The carriage traveled another distance. Envoy Alfredo suddenly remembered something important and frowned and asked: "Captain Di Vladish..."
"Just call me Pedro, Mr. Envoy."
"Okay, Pedro." Alfredo showed a smile, but quickly restrained his smile and asked seriously: "I heard that the etiquette of the Ming Empire is very different from ours, so I want to ask you, in
Is there any general etiquette that I need to master here in Dingnan?”
"Ah, you are talking about this... As far as I know, in terms of so-called universal etiquette, the Ming Empire also has something in common with us, that is, the higher etiquette is kneeling. Moreover, the etiquette requirements of the Ming Empire are relatively
We need to be stricter. Many etiquettes that only require bowing in our country will be strengthened into kneeling in the Ming Empire."
"What occasions require kneeling? Oh, by the way, are there any restrictions on the identities of both parties?"
"Well, this... I actually don't know much about it, but according to my observation, if the other party is a civilian official and you are a military attaché, you usually need to kneel down, even if your rank is higher than the other party.
exception."
"Praise the Lord, I am a civil servant." Envoy Alfredo was obviously relieved and continued to ask: "Does this guarantee that I don't need to kneel down?"
"I'm not sure, sir." Captain Pedro smiled bitterly: "The Ming Empire calls itself the 'Celestial Dynasty', and their officials rarely treat foreigners, including foreign envoys, equally when they treat them - please understand, I
It means that most of the time they don’t pay attention to ‘diplomatic reciprocity’.”
Alfredo frowned and said: "You mean, they treat us as indigenous people... No, I mean they treat us as uncivilized, uncivilized primitive people?"
"I don't know if I should understand it this way, but I am sure that they rarely care about the principle of reciprocity in foreign exchanges." Captain Pedro said awkwardly: "What I know is that in the past, the Governor of Malacca wrote to local officials of the Ming Empire
The letter was originally written to His Excellency the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, but in the end it was just a county magistrate - or mayor, I'm sorry, I can't remember clearly."
"The Governor of Malacca is subordinate to the Governor of Goa, and he only manages the city of Malacca. From this point of view, I think this is actually diplomatic reciprocity." Alfredo may be making excuses for himself, and he continued
Said: "What is the position of Your Excellency Gao Mengnan?"
"Ah, it's a bit complicated to talk about this issue." Pedro scratched his head in confusion and said: "Actually, His Excellency Gao Mengnan does not have an official position in the Ming Empire, but he does have an official position in the Kingdom of Siam. He is
The chief advisor to the King of Siam, and was given the title of Chao Phraya - perhaps you can understand it as a Duke.
Of course, I think you should also know that his real power comes from his brother: His Excellency Gao Jingshi, the Chief Teacher of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty and the Minister of Finance of the Empire. Gao Mengnan is the adopted son of Gao Jingshi’s uncle and has established a strong position in southern Xinjiang over the years.
He has made a lot of achievements, so he was entrusted with important responsibilities. I think he actually assumed the responsibilities of the palace minister in the Kingdom of Siam."
"I would like to express my gratitude to you. Your explanation is very detailed, which is very meaningful to me." Alfredo nodded: "In addition, before I set off, His Excellency the Governor repeatedly explained that the current southern Xinjiang region - including
A vast area including Siam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Annan and other countries - the person who exercises power on behalf of His Excellency Gao Pragmatic is his wife, Ms. Huang Zhiting. I wonder what you know about this lady or Your Excellency the Baroness?"
"This lady is an extremely rare female official in the Ming Empire. Her deeds sound very amazing. If you ask me to compare, then I think she may be a bit like the French Joan of Arc - of course, she is luckier than Joan of Arc.
much better."
"Explorers who often travel to Nanyang like to talk about this lady, and I have heard a lot of rumors about her. It is said that she was originally a local noble of the Ming Empire and was born in a country with a history of at least six hundred years.
An aristocratic family, its family was very powerful in the Guangxi Province of the Ming Empire. It controlled many major local official positions and enjoyed unlimited hereditary status.
Later, His Excellency Gao Jingshi took up an important position in Guangxi Province - please forgive me for not knowing how to explain this position, but you may be able to understand its power: it is roughly equivalent to the speaker and prosecutor general, and can be used when senior officials and garrison commanders are unable to perform their duties.
The times exercise their power.”
Alfredo laughed: "Let me guess: Your Excellency Gao Jingshi's power made the then Lady Huang Zhiting very satisfied, and Your Excellency Gao Jingshi also needed the support of a powerful local noble family, so the two parties quickly reached an agreement
A marriage agreement?"
