carefully and asked: "How big are you planning to build?"
An official from the Municipal Shipping Department said: "The expansion to the east and north will probably increase the area by one-sixth."
"After the construction is completed, Guangzhou will become more prosperous." Yu Yunwen said with emotion.
At this time, Guangzhou had three cities.
Zicheng is located in the area of the later city government and was expanded in the mid-Northern Song Dynasty. Today, official agencies such as Sansi Yamen, Shibosi Yamen, and Guangzhou Fuyamen of Guangdong Province are all located in Zicheng.
To the west of Zicheng is Xicheng, which is also an old city with a long history. Nanhai County Government is located in it and has the largest area.
To the east of Zicheng is Dongcheng, which was expanded in the late Northern Song Dynasty. Panyu County Government is located in it and has the smallest area.
Each of the three cities has a city wall and is connected by a city gate in the middle.
If the handymen of the envoys are included, the number of envoys from various countries is several hundred.
They arrived at the Dongcheng Pier in Guangzhou by boat. The envoys from small countries were already shocked by the towering towers, while the envoys from big countries were just praising the prosperity here.
Especially the envoys from Persia, Egypt, and India, they have seen the world.
Anvari asked: "Is this the residence of a certain governor of the Ming Dynasty?"
Cheng Yu said: "It can be compared like this. The Ming Dynasty divided the country into multiple provinces, and each province had multiple prefectures, prefectures, and counties. This city is called Guangzhou, which is the capital of Guangdong Province. Seljuk
Where is the most majestic city wall?”
"The caliph lives in Tuan City, Baghdad," Anwari said.
Cheng Yu asked again: "How high is the city wall of Baghdad?"
Anvari said: "It is about twice as high as the Guangzhou City Wall."
"The caliph lived in a huge city." Cheng Yu couldn't help but sigh.
The Tuan City of Baghdad is a circular city. The height of the outer city wall is about 24 meters, and the entire body is made of bricks and stones.
There are also houses and shops in the city, but more people live outside the city. Because there is a circular enclosure in the center of the city, with a diameter of four miles, and civilians are prohibited from entering, the Caliph's palace was built in the center of the enclosure.
This results in half of Baghdad's urban space being off-limits to civilians.
Anvari followed everyone into Dongcheng, and the emotion in his heart became stronger.
Although the city of Guangzhou is not as majestic as the Tuan City of Baghdad, most of the people live in the city and can be protected by the city wall.
However, Baghdad Tuancheng excludes many civilians, and the vast majority of civilians can only live around the city.
"Silk, there are really many people wearing silk!" Suddenly a messenger exclaimed.
Without him shouting, the envoys from various countries would have been dazzled.
From the Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, Guangzhou City has always had this pattern. The west city belongs to the residential area, the middle city (sub-city) belongs to the administrative area, and the east city belongs to the commercial area. There are residential buildings in each city. Here we only talk about their main functions.
At this moment, everyone is visiting Dongcheng, which is the most prosperous area in Guangzhou, where domestic and foreign businessmen from all over the world gather.
Anwari even saw several people wearing robes and headscarves. He stepped forward and asked one of them: "I am from Seljuk. Which country are you from?"
"I'm from Muscat (Port of Oman)." The businessman was not enthusiastic because they belonged to different countries and sects.
Anvari asked again: "Are you settling here?"
The merchant said: "Srivijaya intercepted merchant ships from the east and west. I don't want to take any more risks. I have settled in Guangzhou for twenty years. I have a shop in the east city, but I usually live in the west city, where I can buy a bigger house."
"So are you considered a Ming citizen now?" Anvari asked.
The merchant smiled and said: "Of course, I have settled down a long time ago. My Chinese name is Li Wanli. My name is Ali, so my surname is Li. Wanli means that I come from a distant place. It is more peaceful here, there is no war, and
Exploitation from the nobility is not serious either."
The two talked for a long time and then asked the merchant Li Wanli to say goodbye and leave.
His hometown also belonged to Seljuk territory before, but later became independent during the civil strife and is now controlled by the Yahmad tribe.
The neighboring Azid tribe has been at war with the Yahmad tribe for a long time. The business taxes there are also getting heavier and heavier. Li Wanli does not like doing business and living in his hometown.
Although, he didn't like some of Ming's policies.
For example, when reducing the number of temples in Guangzhou, all the temples where he could worship were demolished.
Another example is the promulgation of a law on interracial marriages, which requires overseas residents to intermarry with the Han people of the Ming Dynasty. If they violate it, their homes will be raided and expelled immediately.
There were a few foreign businessmen who did not believe in evil. After being reported, all their property was confiscated and the whole family was driven to the outer port to find a way to leave.
Li Wanli's youngest son married a poor Han girl.
A wealthy family would not marry their daughter to a foreigner, so he could only spend money to hire a matchmaker to help him get a daughter-in-law who was educated.
