I was compiling the daily records during the Wanli reign

Chapter 237 The Mad Barbarians! A New Year's Gift for the Ming Dynasty

On the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month, in the early morning, at the Hanlin Academy's Academic Hall

Wang Xijue, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, looked at Shen Nian with disbelief and said, "Ziheng, do you suspect that the Siamese envoy Rama is fake? Or even that the entire Siamese delegation is fake?"

Shen Nian nodded.

"It's just speculation at the moment and needs to be verified. As for whether they are related to Baji's death or to the Tuman spies who may have come to the capital, it is still unknown!"

Shen Nian had no evidence for this suspicion; it was based solely on her intuition.

Cao Wei's words, "No matter how well a barbarian hides, the earthy smell on their body can never be hidden from the Imperial Guards," made Shen Nian realize what was strange about his feeling towards the Siamese envoy.

It wasn't his appearance, his accent, or his speech that struck me as odd, but rather the aura he exuded.

Before paying tribute to the Ming Dynasty, all envoys from any country, regardless of rank, would undergo training. Those proficient in Chinese would be given priority, while those who were not would be accompanied by an interpreter.

Their behavior does not represent them as individuals, but as their country.

On that day, although both the Ryukyu envoy and the Siam envoy were dissatisfied with the closure of the South Meeting Hall, Shen Nian felt that the former was like an envoy from a small country, while the latter was more like a businessman.

It should be noted that Siam did not have an imperial examination system and had a strict hierarchical system.

Those who can serve as special envoys are usually nobles, and they are unlikely to exude the mercenary air of a small merchant.

Having served as a teacher in two lifetimes and holding a position in the Hanlin Academy, Shen Nian is very sensitive to many details.

He felt that Rama, the special envoy of the Siamese mission, was not a special envoy, but a businessman.

He had great faith in his intuition.

Wang Xijue was somewhat confused, but since there was no progress in the assassination of Baji and the killer was provoking him again, perhaps he could try something else.

Furthermore, there are many examples of such fake foreign missions.

Although the Ming Dynasty produced anti-counterfeiting official documents, changes in regime or instability in foreign countries made it easy for fake missions to steal the official documents from genuine missions, enter the capital, and then leave with goods worth hundreds of times more than the tribute they brought.

The Ming Dynasty always recognized only official documents and not the person in question.

When these things happened in some vassal states, they mostly kept it to themselves because if they informed the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty could directly cancel their official contracts and prohibit them from paying tribute.

Japan is the most obvious example.

During the Jiajing era, two opposing envoys came to pay tribute and fought each other at the Quanzhou Maritime Trade Office, and were eventually expelled.

After discussing it with Shen Nian, Wang Xijue made some preparations and immediately went to the Nanhui Hall under the guise of offering condolences.

……

A moment later, the two arrived at the courtyard where the Ryukyu delegation was staying.

The Ryukyu delegation's special envoy, Mao Liangda, immediately inquired about the progress of the case and when the Nanhuitong Hall could be reopened.

Wang Xijue did not give him a definite answer, only saying that it was under investigation. He also said that the Ryukyu delegation could submit a list of non-tribute goods to Shen Nian, and the Ministry of Revenue could appraise them or exchange them for goods of equivalent value.

Although Mao Liangda was dissatisfied, he still expressed his gratitude to the two men.

At present, the Ming Dynasty is the god of wealth for Ryukyu, and they dare not offend it at all.

The two then arrived at the courtyard where the Siamese delegation was staying.

The Siamese delegation came from the south, having traveled the longest distance. There were thirty-two people in the courtyard at that moment.

The special envoys of Siam, Rama and Damochai, were responsible for receiving Wang Xijue and Shen Nian. Damochai was a lean young man with dark skin who could speak Chinese, but he was very quiet.

Wang Xijue explained his purpose.

On the one hand, they inquired about any assistance the families needed; on the other hand, the Ministry of Revenue offered to sell their goods on their behalf.

"Gentlemen, we appreciate your kindness, but we still intend to sell it ourselves. We hope the Nanhui Hall can be unsealed as soon as possible. Also, we need to rush back on the third day of the Lunar New Year!" Luo Mo declined Wang Xijue's offer, then put his hands together in gratitude.

Siamese people are Buddhists and often greet each other with their hands clasped together.

At this moment, Shen Nian spoke up: "Envoy Rama, I have always enjoyed collecting scripts from various countries. I wonder if you two could leave behind two pieces of Siamese (Thai) calligraphy for my collection!"

The official script in present-day Siam is Thai.

Upon hearing this, Luo Mo frowned slightly and looked at Shen Nian, saying, "Minister Shen, you are joking. Chinese characters are profound and complex. Neither of us is skilled in calligraphy. If we were to actually write them on paper, we would only make a fool of ourselves!"

"You two are too modest. It's just a personal hobby, something I keep in private. I've also shamelessly written two pieces and would like to give them to you. How about we exchange them?" Shen Nian said with a smile.

Immediately, Shen Nian waved his hand, and two clerks walked in from outside the door.

