Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 281 Pilgrimage (I)

Compared with the turbulent Eurasian continent, the war between Xinhua and the Spanish American colonial authorities was so insignificant and trivial, just like a small stone thrown into the vast blue sea, splashing only a ripple but not causing any waves.

After the death of King Gustav II of Sweden in the Battle of Lützen, the Catholic League began to regain the advantage on the battlefield. The Holy Roman Emperor prepared to unite with the Spanish allies and mobilized 80,000 troops to launch a large-scale attack on Sweden in an attempt to force the Swedish army to withdraw to the Baltic coast and exclude this powerful foreign aid of the Protestant League from the German region.

Seeing that Denmark, Sweden and other countries were defeated one after another, France, which had been manipulating behind the scenes, had to prepare to take action itself. It kept sending envoys to shuttle between the princes of the Protestant League, connecting with each other, and began to plan a new round of anti-Catholic League offensive.

The chaotic European war is about to enter its brutal second half, drawing more countries and regions into it.

At the same time, the ancient Chinese continent is suffering from the double blow of natural disasters and man-made disasters.

Disasters continued, smoke of war lingered, tens of millions of people were displaced, and their livelihood was in dire straits. The entire earth fell into deep despair.

On the fifth day of February in the seventh year of Chongzhen (1634), the refugee army captured Xingshan. On the fifteenth day, they went down to Qutang. On the twenty-first day, they broke through Kuizhou Prefecture and Daning and besieged Taiping.

On February 28, Zhang Xianzhong and his 13th battalion of refugee troops left Wuguan in the west from Henan and Shangluo and entered Hannan.

In March, several camps of refugee troops including Lao Huihui who were trying to enter Sichuan were blocked by Qin Liangyu. They then entered Qinzhou from Yangping Pass and returned to Shaanxi.

The refugee uprising had not yet been quelled when natural disasters broke out one after another.

In April, Shanxi and Shaanxi were hit by another severe famine. From August of last year to the turn of spring and summer this year, there was drought and no rain, and the land was barren for thousands of miles. The people were starving and ate each other.

On April 21, an earthquake occurred in Huguang Huanggang, affecting more than 10,000 people.

On April 25, an earthquake struck Luotian, affecting surrounding prefectures and counties and affecting tens of thousands of people.

The people were hungry and chaos arose, but the local military commanders killed many innocent people to claim credit. In the counties of Zhongzhou, the people feared the government soldiers more than the "bandits".

In June, the Governor-General of the Three Borders, Chen Qiuyu, and the Governor of Yunyang, Lu Xiangsheng, joined forces at Shangjin and led their troops to encircle and suppress the large army of refugees from Hannan.

At that time, the "bandit" leaders Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai, Li Zicheng and others saw that the Ming army was gathering from all sides, and mistakenly went to Xing'an (now Ankang City, Shaanxi Province) Chexiang Gorge (now Laoxian Town, Pingli County, Shaanxi Province), making it easy for the refugees to enter but difficult to exit, leaving them in a difficult situation, and their horses exhausted and out of food.

However, Li Zicheng used Gu Jun'en to pretend to surrender and used valuable treasures to lure Qi Yu and other generals.

Qi Yu agreed, and in July the "rebel army" finally escaped from Chexiang Gorge with a number of more than 30,000 people, and the plan to suppress the bandits was ruined.

In July, the Jiannu army marched westward to Chahar, and then attacked Shanxi, besieging Xuanfu.

The Xuanfu defenders fired artillery fire at them, forcing them to retreat to Yingzhou. They plundered Datong and captured Desheng Fort, shocking the capital.

"The situation in the Ming Dynasty is becoming increasingly deteriorating!" Meng Shengxin couldn't help but sigh after quickly reading the official reports collected by several students.

"Teacher, it seems that the Ming Dynasty is really going to... perish!" Tian Xiaodong couldn't help but speak.

"Shh..." Meng Shengxin said, immediately made a gesture to keep quiet, and then turned to look outside the door.

