The Central Plains Dynasty's attitude towards these people who left their homeland to live overseas had always been clear. Most of these people were merchants or landless peasants who couldn't make a living. Even if they went abroad to live, they wouldn't be provided with taxes. Although the Daming didn't stop the people from living in Southeast Asia, the scholars had no sympathy for them. This kind of indifferent attitude was very clear from the beginning to the end.
Therefore, when the Spaniards massacred the Chinese in Southeast Asia in the last years of the Wanli Dynasty, the Wanli Emperor was furious and requested to send troops to suppress them. However, the court officials rejected the Emperor's opinion on the grounds that the treasury was empty and the overseas Chinese had no way to survive. They didn't belong to the Daming's people.
They thought that merchants were the weakest of the four nations. They focused on profit and despised friendship and reason. Therefore, such people deserved to die. Who asked them to leave their homeland and go to those places? If you don't go, you won't die? If you want to leave, I don't care. But if something happens, don't expect me to save you.
This was their general attitude.
This attitude also affected many people. Everyone thought that these people who went overseas were abandoning themselves to the Daming. They didn't pay taxes to the Daming, so how could they expect the Daming to save them? In terms of public opinion, they did not have an advantage. They belonged to the category of abandoned overseas orphans. The attitude and tradition of their mother country directly affected their living environment. Now that the Ming Dynasty still had its prestige, they could still use it to intimidate others. However, in the modern era, the Manchurian Qing Dynasty could no longer provide enough prestige. The lives of the overseas Chinese in that era could only be described as miserable.
But fundamentally, in the Daming Dynasty, which paid great attention to their homeland, other than merchants, if there were people who left their homeland to make a living overseas, it must be because they couldn't survive in the country. Their land was annexed, their property was stolen, and they couldn't even eat. What else could they do? In order to survive, they could only go overseas to make a living. The root cause was that there were problems in the country that forced them to leave their homeland.
Different from the modern era, the Daming in that era was the Celestial Empire. The people generally looked down on the "barbarians" with red hair and skirts. The only reason why they left their homeland to go to the "Four Barbarians" was to survive.
However, there were too few people who held this view, and even fewer in the central government. But then again, the world wasn't peaceful these days. There were still a large number of people in the country who were threatened by bandits waiting for help. Without money, how could the Daming take care of the people overseas?
There were many descendants of sea merchants like Lin Yuanshan who lived abroad and became officials. There were also many like him in the vassal states around the Great Ming Dynasty. These descendants of sea merchants were educated, knew how to write, do arithmetic, and had experience in business. Their abilities were definitely sufficient. Moreover, the golden signboard of the Great Ming Dynasty was like a degree from a world-class university, which made them more popular in the vassal states.
Not to mention that the Daming just beat up the Japanese. He once again showed his muscles to the neighboring countries. He told them, "Although I'm old, it's easy for me to deal with you naughty kids. Be obedient people and don't always think about making trouble!"
After receiving such a warning, the surrounding countries, whether they were vassal states or outside the system, all had more respect for the Great Ming Empire. In this context, King Narexuan's use of Chinese officials was also a move to show his sincerity to the Great Ming Empire, to express his respect for the Great Ming Empire, and to announce Siam's side.
Xiao Ruxun received a letter from the messenger sent by Lin Yuanshan on the ship. When he opened it, he couldn't help but laugh.
At this moment, Chen Lin happened to be carrying two sea crabs she had fished out of the sea to drink with Xiao Ruxun. Seeing Xiao Ruxun happily reading a letter, she asked with interest: "Could it be that the admiral's wife has sent a letter, informing him that the family's child is growing strong and healthy?"
Xiao Ruxun looked up and saw Chen Lin. He shook his head and smiled, "No, no. Guess who sent this letter?"
Chen Lin shook her head, "Admiral, I'm a rough person. You can just say it."
"It's strange. It was sent by a person named Lin Yuanshan."
Xiao Ruxun waved the letter in his hand.
"Lin Yuanshan? What kind of person was that? An official from the capital or a local official? "
"Neither! He is a senior advisor of King Narexuan of Siam. According to Daming's rank, he should be a second-rank official. "
"Second-rank? Lin Yuanshan? " Chen Lin frowned and then said, "Could it be that the descendants of those coastal sea merchants became officials in Siam?"
"Hmm? You know a lot about these things? "
Xiao Ruxun asked curiously.
"Of course. I grew up in the coastal area and was also an official in this area. When we fought against the Japanese pirates, we defeated the Japanese pirates and the rebels. I have a deep understanding of these coastal sea merchants. Although some of these people are doing proper business, most of them have armed forces. They are both merchants and pirates. When times are good, they are merchants. When times are bad, they are pirates. They have done a lot of evil things.
Back then, the chaos was not caused by the Japanese pirates! Basically, these big sea merchants used the name of the Wokou pirates to organize some fugitives who couldn't survive anymore. While they were causing trouble, they did business with many small countries in Nanyang and the Francis. They made a lot of money. Later on, the imperial court was determined to exterminate the Wokou pirates. A large number of sea merchants were investigated because they had committed crimes. They were chased by the Qi family's army all over the world. They had no choice but to escape to the surrounding small countries to take refuge.
Of course, in addition to the sea merchants, there were some people who could not survive. However, those people were different from the descendants of the sea merchants. The descendants of the sea merchants had committed crimes, so it was naturally difficult for the next generation to return home. Over time, they could only give up the idea of going back. So, they took root in these small countries, did some business, or simply became officials of these vassal states.
These people were educated, literate, able to calculate, and have other skills. To the vassal states, they were rare talents. They were recruited to be officials or teachers, and their lives were better than in the country. As for those peasants who could not survive, they were illiterate, and it was already good enough for them to survive. How could they become officials? "
Chen Lin's face was full of disdain as she filled up the wine. She took one crab for each person and sat down. She said, "To be honest, these people are people without parents. As descendants of China, they did not think about serving their country and actually worked for these vassal states. If it wasn't for the relationship with the surrounding vassal states, these people would have been captured and killed by the army long ago. In my opinion, this Lin Yuanshan must have a guilty conscience. His father or ancestor must be one of the sea merchants who caused chaos in Southeast Asia. Admiral, what did he say? Did he ask for mercy or something? Ignore them! "
Xiao Ruxun heard these secrets that he had never heard before. It could be said that he had some understanding of the Chinese in Southeast Asia and South Asia.
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