The Lotus Monastery is the place where the Heavenly Realm Temple entertains the great monks and cultivators from all over the world, and at this moment the Zen Monastery is quiet, a white-bearded old monk is sitting cross-legged under the flowers, holding a fine white porcelain bowl of the kiln, savoring it.

He drank not tea, but soup.

In ancient times, there was no monosodium glutamate, but there was a more delicious and nutritious condiment than monosodium glutamate: dashi. It's just that ordinary people don't have the time or the financial resources to prepare soup stock from time to time. There are meat and vegetarian soups, and the soup that this old monk has gone down and died, and the soup he drinks is naturally vegetarian soup.

After drinking a bowl of soup, the old monk smacked his lips and said with endless aftertaste: "This lotus essence house, even if it is a bowl of soup offering, is extremely delicious." ”

"Master, master, the situation is not good!"

A man hurriedly walked in from outside the courtyard in Japanese, and looked at the costume, which was similar to the owner of the bellflower shop in the neat Ikyu, with a short figure of five and a handkerchief to wipe the sweat stains on his cheeks. At this time, it was only early spring, and the weather was not too hot, so he actually came out of sweat, and it seemed that he was really anxious.

The old monk put down the soup bowl, turned his head to look at him, and said in Japanese: "It's fat, what's so worrying?" ”

The person who walked in was the deputy envoy of Japan, Feifu is a big businessman in Japan, extremely keen to reopen trade with the Ming Dynasty, it is under the impetus of him and a group of other people, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu made up his mind, the test and the Ming Dynasty to reopen the exploration trade, so this time Ashikaga Yoshiyu sent the Zua monk to the Ming Dynasty, and specially made him a deputy envoy.

Fei Fu bowed to Zu A, sat down cross-legged on the futon opposite him, and said anxiously: "Master, I have gone out to inquire, the situation is not good, many officials in the Ming Dynasty have vetoed the resumption of trade with our Japan, the reason is that our Japanese pirates are inexhaustible to attack the Ming Sea Frontier, and I am not effective in attacking the pirates, and even have the suspicion of connivance, so they ask His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to refuse to trade with our country." The news the day before yesterday was true, and today they mentioned this matter again when they went to the court, and I think the people of the Daming Rite Department always delay us, which may also be the reason. ”

"No, no, no...... "Fat and rich, people who don't know China, hehe......

Zua was calm, stroked his beard and smiled: "Don't worry, things won't happen." ”

Zu A Yiran said: "China is a country of gentlemen, with a good name but not profit. Protégé rules: only moral learning, only talent, not as good as people, self-encouragement. If the clothes, if the diet, is not as good as the people, do not have relatives. The only thing the Chinese care about is the Tao, and the carrier of the Tao is the ceremony, and the appearance of the ceremony is the name. If they are stronger, they think that is the victory of the Tao, if they are weaker, then they are inferior to others, and the Great Dao is always in their hands, and they think that they will always be invincible, understand? ”

"I don't understand!"

Fei Fu shook his fat face and replied, "What the master said is too profound, and Fei Fu didn't understand it. ”

Zu Ah smiled and said: "If you are white, you just love face!" ”

Fat Fu suddenly realized: "! Master so, I understand! ”

Zu Adao: "The whole of China, from the emperor and the ministers of the imperial court, down to all the scholars who monopolized the foundation of the Ming regime, they only live for one tool...... "face!" Although they crown it with all kinds of wonderful methods, for individuals, that is, the gentleman is worried about the way and does not worry about food, the gentleman seeks the way and does not seek food, and the gentleman is righteous and righteous...... "People are said to be profitable, and to the country, that is, the heavenly kingdom, and the grace is far away." ”

"Therefore, even if some officials put forward disagreeing views, their emperors and those ministers in power will not care, they will only care whether we are vassals and whether our attitude is respectful, as long as we do this, it is a victory for their Tao, and the Chinese's obsession with face is as tireless as the pursuit of interests by businessmen, which is very incredible."

However, this is the guarantee that we will be able to successfully make this mission to China. Peace of mind, when His Majesty the Emperor receives us, as long as we offer our humility and give them enough face, we will definitely be able to obtain the benefits that His Excellency the General wants! Merchandise, copper coins, poems...... "everything!" ”

"Hahahaha!"

