Almeida was sitting in the hall, neatly dressed. Meeting Zhang Yanling while lying on the bed this morning made him feel very bad. This stubborn commander-in-chief of the Eastern Fleet refused to show his vulnerable side to others. Even if
At this time, he still wanted to keep his poor dignity.
When Helena and Zhang Yanling walked in, Almeida's dim eyes became brighter.
"Lord Almeida, you look good. Do you feel better?" Zhang Yanling cupped her hands and smiled.
"Dear Duke, thank you for your concern. I'm fine. Please sit down. Helena, bring us something to drink." Almeida returned the favor, stroking her chest.
Helena said: "Father, you cannot drink because of your injury."
Almeida said solemnly: "Who said you can't drink? Not only do you have to drink, but you also have to drink port wine."
Port wine is a famous wine in France. Although it is wine, it is made by adding spirits and has a strong alcoholic flavor. People who do not have the ability to drink cannot bear it. Almeida is weak, but she has to
Drinking this kind of wine really embarrassed Helena.
"Go on. Why are you standing there? Helena, you know that your father loved wine all his life. If you don't help me, I will get it myself." Almeida held the chair and stood up.
Helena hurriedly stepped forward and held him down, speechless with anger. Zhang Yanling asked about the situation and smiled: "Let him drink, Helena. A man's habit is hard to change until death. Besides, whether he drinks or not, Almeida
The adult's injury has little impact."
Zhang Yanling's meaning was very clear. Almeida could not last long. The wound on his leg had begun to fester and was about to become gangrene. The infection did not kill him. First aid was effective, but the toxins in the dungeon sewage had begun to corrode his body.
Although Zhang Yanling is not a doctor, he knows that he will not last long. Maybe a month, maybe three months, or maybe he will be gone tomorrow. According to the Ming Dynasty, at this time, you should eat what you need.
Drink, don't restrain him anymore.
Helena reluctantly took out a bottle of port wine. Governor Goya hid a lot of good wine in the underground wine cellar. The mobs who rushed in did not discover them.
Helena opened the cork, and a smell of wine came to her nose. The sweet aroma was tinged with wine, and the wine was as red as blood. Almeida stared at the wine with greedy eyes. Helena poured half a glass of wine for him and handed it to him.
In his hand, Almeida drained it in one gulp, with a satisfied look on her face, and she took a long breath, looking extremely comfortable.
"Your Majesty, would you like a drink?" Helena asked.
Zhang Yanling smiled and nodded. He wanted to taste the national wine of Folangji. Maybe this would become a business in the future.
Helena poured a glass and handed it to Zhang Yanling. Zhang Yanling took a sip and frowned. The wine tasted completely wrong. It was sweet, which Zhang Yanling could not accept the most. It tasted like it had been mixed with sugar water.
It tastes like strong liquor and has a weird taste. There is a whiff of
The strange taste seems to be a fragrance, but it is also like a stink. It is because some spices were added during brewing. Compared with the wine of the Ming Dynasty, this kind of wine is completely different. The Qiulubai of the Ming Dynasty
If it is hundreds of times better than this wine, with a mellow aroma and pure taste, then it is called wine.
Although Zhang Yanling was not used to drinking, Almeida enjoyed it extremely much. After drinking half a cup and then half a cup, she drank three cups in a while, and her whole body became radiant.
"Duke Zhang, it's very noisy outside today. I saw many people coming from the East District at the window. They were very grand. Who are they? Are there any distinguished officials from you coming here tomorrow?" Almeida asked
.
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "No, that is the return of King Suduan Mamo of Manlajia and his princes and ministers. I went to welcome them back in person."
Almeida said in confusion: "They are back? You invited them to come back? Why is that?"
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "This is his country originally, and I should return it to its original owner. We, the Ming Dynasty, do not occupy other people's land."
Almeida frowned and said: "You mean, your fleet came here thousands of miles away, fought with us, killed and injured so many people, and captured this place. In the end, they were handed back to Manlajia.
king?"
Zhang Yanling nodded and smiled: "Exactly..."
Almeida's eyes were suspicious. She poured a full glass of wine and drank it. She suddenly laughed and said: "I understand, you need a puppet to help you rule here. Please bring back their king, and they will obey you."
, I listen to you in everything. They say they are returning the country to them, but in fact they are just your agents. I listen to you in everything, right?"
Zhang Yanling smiled slightly and did not answer.
Almeida laughed and said: "They say that you Ming people are timid and scheming, which can be seen in this matter. You obviously want to occupy this place like us, but you have to go through the hands of others.
It’s not fair enough to do something hypocritical.”