"Ah? No, no, no, that's not the case." Pedro quickly explained: "With all due respect, Mr. Gao Pangshi's family does not need such a marriage, because... if Ms. Huang Zhiting's family is a local powerful group, then
His Excellency Gao Jingshi's family is the top civil servant family in the empire.
His great-grandfather had been a high-ranking official in the empire, and his grandfather had been a minister of the empire. His uncle, Lord Gao Gong, had been the teacher of the former emperor and served as the imperial prime minister for ten years. Another uncle had served as the vice-president of the empire.
After his death in office, Lord Prosecutor General Gao Gong also received the highest honorary title from the imperial government - you can almost regard the importance of this title as a national hero.
His Excellency Gao Jingshi was born into such a family, which is noble enough in itself, not to mention that he also won an unparalleled honor in the imperial official examination: in the sixth-level examination from local to national, His Excellency Gao Jingshi
I have won the first place six times. I must remind you that this honor is equivalent to a knight participating in the knights' conference starting from the selection and going all the way without losing.
In addition, His Excellency Gao Pangshi served as the Crown Prince's only aide when he was young and accompanied His Royal Highness in his studies. This made him quickly regarded by the political and military circles as a future Prime Minister candidate after he won the first place in the country. At that time, his Crown Prince
My classmate has become the emperor of the empire.
Since the Ming Empire was so huge, we usually think that a popular candidate for prime minister and his family do not need to marry local nobles."
"You are really a China expert!" Special Envoy Alfredo praised sincerely: "I think that after you retire from the navy in the future, you can definitely hold important positions in the Governor's Palace of Goa or Malacca."
Pedro smiled happily and said: "Thank you for your kind words." He paused, smiled slightly, and sighed: "But I am very worried. The Malacca Governor's Palace may no longer exist by then."
The smile on Alfredo's face froze, and he forced a smile: "God will bless us."
"Praise the Lord." Pedro replied subconsciously, and then said: "Let's get back to the topic: Although your guess is not correct, the result is not too wrong. His Excellency Gao Jingshi and Ms. Huang Zhiting finally got married, and
At that time - I mean before they got married, they had joined forces to defeat the entire Annan Kingdom."
Alfredo quickly took over and asked: "I have never understood this: after defeating the Annan Kingdom, why did the Ming Empire not directly annex it, but instead just existed as a puppet state? According to this Ming Dynasty
With the strength shown by the empire in the Battle of the Philippines, I have reason to believe that it will not be difficult for them to annex the Annan Kingdom."
"Mr. Special Envoy, I'm afraid you have made a mistake, a very important thing." Pedro suddenly said very seriously: "In the Battle of the Philippines, the Ming army participating in the battle - including the navy and the army - were not
The regular army of the empire.”
"What are you talking about!" Alfredo was so shocked that he almost jumped up: "That size is not a regular army?"
"No, not at all." Pedro said solemnly: "I only noticed this after the fact: the flags flying by the navy and army that appeared in the Philippines were not the flags of the regular army of the Ming Empire. Most of them
What is hung is the 'Book and Sword' flag of His Excellency Gao Jingshi's Jinghua Company - it is a private army and belongs to His Excellency Gao Jingshi's private company."
Alfredo gasped, swallowed for a long time, and said as if he had a toothache: "So, the army that attacked the Kingdom of Annan... was also a private army?"
"Yes, that army includes the private army of His Excellency Gao Pragmatic, as well as the private army of Ms. Huang Zhiting and another powerful local noble in Guangxi."
"This is amazing...It's amazing. There are more than a hundred artillery-carrying warships and more than 20,000 land troops. This is actually just a private army!"
"No, this is not surprising, Mr. Special Envoy." Pedro emphasized: "It is said that during the Battle of Annan, His Excellency Gao Pangshi used about 100,000 private troops." [Note: This is the rumor he obtained.
mistaken.]
"What the hell, what the hell." Alfredo said with a dull look: "When King Charles VIII of France launched the Italian War, he only used 38,000 troops, which caused great turmoil across Europe..."
"Yes, yes, but we all know that the Ming Empire has an almost endless population, and military strength is just a number to them." Pedro reminded: "Mr. Special Envoy, let me put it bluntly: What we should pay attention to is
The financial resources possessed by Your Excellency are highly pragmatic."
"Yes, you are right about financial resources." Alfredo took a deep breath and nodded repeatedly: "More than 100,000 troops and hundreds of warships. Even in Europe, only a few big countries can achieve this kind of power.
have."
