Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 250 Ming Officials Arrive at the Papal States
In October of the tenth year of the Zhengde reign, the first Ming flag with a red background and a black dragon pattern was raised over the Mediterranean.

This is the national flag of the Ming Dynasty.

In the seventh year of the Zhengde reign, Emperor Zhengde Zhu Houzhao issued an edict to the cabinet to establish the style of the Ming national flag to symbolize the national spirit.

In the end, the Ministry of Rites spent a year selecting this national flag style.

The red flag with black dragon pattern is mainly red and black, which naturally represents the enterprising and unyielding spirit of China, and the dragon pattern naturally represents the totem of the Chinese nation.

Zhu Houzhao issued an edict to the whole country on the winter solstice of the eighth year of Zhengde, requiring all government offices, schools, military bases, city gates and ships going out to sea in the Ming Dynasty to fly this flag, and the Ming Dynasty navy had the obligation to protect and rescue ships flying this flag.

The Ming national flag has become a common phenomenon in Southeast Asia.

However, it was the first time that the Ming national flag appeared in the inner area of ​​the Mediterranean Sea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean.

The first appeared in the North African port city of Ceuta.

It is connected to the Strait of Gibraltar in the west, which leads directly to Spain, and to France in the north. In the east, it can directly reach Rome via Sardinia and Corsica, and even has connections with the Ottoman Empire.

Besides.

Across the Strait of Gibraltar, the city of Ceuta can sail directly to Guinea, and the Portuguese stored a lot of gold from Guinea here.

Now that the Ming Dynasty has occupied this place, it naturally will not plan to give it up.

Naturally, countless gold will be transported back to Ming Dynasty in the future.

Emperor Zhengde is not Emperor Yongle.

Xia Yan is not Zheng He. Since he has occupied this place, he naturally has no thought of giving up.

Therefore, after taking this port city from the Portuguese, Xia Yan ordered the Ming flag to be raised here, and announced that it officially belonged to the capital of the Ming Dynasty's Western Province, and appointed the accompanying candidate official Wang Youquan as the prefect of Ceuta.

Zhu Houzhao gave Xia Yan the official position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War and Governor of the West, and granted him many convenient powers.

In other words, as long as Xia Yan still holds this position, he has the final say in the entire area west of the Indian Ocean and is the King of the West. If he pulls the Western Pope down and chops him to death with a knife, Zhu Houzhao will not blame him now.

Not to mention the current establishment of a government and a royal palace.

Xia Yan, an official of the Ming Dynasty, established a government in Ceuta, with the natural purpose of establishing a base for the Ming Dynasty in the Mediterranean and providing supplies for Marquis Jianchang to continue his westward advance.

Zhang Yanling, Marquis of Jianchang, did not stay in Ceuta for long. Before Da Gama's injuries were fully healed, he and his fleet set sail eastward.

Xia Yan used wine to cheer up the first Ming noble who was about to cross the Atlantic Ocean, and shouted loudly:

"Marquis Jianchang! I have had many misunderstandings about you in the past, thinking that you are just a dandy uncle. But now, based on your courage to continue sailing for the Ming Dynasty, I have great respect for you! If you return to the Ming Dynasty one day, I will be the first to ask for credit for you!"

Zhang Yanling smiled slightly, looking at the rough sea: "Alright! Minister Xia, I have seen that you are different from other civil servants. I will have to rely on you in the future. I am afraid that I will really have to rely on you when the time comes to ask for merit. Otherwise, those old stubborn people will really think that I am wasting money and food. When the time comes, I will bring back real gold and silver from the barbaric land and let them all see it!"

As he sailed along the way, Zhang Yanling was no longer just pursuing the original intention of proving that the earth was a sphere. He began to pay more attention to whether he could plunder more wealth. After all, he could rob and take anything from places outside the Ming Dynasty without worrying about being impeached by the censors.

Xia Yan was still a scholar after all. He had no interest in Zhang Yanling's desire to find more gold and silver. He was more interested in Zhang Yanling's desire to prove that the earth was a sphere. Therefore, he could not help but remind him: "Marquis Jianchang should not forget your original intention of promising His Majesty. Scholars throughout the Ming Dynasty are waiting for you to come back to see whose theory is right!"

"Of course I haven't forgotten. In fact, we don't need to go there. We can basically conclude that the earth is a sphere. The various phenomena we have seen on the sea these days have proved that it is consistent with what the ancients said. The earth is in the center of the sky and its body is round, corresponding to the degree of the sky. China is located north of the equator, so the North Pole is often visible and the South Pole is often invisible. If you travel 250 miles south, the North Pole is one degree lower, and if you travel 250 miles north, it is one degree higher. This is not contradictory. It can also be proved by observing the angle of the North Star!"

"But no matter what, since I have promised Your Majesty, I will still go. Moreover, Your Majesty once said that Columbus of the Spanish Dynasty crossed this ocean in the fifth year of Hongzhi and discovered a new continent, and even claimed the entire continent for himself. Our Ming Dynasty cannot just watch others gain benefits. I will occupy a piece of land for the Ming Dynasty! Except for my nephew, the emperor, how can these barbarian emperors in the West be qualified to own these new continents? Goodbye!"