His eldest granddaughter also got married, to the son of his own clerk, and paid a large dowry.
Although his grandson-in-law came from a low background, he was more intelligent and intelligent, and Li Wanli planned to train him well.
He understands what the emperor means.
It is nothing more than allowing these foreign races to integrate into the Ming Dynasty, give up their original surnames and beliefs, and become Han Chinese after a few generations of intermarriage.
Even though Li Wanli was extremely dissatisfied, he still chose to stay.
What else can we do?
Will he continue to be ruled and exploited by the tribe when he returns to his hometown?
He is already used to the prosperity of Guangzhou, but he will never be used to it when he goes back.
In addition, their faction is relatively moderate and open. Their logo is not green, but light blue.
The laws and customs of the Ming Dynasty are more suitable for them than those of Persia and Egypt!
…
The envoys from various countries stayed in Guangzhou for more than twenty days, waiting until the ship was repaired before setting off.
Anvari visited three cities in Guangzhou, but he didn't see any beggars.
Every day there are patrols wandering around the city. When they see healthy beggars, they send them directly to the almshouse. When they are healthy, they throw them to Guangxi to increase the population.
If a beggar with a mutilated body is found, the patrolmen will be even more excited and will repeatedly interrogate whether there is harvesting and cutting. Solving a major case can be a meritorious service!
Of course, Anvari didn't know this. After communicating with envoys from various countries, he visited almshouses, sales homes and other welfare institutions.
In the end, everyone agreed that the Ming Dynasty was very wealthy and could support all its citizens, and the weak could be properly taken care of.
With the help of monsoon winds and ocean currents, the fleet arrived in Shanghai with smooth sailing.
Haimen on the north bank of the Yangtze River has a weak foundation as a port and does not have enough cargo sources to back it up.
And what about Shanghai?
The Shanghai Office (located at the mouth of the Songjiang River) was established during the Northern Song Dynasty. Now it is becoming more and more prosperous. It is estimated that it will be upgraded to the Shanghai Office in another ten years.
The place is relatively simple and simple, and the dock was expanded three years ago. It is still just a trading town.
The buildings are in a mess, without any planning at all, and are even mixed with a large number of shacks.
The envoys from various countries finally breathed a sigh of relief, as not all places in Ming Dynasty were as prosperous as Guangzhou.
Everyone waited for several days to transfer to river boats.
If any country sends a ship to China, the ship will be temporarily handed over to the Shanghai Shipping Administration.
Cross Jiangyin to Runzhou (Zhenjiang).
Runzhou was already more prosperous and wealthy than Guangzhou. When we continued north to Yangzhou, even the envoys who had seen the great world were shocked and completely speechless.
What a huge city, with countless people and a dazzling array of goods.
"Brahma is above!"
The envoy of Solanchi (Gujarat, India) put his hands together and knelt down directly in the center of Yangzhou City.
The envoy of Fatimid (Egypt) mistakenly entered a porcelain shop. There was a whole street selling porcelain. Looking at the various porcelains, he felt that his legs were filled with lead and could not walk, and he murmured to himself:
"If you transport these porcelains to Cairo, I'm afraid you can get a city in exchange!"
Anwari, the Seljuk envoy, spent a whole day shopping and did not finish visiting Yangzhou City.
He returned to the boat and asked Cheng Yu: "How many cities like this were there in the Ming Dynasty?"
Cheng Yu said nonsense: "Less than twenty."
"That's more than ten..." Anvari felt incredible and asked, "How many residents are there in Yangzhou City?"
Cheng Yu said: "Hundreds of thousands."
Anvari said nothing.
Seljuk also has huge cities, such as Baghdad, with a total of about 300,000 people inside and outside the city. But most of them live outside the city and are very poor.
How can it compare with Yangzhou?
When these guys took a boat all the way north and took them to visit Kaifeng, everyone was shocked to the point of numbness.
Although Kaifeng is no longer the capital, it still retains its status as a vice-capital and is also a transit point for national supplies shipped to Luoyang.
After experiencing a drop in housing prices when the capital was moved, housing prices in Kaifeng have now recovered somewhat.
Moreover, more and more businessmen from other places choose to move to Kaifeng to settle. It has a strong commercial atmosphere, is close to Luoyang, and is not as strictly managed as Luoyang.
Compared with before the capital was moved, the population of Kaifeng has not decreased significantly.
"Is this the capital of the Ming Dynasty? It is indeed very huge." Anvari seemed to be in a dream.
Cheng Yu said with a smile: "It's the deputy capital, Tokyo. The capital of the Ming Dynasty is in Luoyang, and it was moved there a few years ago."
It is difficult for the envoys from various countries to understand why the capital should be moved when there is such a huge city?
For them, this city is already paradise.
Especially after nightfall, the lights inside and outside the city are brightly lit, and it seems that the night cannot stop people from traveling.
Anvari could not imagine how much lighting costs for one night!