When Carlo opened his eyes again, he was already in a pure white room.

He knew that this was the Ming Dynasty's medical clinic.

The strong smell of medicine flowed through Carlo's nose, and he felt extremely weak, as if his whole body had been hollowed out.

He knew that this was the effect of the datura flower poison.

'I don't know if the plan was successful.'

Carlo recalled the scene before he fainted.

He saw the Shiva people falling one after another, and then he himself felt a strong sense of suffocation.

Because his poison was the lightest, he was the last one to fall.

When he fell down, he saw Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers rushing over.

At this time, the door was opened.

A man dressed in Ming Dynasty doctor's attire walked in.

"You're awake, how do you feel?" the doctor asked.

Carlo opened his mouth to answer, but felt a burning pain in his throat.

Seeing this, the doctor poured a glass of water from the side and slowly fed it to Carlo.

Carlo felt much better after drinking the water.

"Thank you. May I ask how my people are doing?" Carlo asked with difficulty.

He was very eager to know what the current situation was.

Is it similar to what you thought?

"Please accept my condolences. You are the only one poisoned this time."

"The poison is too toxic, and we couldn't find a solution right away. To be honest, we find it incredible that you were able to wake up."

"But the toxicity will have a great impact on your body. You should rest well during this period of time."

Carlo breathed a sigh of relief at the doctor's answer.

I was just relieved but not very happy.

After all, this means that all the tribesmen died at his hands.

Cautious Carlo did not ask any further questions. The doctor told him to have a good rest and left.

Someone later brought some light food such as porridge, so that Carlo, who had just woken up, would not starve to death again.

Just as Carlo had speculated, the death of the Shiva family caused a great stir.

First of all, this happened during the Crown Prince's review ceremony, and the ceremony was almost interrupted due to a wrong inference.

The second is international safety accidents.

In any case, the death of so many people, especially due to poisoning, is already a major case.

This will also have an impact on the reputation of the Ming Dynasty and the business environment.

The key point is that this matter has attracted the attention of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

…

"The only thing I'm thankful for is that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince did not give a timeline for solving this case, otherwise we would all be punished."

"Speaking of which, this incident is really strange. We have dispatched so many detectives, but we still haven't found any useful clues."

"By the way, Lao Li, have our superiors approved our request to investigate Sivakalo?"

On Hong Kong Island.

Yu Dong walked on the street and looked around, while complaining to Lao Li next to him.

Lao Li nodded: "It has been approved, and you can go there tomorrow."

"But we only have one stick of incense."

Yu Dong was a little unhappy: "What's the use of half an incense stick? It's not even enough for us to discuss the matter in detail."

Lao Li said helplessly, "These are all regulations from above. You also know that Sivakalo is a key figure now. We are lucky to have an incense stick of time. I heard that there are only seven groups approved, including ours. It's the same for everyone. Be content."

…

Zhu Ying actually doesn't care much whether the case can be solved.

Judging from the current situation, the possibility of a vendetta is relatively high, and Zhu Ying feels that the candidate may also be from the Ayutthaya Dynasty.

Perhaps it was to save the face of the Ayutthaya Dynasty, or perhaps it was to use their lives to make amends to the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Ying's guess was very close to the truth.

It is hard to imagine suicide.

Those poisons are not fake.

According to the imperial physician, this poison is extremely severe and basically difficult to cure.

The only person who survived may have had better physical fitness.

But even so, the organs are showing signs of failure.

This means that even if you survive by chance, you will be a useless person and a sickly person in the future.

Under such circumstances, no matter who it is, it is hard to imagine that the source of the poison could be themselves.

The direction is wrong from the beginning, how can there be any results?

As for the reputation of the Ming Dynasty, it actually didn't have much impact.

The news of the case was not uploaded to the official gazette, and many people only knew that a riot had occurred but did not know the specific details.

If the government doesn't disclose it, do the common people still dare to go to the government office to eat melons?

This is obviously unrealistic.

Besides, these days, the death of dozens of foreign businessmen is not a big deal. A random storm at sea may kill more than that many people.

If it is handled in a low-key manner, no one will care about it after a while.

