I

Before the trophies captured in Malacca were sold out, the tribesmen sent by Shi Cunzhang to ask for help had already arrived on sea ships.

Kuang Hong took out the navigation chart and asked, "Where are you from?"

The name of the visitor was Shi Cunwen. He pointed to the sea map and said: "Here. This is the territory of the Aceh Kingdom, and dozens of miles to the east is the territory of the Wandan Kingdom. This city was originally called Jiugang, but was renamed by the barbarians from the other countries. Palembang. In the early Ming Dynasty, the Han people established their country here. The ancestors of the Liang family were kings, and my ancestors of the Shi family were deputy kings."

"In the third year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, the ancestors of each family sent envoys to Beijing to pay tribute. In the fifth year of Yongle, my ancestor of the Shi family was named the Ming Dynasty Old Port Propaganda and Comfort Envoy by Emperor Yongle. The land of Old Port has since become the land of Ming Dynasty, and now it is naturally the land of Datong. Old Port We can take the city by ourselves, but the Sultan of Aceh will definitely send troops to attack. Please, Lord Angel, send troops to help us defend the city!"

Kuang Hong was very surprised when he heard this: "The Ming Dynasty actually has overseas territory? Do you have proof?"

Shi Cunwen took out a piece of paper with the seal pattern of "Xuanwei Envoy Seal of Ming Dynasty Old Port" stamped on it.

Kuang Hong distinguished it carefully, then handed it to Hong Xu and said, "Has General Hong heard about this?"

Hong Xu shook his head and said, "Unheard of."

Shi Cunwen explained: "In the fifth year of the Ming Dynasty's orthodoxy, the Ming Dynasty's fleet no longer went to sea. The Manchu Boyi Kingdom became greedy and sent a large army to besiege the old port city. Our Han family, Erlang, had few people and was weak. After a hard battle, we lost our troops and generals. They could only negotiate and reconcile. Majapahit was afraid of too many casualties, so he agreed to peace talks. The Han people handed over the city and moved to what is now Xingang. My Shi family ancestor was named the feudal chief of Xingang."

"Later, the Tammu Kingdom rose up and destroyed Majapahit. Tammu was in civil strife and split into the Banten Kingdom and the Matalan Kingdom. Aceh took the opportunity to seize the old port city. I, the son of the Han family, have been dormant for more than a hundred years and worked hard to support me. Naturally, I don’t dare to be too high-profile, so all the forces don’t know much about the old port propaganda envoy..."

"Wait!" Kuang Hong interrupted suddenly, returned to his cabin, and took out a handwritten copy of "Yingya Shenglan".

"Yingya Shenglan" was written in the second year of Jingtai, and it is almost impossible to find it among the public. The Datong court only found it after moving the books from Beijing during the Ming Dynasty.

The author of this book is named Ma Huan, a native of Shaoxing and a Hui nationality. He is proficient in Persian and Arabic and was the translator around Zheng He. In his book "Yingya Scenic Views", he compiled and recorded the situation of more than 20 countries that Zheng He visited along the way, including shipping routes, tides, geography, kings, politics, customs, humanities, language, climate, Currency, wildlife and more.

Kuang Hong served as an envoy this time and read "Yingya Shenglan" carefully.

He rummaged quickly for a while and finally found the relevant content: (Old Port Xuanwei Division) is bounded by the Kingdom of Java to the east, the border of Malacca to the west, mountains to the south, and the sea to the north. The land is densely populated and the fields are fertile. The climate is warm, with frequent rains in spring and summer. The soil is fertile and suitable for crops. As the saying goes: One year to plant grain, three years to produce gold. It is said that the harvest is prosperous and the trade gold is abundant.

"You can grow grain in one year and make gold in three years. It's such a good place," Kuang Hong said with emotion. "Unexpectedly, more than two hundred years have passed and you are still living in Old Port. I thought there were no Han people there."

Shi Cunwen said: "There are Han people, and there are many of them. They can speak Chinese, at least one or two hundred thousand! The soil there is fertile, the food harvest is huge, and all the land has been cultivated into fertile farmland, thanks to the three hundred years of cultivation by the Han people. It also blocks the sea route. The Throat was once a supply place for the Three Treasures eunuchs.”

"The supply place for Sanbao Eunuch?" Kuang Hong's eyes lit up.

Shi Cunwen pointed to the navigation chart and said: "After passing Jiaozhi, the fleet of Sanbao Eunuch can reach the old port in five days if the wind and water are smooth. Going west from the old port, you can go to the western countries via Malacca. Going east from the old port, you can go through Java Island, return to Fujian from Luzon!"

Kuang Hong and Hong Xu looked at each other and saw the surprise on each other's faces.

With the Old Port (Palembang), what else does Temasek (Singapore) need?

After all, Singapore at this time had nothing to lose. There were only a few indigenous people on the island, and not much food could be grown. Moreover, after occupying Malacca, Singapore's geographical advantages were also repeated.

Palembang, with its fertile land, dense population and abundant food, can also reach Aceh, Banten and Batavia. What's even more valuable is that there are Han people everywhere here, so there is no need to spend any energy on development. It's a natural overseas base. If we take this place and combine it with Malacca, we can overwhelm the Dutch. All the countries in Southeast Asia are under the control of the Datong Navy!

If you don’t want Singapore, you want Palembang!

Kuang Hong's mind was spinning and he already had an idea.