One person held two scrolls written by Shen Nian, while the other held the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone that had been prepared beforehand.

Wow! Wow!
The two scrolls were opened.

One inscription reads: "Without anger or attachment to anger, one can purify oneself without being disrespectful. Possessing right view and wisdom, one is known to be a sage." Another inscription reads: "Regulate what should not be regulated, and do not regulate what should be regulated. Abandon profit and act arbitrarily. In the future, one will surely respect those who regulate."

Shen Nian's two calligraphy works are entirely derived from the sayings of the Buddha, who was native to Siam.

If Shen Nian chose quotes from Siamese Buddhist scriptures, then they would naturally have to select sentences from the Four Books and Five Classics.

Shen Nian chose to exchange calligraphy works.

The reason is that genuine Siamese envoys were all Siamese nobles who were absolutely skilled in writing, while imposters, whether merchants or commoners, might have passable spoken language, but their calligraphy would be absolutely poor. This is because few people below the rank of noble in Siam were literate. Some merchants were good at speaking because they used it frequently, but they were not good at writing.

The genuine nobles of Siam disdained impersonating diplomatic missions.

The imposters were most likely smugglers traveling between various maritime trade offices in the Ming Dynasty, and were unlikely to have a high level of education.

Shen Nian placed the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone on the table. If the Siamese envoy Rama and his deputy Damochai refused again, it would damage the harmony!

The Siamese envoy, Rama, looked at Shen Nian.

"Minister Shen, Damo Cai isn't good at writing, so I'll write one, no, two!"

"Okay." Shen Nian said with a smile.

A moment later, Rama dipped his brush in ink and wrote a Siamese version of "Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you," and another Siamese version of "Reviewing the old and learning the new, one can become a teacher."

Although Wang Xijue and Shen Nian couldn't understand Thai, they could clearly see that it was poorly written.

It's obvious that he's not someone who frequently writes with a pen.

"I've made a fool of myself!" Rama said, putting away his pen.

Shen Nian, feigning ignorance, praised, "Your country's writing system is different from Chinese characters, and I find it very pleasing to the eye. I'll save it! I'll save it!"

Immediately afterwards, Shen Nian began to discuss with Rama and Dharmachai the two Buddhist scriptures from Siam that he had written.

"Gentlemen, I greatly admire the Buddha's saying, 'Without anger, one does not harbor resentment; without belittling, one can purify oneself.' Is this not the way of a wise person? Buddhism emphasizes the equality of all beings, but your country seems to have a strict hierarchy. I wonder how to reconcile the two?"

Shen Nian stumped Rama with just one question.

"This...this..." Just as Rama was stammering, Damochai, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up: "Minister Shen, my special envoy is particularly fond of discussing Buddhism, but today we still need to organize the goods. Why don't we wait until the Southern Meeting Hall is reopened before we discuss this?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Xijue couldn't help but glance at Damochai.

“Yes! Yes! Today we must learn the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty, so as not to make mistakes at the New Year’s Day court assembly!” Rama said.

"Then...then I'll trouble you another day!" Seeing that the other party didn't want to talk, and not wanting to alert them, Shen Nian didn't press the matter further. After exchanging a few more pleasantries with the two, Shen Nian and Wang Xijue left to visit the Anda tribe's delegation.

Half an hour later, outside the South Meeting Hall, inside the carriage.

Shen Nian looked at Wang Xijue and asked, "Brother Yuanyu, how are you feeling?"

“There is definitely a problem! That Rama should be Siamese, but he is most likely not an envoy. They should speak of Buddhism with reverence and excitement, not with fear of discussing it. His calligraphy is also quite appalling. This might really be a fake delegation, trying to deceive us. It’s outrageous!”

"Furthermore, that deputy envoy, Damochai, speaks Chinese much better than Rama, but he doesn't write. He might not be Siamese; he might be from Yunnan in our dynasty, or even a local barbarian!"

Wang Xijue thought for a moment and then said, "Let's not alert them yet. I'll send someone to the southern border to investigate first, while you inform Commander Cao about this matter and see if it's related to Baji's murder."

“Okay!” Shen Nian nodded.

……

Meanwhile, in the back hall of the residence where the Siamese delegation was staying.

Special Envoy Rama patted his chest up and down, looking at the gloomy-faced Deputy Envoy Damochai, and said, "Luckily I can write Siamese, otherwise I would have been exposed! Ming officials are very shrewd. Are you not going to make any more moves? When will you have your men hand over ten thousand taels of silver to me?"

snort!
Damochai snorted coldly.

"What's the rush? I haven't finished my work yet!"

"What...what else do you want to do? Didn't we agree that my caravan would impersonate the Siamese delegation, and all I had to do was help you kill the envoy from the Altan Khan tribe? I understand that you killed the dog to make the Imperial Guards think the real culprit was outside the South Meeting Hall, but you shouldn't have placed it in front of the Temple of Literature. Besides, what else do you want to do next?"

"I want to kill Zhang Juzheng, I want to kill the Wanli Emperor, I want to kill all the high-ranking officials of the Ming Dynasty, as many as I can, the more the better!"

