Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 153: Tribute?

On July 7, after several days of "human-cargo trading", 12 people were finally crammed into two large ships.

The Dongjiang Town on Pi Island also received 3,500 dan of rice, 20 Western guns, and one red cannon.

The time travelers gained valuable population, while Dongjiang Town received much-needed food and also got rid of nearly a thousand bags.

This seems to be a very cost-effective deal for both parties. Each party gets what they want and everyone is happy.

After the last group of Liao people boarded the ship, the "Polang" and "Kaiyuan" did not linger at all. They immediately raised the sails and anchored, and headed southeast with the help of the weak sea breeze. In a moment, only two faint sail shadows were left.

"Master Shen, let's go back!" Mao Youjie (Geng Zhongming) saw that Shen Shikui was still staring at the two large ships going away in a daze, so he reminded him softly.

"Oh..." Shen Shikui turned around and looked at him with a strange expression on his face. "Do you think these foreign merchants can become big overseas?"

"No matter if they become powerful or not, we have to hurry back to divide up the food. Otherwise, the Liu brothers will swallow them all!" Mao Youjie smiled and said nonchalantly, "Even if these people become powerful overseas, will they come to our Ming Dynasty to compete for the world? It won't be long before they degenerate into overseas barbarians and become lonely ghosts."

"I don't think these people are simple at all." Shen Shikui waved his hand, signaling several soldiers to row their boats towards Pi Island. "They act very methodically and speak with great insight. Their views on the situation in our Ming Dynasty are profound and thorough. Haha, what's even more rare is that they actually think highly of our Dongjiang Town, saying that we are the key to the survival of the Ming Dynasty!"

"They're flattering Dongjiang Town like this, most likely with the intention of smuggling here in the future," Mao Youjie said with a smile. "Of all these merchants traveling north and south, who doesn't know that Pidao is the largest trading center in the north? If they want northern goods, whether it's fur, ginseng, deer antlers, or timber, who can get them without Dongjiang Town?"

"They may not be trying to curry favor with Dongjiang Town," Shen Shikui said, shaking his head. "Besides, they don't seem particularly interested in the furs and wild ginseng produced by our Pi Island. Previously, I offered them one hundred high-quality sable pelts and three bear skins in exchange for their artillery, but they didn't seem to care at all."

"Perhaps the land they're exploring also produces furs, so they don't really value our furs." Mao Youjie replied nonchalantly, "In that case, they're not worth our respect."

"You probably don't know, but a few days ago, when I spoke with them about the current situation, they had some shocking things to say," Shen Shikui said. "They were very pessimistic about the future of the Ming Dynasty. They said it wouldn't be long before the refugee rebellion in Shanxi and Shaanxi would escalate and eventually spread throughout the north, shaking the foundations of the Ming Dynasty."

"If the Ming Dynasty fails to respond effectively and extinguish the refugee rebellion, it could very well end the two-hundred-year-old Ming dynasty. At that point, the Jiannu of Liaodong could very well take advantage of the situation and swarm in, reaping the benefits, and ultimately sweeping across the entire Chinese continent. And if our Dongjiang Town fails to threaten the Jiannu from the rear, they will swarm out in force, seizing this enormous opportunity."

"Tsk, that's nonsense!" Mao Youjie scoffed. "Those refugees in Shanxi and Shaanxi who can't even get enough to eat can shake the foundation of the Ming Dynasty? I heard that the Governor-General of the Three Borders, Lord Yang, has already quelled several refugee rebellions. His officers and soldiers almost defeated the enemy without much fighting, as easy as cutting melons and vegetables."

"Furthermore, the Jiannu were able to repeatedly defeat our Ming army in Liaodong, and even reached Hebei and the capital region, where they displayed their might. But for the Tartars to imagine sweeping across the Chinese mainland with their small population is wishful thinking! Do they truly believe they are possessed by the Tartars and can once again rule the Central Plains?"

"Don't underestimate the Jiannu!" Shen Shikui glanced at Mao Youshi and said calmly, "Back then, when I started my rebellion, who could have imagined they would become so powerful, causing the Ming Dynasty to suffer continuous losses of troops and territory, to the point where we are now struggling to hold on thanks to the Guanning Line. If the refugees inside the pass continue to rebel, who knows if they won't take advantage of the situation and rise up like the Jiannu, destroying the foundation of the Ming Dynasty."

"Master Shen, our Ming Dynasty shouldn't have come to this, right?" Mao Youjie looked at him in astonishment.

"Who can tell the truth about the current situation in the Ming Dynasty?" Shen Shikui sighed. "Two years ago, our Marshal (Mao Wenlong) shouldn't have died!"

“…” Mao Youjie’s face suddenly darkened when he heard this.
-
"Does anyone know how Dongjiang Town was ultimately defeated?"

Looking at the Pi Island in the distance, which had gradually become a small black dot, Wei Yingbin retracted his gaze, turned around and asked softly to several time travelers.

"Who knows?" Chen Rui said with a wry smile. "We're not experts in Ming history, so how can we know how Dongjiang Town fell? I think it was their own fault. Look, the Dongjiang Town generals we met don't look like serious soldiers. They either look like bandits or like mercenaries. I don't think they were dedicated to resisting slavery."

