Editing Fernão Pires de Andrade (section)

====End of the mission====
[[Image:Zhengde.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Zhengde Emperor]], who accepted the Portuguese embassy but died before he could finalize relations with Portugal, hence dooming the embassy as conservative factions at court in [[Beijing]] were aligned against those who conquered the Ming's loyal tributary vassal in Malacca.]]
The embassy party left behind in Canton in 1518 proceeded north in January 1520 with the rest of the Portuguese under Tomé Pires and Fernão Pires de Andrade.<ref name="cambridge 338"/> The embassy reached Nanjing, where the Zhengde Emperor was touring in May 1520, granting the Portuguese embassy a quick audience.<ref name="cambridge 338"/> However, further diplomatic negotiations were to be resumed once the emperor returned to Beijing; hence, the Portuguese embassy was sent there to wait for the emperor's return.<ref name="cambridge 338"/>

Although no Chinese sources detail the event, Portuguese sources tell of how the Portuguese were summoned on the first and fifteenth days of each lunar month to ceremoniously prostrate themselves before a wall of the [[Forbidden City]] to seek another audience with the emperor.<ref name="cambridge 338"/> From Beijing, the Portuguese embassy heard reports that the emperor reached [[Tongzhou District, Beijing|Tongzhou]] in January 1521 and had the rebel Prince of Ning executed there.<ref name="cambridge 338"/> The Portuguese embassy had also become aware that ambassadors from the [[Mahmud Shah of Malacca|exiled King of Malacca]] were sent to Beijing seeking assistance from the Chinese emperor in expelling the conquering Portuguese so that their king could be reinstalled there.<ref name="cambridge 338"/> The Portuguese also knew of two officials in the [[Ming dynasty#Government|Censorate]]—Qiu Daolong and He Ao— who sent [[memorials to the throne]] that condemned the Portuguese conquest of Malacca and that their embassy should be rejected.<ref name="cambridge 338 339">Wills, 338&ndash;339.</ref> There were also reports sent to Beijing by Canton officials stating that the Portuguese were bothersome foreigners who sought to build their own trading post.<ref name="cambridge 338 339"/>

With the death of the Zhengde Emperor on April 19, 1521, mourning ceremonies were initiated that cancelled all other ceremonies, including the reception of foreign embassies.<ref name="cambridge 339">Wills, 339.</ref> The newly appointed [[Grand Secretariat|Grand Secretary]], [[Yang Tinghe]], soon turned against the powerful eunuch influence at court, which had grown even more powerful under the Zhengde Emperor.<ref name="cambridge 339"/> Although Ming officials were of the opinion that only foreign tributary states listed during the beginning of the dynasty should be accepted at court, it was the eunuchs who wanted to expand commercial ties with new foreign countries.<ref name="cambridge 339"/> These desires were given free rein under the Zhengde Emperor, who was intrigued with and desired to learn about foreign and exotic peoples.<ref name="cambridge 338"/> However, with his death, eunuch influence at court was challenged by Yang Tinghe, who announced the rejection of the Portuguese embassy under Pires and Andrade the day after the emperor's death; the embassy was forced to leave and arrived back in Canton in September.<ref name="cambridge 339"/>