"Hehehehehe!"

When they were satisfied, the two of them laughed together.

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At the gate of the courtyard, Xia Xun asked the interpreter of the Lilu Temple who caught up with Zhouzhou: "I, why are these two Japanese so energetic?" 、.

The interpreter is five big and three thick, and he has a beard on his face, which is simply a trip to Zhao Wuda, he glanced into the courtyard, and said in a suppressed voice: "I don't know my lord, I chased after me, and I heard a ...... Cut everything! ”。 Translators are not necessarily knowledgeable, especially at that time, the translators were not very serious scholars, or even never read at all, but they were fluent in foreign languages. Because the Ming Dynasty had more contact with the northern ethnic groups at that time, most of the people from the Translation Institute at that time were selected from Liaodong, Jurchen translation, Korean translation, Meng ancient translation, Japanese translation, etc.

This tall and bearded Japanese translator is the Jurchen of Liaodong, and his mother is a Japanese woman who was captured by the Jurchens when they went to sea by boat and plundered the coast of Japan, so he is fluent in Jurchen, Japanese and Chinese.

Xia Xun nodded his head and gestured to the novice Yuantong, who walked in and said to the two envoys of his own country...... l Master Zu'a, the rich benefactor, Sister Yang, the auxiliary prince of the Ming Kingdom, has arrived.

“！ Who is the Auxiliary Prince? ”

Zu A's face changed slightly, turned his head and saw Xia Xun standing at the gate of the courtyard, quickly stood up, hurriedly walked to Xia Xun, put his hands together, and said solemnly: "This must be Lord Fuguo, the old man of the Japanese National Luyuan Temple Zu A has seen the adult!" "I didn't think this man would get one. Fluent in Chinese, Xia Xun glanced at the translator next to him, and said in his heart: "This person is useless." ”

On the side, Fei Fu also hurriedly followed, bowed to the ground, and was very respectful.

Xia Xun bowed slightly and returned the salute, saying, "It was the master of morality who sent a senior monk to my Daming, right?" The national prince has been galloping outside for the time to clear the trouble, and Master Lao has been waiting for a long time.

When Zu A heard this, his white eyebrows raised slightly, and he glanced at Xia Xun again, and his face was not without surprise.

The Ming Dynasty regarded itself as the superior country of the Celestial Empire, and he did not deliberately understand the surrounding countries, and the same was true for Japan. When Ashikaga Yoshimitsu first sent an envoy to establish diplomatic relations with the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang refused the request of the Muromachi shogunate in the name of "Minamoto Yo......shimitsu, the general of the Japanese conquest", because at that time the Ming Dynasty mistakenly thought that Prince Huailiang of the Southern Dynasty of Japan was the monarch of Japan, and the "Zhiming" (the imperial family of Japan at that time held the Ming Yuan) was a rebellious minister. Ashikaga Yoshimitsu is a military general of the "Zhiming" faction, and he should not have friends with him.

When it came to the Jianwen Dynasty, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu sent Shimazu Mitsuo and Shinemon to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty in the name of "Japan's National Quasi-Sangogen Daoyi ......", at that time Ashikaga Yoshimitsu had already fallen, but the Ming Dynasty knew nothing about it, Emperor Jianwen saw that Fanbang came to the court, he was very happy, and named Ashikaga Yoshiyu as the "King of Japan".

Then the Central Plains regime changed, Zhu Di ascended the throne, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu sent an envoy to the dynasty again, this time with the name of the Japanese king named by the Ming Dynasty, the Ministry of Rites has always used this title, and never knew that Ashikaga Yoshimitsu had lost his hair, but this Ming auxiliary prince not only knew that Ashikaga Yoshimitsu had fallen and called out his legal name, which shows that this person is very familiar with the situation in Japan, and Zua inevitably mentioned a little bit of heart.

Zu A and Fei Fu let Xia Xun into the meditation room, the environment in the Zen room is quiet and sandalwood is faint, there is a set of tea sets on the low table, Fat Fu carries water, Zu A pours tea, and performs a tea ceremony for Xia Xun, Xia Xun sits on the futon, and Zu A has served tea with both hands, and takes a shallow sip of tea.