"Pi Island is so close to the Kingdom of Joseon. I guess that Jiannu must have colluded with Joseon to jointly seize Pi Island, thereby disintegrating the entire Dongjiang Town." Liu Guoqiang thought for a while and said, "After all, at this time, Joseon seemed to have a decent navy fleet. Although it could not fight in the ocean, it was more than enough to cooperate with Jiannu in attacking Pi Island which was so close." "Could the destruction of Dongjiang Town be caused by the betrayal of the three traitors Shang Kexi, Kong Youde, and Geng Zhongming?" Han Jian expressed his guess.

"That's possible. It seems Kong Youde started the Denglai Rebellion in Shandong, then surrendered to the Later Jin with a large number of firearms. This gave the Jiannu a strong offensive capability." Liu Guoqiang added, "It's likely that Kong Youde also brought a lot of boats, which strengthened the Jiannu's water power to a certain extent."

"Hey, I heard from Shen Shikui that Denglai Governor Sun Yuanhua is organizing a Western-style firearms unit and has hired a number of Portuguese to serve as firearms instructors." Chen Rui suddenly thought of something. "Sun Yuanhua's teacher was Xu Guangqi. They both seem to be quite interested in various European scientific theories and technologies."

"What do you think? Can we establish a relationship with him later with more systematic and advanced knowledge and set up a contact in Denglai? And by the way, remind him to be wary of Kong Youde and other former Dongjiang garrison commanders to prevent mutiny."

"How can we establish a relationship with him?" Han Jian asked, "He's the governor of the Ming Dynasty, the local leader. He's in a high position of power. How could we possibly establish a relationship with him? Didn't you see that Instructor Meng and his men have only established close relationships with a few minor officials in Panyu County during their years in Guangzhou? As for the higher-level Guangzhou Prefecture, they don't even know which way its gates face!"

"We can call ourselves a vassal state overseas and prepare to pay homage to the Ming Dynasty and consider ourselves the suzerain." Chen Rui said unwillingly: "In this way, we can even establish direct contact with the Ming Dynasty court and obtain an official communication channel."

"Ah, pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty?" Han Jian looked at him in astonishment. "Do we need to kneel down and pay tribute to a corrupt and declining dynasty?"

"So what?" Chen Rui said nonchalantly, "It's just an empty title. We don't really have to kowtow to the Ming Dynasty and become its grandsons! You know, during this period, there were many foreign countries that wanted to pay tribute to the Celestial Empire. I remember that in Japan, two groups of envoys fought each other while paying tribute to the Ming Dynasty, and someone was killed."

"Japan's pursuit of tribute was simply to take advantage of the Ming Dynasty and gain the right to trade with it."

"Yes, what we want now is to have a legal channel in Ming Dynasty." Chen Rui felt that his idea was very reasonable as he spoke. "If we come to Ming Dynasty in the name of an overseas vassal state, we can conduct trade and recruit immigrants openly. I heard that Ming Dynasty exempts a lot of taxes for vassal states' trade, and even offers rewards."

"In that case, why not give it a try? If we do gain the Ming's approval, it will definitely boost our efforts on the mainland. Even better, if we develop artillery and muskets in the future, we could provide limited support, thereby delaying the dynasty's demise. ...What do you think?"

After hearing this, several people looked at each other and remained silent.

"Hey, you guys can't really be too embarrassed to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty, right?" Chen Rui couldn't help but get anxious. "We're calling this a matter of urgency, or keeping a low profile. Before we become truly powerful, it's okay to be humble for a while..."

"That being said, a little thought will lead to a problem," Liu Guoqiang said with a smile. "After we established our country and it gradually grew stronger, how should we record this period of history?"

"History should be recorded as it should be," Chen Rui said. "Which country, when it was first established, could smoothly build its foundation as a great nation? They all have to go through various setbacks and obstacles, sometimes even extreme humiliation. Take the later American Empire, for example, where even its own presidential palace was burned down! Even in our time, didn't we have the Three Shames of the 90s? A short period of enduring humiliation in exchange for a century of glorious achievements is, I think, worth it."

"However, given our current situation, with only tens of thousands of people and a land of only a few hundred miles, how can we be qualified to be a filial son and grandson of the Ming Dynasty?"

"That's nothing! Among the many vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, there are simply too many small countries with few people. For example, Ryukyu and Sulu have a population of only tens of thousands and their territory is only the size of a palm. Besides, when it comes to paying tribute to the Ming Dynasty, how big our country is and how powerful it is is up to us to decide."

"Right now, the Ming Dynasty is facing internal and external troubles. If a small foreign kingdom suddenly arrived, rushing to pay tribute, wouldn't the Ming emperor and his ministers be particularly surprised and delighted? This would be a truly auspicious omen from heaven. Perhaps Emperor Chongzhen would be so delighted that he would directly bestow a large reward upon us!"

"Haha..." Everyone found it very interesting and couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Alright, alright. Regarding whether or not to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty in the future, let's discuss it at the general meeting after we return to Qiming Island." Wei Yingbin smiled and waved his hand. "Now everyone, return to your posts and operate the ships well. Let's rush to Linhai Fort as quickly as possible. You know, our two ships are overloaded with immigrants, so we must not let anything go wrong!"

(End of this chapter)