Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 258: Zhuya! Luzon State Requests Submission? [Please Subscribe]

Zhu Zhen actually heard Zhu Yuanzhang and Liu Kuan mention Xu Chai Lao during a meeting in a side hall on the second day of the New Year. As for whether the information about this person was provided by Liu Kuan or the Nanyang Guangming Guard, he did not know.

"What is Mr. Xu's attitude towards our Ming Dynasty?"

Chen Yan shook his head. "I don't know about that. Although this island is called Luzon, the real Luzon Kingdom is actually in the southwest of the island. Not only have the natives there civilized and established a nation, but there are also many Han Chinese living there, as many as tens of thousands."

Luzon Island was originally a transliteration of the name of Luzon by the Central Plains Dynasty. Zhu Zhen had learned about Luzon from the documents given by the court, so he was not surprised by this.

It is said that the people of Luzon had no more than a few thousand households, less than 100,000 people, and more than 3,000 armored soldiers.

Although there are hundreds of warships, they are all small boats with a capacity of less than 400 tons. They cannot even defeat a squadron of the South China Sea Navy, so they are not a concern.

As for the Han Chinese in Luzon, some were registered as Luzon residents, while others were not, yet they did not have Ming Dynasty household registration. If one were to be savvy, they could even be considered remnants of the former Yuan Dynasty.

Of course, the Han people who settled in Luzon more than a hundred years ago were the remnants of the Zhao Song Dynasty.

The court documents even mentioned that there was a Zhao Song Dynasty exiled court force in the Sulu Islands south of Luzon and in Srivijaya that still survives to this day.

However, the Zhao family is no longer in charge of these two forces.

It is said that these two forces originated from the remnants of Lu Xiufu and Zhang Shijie. After they arrived in Luzon in Southeast Asia, they were worried that the Yuan court would send navy to pursue them, so they fled to the Sulu Islands.

Later, the Yuan court indeed sent its navy to pursue them to Luzon.

The remnants of the Song Dynasty in the Sulu Islands were frightened upon hearing this, and their leadership became divided and split into two factions.

One group fled westward to West Java, initially calling themselves "Lu Song". Later, fearing that they would be found by the Yuan court based on their name, they changed their name to "Sunta" after the nearby Sunda Strait. They first submitted to the Srivijaya Kingdom, and now to the Majapahit Kingdom.

Another group chose to join the Sulu Kingdom. After nearly a hundred years and two or three generations, it is said that they have almost integrated into the Sulu Kingdom.

The Ming Dynasty wanted to bring Southeast Asia under its rule, and those Han people who settled in Southeast Asia for various reasons would become targets for recruitment.

From the establishment of the Mi Jin Wei and the process of military farming, we can see that when the imperial court rules a place, it can avoid many detours if it has a popular base and the support of the people.

For example, the local Han people were familiar with hydrology and roads, and could help guide the Ming army and eliminate hostile indigenous forces.

For example, old farmers who have settled in the local area for many years can provide guidance on farming; merchants who are familiar with the trade routes of various islands, kingdoms, and tribes can better sell Ming Dynasty products, and so on.

Therefore, Zhu Zhen came this time, in addition to inspecting the establishment of the Luzon Regional Military Commission, another important task was to formally contact these Nanyang Han forces on behalf of the Ming court.

If it weren't for Liu Kuan, the Ming court would definitely not have sent a prince to be in charge of this matter - in fact, if it weren't for Liu Kuan, Zhu Yuanzhang would not have paid attention to Southeast Asia.

Now Zhu Yuanzhang sent King Chu Zhu Zhen, which showed his attention to the many Han forces in Southeast Asia.

Presumably, these Han forces would be able to feel the sincerity of the Ming court in recruiting them if they could see Zhu Zhen...

After Zhu Zhen stayed in the Luzon Regional Command (actually the current Mi Jin Wei) for about ten days, he was again escorted by the South China Sea Navy squadron and headed south along the west coast of Luzon.

