Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 994: Journey to the West
After Adolf's explanation, Wang Fuzhi finally understood why the Arabs only conducted transit trade in the Goa area and could not continue to move eastward and come directly to the Ming Dynasty to trade as before.

The key lies in the changes in the world pattern that occurred during the Age of Discovery. The Arabs, who were once ahead of Europe, have now lost their original superiority. Whether in military or other aspects, they are gradually inferior to the European countries that they once called "barbarians".

In addition, because of the previous westward expedition of the Mongol Empire, the powerful Arab Empire suffered a severe blow. The arrival of the Mongols caused the powerful Arab Empire to begin to fall apart. Coupled with the rise of the Ottoman Empire in the West, a split occurred within the Arab world. In addition, there were multiple influences of religion, culture and ethnicity, which led to the Arab world beginning to go downhill.

The rise of Europe not only allowed European countries to discover new continents through ocean exploration, but also opened up sea routes between the East and the West. Moreover, Europe's navigation technology has continued to develop over the past 100 years, and its national strength has continued to grow, surpassing Arabia in all aspects.

Under such circumstances, it was no longer possible for Arabia to continue to monopolize the Eastern routes as before. After experiencing several defeats in wars, it had no choice but to give up the routes, which resulted in the Eastern routes falling into the hands of European countries.

In addition to this reason, Adolf also mentioned the measures taken by European countries to open up overseas territories and establish colonies, which also led to the continuous weakening of Arab influence on these regions.

Of course, although the European countries have the upper hand in the competition with the Arabs, they also take into account the actual situation and will not go too far if it is not possible to completely conquer the Arabs. After all, the influence of the Arabs in the region still exists. The fundamental purpose of the European countries to open up the sea routes is to do business. Under this premise, it is better not to make a mortal enemy. Once such a result is achieved, how can the business be carried out? Who will make up for the loss?

In this way, the two sides reached a tacit understanding after the war and subsequent bargaining. After the Arabs handed over the Eastern Route and acquiesced to the monopoly of the European countries on the Eastern Route, they also retained the right to free trade with Goa and other regions as transit trade ports.

This would benefit both sides and avoid a complete fallout. European countries occupied a dominant position in the East-West trade, thus obtaining the most lucrative profits. However, the Arab side did not suffer a complete loss either, as trade through transit ports could still maintain a portion of commercial profits. In this way, no one suffered any harm, and the current situation was formed.

"So that's how it is..." Wang Fuzhi finally understood what was going on, and couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

History has recorded how powerful the Arabian Empire was back then. Even the powerful Tang Dynasty was defeated in the Battle of Hengrus. Although the failure of this battle was mainly due to the fact that the Tang army was smaller in number than the Arab army at the time, and the fact that the Tang army encountered rebellion from friendly forces in the Western Regions when the war was most intense, it was ultimately defeated.

But no matter what, a defeat is a defeat, which shows how strong the opponent is. But things have changed, and the powerful Arab Empire has declined. This is certainly due to the rise of the Mongolian Empire, but it also has many problems of its own. This made Wang Fuzhi think of the Ming Dynasty and the changes in the Ming Dynasty over the past few decades. The Ming Dynasty was once the most powerful country in the world, but in the past few decades, the Ming Dynasty, like the Arabs, has declined. Because of internal and external troubles, the Ming Dynasty almost reached the brink of national destruction. If it were not for Zhu Shenzhu's sudden appearance, it is hard to say what the Ming Dynasty would be like now.

Although Wang Fuzhi was a scholar, he was not a pedantic person. The fact that he took the initiative to volunteer to serve as the chief envoy to Europe also represented Wang Fuzhi's strong interest in emerging things, including his spirit of exploration of changes in the world.

In addition, due to his personal character, Wang Fuzhi was more inclined to political reforms in the Ming Dynasty, which was why he was optimistic about the changes in the court after Zhu Shenzhui took over the Ming Dynasty. Although he was a little puzzled by some of the changes in the court during the Ming Dynasty, he did not understand why the emperor attached so much importance to border trade and foreign trade, and spent huge sums of money to build a navy despite financial difficulties.

At first, Wang Fuzhi thought that Zhu Shencui did this only for the Liaodong war and to solve the imminent financial problem. However, after his diplomatic mission to Europe, his original idea gradually began to change. Especially after he learned a lot about Europe from Adolf and understood how Europe had obtained huge wealth through the ocean and rose rapidly over the past hundred years, Wang Fuzhi truly understood the deep meaning of Zhu Shencui's actions.

Today, Wang Fuzhi learned from Adolf about the importance of Goa and the current situation in Arabia. He sighed in his heart and also strengthened his mission to Europe this time. In his view, although Zhu Shenzhui took certain risks in sending a mission to Europe at this time, once successful, its impact would be extremely far-reaching.

As the chief envoy, he was just like Zhang Qian, Ban Chao and Fu Jiezi in those days, shouldering a heavy responsibility, and could even change the future of the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, compared with Europe today, the Ming Dynasty still had certain advantages, but in many aspects it had been gradually surpassed by European countries. If it continued to stay in the same old ways, the future Ming Dynasty might inevitably decline like the present Arabia, and eventually lose its original position in the world, which was something that the people of the Celestial Empire could not tolerate.