"Teacher, Xiao He is guarding outside the door..." Tian Xiaodong said in a low voice.

"Hmph..." Meng Shengxin snorted coldly, glared at him fiercely, and said sternly: "You have to know where we are now. Be careful not to cause trouble by speaking so recklessly!"

"Teacher, I know I was wrong." Tian Xiaodong lowered his head and admitted his mistake.

"Well, remember, you must be careful with your words and actions while in the capital. Don't speak carelessly, and don't say anything nonsense." Meng Shengxin slowed down his tone and said in a deep voice, "Otherwise, if someone with ulterior motives hears you, not only will it ruin our Xinhua cause, but it will also cost you your life."

"Yes, teacher!" Tian Xiaodong bowed and responded.

"Go ask the head of Huitong Hall when the officials from the Ministry of Rites will receive us."

"Yes, teacher!" Tian Xiaodong responded and turned to walk out of the house.

"Alas, the Ming Dynasty court is so slow in doing things!" Meng Shengxin tidied up the official reports on the table, then took out a thin rope, tied them into a bundle, and stuffed them into a leather bag.

Two years ago, several warships of Xinhua cooperated with Dongjiang Town to launch a surprise attack on Dengzhou Port, and then the victory report from General Huang Long arrived in the capital. For the first time, Xinhua's name appeared on the desks of many bigwigs in the court.

As Huang Long was rewarded and awarded a title, some court officials, especially the Ministry of War, began to pay attention to this "vassal state" from a foreign continent.

Xinhua once assisted Dongjiang Town in repelling the attack of the Jiannu.

Xinhua once inflicted heavy damage on the rebels when Chen Youshi, a rebel general in Dongjiang Town, attacked Kuniang Island (now Haiyang Island in Liaoning).

Under the cover of several Xinhua gunboats, the Dongjiang Town Navy destroyed the naval vessels of the Dengzhou rebels in one fell swoop.

With the help of several artillery pieces funded by Xinhua, Dongjiang Town successfully repelled the Jiannu's attack on Lushun.

Xinhua sold thirty flintlock muskets in Dongjiang Town. They were extremely powerful and could penetrate armor from a hundred steps away.

Xinhua sold large quantities of Siamese and Champa rice to Dongjiang Town at prices lower than the local market price in exchange for the starving people in Liaodong.

Xinhua provided aid to the Denglai refugees and took in thousands of helpless women and children.

……

More importantly, this small "vassal state" that calls itself Xinhua was actually established by a group of remnants of the Chinese nation.

They spoke Chinese, wrote Chinese characters, followed Chinese customs, and performed Chinese rituals, just like a Chinese kingdom.

This immediately attracted the attention of many court officials, and they sent minor officials to contact and communicate with him.

In March last year, Huang Long, the general of Dongjiang Town, wrote to the court, saying that Xinhua wanted to make a formal "pilgrimage" to the Ming Dynasty in order to establish a "tributary relationship" between the two sides.

In the eyes of the officials in the court, it was nothing new or a big deal that a small foreign country wanted to pay homage to the Celestial Empire.

During the Hongwu and Yongle years, our Ming Dynasty was at its peak of glory. Countless foreign nations came to pay tribute and pay homage, but we ignored them all.

Some foreign nations even caused trouble by "fighting for tribute" in order to come to the Ming Dynasty to pay homage.

However, times changed. As the Ming Dynasty declined, the Mongols and the Jiannu invaded the northern borders, and refugees continued to revolt within. Many vassal states no longer paid tribute as diligently as before, and the imperial court's influence seemed to fade. Even the most loyal Kingdom of Korea, under the military attacks and coercion of the Jiannu, had not come to the Ming Dynasty for a long time.

Now, when the imperial court was in great difficulty, unexpectedly there was such a "small foreign country" coming to pay tribute.

Well, to be honest, both Emperor Chongzhen and the officials in the court were a little excited after hearing about this.

Our Great Ming Dynasty is famous throughout the world for its grace and power. Finally, foreign nations come to admire the Celestial Empire!

