As a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Song Zhong could be said to be quite aware of his responsibilities. Or rather, people with such special identities are required to be aware of their responsibilities.
They were the emperor's henchmen and lackeys, and much of their work involved offending people and doing shady things. If the emperor was merciful, they might have a relatively good ending. But if the emperor discarded them after they had served their purpose, it shouldn't be surprising; such things were quite common.
For many, even with such immense danger, a peaceful end was unlikely. Yet, the thought of the power and prestige of the Embroidered Uniform Guard still drew countless people. Some even harbored a侥幸心理 (a gambler's mentality), hoping that perhaps those terrible things wouldn't happen to them.
Moreover, it seems that the current commander of the Ming Dynasty's Embroidered Uniform Guard is likely to have a good ending.
Back then, Mao Xiang was incredibly powerful, striking fear into the hearts of countless officials, both civil and military. Even the all-powerful Hu Weiyong could be said to have been "brought down" by Mao Xiang. Although Mao Xiang was forced to flee overseas, at least he survived, and his descendants were able to remain.
As for Jiang Huan, it can only be said that he was unlucky. The late emperor failed to ascend the throne, so Jiang Huan had no choice but to "change sides". Fortunately, he is now the director of the Eastern Depot. Although he seems to have taken a detour, he still holds a high position and has some hope.
As emperor, Zhu Yunying was generally easy to talk to and showed respect to his civil and military officials. At least outwardly, he maintained a certain level of respect, which was one of his defining characteristics.
However, Zhu Yunying rarely treated servants like Song Zhong with kindness. Especially given Song Zhong's special status, it was necessary to give him a warning from time to time, and not to give such people any chance to become arrogant.
Otherwise, these people would become rampant. The crackdown on the Embroidered Uniform Guard was not only because they had almost finished their dirty work, but also because the Embroidered Uniform Guard had acted too arrogantly, and these people had a certain degree of public resentment and had created many wrongful convictions.
Therefore, Song Zhong could only kneel. Before him stood the emperor, an emperor who had become increasingly accustomed to his feudal imperial identity, a wise emperor whom many considered precocious and adept at political maneuvering.
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Looking down at Song Zhong from his vantage point, Zhu Yunying glanced at him and asked, "Oh? They're all back?"
"The ship has already docked at Tianjin, and we have captured 350 able-bodied men," Song Zhong replied immediately, as he was aware of the situation.
Zhu Yunying remained expressionless and casually asked, "Are these numbers accurate? Did 350 able-bodied men land in Tianjin, or did they capture 350 but suffer some losses?"
Song Zhong lowered his head even further, but his voice was still clear: "Your Majesty, it was 350 able-bodied men who landed at Tianjin Port."
Some things need not be said. Three hundred and fifty men were on duty. As for the deaths and injuries that occurred during the arrest, or the fact that some did not survive on the way, there is no need to say more about that in front of the emperor.
Even the arrests of these people might cause countless families to be torn apart and lives lost, but in reality, we can't care about that now.
The emperor only cares about the result, a result that seems reasonably good; other factors can be disregarded for the time being.
It's obvious that Joo Yun-young didn't have any moral fastidiousness; he was simply an extremely pragmatic person. To put it bluntly, Joo Yun-young was utilitarian, a person who wouldn't give up until he achieved his goals.
And these things are probably known to everyone, especially people like Song Zhong, who are very clear about them.
Zhu Yunying nodded slightly, then asked, "Where was it captured?"
Song Zhong quickly replied, "Your Majesty, they were captured in Pengheng Kingdom. They were all savages, barely clothed and unfamiliar with the ways of the king. The people below also said that they were definitely not subjects of a vassal state."
Pengheng Kingdom, located on the Malay Peninsula, was a small country. Even as a small country, it was a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, at least on the surface. Whether it paid tribute on time was another matter entirely.
Zhu Yunying chose to act in such a location largely because some vassal states had a poor attitude towards the Ming Dynasty. On one hand, they might have felt threatened by the Ming, but more importantly, the tributary system had changed.
In the past, paying tribute to the Ming Dynasty was basically just sending a letter of vassalage and paying tribute. Compared to the tribute itself, the rewards received were many times greater. Moreover, even if they claimed vassalage, the kings of those vassal states would still act as they pleased and might not care about the Ming Dynasty.
But now, paying tribute is just paying tribute; the Ming Dynasty rarely gives any rewards.
Such a losing proposition was unacceptable to some vassal kings, whose submission to the Ming Dynasty was largely due to the rewards they received. If the Ming Dynasty stopped bestowing rewards, they naturally became less enthusiastic about paying tribute.
Zhu Yunying nodded slightly, seemingly having done a decent job and not acting recklessly just because the emperor was far away.
It's quite normal for some vassal states to become disloyal to the Ming Dynasty. However, maintaining a semblance of civility still requires some attention.
Even though it appears to be a semi-official force going to those vassal states to capture slaves, they can't make a big show of it. They still need to keep a low profile. Besides the court's firm denial, they will inevitably have to go into the rainforest to capture some savages.
In reality, many small islands in Southeast Asia are inhabited by indigenous people, and the small kingdoms there are quite small in scale. These indigenous people have no concept of family or nation; they are essentially still in a clan-based, primitive society.
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