Chapter 906 0901 [Srivihara]
The first ocean-going fleet of the Ming Dynasty went to sea last winter. Its organization was as follows:
Chief Envoy: Cheng Yu.
Deputy Envoys: Yu Yunwen and Hu Quan.
Chief Medical Officer: Yan Xiuqing.
Navy Commander: Ying Xuan.
Army Commander: Zhu Xiaozhong.
One large warship of 5,000 tons, 10 medium-sized warships of 2,500 and 2,000 tons, and 14 small warships of less than 2,000 tons. 25 transport ships of 2,500 and 3,000 tons.
More than 60 officials, more than 5,000 crew members, more than 6,000 sailors, and more than 3,000 army infantry and cavalry.
There were also a number of civilian merchant ships that followed the official fleet to sea, including many Indian and Arab merchant ships.
(Note: There are three ways to say "material" in the academic community: load, volume, and material. This book used load to explain it before, but it seems that this statement is outdated, and the current mainstream is more inclined to volume.)
(Here, 100 materials = 1 cubic meter of cabin volume. The displacement of a 1000-material ship is about 330 tons.)
When the fleet passed the Malay Peninsula, a Guangdong merchant said: "Cheng Tianshi, the outer port of Balinbang (old port) is ahead. Merchants from the former Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty can only reach Balinbang and Jambi (Jambi) at most. Balinbang is the old capital of Srivijaya, and Jambi is the new capital of Srivijaya."
Srivijaya's old capital Palembang was destroyed by the Chola Dynasty of India.
The new capital Jambi is also called Malyu.
Malyu can also be translated as Malay, which is the origin of the name of the Malay people.
Cheng Yu asked: "If we continue to sail, will Srivijaya kill people and rob goods?"
"Yes!" The Guangdong merchant answered very affirmatively.
Cheng Yu asked the Arab merchant behind him: "Then how did you get to China?"
The Arab merchant replied: "Whether it is a merchant ship coming from the west or going to the east, it must enter the port of Srivijaya and pay them an expensive port tax. The goods on the ship must be sold to Srivijaya merchants. The remaining goods are not allowed to pass until the local merchants can't eat them all."
"So most of our Seljuk sea merchants will trade when they arrive in Srivijaya. Sell the transported goods to local merchants, and then buy goods from local merchants to return. Only a very few lucky people can reach China via Srivijaya every year."
Cheng Yu understood that this was a monopoly trade, exactly the same as Western Liao.
On the land Silk Road, merchants from China can only transport goods to Western Liao. Similarly, merchants from Central Asia and West Asia can only transport goods to Western Liao. Trade between the East and the West is all carried out in Western Liao.
The Maritime Silk Road is controlled by Srivijaya and can only be traded in Srivijaya.
The lookout suddenly shouted down: "I see the coast!"
Ying Xuan ordered: "Warships form a battle formation, merchant ships and transport ships slow down."
In the field of view of the telescope, the coastline is getting closer and closer, and suddenly more than ten ships are coming from the port.
"There are fourteen unknown ships."
As the lookout shouted, the flag bearer immediately sent a flag signal.
The small and medium-sized warships of the Ming Dynasty accelerated to meet, and more than ten ships on the opposite side were also approaching quickly.
The enemy ship was sailing at a fast speed at the beginning, and it may be that it found that it could not win, so it suddenly slowed down and sent a ship to negotiate.
This is a near-shore paddle boat, which was taken to the Ming Dynasty's flagship after approaching.
One person changed to a small boat and was hoisted onto the deck to meet Cheng Yu.
This person wore a modified headscarf and asked in fluent Cantonese dialect: "Are you from the Ming Dynasty?"
Guangdong merchants quickly translated.
Cheng Yu asked, "Are you here to welcome the Ming fleet?"
"Yes," the guy bowed, "My Chinese name is Pu Xin, I have been to Guangdong many times, and was granted an official position by the Emperor of Song."
There are many Christian names that start with "Abu", such as "Abdullah".
Chinese officials take the given name as the surname, thinking that they all have the surname Pu.
This is similar to a Hebei native named Zhang Wei and a Fujian native named Li Wei, who were both considered to have the surname "Wei" when they went to the West. In fact, they are not related at all, and their surnames and places of origin are different.
Cheng Yu questioned, "I heard that merchant ships must trade in Srivijaya. Do we also need to trade in your country?"
"No, no." Pu Xin replied quickly.
Although the Ming warships only had 25, and the official transport ships had little combat power. But there were more than 50 merchant ships from various countries that followed them to sea, and the Srivijaya Navy really did not dare to act rashly.
Cheng Yu said, "Go back and inform your officials that the Ming Dynasty is about to send a letter."
"Yes!" Pu Xin bowed and left.
Cheng Yu was from Fuliang (Jingdezhen), an orphan raised by his aunt. He was awarded the title of Jinshi for being the first in the Imperial College. He was an envoy to Goryeo and Jin in the former Song Dynasty, and to Xixia and Japan in the Ming Dynasty.
Historically, Cheng Yu was demoted by Qin Hui for advocating war, and his descendants were imprisoned and could not take the imperial examination or leave their hometown.
After Pu Xin left the deck, the deputy envoy Yu Yunwen said: "Barbarians should not be trusted easily, and they must be careful of their deception."
The Indian merchant on the ship said: "Sravaka has one or two hundred warships, and can call on their own merchant ships at any time. If the ships of various countries do not enter the port, they may not take action at that time, but they will soon summon more ships to attack. When Srivijaya fought a naval battle with our country, the most ships dispatched at one time were thousands."
Ying Xuan smiled and said: "Thousands of ships dispatched at a time, that means they count all the small boats of several hundred tons, right?"
"Yes." said the Indian merchant.
In fact, the Chola dynasty in India also wanted to monopolize East-West trade.
But 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 Straits 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 the ship 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 businessmen 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. Emperor Xiaozong of the Song Dynasty almost died of dysentery, and the imperial doctors were helpless. However, strict defenses from the people were 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.
…
In the outer port of Balimbang (Palembang), dozens of merchant ships are replenishing supplies.
There were also Arab merchants who took the initiative to sell goods. They sold 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 are all wearing 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 Zhanbei Outer Port further west.
More ships also gathered 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!" Finance Officer Bodhidharma Wangsha said.
Barney strongly objected: "We have always had good relations with China. It was the Song Dynasty before and the Ming Dynasty now. 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 unruly ships." !”
"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 is angry and seals the port? I don't believe they can't make money. We are not afraid of the Ming navy. We can dispatch hundreds or even thousands of ships. The Ming army comes from thousands of miles away, and we are waiting Ambush, siege, and annihilation.”
"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 Jhapo 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 bought and sold goods from various countries, and all profits earned were 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!