Therefore, last October, the Ministry of Rites sent a written statement, along with corresponding certificates and imperial edicts, which were delivered to Ku Niang Island via Dongjiang Town, allowing Xinhua to send an official envoy to the capital for a pilgrimage.

Zhong Minghui, the person in charge of Ku Niang Island, was stunned for a long time after receiving these "diplomatic documents" sent by the Ming Dynasty court. Then, without any delay, he asked his confidant to take these documents and quickly return to Guangzhou on a grain transport ship to hand them over to Meng Shengxin, the Xinhua plenipotentiary representative to the Ming Dynasty.

As early as April last year, when the immigrant ship arrived in Guangzhou, in addition to bringing a large amount of furs and gold and silver, it also brought a letter of appointment to Meng Shengxin.

The decision-making committee formally appointed him as a member of the Xinhua Foreign Affairs Department and concurrently as the plenipotentiary representative to the Ming Dynasty. The Guangzhou Trading Station, the Ku Niang Island Immigration Transit Station, and the Beiying Island Colonization Team were all under his control.

Xinhua is located in the New World continent. Apart from the Indians, the only people around it are the Spaniards, who are still hostile to them.

Moreover, given the Spanish's arrogant and presumptuous attitude, they would certainly not establish formal diplomatic and trade relations with Xinhua.

Under such circumstances, if Xinhua wants to break away from its isolation and increase its immigration efforts, it can only try to establish a relationship with the Ming Dynasty.

Even if a relatively low-status vassal-tributary relationship is established, it will be a huge breakthrough in Xinhua's foreign relations.

Otherwise, it would be inconvenient to always deal with the merchants and local governments of the Ming Dynasty in such an awkward relationship as overseas merchants.

Therefore, through the channel of Huanglong in Dongjiang Town, Xinhua expressed several times its desire to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty and establish a vassal relationship.

Although we, Xinhua, are located overseas, as descendants of Yan and Huang, we always have our hearts in China and admire the Ming Dynasty.

Upon hearing that the Ming Dynasty is currently facing internal and external troubles, we in Xinhua, although a small country, are willing to help the Ming Dynasty share its worries and difficulties, and are willing to contribute our own little bit of strength to show our firm support for the Ming Dynasty.

At first, the officials in the imperial court simply ignored the demands of the new Chinese.

For hundreds of years, there have been too many scammers who have come to the Ming Dynasty to pay homage to foreign countries, all hoping to defraud some rewards from the court.

My Ming Dynasty is not a wealthy country with too much money and no place to spend it. How can we allow ourselves to be bullied by you cunning vassal states?
After receiving the documents submitted by Huang Long, officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple did not take them seriously at all.

Xinzhou China?

Where did these vassal states dare to call themselves Chinese?

It's so ridiculous!
These officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple regarded it as a ridiculous joke, but some "knowledgeable people" from the Ministry of War saw something different in the documents submitted by Huang Long.

This "vassal state" of China in the new continent can make cannons!

Moreover, the artillery made by Xinhua was extremely powerful and was in no way inferior to the red cannon imitated by the Armoury Bureau of the Ministry of Works.

It is reported that Dongjiang Town obtained several cannons from the Xinhua people, which enabled it to repeatedly repel the attacks of the Jiannu.

In April last year, in order to support the rebels such as Kong Youde and Geng Zhongmin to cross the sea and land in Liaodong, the Jiannu army dispatched more than 10,000 troops to approach Lushun, but they were strongly counterattacked by Huang Long's troops. Relying on several cannons provided by Xinhua on the city wall, they defeated the Jiannu army, killed and wounded countless people, and forced them to return in defeat.

Officials from the Ministry of War also personally inspected those cannons in Lushun. They were found to have top-notch craftsmanship and performance, with casting levels that could be described as "fine products." Moreover, they were significantly lighter than the cannons made by the Armament Bureau.