On that day, Wang Fuzhi talked with Adolf for a long time about the situation in Goa. They not only talked about the current situation in Arabia, but also about the Renaissance in Europe mentioned by Adolf. Through Adolf's introduction and explanation of the Renaissance, Wang Fuzhi's horizons were broadened. He even felt that the Renaissance in Europe was equivalent to the various schools of thought in China during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods. It was precisely because of these fierce cultural collisions that Europe was reborn and had today's progress and rapid development. In the next few days, Wang Fuzhi often continued to discuss related issues with Adolf, and carefully recorded their discussions including his own feelings. This record actually began when he left Daming. In the past three months, he has never stopped recording and has recorded a thick stack of content. The content in it is all over the world, and it involves all aspects. Wang Fuzhi feels that these records can be said to be the most valuable things since his mission. He will keep this habit until he returns to Daming after completing his mission to Europe.

When he can return to Ming Dynasty one day, he will organize these records carefully and eventually compile them into a book. Wang Fuzhi has also thought of the title of the book, which is "Random Thoughts on the Journey to the West".

The voyage on the sea continued, and a few days later the fleet adjusted its direction from west to northwest. With the adjustment of the route, everyone knew that they were about to arrive in Goa. After half a month of drifting on the sea, everyone was a little exhausted and looked forward to arriving as soon as possible and resting on shore.

By noon of the next day, the coastline finally appeared in front of them. Everyone on the boat was celebrating and cheering, and even Wang Fuzhi couldn't help but smile.

Gradually, Goa became clearer and clearer, and more and more ships were traveling around it. In the afternoon, the fleet finally arrived near the port of Goa. Because their fleet was relatively large, and the ships were flying the flags of Sweden and Poland in addition to the Kingdom of Portugal, in addition to a Big Dipper flag that had never been seen before, when this strange fleet appeared outside the port of Goa, the Portuguese Governor of Goa was really nervous after hearing the news. He had no idea the origin of this fleet, and hurriedly sent people to contact them to confirm their identity.

As the news arrived, the Governor of Portugal learned that this was actually a diplomatic fleet from the Ming Dynasty to Europe. The fleet included not only envoys representing the Kingdom of Sweden and the Kingdom of Poland, but also members of the delegation from the Ming Dynasty.

But the fleet was a Portuguese fleet, hired by diplomats from three countries, coming from the East and anchored in Goa for rest.

Upon learning of this result, the Portuguese governor was shocked and overjoyed. As the governor of a colony and the governor of Goa, which controls the sea route between the East and the West, he knew too well how powerful the Ming Dynasty was. The Ming Dynasty was not only the most powerful country in the world, but also the richest country. The silk, porcelain, tea, etc. of the Ming Dynasty were the universal currency equivalent to gold in Europe. The value of goods from the East was conceivable. The fleet carrying the Ming Dynasty envoys was not small in size and must have carried a large amount of goods from the Ming Dynasty. If he could take this opportunity to establish a relationship with the other party, not only would his career be further advanced, but he might even get some rare Ming Dynasty goods from the other party and make a fortune.

In this way, with the permission of the Governor, the fleet slowly approached the dock. Then Wang Fuzhi, Zheng Hongkui, Adolf and others got off the ship after being dressed neatly and set foot on the land of Goa.

The customs of Goa are different from those of the Ming Dynasty, and even from the countries in the South China Sea that it passed through. And because of Goa's special geographical location, there are not only locals here, but also many European and Arab merchants.

After seeing the arrival of the fleet and hearing that this fleet also had a Ming Dynasty delegation, almost half of the people in Goa came to the dock to watch the excitement. As the Ming Dynasty delegation disembarked and appeared in front of everyone, especially after seeing Wang Fuzhi and Zheng Hongkui in official robes and their fully armed entourage, everyone couldn't help but sigh with emotion and watched these distinguished guests from the Ming Dynasty arrive here intently.

On that day, the Governor of Goa warmly entertained the Ming Dynasty delegation including Adolf and his party at the Governor's Mansion. Wang Fuzhi and his party also happily attended the banquet and had a good chat with them. From the other party's words, Wang Fuzhi learned a lot about Goa. When he learned that the Governor of Goa was a little embarrassed and tentatively proposed to buy some goods from the Ming Dynasty, Wang Fuzhi agreed after considering it. After all, they still need to stay in Goa for a few days, and they will still stay in Goa on their way back. As the Governor of Goa, he is the highest official in the local area. It is not a bad thing to make friends with him. It is beneficial to get convenience from him.

Moreover, when they left Ming Dynasty, 70 percent of the entire fleet was loaded with various goods from Ming Dynasty. These were supplies for the diplomatic missions, including not only exquisite silk and porcelain, but also necessities such as tea.

In addition, in order to ensure the success of the delegation's mission and to show Westerners the best of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Shenzui also specially allocated a large number of commodities and luxury goods that represent the Ming Dynasty's most exquisite handicrafts. Many of these things could be said to be going to Europe for the first time. These goods were not available to ordinary merchants traveling between the East and the West. Their value and magnificence far exceeded the ordinary goods of the past.

(End of this chapter)