The days are dull and boring, and they continue to move forward like flowing water.

The life of the prince of the north has not changed at all, and after a period of time in such and such immutability, he unconsciously entered the early winter.

On this day, King Nanmian held a family banquet in the palace. The place of the banquet is in the back garden of the Nanmian Palace, and a huge cloth tent to block the sun has been set up with light blue cloth in the open space, and more than a dozen large round tables are placed in the cloth tent, and a large group of palace people are making arrangements for the banquet in an orderly manner in the cloth tent.

In addition to the five uncles present, there were also their family members attending this family banquet. At this time, there was no time for the banquet, only to see outside the cloth tent, the uncles and their families scattered in all corners of the back garden, at a glance, the entire back flower courtyard was crowded, very lively.

After a while, King Nanmian, who was dressed in simple civilian clothes, and Concubine Ming, who was as simple as ever, came to the back flower courtyard. Their appearance caused a small commotion at the scene, and then it quickly quieted down, and the five uncles came forward with their families to salute him and Concubine Ming in turn.

King Nanmian waved his hand and said with a smile: "Today's family banquet is just to get together as a family, and everyone doesn't need to be polite." ”

Bei Juese, who was following behind King Nanmian, couldn't help but be stunned when he saw the overcrowded formation. Although he had lived in the Nanmian Palace for a while, the group of people in front of him, in addition to the five uncles, the concubines of the uncles and the Prince of Ruiji, the other side concubines, little wives, cousins, etc., he had seen it for the first time. So, he couldn't help but look at the crowd curiously, only to see that there were more than a dozen babies and children in the crowd, and most of them were the five daughters of Uncle Wang's family.

Among the group of women who are dressed up or flamboyant, or extravagant, there are beautiful little jasper, gentle ladies, and there is no shortage of coquettish bewitching beauties. However, it may be because the sun in Nanmian is too fierce, and that group of beauties is basically a "black pearl" with a dark complexion.

After disturbing for a while, the king of Nanmian beckoned everyone to go into the cloth tent. There was no need for special arrangements, and the large group of people found their own seats and sat down. The King of Nanmian, the five uncles and the North Juese sat at the table in the middle and at the top; Concubine Ming and the other princesses sat at the table next to them; Nanling and the other uncle's children sat at the two tables closest to the princesses, and special palace people took care of them; As for the other women, they sat at the most marginal tables.

Once everyone was seated, the feast began.

This family banquet is neither extravagant nor extravagant. The dishes are very ordinary and simple Nanmian home-cooked dishes; The drinks are rice wine and coconut fruit that are self-brewed in the palace; As for performances such as singing and dancing, they are not served. King Nanmian only arranged for two musicians to play music on the side, and the two musicians used very strange instruments, one was a piano with only one string, and the other was a percussion instrument with several strings, and the sound of the two instruments was not loud, and as long as the voice was louder, the sound could be overcome.

However, everyone's main purpose is not to listen to the performance. Everyone was either chatting or dealing with the food on the table, and a group of children sat down and soon began to run around and laugh. In the midst of the noise, the dispensable sound of music seemed irrelevant.

In a pleasant and lively atmosphere, the family banquet was halfway through.

At the table of the King of Nanmian, several uncles and the King of Nanmian talked and laughed, and most of them talked about interesting things from childhood and old things from the past, and most of them were said in Nanmian language. Bei Juese, who does not have a deep understanding of the Nanmian language, although he is shouting in his heart that he is bored, he can only sit quietly on the side with a smile on his face and be a qualified escort.

As he spoke, several uncles suddenly quieted down, and King Nanmian's face darkened for some reason. I saw him pick the rice noodles in the bowl with chopsticks, and then sighed.

Seeing this, Bei Juese hurriedly asked, "Father, what's wrong?" ”

King Nanmian said worriedly: "I just talked to your uncles about sending tribute to Daming. ”

Tribute? Bei Jue Se remembered the history of Nanmian that he had learned these days. Nanmian is a small country sandwiched between several countries, and any of the surrounding countries is many times stronger than Nanmian, but Nanmian has survived for hundreds of years for the purpose of mutual checks and balances in several countries. Despite this, as a small country that seeks survival and development in the cracks, in order not to be easily swallowed up by other countries, Nanmian has spent a lot of effort to establish diplomatic relations with the Ming Dynasty, and bows down to a big country like the Ming Dynasty for asylum. And such a price is to give a certain amount of tribute to the Ming Dynasty every year, those tributes include mahogany, fragrant rice and tiger skin, and these three are the specialties of Nanmian, not difficult to find.

If you want to worry about something that is not hard to find, is there something else wrong? Bei Juese hurriedly asked: "Is it that the Ming Dynasty has put forward harsh requirements to us?" ”

King Nanmian sighed again and said, "Da Ming didn't ask for anything, it's our problem. This year's lack of rain seriously affected the rice harvest, and in the summer, a wildfire broke out in the redwood forest, burning a lot of the rosewood. It was supposed to send the tribute to Daming during the Mid-Autumn Festival, but it has been delayed until now because the number of tributes is not enough. ”

King Shun said, "Big brother, why don't you ask the place to hand over fragrant rice and mahogany in the next Dao Zhaoshu?" ”

King Nanmian said, "No. This year's harvest is not good, and the people's lives are not so good, and if they are asked to hand it in, won't they have no way to live? ”

He Wang coughed a few times, and said weakly: "Big brother, but no matter how long it is delayed, it is not a solution, and the tribute must be sent." The amount of tribute is almost half, and it may offend the Ming Dynasty if it is sent like this. ”

King Ping said: "Or, we take the initiative to ask the Ming Dynasty for guilt and explain the situation of our country to the Ming Emperor, or they will understand." ”

King Chang also continued: "That's right, eldest brother, we can consider the fourth brother's statement. Asking the people to hand over fragrant rice and mahogany is tantamount to increasing their burden and making their lives even worse. If the people are not able to make a living, it will be easy for the country to move? Disorderly. ”

King Nanmian nodded and said, "The eldest brother has also thought about the fourth brother's statement, and I think this method is still feasible. I also thought that I would personally escort the tribute to the Ming Dynasty, ask the Ming Emperor for guilt, and explain to him the difficulties of our country. ”

As soon as his words fell, King Ping immediately said, "No! Big brother, you are the king of a country, and the safety of a country is at stake, and it is a long way to go to Daming, and I don't know what will happen on the way, so I can't let you personally send tribute! ”

He Wang and the King of Thailand also continued: "Yes, big brother, you don't need to go out in person at all, can't you just send someone who can speak well?" ”

King Nanmian said: "People who can speak well will definitely be needed, but we also have to make the Ming Emperor feel our sincerity." Let a person with status and status in Nanmian country go to Daming, in order to show our sincerity. ”