After seeing these cannons, a group of military officials were immediately excited. After asking the general Huang Long, they also learned that the Xinhua people were willing to sell such weapons to the Ming Dynasty, and the price was much lower than the price of the cannons sold by the Portuguese.

You should know that two years ago, rebels such as Kong Youde, Li Jiuchen, and Geng Zhongmin ravaged Shandong and Denglai, not only causing huge damage to local people's livelihood, but also used all the artillery that the court had painstakingly cast for several years to resist the encirclement and suppression of the court's rebellion-suppressing army.

Last April, after more than half a year of siege, the rebels were finally defeated by the imperial court, but the hundreds of artillery pieces in their hands were all destroyed, causing heavy losses to the imperial court.

To make matters worse, hundreds of experienced artillery casting craftsmen also died in the war, leaving the Ministry of Works' Armoury Bureau in a difficult situation in a short period of time.

Now, rebuilding the Liaodong defense line and resisting the southward invasion of the Jiannu people requires a great reliance on artillery and there is a huge demand for it.

If Xinhua can sell artillery to the Ming Dynasty at a lower price, it is not impossible to contact and interact with it.

After repeated verification, the imperial court finally confirmed that Xinhua was a "kingdom" located on the Xinzhou continent, rather than a foreign merchant who came to defraud the imperial court of rewards.

Since the other party admires our Ming Dynasty and is willing to travel thousands of miles to pay tribute and pay homage in order to establish a vassal relationship, then let him come to Beijing.

This time, not only can a batch of powerful artillery be purchased from the Xinhua people, but the gradually declining power of the imperial court can also be boosted.

Because, at a time when the Ming Dynasty was in turmoil, a small foreign country thousands of miles away rushed to pay tribute and pay homage, which at least allowed Emperor Chongzhen and the court officials to reminisce about the glory of the Celestial Empire.

Meng Shengxin was overjoyed when he received the "diplomatic documents" from the Ming court.

As long as "diplomatic relations" are established with the Ming Dynasty, Xinhua will have a legal and reliable identity on the mainland and can obtain the right to tribute trade in accordance with the examples of Korea and Ryukyu.

Of course, we can also follow the example of the Portuguese and gain a stable trading base on the coast of the Ming Dynasty and enjoy corresponding maritime trade rights.

They could even use their close relationship of shared Chinese descent to gain the right to "walk" freely within the territory of the Ming Dynasty, thereby recruiting craftsmen, artists, and a large number of population resources.

Therefore, he found several agents in Guangzhou who were well versed in the affairs of vassal states' pilgrimage, and prepared relevant letters of credence and identity certificates for envoys in accordance with the requirements of the Ming court.

At the same time, according to the custom of vassal states' pilgrimage, corresponding tributes were also prepared, including three cannons, twenty flintlock rifles, thirty refined swords, one hundred high-quality furs, three glass mirrors, one hundred taels of gold, and ten barrels of refined whale oil.

Except for the cannons and muskets that needed to be prepared from Ku Niang Island, the rest of the tribute was taken from the Guangzhou trading station. Then, according to the Kanhe issued by the Ministry of Rites of the Ming Dynasty, they set out from Guangzhou and headed north.

Yes, the Ming Dynasty had set a fixed route for Xinhua’s pilgrimage, which could not be changed at will, and he was not allowed to abandon land and take a boat to land in Tianjin or Dengzhou.

Perhaps, the idea was to allow this small overseas country to appreciate the vast territory of the Celestial Empire and feel the prosperity and wealth of its people during the journey.

Everything was ready. In February of this year, Meng Shengxin brought three students and more than ten shop assistants, and was escorted by the local government of the Ming Dynasty at one stop after another. In May, he arrived in the capital and stayed in the Huitong Hall where the envoys stayed, waiting for the court's arrangements.

However, they waited for more than two months. During this period, apart from a sixth-rank official from the Ministry of Rites who came to inquire and took Xinhua's letter of credence and list of tribute, no one paid any attention to them and left them alone in Huitong Hall.
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(End of this chapter)