His back suddenly felt cold, his palms were sweating, and he asked carefully: "His Excellency Gao Jingshi had previously exchanged letters with the Governor's Mansion. At that time, he claimed in the letter that the Ming Empire had an army of 1.6 million. We have been saying this
I thought he was just making false threats, but now it seems...could it be true?"
Captain Pedro smiled bitterly and said: "Although this number sounds so amazing that it makes people feel almost ridiculous, but since His Excellency Gao Pangshi's private army is so powerful... I think his description of the strength of the imperial army
I’m afraid it’s also true.”
"Oh, by the way." Pedro suddenly added anxiously: "The idea of a hundred thousand troops may be outdated. Based on what we learned in the past few months, we found that the so-called 'guard armies' of various kingdoms in southern Xinjiang are currently
', In fact, they are all the private army of His Excellency Gao Pragmatic.
As for the total size of these armies, although we have not yet heard very accurately, based on the known information, we have reason to believe that their total number will not be less than 200,000.
As for the "hundred warships" you mentioned, I personally think it is very problematic. Because according to our private understanding with the crew of Jinghua Company's merchant ship when it docked in Malacca, Jinghua Company has two large fleets.
The one we have been dealing with before is the Nanyang Fleet of Jinghua Company. In addition, they also have a Northern Fleet, and this Northern Fleet is the same fleet that appeared in the previous Battle of the Philippines."
Alfredo's face was as dark as water, and he stretched out his hand to rub his eyebrows: "I have seen reports that the size of the Nanyang Fleet is several times more powerful than our entire strength in the Far East, and now there is a Beiyang Fleet that is as famous as them.
Fleet...Captain Pedro, am I supposed to think so: Jinghua Company has hundreds of armed merchant ships and a group of professional naval warships?"
"I think so, Mr. Special Envoy." Pedro sighed: "Sometimes it is hard for me to believe that Jinghua Company, which has such a powerful maritime power, would have no ambitions and only guard the waters of the Far East.
Mr. Special Envoy, you know, this reminds me of a Chinese proverb I heard from Chinese businessmen: Live in China and govern all nations. Although I cannot understand this strange thought, it seems that this is the only sentence that can explain why Jinghua Company
He is armed with a sharp sword, but he only uses it to guard his home and courtyard."
"Are you sure they are just 'housekeepers'?" Special Envoy Alfredo snorted from his nostrils and said in a deep voice: "That General Musali held two large-scale military exercises in Luowei within half a year.
, both times they used muskets to transform an army of more than 10,000 people. Is this just 'looking after homes and homes'?"
Luo Wei is located in the south of Siam, closest to the two small countries of the Malay Peninsula, Surok Ket and Tai Ni. Further south of these two small countries are the two small countries of Pahang and Tingkalu, and... Malacca.
The Malay Peninsula area in southern Siam is the responsibility of Siam's patrol envoy Gao Ruichuan and Siam's garrison envoy Musali. In order to test and train Gao Ruichuan, his cousin, Gao Pragmatic deliberately did not clarify their tasks. Huang Zhiting naturally followed Gao Pragmatic's instructions.
Just do as you please.
As a result, the two of them came up with a way of doing things, which is the most common trick in China: one is a good face, and the other is a bad face.
Gao Ruichu is a red-faced person who plays a very high tone. He talks about cooperation when he opens his mouth and win-win when he keeps his mouth shut. Not only that, he also keeps emphasizing that the small countries of Suluoke, Dadi, Pahang and Tingkalu are the two countries between Siam and Malacca.
It is the best buffer country in the world and has repeatedly stated resolutely that “neither you nor we should take the initiative to break this good situation.”
And Musali, the military commander, is obviously a bad guy. He always makes trouble for the two small bordering countries of Suluoge and Dadi. It can be as big as losing a knife in the army, or as small as the border residents of the two countries being in trouble.
A few words of insults to each other over trivial matters can become an excuse for him to stir up trouble.
A few months ago, he got furious because an old Siamese businessman suddenly "got mad" when he was quarreling with someone in Dadi. He held a huge military exercise, which scared Dadi to lose money and the Sudan.
Write a handwritten letter to apologize.
This time it was even more egregious. Just after the news of the Battle of Manila reached southern Xinjiang, Musali held another military exercise without any reason, causing panic throughout the Malay Peninsula.
The Governor of Malacca was frightened three times a day and wrote several letters to the Governor of Goa, asking the Governor of Goa to find a solution quickly - this was the direct reason why Alfredo's special envoy came this time.
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