A few days later, they arrived in Luzon, which is Manila in later generations.

The geographical location here is unique. Not only do the local natives live a relatively stable and prosperous life, but as early as the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Han people came here by sea and settled here.

The Han people brought China's advanced technologies such as farming, textiles, and ceramics, which enabled the local people to civilize more quickly, their strength grew day by day, and eventually they established a country.

It can be said that before the middle and late Ming Dynasty, most of the Southeast Asian and Nanyang countries were deeply influenced by Han culture and actually became part of China's world system.

The other small half was influenced by Indian culture and Arab culture. The Buddhist culture originating from India had some overlap with the later Han culture, which further deepened the influence of Han culture in Southeast Asia.

The current conflicts among the Southeast Asian countries are actually due to the three-way cultural conflict.

Among them, Luzon was the one most deeply influenced by Chinese culture among the Southeast Asian countries. As early as the fifth year of Hongwu (1372), Luzon sent envoys to the capital to pay tribute and officially became a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.

When people in Luzon learned that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty had sent a prince to serve as an angel, they were excited and prepared for many days.

When the South China Sea Navy squadron arrived at the port near its capital in Luzon Bay, King Yasin of Luzon led the queen and civil and military officials to the dock to greet them.

Among them were wealthy Han Chinese merchants from Luzon, represented by Xu Chai Lao, and many Han Chinese and indigenous civilians watched.

The squadron flagship that Zhu Zhen was on this time was the "Zhu Ya", which was launched from the Quanzhou Shipyard last year. It had a mass of 4,000 tons and was nearly ten times larger than the largest warship in Luzon!
When it approached the dock, the Luzon warships and civilian ships anchored nearby looked like toys.

The black gun ports exposed on the two decks are even more intimidating.

For a moment, the Luzon emperor, his ministers, and the people at the dock couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"What a big boat!"

"As expected of the Celestial Empire, they can actually build such a large ship."

"It looks much bigger than the warships of the Hu Yuan Dynasty!"

"Are those square openings on the side of the ship gun ports? If so, doesn't that mean this ship carries over thirty guns?"

In fact, some people in Luzon did not know about cannons before. After all, although there were "cannons" on the warships of the Southern Song Dynasty and the Mongols, they were mostly called guns, and there were very few of them. Their importance on the ship was also quite low, and their appearance frequency was far less than that of weapons such as rackets, catapults, and crossbows.

It was last year, when the Ming navy entered Southeast Asia and wiped out several pirate gangs that dared to plunder Ming merchant ships near Luzon, that Luzon and other Southeast Asian states and kingdoms realized the power of artillery. However, most Ming navy warships weighed between 1,000 and 3,000 tons. Even ships over 3,000 tons could only be equipped with a dozen or so guns, with fewer than ten on each side. Naturally, their deterrent power could not compare to the 4,000-ton, double-decker Zhuya.

When the Zhuya and other Ming warships docked at the pier, teams of guards dressed in fiery red uniforms and specially made armor of the Southern Ming army disembarked. Their high-spirited posture and excellent armor made the Luzon emperor, his ministers and the people admire them.

At this time, dozens of people arranged by the Guangming Guards to watch the crowd suddenly shouted.

"The Ming army is mighty!"

"Long live the Ming Dynasty!"

Because there were thousands of Han people watching at the port, and many of the natives could speak Chinese, they were soon drawn into the shouting.

"The Ming army is mighty! Long live the Ming!"

"···"

Xu Chailao stood not far from the King of Luzon and looked at Yenashi with some worry - he was afraid that Yenashi would be wary of the Han people in Upper Luzon.

As a result, he was shocked to find that Yanashi was actually holding his princess's hand and shouting "The Ming army is mighty! Long live the Ming Dynasty" with an extremely excited look!

"It seems I was worried for nothing."

Xu Chai Lao thought to himself with self-mockery.

Then he joined in the cheers.

