Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Ming Dynasty’s first ocean-going fleet went to sea last winter and was compiled as follows——

Envoy: Cheng Yu.

Deputy envoys: Yu Yunwen and Hu Quan.

Chief Medical Officer: Yan Xiuqing.

Navy Commander: Ying Xuan.

Army Commander: Zhu Xiaozhong.

…

Barney complimented: "Your Majesty is really a wise king."

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.

"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 the local merchants and return. Only a few lucky ones can pass through every year. Srivijaya arrives in China.”

…

There is one large warship with a material cost of 5,000, 10 medium-sized warships with a material cost of 2,500 and 2,000, and 14 small warships with a material cost of less than 2,000. There are 25 2500 and 3000 material transport ships.

This king's name is Sanusi, who is almost sixty years old.

Chinese officials regarded first names as surnames and believed that all of them were named Pu.

King Srivijaya is respectfully called "Dragon Spirit" by the people and "King of Kings" by Arab businessmen.

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."

This is similar to a Hebei person named Zhang Wei and a Fujian person named Li Wei. When they go to the West, they are generally considered to have the surname "Wei". In fact, they are completely incompatible with each other. Their last names and places of origin are different.

Yan Xiuqing was from Zhejiang and came from a medical family. He was extremely proficient in epidemic diseases such as dysentery.

But trade monopoly is too disgusting.

In the outer port of Balimbang (Palembang), dozens of merchant ships are replenishing supplies.

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."

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.

This person was wearing a modified headscarf and asked in fluent Cantonese: "Are your distinguished guests from the Ming Dynasty?"

Srivijaya forcefully bought and sold goods from various countries, and all profits earned were distributed to Bodhidharma Wangsha.

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.

"What a pity, there are so many goods."

Bodhidharma Wangxia sneered: "The emperor is so angry that he closed the port? I don't believe that 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 wait. Ambush, siege, and annihilation.”

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?" "

Cheng Yu asked: "Are you here to greet the Ming Dynasty fleet?"

Cheng Yu said: "You go back and inform your officials that Ming Dynasty is about to send its credentials."

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."

All citizens only pay commercial taxes, and no other taxes are levied.

"..."

Several Srivijaya officers, wearing robes, were spying at the pier.

More ships also gathered there.

Following the shout of the lookout, the flag bearer immediately played the flag.

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.

"yes!"

Cheng Yu asked: "I heard that merchant ships must trade in Srivijaya. Do we also need to trade in your country?"

This was an offshore galley. After approaching, it was taken to the Daming ship.

"If the Ming Emperor becomes angry and orders the port to be closed, our losses will be even greater," Barney said.

One person transferred to a small boat and was lifted onto the deck to see Cheng Yu.

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!"

Zhu Xiaozhong asked the herald to raise the flag, and the horse infantry on the transport ship began to assemble on the deck.

"Yes." said the Indian businessman.

(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 1000-material sea-going ship 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 Balingbang (old port). Merchants from the former Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty could only reach Balingbang and Jambe (Jambi) at most. Bahrain Bang is the old capital of the Srivijaya Kingdom, and Jhanbei is the new capital of the Srivijaya Kingdom.”

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.

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.

Historically, Cheng Yu was demoted by Qin Hui because of the main battle, and his descendants were banned from taking imperial examinations or leaving their hometown.

In terms of religion, this place is relatively open and tolerant.

"Exactly," the guy bowed, "I have a Chinese name called Pu Xin, who has been to Guangdong many times and was granted an official position by the Emperor of Song."

The Indian merchant on the ship said: "Sriwiqi has one or two hundred warships, and can recruit its 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 kill. When Srivijaya fought a naval battle with our country, the most ships dispatched at one time were thousands of ships."

The small and medium-sized warships of the Ming Dynasty accelerated to meet them, and more than ten ships on the opposite side were also approaching quickly.

Cheng Yu asked: "If we continue to sail, will Srivijaya kill people and rob goods?"

Chief Medical Officer Yan Xiuqing said: "I need merchants to accompany me and soldiers to protect me, to hire local doctors, and to buy some local medicinal materials."