Zhang Yanling shook his head and said: "Shallow. Mr. Almeida, I can see from you the shallowness of your country. What you admire is force and violence, thinking that this can solve everything. We are different. Naturally, we also value force.
But we know how to use wisdom better. You drove away the king of Manlajia and occupied this place yourself, but we invited their king back and brought them
The country was handed back to them. This is our difference. Yes, of course all this is not free, and of course they have to pay a corresponding price. But the difference is that they willingly surrendered to our Ming Empire. To you,
But they handed over everything you need under force of sword and gun. One is voluntary and the other is forced. This is the difference. This is wisdom."
Almeida was stunned and laughed: "What's the difference? You said it so grandly, but in the end, you didn't just take their things like us?"
Zhang Yanling sneered and said: "Of course it is different. When we take away, we will also give, but you just take away. We will not fish in the marsh, but you will only kill the goose to retrieve the eggs. This is the essential difference."
Almeida smiled and shook her head, looking quite disapproving.
"Lord Almeida, you have occupied the harbor of Malacca for nearly ten years, and the lives of the people here have become more and more miserable. Countless people die at your hands every year. Before you came, they were still self-sufficient. You
After occupying this place, what they produced and harvested
Everything is forced to be sold to you at low prices. You are making a lot of money, but they are starving to death. Is this true? And when our merchant ships come here in the future, we will purchase local goods at fair prices.
Produce goods so that they will also get benefits." Zhang Yanling said solemnly.
"A fair price? Tell me what a fair price is." Almeida smiled.
"A fair price is determined by us based on supply and demand. For example, locally produced goods such as agate, pearls, tortoise shells, corals, crane tops, white amaranth cloth, Sahara, rhinoceros horns, ivory, black bears, black apes, etc.
In my country, Ming Dynasty will sell it at a good price. Merchants will naturally come here to purchase. We will set up a market here.
Based on the price sold in Daming, excluding various factors such as taxes, costs, transportation risks, etc., a price that allows merchants to profit and is equivalent to local sellers is given as a benchmark. It will increase in the peak season and decrease in the off-season, but establish a bottom line. Purpose
It is to benefit both the merchants and the people. This is a fair price." Zhang Yanling said solemnly.
Almeida was stunned for a long time, then slowly took a glass of wine and looked thoughtful.
The behaviors that Zhang Yanling mentioned have really never been done by his country. In the past few years, what his country has done is to keep the purchase price low and pursue the highest price when selling. The businessmen
Earn the price difference, and then take a percentage of the profit from the governor's office established here. In fact, it is a situation of cooperation and exploitation between the state and merchants.
If the local people refuse to sell their goods, they will be punished by being hanged, beheaded, imprisoned, whipped and other punishments to force them to sell the goods. They will also be apportioned and enforced in terms of quantity. No goods will be punished, and goods will not be sold.
The merchants of Folangji will also be punished. The lower the price is, the greater the profit will be. They use forceful means to plunder local resources and never think about benefiting the people.
Almeida was indeed very surprised to hear Zhang Yanling say how the Ming Dynasty was going to act. The two were indeed different, and they were very different.
"What benefit will you do to your Ming Empire by doing this? Aren't you here to plunder the wealth of other countries to strengthen the Ming Empire? Otherwise, why would you go to such trouble? Since it is the same purpose, why do you want to do this?
Such pretense?" Almeida said solemnly.
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "This is the difference between our Eastern Empire and your Western Empire. What we emphasize is benevolence and righteousness in governing the world, and what we pursue is the way of world harmony. We treat people from other countries as human beings. But what you uphold is banditry.
The idea is to regard people from other countries as human beings.
If you say this is hypocrisy, then it is. But our Eastern Empire has been hypocritical for thousands of years, and it is not hypocritical now. That is our culture, our civilization. That’s all, there is no point in telling you this.
You won’t understand. Let’s get down to business.”
Zhang Yanling took a sip of the unpleasant wine and put down the glass.
"I understand. Your Excellency, I understand what you are saying. Benevolence, justice, universal unity, and universal justice. I have heard the teachers in my college say these things. When you said this today, I suddenly understood something." Helen
Na said.
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "Very good. But this is only part of it. Our Chinese civilization is too complicated and profound to be explained in just one or two sentences. If there is a chance, I will find a teacher for you and let you study hard.
You will understand more. Now, let’s talk about what happened after you returned home. You can help me ask Mr. Almeida some questions.”
Helena hurriedly said: "You say."
Zhang Yanling pondered for a moment and said: "The first question. How did Mr. Almeida explain the defeat of Manlajia to your king? I am not talking about this one, but the previous battle with me. He led the Absolute
With superior force, he was defeated by me. How will he explain this?"