Ming East India Company

At the same time, Shang Yong was also worried about whether this group of so-called "official troops" of the Ming Dynasty, whose origins were unknown, were real or fake.

Ryukyu has been paying tribute to the Ming Dynasty for so many years, so they are quite familiar with the Ming's temperament. As long as they don't act as recklessly as Japan, they shouldn't have to summon the "heavenly army".

However, the well-written manifesto made Shang Yong really uneasy.

Therefore, Shang Yong decided to send someone to investigate the situation first.

Zheng Jiong, who previously knew the most about the Ming Dynasty, has disappeared. Shang Ning sent Geng Jian, another descendant of the Thirty-Six Surnames of Fujian, as an envoy to Ryukyu to seek peace in present-day Guiren City.

Upon arriving in Jin Guiren City, Geng Jian immediately noticed something amiss.

Logically speaking, if these were the Ming Dynasty's official troops, they wouldn't be dressed in full court attire and armor, but they wouldn't even have uniforms; a bunch of people would be wearing all sorts of different clothes.

So much so that to avoid being accidentally injured in battle, everyone had to wrap a white cloth around their left arm to distinguish friend from foe.

In terms of personnel composition, this so-called "official army" was also a mess. The envoy who came this time, Geng Jian, had previously accompanied Zheng Jiong on a mission to the Ming Dynasty.

But this time, I saw that some of the people in the group had calloused hands and dark, wrinkled skin, and they looked like farmers from the fields.

Some people have bright, alert eyes, fair skin, and sparse leg hair; they look like crew members who make a living on the water.

Some of them are physically strong, with calluses on their hands from years of handling weapons, clearly indicating that they were once soldiers and skilled fighters.

……

Such a chaotic organization made it impossible for the visitors to figure out who the other party was.

The former residence of Xiang Kezhi was temporarily converted into a negotiation room.

At the negotiating table, Bai Jiancheng, who was witnessing such a grand occasion for the first time, was somewhat at a loss.

As a junior member of the Bai family, Bai Jiancheng of the seventh branch of the Bai family is recognized by the entire clan as a "useless scholar".

Although he could read a little, his writing was so poor that he didn't even pass the lowest level of the imperial examinations. He also lacked business acumen and couldn't even speak clearly when communicating with people.

Bai Jiancheng's original intention for this surprise attack on Ryukyu was just to join in the cheering and create a good atmosphere. However, Bai Ye and Bai Wenzhengfei said that he was the only one in their family with some education, so they forced him into this role.

"We are the imperial army of the Ming Dynasty. We have learned that Ryukyu is colluding with the Japanese, and we have come here specifically to punish them. Confucius said, 'Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda.' You should come and surrender to us immediately..."

"That's what Buddha said," Bai Ling couldn't help but remind Bai Jiancheng.

"Really?" Bai Jiancheng was a little flustered, but he still tried to remain calm on the surface.

"In any case, if you do not surrender, when the heavenly army descends, it will surely be as Confucius said, that we will all perish..."

"That's what Buddha said too." Bai Ling frowned deeply, feeling extremely embarrassed.

"Well, whoever said it, you should surrender immediately today." Bai Jiancheng stopped quoting scriptures and stated his intentions.

Geng Jian barely suppressed a laugh, then bowed respectfully and said:

"Our Ryukyu Kingdom has paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty for many years without ever slacking off. Back then, the Ming Emperor Taizu even granted Ryukyu the privilege of being a 'country not to be conquered.' Now, we have violated your borders without cause, which is unbecoming of a great nation!"

"Really? Did our Great Ming Emperor Taizu say such a thing?" Bai Jiancheng quickly activated the carbon-based search engine, but it seemed that this sentence was not found in the Four Books and Five Classics he had studied.

"Why don't you go and get my book, and I'll go look it up?" Bai Jiancheng, at a loss, began to ask Bai Ling for help.

Bai Ling was already red-faced and furious, but Bai Ye had given her a strict order to cooperate with Bai Jiancheng at the negotiating table, so she couldn't say much and could only patiently continue to remind Bai Jiancheng:

"The Four Books and Five Classics don't contain any mention of Emperor Taizu, so what use are they to you?"

"Yes! It's definitely not in the book." Bai Jiancheng became increasingly uneasy, looking around before deciding to ask Bai Ling for help.

"How about we send a ship back to check if this is true, and then continue negotiations?"

Across the table, Geng Jian's lips were already curving into a smile as he exerted all his strength to suppress his laughter.

Bai Ling was too lazy to waste any more time arguing with Bai Jiancheng, so she immediately began to demonstrate her negotiation skills:

"We are dispatched by imperial decree of the Ming Emperor to suppress the Japanese pirates. If you have any grievances, please go and explain to the Ming Emperor yourself. We are only concerned with punishing the traitors as ordered by the Emperor."

This sentence left Geng Jian speechless. He racked his brains for a moment but couldn't find a point to refute it.

So they began to lower their stance and tentatively tried to settle the matter peacefully.

"Well then, esteemed heroes, since that's the case, how about we make a deal? My Ryukyu will give you a sum of silver, and in return, we'll capture a few Japanese heads and send them back to you as proof. That way, everyone will have an explanation."

Ryukyu is relatively close to the East, so there are still some Japanese merchants on the island, and it is not difficult to find a few genuine Japanese leaders.

This time, Bai Jiancheng actually showed his bookish side:

"National affairs should not be treated like the games of merchants. Absolutely not."

Seeing that his attempts to persuade the enemy to retreat were unsuccessful, Geng Jian gave up on that idea and instead began gathering intelligence.

"Since that's the case, then we only have one request today: could you please take a look at our Beishan garrison commanders Xiang Kezhi and Zheng Jiong, Tang Rongsi, and others in Guiren City? It would be a small token of our camaraderie."

Bai Jiancheng started scratching his head again, looking back at Bai Ling, hoping she would give him some advice.

Although Bai Ling was extremely anxious, remembering Bai Ye's instruction to completely relinquish control over Bai Jiancheng, she could only helplessly say:

"Your brother Ye said it himself, it's all up to you to make the decision."

Bai Jiancheng thought for a moment:

"In that case, let this envoy go and take a look!"

Bai Ling, accompanied by Geng Jian, examined Xiang Kezhi's head and visited Zheng Jiong's residence. After a private conversation with Zheng Jiong, he "sensibly" gave Bai Ling over ten taels of silver as a "reward" before leaving Jin Guiren City.

After seeing off the Ryukyu envoys, Bai Ling could no longer hold back. She immediately dragged Bai Jiancheng back to Bai Ye to "complain," and after reporting Bai Jiancheng's actions in detail, she launched into a tirade of nonsense about him...

Throughout the entire process, Shirane simply sat leisurely in a rocking chair and drank water.

When Bai Ling finished venting, Bai Ye got up and looked at Bai Jiancheng. This bookworm had never experienced such a scene before. He was now full of shame and stomping his feet on the spot, not knowing what to do next.

Bai Ye instructed the guards to pull Bai Jiancheng away to calm him down, and then took a teacup from the table and poured tea for Bai Ling.

"Here, big sister, this tea is brought from our hometown. We'll be drinking it every day, so drink this to calm your nerves."

"What time is it? How can you still sit here? Thanks to Lao Qi, the other side must have already figured out that we are fake Ming Dynasty soldiers. They just exchanged intelligence with Zheng Jiong, so they must know our background..."