There are also a number of private merchant ships that go to sea with the official fleet, including many Indian and Arab merchant ships.

There are also Arab merchants who take the initiative to sell goods. They sell part of Chinese goods to Srivijaya merchants in exchange for spices.

The state religion of Srivijaya is Mahayana Buddhism, while Brahmanism and Islam are allowed to exist.

Dharma Wangxia looked unhappy. As a financial officer of a country, he supported many merchants.

"It's not easy to fight. They are all wearing fine armor."

"Okay." Cheng Yu agreed.

The Guangdong merchant quickly translated.

Cheng Yu understood that this was a monopoly of trade, just like the Western Liao.

Ying Xuan ordered: "Warships form a battle formation, and merchant ships and transport ships slow down."

Historically, because the Jin soldiers were rampant in the south, he named his son Yan Fangyu. Song Xiaozong almost died of dysentery, and the imperial doctors were helpless. As a result, Yan Fangyu from the people cured the disease.

The Maritime Silk Road was controlled by Srivijaya and could only be traded in Srivijaya.

In the field of view of the telescope, the coastline was getting closer and closer, and suddenly more than a dozen ships came from the port.

When 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."

"No, no." Pu Xin replied hurriedly.

"Yes!" The Guangdong sea merchant answered very affirmatively.

Cheng Yu was from Fuliang (Jingdezhen), an orphan, and was raised by his aunt. He was awarded the title of Jinshi for being the first in the Imperial Academy. He was an envoy to Goryeo and Jin in the former Song Dynasty, and to Xixia and Japan in the Ming Dynasty.

"These are the troops of the Ming Dynasty. We cannot attack them without authorization. We must wait for the order of the Dragon Spirit (king)."

Zhu Guoxiang founded a medical school in Lingnan and issued an edict to recruit famous doctors from all over the country.

Although the Ming Dynasty had only 25 warships 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.

"Yes!" Pu Xin bowed and left.

But whether it was a merchant or a farmer, they had to accept the king's call, and once a war broke out, they had to fight hard.

The new capital, Zhanbi, was also called Maluoyu.

The lookout suddenly shouted down: "I see the coast!"

As long as the King of Srivijaya ordered a battle, hundreds of Srivijaya warships would besiege the Ming fleet in the Strait of Malacca.

Then Java Island's Java Kingdom rose, and Srivijaya was forced to recognize its independence, and then the two countries married to maintain superficial friendship.

The Arab merchant replied: "Whether it is a merchant ship coming from the west or going 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 will not be allowed to pass until the local merchants can't eat them all."

There are many names of believers that start with "Ab", such as "Abdullah".

"Be careful of Java!" Bani reminded.

"The goods of dozens of ships cannot be let go!" said the financial officer Dharma Wangxia.

"There are fourteen unknown ships."

Malayu can also be translated as Malay, which is the origin of the name of the Malay people.

However, if a merchant ship dares not to enter the port, it will soon be attacked by them.

In fact, the Chola Dynasty in India also wanted to monopolize the trade between the East and the West.

Cheng Yu asked the Arab merchants behind him: "How did you get through to China?"

Dharma Wangxia said: "What if we offended the Ming Dynasty? If we pass through this strait, we must abide by our rules. If we let them go this time, we will lose our prestige, and there will be more and more ships that do not abide by the rules in the future!"

On the land Silk Road, merchants from China can only ship goods to Western Liao. Similarly, merchants from Central Asia and West Asia can only ship goods to Western Liao. All trade between the East and the West is carried out in Western Liao.

If the Ming Dynasty joins forces with Java, Java will definitely be happy to stab Srivijaya in the back.

Palembang, the old capital of Srivijaya, was destroyed by the Chola Dynasty of India.

Ying Xuan laughed and said: "Thousands of ships are dispatched at a time, that means all the small boats of several hundred tons are counted, right?"

This time, he lost a lot!

Dharma Wangxia bowed and left the palace. He felt that the king was old and incompetent, and His Royal Highness the Second Prince was an enterprising and wise king.

The Ming fleet is just passing by, but it will provoke a coup in Srivijaya!