As for the current business situation in Ming Dynasty, it can be said to be a truly civilized world. At least within the territory of Ming Dynasty, there is no need to worry too much about things like robbery.

In other countries, if there is no strong military force to protect one's goods, it is common for them to be robbed.

Considering that the Ming Dynasty was a civilized and polite country.

In addition to expressing sympathy for the poisoning of the Shiva family, a certain degree of policy compensation can also be given.

Of course, the punishment that had been issued against the Ayutthaya Dynasty could not be revoked.

The Ming navy assembled in Guangzhou has already set sail for the Strait of Malacca.

The four managers of Ming Dynasty’s ocean trade have been selected.

One of them is naturally Guan Xianghai, the former provincial governor.

The other three were selected by Uncle Zhang from various major families.

The current structure of the Ming Ocean Trade Chamber of Commerce is mainly based on foreign investment led by four major managers.

Each person had a warship, equipped with considerable armed guards.

Responsible for investment and development in the Nanyang region.

After the gathering, Zhu Ying met them personally.

"Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

In the lobby of the newly built Hong Kong Yamen, the four men saluted respectfully.

Zhu Ying nodded: "No need to be polite, please take a seat."

“The Chamber of Commerce is mainly civilian-oriented, so everyone can relax a little.”

Zhu Ying looked over the four people.

Except Guan Xianghai, the other three came from the three major families of Li, Qian and Zhao.

Of course, these three people are not direct descendants of any family, but the shopkeepers of major families, who have created huge profits for their respective families.

It is precisely because of their outstanding talents that they were chosen to be managers of the Chamber of Commerce.

A manager, not a shopkeeper.

The concepts here are completely different.

After leaving the Ming Dynasty, the power in the hands of the four people increased sharply.

The most important one is that they can call for help from Ming Dynasty’s overseas troops.

For example, the naval forces heading to the Strait of Malacca.

Each of them will have a hundred guards under him and the power to assemble armed forces locally.

This means that they are fully capable of recruiting soldiers and the necessary money will be paid by the Chamber of Commerce.

The initial quota for each person is one million strings of treasure notes.

Such high standards of support naturally require them to bring sufficient profits to the Chamber of Commerce.

"You are the first batch of managers of the Chamber of Commerce. No matter what happens, you must put the interests of the Chamber of Commerce first."

"I hope that in every year to come, you can bring sufficient profits to the Chamber of Commerce to prove that my vision is correct."

"You don't need to worry about the Ming Dynasty. I will arrange for someone to take care of you. Of course, I believe your family will not treat you unfairly."

"Don't limit yourself to your means, I just want to see the results."

Zhu Ying gave a few simple instructions, which made the other three quite excited.

Although Zhu Ying attached great importance to expanding foreign trade, taking the time to meet with the four stewards was already a special favor to them.

The four of them quickly expressed that they would devote their entire lives to the interests of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the Chamber of Commerce until their death.

After finishing these things, Zhu Ying took Zhu Yunhuan back to the capital.

"Brother, I have never understood why we are so careless about the deaths of foreign merchants and do not even publish them in the official gazette."

Zhu Yunhuan asked in confusion.

In his opinion, the eldest brother should take this matter seriously and set a deadline for solving the case so that the truth can be revealed as soon as possible.

Only in this way can the reputation of the Ming Dynasty be maintained.

"Do you know what the reputation of Ming Dynasty is?"

"Do you think I treat foreign businessmen and the people of Ming Dynasty differently?" Zhu Ying asked.

Zhu Yunhuan hesitated for a moment and nodded slightly.

Zhu Ying continued, "They traveled thousands of miles and risked being swallowed by the waves to come to Daming to purchase goods, not because of the fairness of Daming, but because the goods of Daming are very valuable."

"They can earn enough money just by traveling back and forth, which is more than they can earn in years in their own country."

"I did treat them differently, and I did it on purpose."

"In the upper echelons of the Ming Dynasty, people below are always constantly trying to figure out what's going on at the top. This is especially true for officials, who may spend much more time thinking about this than they do about the common people."

"So how do you think the officials in Guangdong Prefecture will interpret my arrangement?"