After he returns to Beijing, he will ask the emperor to reinstate the "Old Port Xuanwei Division" and hand over the management of the Old Port to the Han gentry there. Xingang is the real seaport, where the Datong Navy builds a base to obtain local specialties and food. If Malacca is short of food, food can also be transported there from here.

…

The capital of Aceh, Kota Ratcha.

The news that Palembang City was lost made Sultan Muhammad a little confused. The Chinese army is in Malacca on the other side of the strait. How could they send troops to bring Palembang back?

The country of Aceh is located on the east and west of Sumatra Island, with the country of Sumatra sandwiched in between. If you want to send troops to regain Palembang, you must either pass through Sumatra by land, or transport troops by sea. Sumatra is already a vassal state of China, and the Strait of Malacca is also controlled by China, and both land and water routes are blocked.

If the Chinese army does not give way, the Aceh army will have no choice but to bypass the entire southern coast of Sumatra and cross the strait controlled by its mortal enemy Banten.

Muhammad thought carefully and called the minister Uma to discuss the matter.

Uma sighed: "I'm afraid we can't take it back. This matter must be negotiated with the Chinese first. We can send an envoy to Malacca immediately to find out the attitude of the Chinese."

Aceh at this time is no longer the Aceh it was more than ten years ago.

The previous sultan of Aceh, named Iskandar Muda, was hailed by European colonists as "Alexander of the Sea." In his hands, the territory of Aceh expanded several times. He also sent troops across the strait to the Malay Peninsula, conquered Pahang, Kedah, Perak and other countries, and seized the pepper and tin mines in the Malay Peninsula.

The army was so strong that it actually led to an alliance between Portugal and Johor. You know, Portugal and Johor have been mortal enemies of each other for hundreds of years, and Portugal just burned the capital of Johor!

After Portugal and Johor formed an alliance, they still felt uneasy and enlisted the help of Pattani's army. The three countries joined forces to defeat Aceh and curb Aceh's expansion.

The Sultan Muhammad in front of him was the prince of Pahang who was captured and returned from Pahang when Iskandar Muda conquered it.

Although Iskandar Muda was a male lord, he died without any children. The captured prince of Pahang succeeded to the throne as his nephew. Since then, Aceh has gradually declined, and even gradually lost control of Pahang and other countries.

Aceh is in decline. It is no longer as brave as it once was, and Sudan is also relatively cowardly. How can it dare to go to war with China?

A few days later, the envoy came back and told the Sultan: "The Chinese have a very tough attitude, saying that Palembang is Chinese territory. The Chinese there ruled Palembang three hundred years ago, and even the walls of Palembang are They were all built by the Chinese. If our country is willing to give up Palembang, China is willing to give 1,000 taels of silver as a gift as a thank you. If... we are not willing to give up Palembang, the Chinese will be happy to fight. By then, China will occupy Aceh the entire eastern territory until it borders the country of Sumatra.”

Muhammad was shocked and angry, and gave 1,000 taels of silver as a gift. This was not compensation, but more like an insult and ridicule.

Palembang is so prosperous, it has been cultivated by the Han people for three hundred years, and there are fertile fields along the Musi River. The population density there is several times that of other places in Sumatra! Moreover, there is a natural port, and the port tax can make a lot of money every day. Isn’t it nonsense to compensate for one thousand taels of silver?

Muhammad called Uma and asked, "Teacher, can you persuade the Netherlands to send troops to help?"

Uma sighed: "Malacca has been captured, and the Netherlands is in trouble, so how can they help us?"

Although disappointed with the weakness of the current sultan, Umma does not miss the previous sultan.

Because the previous Sultan was too strong and arbitrary, and did not take him as a prophet seriously. If the current weak Sultan succeeds to the throne, Uma can comfortably be a powerful minister and lose a huge port, which will only result in less fiscal revenue every year.

Uma said: "The decline of the Netherlands here is an irreversible fact. Other surrounding countries all respect China as their suzerainty and are likely to unite to deal with us in the future. The most important thing now is not to regain Palembang, but to become China's Subject to the country.”

Muhammad was shocked: "China has seized our territory, and we still want to respect China as our suzerain? This is too... so unreasonable."

Uma said: "Otherwise? Even if China does not send troops and other surrounding countries join forces, can we win? Only by obeying China as the leader, other countries will not dare to join forces to attack us."

"But it's a loss of prestige," Muhammad said.

Uma asked: "Is it more important to have prestige or to avoid defeat?"

Muhammad thought about it and couldn't think of a better way, so he could only nod helplessly: "Okay, just listen to the teacher."

For Ummah, even if the prestige is greatly lost, it is also a loss of the sultan's prestige. He is a prophet and a powerful minister. As long as he can stabilize his own interests, he can just change to another sultan.

Aceh had expanded too much before, its territory had increased several times, and there were many internal conflicts. The previous Sudan was able to suppress the situation and rely on foreign wars to deflect conflicts, but now it has become chaotic. Once there is a big defeat, the entire country may be torn apart.

Stability is the top priority, everything is to avoid division, and it is acceptable to give up the wealthy Palembang.

As long as it becomes a vassal state of China, external pressure will disappear, and Uma's position as a powerful minister will be stable. Even if it can be exchanged for China's care, internal and external stability, and giving away all the eastern territories of Aceh, Uma thinks it can be considered.