Afterwards, Zhu Zhen read out Zhu Yuanzhang's edict to the King of Luzon in public at the port - it was mostly words of encouragement and praise.

Although the Ming Dynasty intended to bring the entire Luzon Island under its rule, it was not prepared to use force against Luzon, which was a model of the Nanyang vassal state. Instead, it planned to let Luzon take the initiative to request submission at the appropriate time.

As for how to get the King of Luzon to voluntarily submit to the Central Plains, there are so many wise and resourceful people, someone will come up with a plan...
A few days later.

Xu Chai Lao was invited alone to where Zhu Zhen was staying.

"I, Xu Chai, greet His Majesty the King of Chu!"

When Xu Chai Lao saw Zhu Zhen, he immediately knelt down and bowed to him.

After he finished his formalities, Zhu Zhen smiled warmly and said, "Mr. Xu, please excuse the formalities. Please take a seat."

"I dare not sit down."

Zhu Zhen didn't press the issue and went straight to the point: "I heard that Mr. Xu owns over 100,000 acres of fertile land in Luzon, with thousands of tenant farmers; he also owns dozens of shops and over a hundred merchant ships."

"There's a rumor among the Han Chinese in Luzon that the Xu family is half as wealthy as the King of Luzon, hence the name 'Xu Half the Kingdom.' I wonder if this rumor is true or not."

Hearing this, Xu Chai Lao couldn't help but tremble in his heart, thinking: Could it be that the Ming Dynasty court is interested in my wealth in Southeast Asia?

Although his wealth is second to none in Luzon and ranks among the top wealthy merchants in Southeast Asia, it is very ordinary compared with some wealthy families in the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty court would not go to war for his little wealth, right?
Xu Chai Lao, who was only in his forties, thought a lot in his mind in an instant, and then answered carefully: "Your Highness, I have some wealth, but it is not concentrated in Luzon, and it is not as much as rumored."

Zhu Zhen said, "I am not interested in how much wealth Mr. Xu has. I just want to know whether Mr. Xu's prestige in Luzon is as great as the rumors say."

Xu Chai became more cautious after hearing this and said, "It's just a name, not a reputation."

"Alas, that's a pity." Zhu Zhen sighed softly, "I heard that Luzon was interested in annexing us, so I wanted to ask Mr. Xu to mediate and then reward him with a high position based on his merits."

"If Mr. Xu lacks prestige in Luzon, then I will have to find someone else to handle this matter."

Does the Kingdom of Luzon want to submit?
Xu Chailao was stunned at first, then he realized - it was not the Luzon Kingdom that had such intention, it was clearly the Ming Dynasty court that wanted it to annex!

Realizing this, he became excited.

As a smart Chinese, he knew very well that no matter how rich you are, it is not as good as having power, and doing business is far inferior to being an official.

Now that the opportunity to become an official is right in front of him, how can he let it go?
He immediately said, "If you want to ally with Luzon, even if I don't have enough prestige, I will do my best to make it happen!"

Zhu Zhen smiled brightly and said, "Since Mr. Xu has said so, I will not look for anyone else. After all, there is no Han Chinese in Luzon with a greater reputation than Mr. Xu."

Xu Chai tactfully bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Highness, the King of Chu, for your cultivation!"

···
···
When Zhu Zhen inspected the Luzon Military Commission and went on a diplomatic mission to the Kingdom of Luzon, King Zhu Gui of Qi led his guards to Dongfan Island.

Since the Ming Dynasty decided to rule Luzon Island, it naturally would not ignore the closer Dongfan Island. In theory, Dongfan Island is not much smaller than Luzon Island, and is separated from the mainland by only a strait. There is no country on the island, making it easier to rule.

The capital of Dongfan Prefecture was Dayuan County, and the capital of Jiananwei was Weicheng.

Zhu Yu sat high on the main seat, listening to several senior generals of Jianan Guard report on the affairs of the guard.

　First update

　　
　　
　
(End of this chapter)