Zu A smiled and said: "Although General Yoshimitsu has become a monk, he is still the actual controller of Japan, and he is the king of Japan who was enshrined by the Great Ming Dynasty. This time, Lao Qu and Fei Fu were ordered by the king to worship the Ming Dynasty, sincerely and respectfully respect the Ming Dynasty as a monarchy, and pray that the Heavenly Empire will reopen the door of trade, so that I can inherit the grace of the Heavenly Dynasty.

We have been in Beijing for some time, and the officials of the Ministry of Rites, His Majesty the Emperor has entrusted this matter to Your Excellency, I wonder when Your Excellency will be able to lead us to meet the Emperor? Our king is looking east in Japan, and he is already looking at it. "Fei Fu was busy on the side, and it turned out that this Fei Fu could also speak fluent Chinese.

Xia Xun said: "I know that Gen Yoshimitsu is still the de facto ruler of Japan, and he is qualified to represent Japan and contact my Ming Dynasty." But the master didn't understand one thing! ”

Zu A hurriedly said respectfully: "Guogong, please speak!" ”

Xia Xun said: "I, Emperor Ming Dynasty, have given this matter full authority to my subordinates, and it is full power, not just for reception. Therefore, I can decide whether the Ming Dynasty accepts Japan as a subject country, whether to reopen trade with Japan, before these things are finalized, the Jianwen Dynasty will not approve of the title given to you, and His Majesty the Ming Emperor will not approve it, so naturally there is no need to meet with you! ”

Zu A and Fei Fu looked at each other, they really didn't expect that the Ming Emperor would completely delegate the right to establish diplomatic relations with Japan to the young duke in front of him, stunned for a while, Zu A said tentatively: "So, has the prince read my country's national letter?" We have a ...... with the Ministry of Rites" Xia Xun interrupted him and said bluntly: "No, I didn't look at those tools!" I believe in the sincerity of your friendship with me, but I have no interest in those false courtesies! Sincerity should be reflected with sincere actions! The master walked away and sent people, practiced profoundly, and had insight into human feelings, thinking that what I said was right? ”

Zua said in his heart: "So, how should we express our sincerity?" ”

Xia Xun said: "To be a minister, you have to fulfill the obligations of your courtiers, see how the Korean country is doing, our emperor wants to levy horses, they will collect all the horses from the whole country, and let my Ming envoys choose them, the horses are not enough, and even the ploughing cattle are hit." Our emperor wanted to accept a few Korean women, so they forbade all marriageable girls to marry until they chose a woman to worship the Ming Emperor, which was respectful. Bow a few heads and shout a few long live, what good is this kind of false courtesy? ”

Zu A was stunned, the Ming Auxiliary Duke in front of him was completely beyond his understanding, he had never seen such a straightforward Ming official who cared about his actual interests. He hadn't thought about it at all.

Fat Fu saw Zu A stunned, he was a little anxious, he was a businessman, just a pure businessman, he only cared about interests, just the rich benefits that could be obtained after reopening trade with the Ming Dynasty, as for surrendering to the Ming Dynasty, it was just a ceremonial courtier, or fulfilling these obligations, he actually didn't care.

Fei Fu glanced at Zu A, and hurriedly said, "Your Excellency, I want to ...... about these two points about you We can do it, of course, with the mutual consent of our nations, but we can tell the matter to each other, and I believe our king ......."

Xia Xun waved his hand and said, "I'm just giving an example, in fact, I don't want you to do this!" ”

Just kidding, Japanese horses? At that time, there was no Oriental horse, whether the Oriental horse was introduced and cultivated after the Meiji Restoration, and the Japanese horse at that time was not much bigger than the donkey, and the one-meter-sixty-0 Yama County Changjing and the horse farm letter room rode a "donkey", waving a long knife and shout......ing "ah and haha", but it was still like that, if you really levied a bunch of Japanese horses to ride for the strong men of the Ming Border Army, you must not crush the horse? As for the Japanese woman, if she washes the white ash of her lost face and raises that cluster of "moth eyebrows" a little longer, she may be a little charming, but he is not pimping.