As Zhang Yanling spoke, he bowed to Xia Yan, and then ordered the fleet, which had already been replenished with fresh water and food, to continue sailing.

Xia Yan also bowed, and after entrusting some matters to the governor of Ceuta, Wang Youquan, he also ordered to set sail for Rome.

Lying on the deck, Da Gama could not understand what the two Orientals were saying. He felt a dull pain below and didn't know what kind of punishment he would face. He cursed these Orientals as devils in his heart. At the same time, he wanted to survive and no longer suffer inhuman torture, so he also hoped in his heart that these Orientals would forgive him.

Da Gama didn't know why his compatriot who followed the Oriental man and described the situation of the sea ahead and spoke Portuguese was not punished like himself, and even possessed property and women.

……

Xia Yan took a look at the sails going away to the west, then put down the telescope and looked up at the inner area of ​​the azure Mediterranean Sea. The officers and soldiers on the warships had also shed the madness and barbarity of yesterday, and were all seriously and nervously alert to the surroundings. The experience of the past few days at sea told them that the closer they were to these Western countries, the more enemy ships they would encounter, so they dared not take it lightly as soon as they left the coast.

Fortunately, along the way, because most of Italy was still under the rule of the Austrian Empire at that time, and the unruled areas had just gained independence from the Pope and were in a state of separatism, forming relatively small city-state republics. Therefore, they would not pose a threat to the Ming fleet at this time.

As for the Ottoman Empire, he was now expanding in the Balkans and had not yet expanded westwards.

So, Xia Yan and his Ming cruiser fleet arrived in Rome smoothly.

At this time, Rome was still the capital of the Catholic Papal States.

It has been a holy city for Catholics since the Frankish king donated the city to the Pope eight hundred years ago.

It was not until twelve years later, when Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire sent troops to burn and loot the city, that the Renaissance began in Rome, which had lost the order of papal rule.

therefore.

When Xia Yan and the Ming fleet appeared in Rome, Rome was still in the Middle Ages under the rule of the Pope.

"Is this the legendary person from the East?"

"Their ship is so huge!"

“Are they missionaries?”

"Quick, tell the bishop!"

……

Xia Yan's special envoy Pires went ashore first with a team of Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers.

Pires found a priest named France and expressed the purpose of the Ming Dynasty's visit: "Please tell the Senate and the Pope that we are envoys from the Eastern Ming Empire. I represent the Minister of the Ming Emperor Zhengde, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, the Governor of the Western Oceans, and the Admiral of Western Military Affairs, Lord Xia Yan. We are here to inspect the Western countries in order to establish trade and cultural exchanges in the future."

"The envoy of the Ming Empire, sent by Emperor Zhengde? Not the Pope?"

The priest named France asked in surprise. He grew up in Rome and was a devout Christian, so he thought other religions also had their own popes.

"There is no pope in the Ming Empire. Our king is the emperor. We are not here to preach, but to inspect and investigate! We have brought you goods, but also guns and cannons! As long as you are friendly to us, we are willing to trade goods with you. We don't want to become enemies with each other, and then we can only communicate with guns and cannons!"

Pires said so much, but only one sentence made the pastor put his grudge to rest, and that was that Ming Dynasty was not here to preach.

"Quick, go and tell the bishop that this is a messenger from the East, not a missionary!"

When the pastor heard that the people from the Ming Dynasty were not here to preach, he felt relieved. He even thought that the people from the Ming Dynasty were here to make a pilgrimage, so he became excited.

Rome is still under the rule of the Pope, but the Pope's court is not in Rome, but in Avignon, France. Therefore, after the city of Rome learned that people from the Ming Dynasty had appeared, only the Roman Cardinal Toges became the first senior clergyman to face the first arrival of Ming officials.

Tojes was a little scared at first, fearing that these Orientals were coming to destroy his Papal States, but after receiving the news from Pastor Francis, he became happy again and thought:
"It seems that these Orientals are here to make a pilgrimage. Their emperor must be a believer in God and must be here to ask the Pope to crown him. I don't know which missionary was able to spread our doctrine to the East and make the emperor of the East a believer!"

"Let those who are trying to apostatize see that Catholicism has not died out. In the far east, people come to make pilgrimages. What does this prove? It proves that Catholicism is on the road to glory!"

After Bishop Tojes said this, he welcomed the Ming envoy ashore with excitement.

This was the first time Xia Yan set foot on Roman soil, but he did not have much of a fondness for this city at first. He found that the common people here seemed to be dressed no better than the people of the Ming Dynasty. They were all wrapped in old cloth and black fur, and their faces were hollow under their unkempt beards.

Even the streets were messy and filthy, and the scattered fruit and vegetable leaves had a musty and rotten smell under the long-term humid air.

"Perhaps this is what Your Majesty calls medieval Rome. It is indeed not a city that people would want to live in!"

Xia Yan frowned, straightened his bright and beautiful scarlet official robe, and rode into the city of Rome.

Before the Ming Dynasty, China had the theory that the earth is a sphere, but for some unknown reason, it was not widely circulated.

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(End of this chapter)