"You...you...are you crazy? Going against the Ming Dynasty is like an egg hitting a rock. I...I quit! I'm leaving the capital immediately after New Year's Day!" Rama stared at Dharmachai.

Snapped!
Damochai slapped Rama across the face, then said coldly, "Follow me, or die, or keep going. I don't like disobedient dogs!"

After saying this, Damochai reached under the hem of his silk sarong (i.e., tube skirt) and pulled out a sharp blade about the thickness of a chopstick, thick at one end and pointed at the other, slightly shorter than a chopstick.

"I'll listen to you, I'll listen to everything you say!" Rama said with a fearful expression.

The blade in Damochai's hand had already killed dozens of people right before his eyes, all of them piercing the heart with a single blow.

Upon hearing this, Damochai smiled.

"Next, read more Buddhist books, and don't give yourself away. If you don't know something, it's better not to say anything than to say something you don't know!"

“Yes, yes!” Rama replied.

The names used by the two were not their real names, but rather the names of the chief and deputy envoys of the Siamese mission.

Rama was a Siamese merchant who frequently engaged in smuggling in Guangzhou. He had more than fifty men under his command, all of whom were Siamese.

As citizens of a small country where everything was monopolized by the nobility, these Siamese people had no sense of national identity and did whatever made money.

In early September, Dharmachakra found Rama.

He claimed there was a deal far more profitable than smuggling, and that upon completion of the task, he would receive at least ten thousand taels of silver, without any initial investment.

Rama was caught smuggling and trading multiple times and was in dire straits. Naturally, he wanted to do this highly profitable business.

Then he saw that Damochai and his subordinates had arrested the entire Siamese delegation within the territory of the Ming Dynasty and ordered them to impersonate the Siamese delegation.

Rama's mission was to impersonate a Siamese delegation and enter the capital. Apart from a commission of 10,000 taels of silver, all the rewards from the Ming Dynasty would go to Rama and his caravan.

Rama was tempted!

Siam and the Ming Dynasty had little interaction, and as a Siamese, it wouldn't have been difficult for him to impersonate an envoy.

Even if the King of Siam found out later, he was not afraid, because he had long been active at sea and on the border of the Ming Dynasty.

After forcing the thirty-two members of the Siamese delegation to reveal all the details of the mission, Damochai's men, armed with sharp blades, killed them all and buried them.

Rama and his men did not participate in the killing.

He was ecstatic about participating in the deal, because he could not only experience what it was like to be a Siamese nobleman, but also make a lot of money.

But at this time.

He felt completely controlled by Dhammachai, and that there were also people from Dhammachai's group monitoring him at all times.

He had already guessed that Damo Cai was a Tuman (a type of barbarian).

But the latter is skilled at disguise, and he has never seen Damochai's true face.

Seeing that Rama had calmed down, Damochai put away his sharp blade and walked towards the back hall.

He was a barbarian who arrived in the Ming Dynasty in June.

His mission was to force the Ming Dynasty to submit and sign a trade treaty with the Tuman tribe, thereby allowing the Tuman tribe to replace the Anda tribe in the Ming Dynasty's position.

The Tuman people preferred to use war to achieve peace in order to gain greater benefits.

He killed Baji because he had a grudge against the Tuman tribe and the Anda tribe, and because Baji wanted to discuss with the Ming Dynasty a joint strategy to deal with the Tuman.

This was only the first step in his plan.

He has many more plans to make. He intends to present the Ming Dynasty with a special New Year's gift after the New Year's Day court assembly.

At present, his men are hiding in the capital.

Both inside and outside the Nanhuitong Hall are there.

His initial goal was to assassinate two or three officials of the fifth rank or above in the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

However, it was quite difficult, and he never found an opportunity. In the end, his subordinates, in a fit of anger, could only kill a dog to humiliate the Ming Dynasty.

They wanted to create chaos first, making the people of the Ming Dynasty panic, without them knowing that it was the barbarians who were behind it.

……

It was nighttime on the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month.

Just as Cao Wei and the others learned that the Siamese delegation might be a fake one, another massacre occurred.

A minor eunuch from the Imperial Horse Stables was feeding the horses at the Licao Ranch when, on his way back to the Imperial Horse Stables from the banks of the Jade River, he was struck through the heart by a sharp blade and thrown into the Jade River under the cover of night.

The killing of foreign envoys first caused the Ming Dynasty to lose face.

Then he threw the dog in front of the Confucian Temple, insulting the orthodoxy of Confucianism in the Ming Dynasty.

Now, to kill a eunuch and throw him into the imperial river is a disgrace to the Ming emperor!

This is a naked provocation!

Such a heinous incident had never occurred during the reigns of any Ming Dynasty emperor.

Upon learning of this, the young Wanli Emperor immediately designated the case as the most important matter before the end of the Ming Dynasty, offering a reward of over a thousand taels of silver to anyone who could provide clues or catch the murderer.

At this time.

If Cao Wei and other officials in charge of apprehending thieves allow the killing to continue, then the Ming Dynasty's reputation will be completely trampled on.

(End of this chapter)