Xia Xun said: "My Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is very satisfied with Yuan Yiman's respectful attitude, but I hope he can prove his deference with his actual behavior." ”

Zu A had come to his senses at this time, and hurriedly asked, "So, Your Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, what do you want us to do?" ”

Xia Xun said: "It's very simple, impact the pirates!" We know that your country is now plagued by pirates, who not only plunder the people along our coast, but also do all kinds of evil against ships and ships.

They are the common enemies of Japan and the Ming Dynasty! If our two countries establish tributary trade, merchant ships and sail back and forth, but they are used by pirates, this is what our Emperor and His Majesty do not want to see. ”

Zua and Feifu have nothing to do with the Japanese pirates, and they are not contradictory to the impact of the pirates, but this kind of thing is actually not so decidable, and the relationship between the Japanese pirates and the people of the country is even more complicated, on the one hand, the Japanese government's fleet is actually not strong, on the other hand, the slightest action will leak the news in advance, even if they are committed to suppressing bandits, they are often exhausted and return in vain.

Bingge needs money, even if the Ming Dynasty is tied to a protracted war, the consumption of national strength is quite huge, and with the Japanese family, they can't afford to toss. At the same time, Zua always thought that he had the pulse of the Ming Dynasty, and he was very unwilling to be led by the nose, so he said with some hesitation: "Your Excellency, we also hate pirates, but the Japanese national soldiers are small and weak, I am afraid that they will ......."

Xia Xun said: "This is simple, and the impact on pirates requires our full cooperation. However, given the strength of your navy, the main task is, of course, ours. We only need to do three things: first, to attack the dirty trade, to capture and eliminate dirty pirates, and to attack and encircle the islands occupied by the pirates that have been discovered; 2. Provide information to each other with my Ming Dynasty, provide information about the pirates in my possession, and when my Ming sailors need their cooperation, we must work together to fight together; 3. Since our Daming Navy Division is the main force of the bandits, when we go to sea to fight, we must open the port and allow our Daming warships to dock, rest, and replenish! ”

Zu A's white eyebrows tightened: "These conditions are not within the authority of the old man......"

Xia Xun said briskly: "I know! Therefore, I suggest that Master Zu A stay in the capital and talk more about the scriptures and Taoism with Master Daoyan, and exchange views with each other, Master Daoyan is proficient in the scriptures and teachings of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, and I believe that our exchanges can benefit each other a lot. And this fat and rich deputy envoy, there is no harm in inviting him to return to China, meet the master of morality, and tell him our conditions, if he agrees, we will be received by His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty immediately, and the door of trade will be reopened. ”

Xia Xun smiled slightly, pressed his knees and stood up, Zu A hurriedly got up to stop: "Guogong stays, we can discuss this matter well." ”

"Not negotiable!"

Xia Xun said simply: "Negotiation is a very laborious matter. Determine the attitude, understand the opponent, tentative contact, do a variety of negotiation plans, tongues and arrows, intrigues, suddenly take the detour as the straight, and suddenly take the retreat as the advance...... "Hehe, Yang also knows a little about these. But in front of Master Zua, I don't think we need to work so hard.

The master is a monk with a Tao, and he should know that the straight heart is the dojo, the heart and mouth are the same, and the words and deeds are the same...... in order to save people. Therefore, we should be honest and honest, and tell us bluntly that our bottom line is here, which is also the only and most important condition. I know that the master can't be the master, so in this matter, I'd better ask His Royal Highness Yuan Yiman to come down and answer Xia, okay? ”

"This ......"

In the face of such a person who only needs interests, and the initiative of negotiation is in the right hand of the opponent, and it is himself who asks for others, Zu Ah is really a little at a loss. The original calm! Swept away, he suddenly felt that everything was out of his control, and in an instant, he was made a dispensable messenger by the envoy of the king of Japan, and this auxiliary prince had already passed him and directly handed over to His Excellency Ashikaga Yoshimitsu General.

Is this the end of your mission?

Zu A still made the last struggle, trying to keep Xia Xun, Xia Xun smiled: "Master, if it is not that the official refuses to stay, he really can't get out." This official is about to rush to eastern Zhejiang to preside over the suppression, and I will be there, waiting for your good news! Master, farewell! ”@