Zhu Yunhuan thought for a moment and replied, "They will think that you look down on foreign businessmen."

Zhu Ying said, "Yes, when they feel this way, they will act accordingly in many future matters."

Zhu Yunhuan asked, "But why is this necessary? Isn't this unfair to the foreign merchants?"

Zhu Ying sneered: "What do you mean by fairness? My Great Ming is so powerful, why should I talk about fairness with the people of these small countries?"

"People are different from each other. If there were no differences, how could the people of the Ming Dynasty have a sense of belonging?"

That's the reality.

Whether it is now or in the future, it is inevitable.

Zhu Yunhuan nodded, not quite understanding what he meant.

…

Luzon.

The private soldiers of the four great princes arrived one after another.

Assuming that each vassal king sent out 3,000 troops, the total number would be more than 12,000.

In fact, including auxiliary troops, the number has reached over 20,000.

According to the current military system of the Ming Dynasty, there are a total of twelve thousand households.

However, for the Ming Dynasty, Luzon today is a completely barren land.

During the Hongwu period, Luzon had twice sent envoys to the Ming Dynasty to pay tribute.

Even though the Ming Dynasty showed some favors to it and allowed it to pay tribute multiple times a year, Luzon's national strength was too low. Although it was an island country, its shipbuilding technology was extremely backward.

Every time Luzon paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty, it would gain a large amount of wealth.

They would love to go there five or six times a year.

But my strength doesn't allow it.

If ten ships set out to sea and encounter a storm at sea, it would be good if two or three can survive.

There was another risk on the way back.

The number of ships in Luzon itself is also very limited.

They were even more looking forward to the arrival of Ming merchants in Luzon.

The reason why Zhu Di and other princes came to Luzon with more than 10,000 troops was because during the transaction, some Ming Dynasty merchants discovered that there were many gold mines in Luzon, even open-pit gold mines.

After confirming the news, Zhu Di and other princes got together to discuss.

Send troops in first, and then develop.

This is a big deal.

Because of the gold produced in Luzon, they could conceal the taxes paid to the Ming Dynasty and put all the money into their own pockets.

…

Zhang Li is a centurion.

He was originally just a general flag, but because of his meritorious service in the war in Japan, he was promoted to centurion.

Now, we are in Luzon again.

"Hurry up, we have to find a village to stay in before dark."

Zhang Li shouted loudly to boost the morale of his hundreds of subordinates.

He served under Prince Yan and was among the last group of soldiers to arrive in Luzon.

For a dilapidated place like Luzon, the soldiers did not need to gather together, but instead dispersed to patrol various areas.

"Boss, look, there is smoke ahead." A general flag-off climbed up a small hill and shouted in surprise.

Zhang Li hurried over to take a look and said happily, "Brothers, hurry up, it's only a few miles away, let's rest there today."

Upon hearing this, the soldiers under his command were immediately energized.

no way.

Luzon is a tropical region, hot, humid and sunny.

In just half a day, these well-trained soldiers seemed to have lost all their energy.

It's too hot.

Now that we have finally found the village, we are of course overjoyed.

The curling smoke from cooking fires would easily attract attention, so Zhang Li naturally didn't want this place to be discovered by other teams.

Soon, hundreds of people arrived in front of the village.

There, a large number of natives were making fire and cooking.

"Hey, brothers, please be careful and don't waste our food."

Zhang Li laughed loudly, and then led his men to attack the village.

The natives soon discovered these uninvited guests and started roaring in an incomprehensible language.

A large number of natives came out with bows and arrows, spears, and even a few swords.

There was no trace of panic in the tension.

"Musketeers line up."

"Fire!"

Thirty musketeers were arranged in three rows. When the natives rushed over, the first row quickly opened fire under Zhang Li's command.

The sound of the muskets frightened the natives, even though the first round of volleys only knocked down three natives.

After the second three rounds of volleys, more than a dozen natives who were in the front fell to the ground and began to howl.

It's just a small village.

The total combat strength is less than forty people, and now it has been halved.

"Don't waste fire bombs, brothers, follow me and kill!!!"