On September 15, Zhao Junsheng received the envoys of the Western Regions in the Taiji Palace, among which the envoys of Yanqi and Yiwu, who had submitted their credentials to the country at the beginning of the year and expressed their submission, were also invited to participate.

In the solemn sound of drums, the envoys of the Western Regions countries entered the main hall in two columns according to the requirements of the eunuchs, and then lined up in two horizontal rows in the middle of the main hall to worship Zhao Junsheng and Hua Mulan with their respective etiquette.

Zhao Junsheng smiled and raised his hand to the envoys and said, "There are so many people, I and the queen don't know each other, let's come one by one and get to know each other one by one!" ”

The Ministry of Rites Zanli Lang Hongtao stood up and said loudly: "First of all, please ask the envoys of Khotan to come forward to meet and worship our emperor!" ”

The interpreter standing on the side of the stairs translated.

The envoy of Khotanese stood up and saluted and said: "Chi Xingsheng, the envoy of the Qu Satana country, on the order of my king, presents to Your Majesty five pieces of superb jade, nine pieces of high-grade jade, seventy-two pieces of medium-grade jade, and three hundred and sixty pieces of low-grade jade, and submits a letter of state, willing to be a minister to the great cadres and the quasi-great cadres to garrison troops in the country to protect our people!" ”

At the foot of the steps, an official of Honglu Temple introduced loudly: "Qu Satana is their own name, the transliteration is this name, the Han Dynasty Historical Records Dawan Lie Biography called it Khotan, the founding of the country has a history of more than 600 years!" The countries (Tibetans) on the Kunlun Mountains call it the Liyu Kingdom, the Hu people in the Western Regions call it Huodan, the Huns call it Yu Dun, and the Buddhist scriptures call it the Garosama Kingdom! ”

"Its country is at the foot of Kunlun Mountain, the south of the desert of the Western Regions, the successive lords are surnamed Wei Chi, the current lord is Yu Chi Longgui, the country is in Xicheng, it is the largest oasis in the desert of the Western Regions, it is an extremely important transportation hub on the South Road of the Western Regions, 16,000 households, a population of 36,000, more than 9,000 soldiers, and the people of the country all believe in Buddhism."

Victorious soldiers refer to those who have the ability to fight militarily, not to the specific number of troops. The countries of the Western Regions are generally small villages in the form of villages, such as Khotan, which is already a powerful country in the Western Regions, and is called a powerful country in the Western Regions along with Qiuci, Yanqi, Shanshan, and Shule.

Hua Mulan asked curiously: "Wei Chi Xingsheng, why are the tributes from your country all jade and nothing else?" ”

After listening to the translation, Wei Chi Xingsheng said: "Back to Niangniang's words, my country is rich in beautiful jade, and only a special product like jade can be used as a tribute!" ”

Zhao Junsheng said with a smile: "I have accepted the tribute of your country, and from now on, the country of Khotan will be my great vassal state!" Yu Khotan set up in the Khotanese Governor's Palace, appointed Khotanese King Chi Long as the governor, canonized as the Yun Lu general! Ten sets of fine porcelain, ten brocades, ten jars of royal Yao Chi wine, and twelve bottles of fine perfume! ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty, Longen!" Wei Chi Xingsheng bowed down and shouted, and after handing over the credentials, he stepped aside.

Zanli Lang Hongtao said again: "Please come forward to worship my majesty and queen!" ”

A middle-aged man with a full beard stepped forward to worship Zhao Junsheng and Hua Mulan: "Hui Yang, the envoy of the Elite Country, came to meet the Emperor and Empress of Daqian on the order of my king, and offered a bag of tribute Jinsha, a cart of magnetite ore, and ten cans of obsidian essential oil to express his heart. ”

After hearing this, Zhao Junsheng asked: "How did I hear that the Elite Kingdom had been destroyed by Khotan a long time ago, why did I ······ it?"

The interpreter translated Zhao Junsheng's words, and the envoy Huiyang explained: "Khotan was indeed powerful back then, annexing thirteen surrounding countries, but decades ago, Khotan was attacked by the Tuyuhun people from the east, and its national strength declined, and my exquisite country was restored!" ”

Hua Mulan asked curiously, "Among the tributes that the envoy said is obsidian essential oil, what is this?" What is it for? ”

Hui Yang replied: "Hui Niangniang's words, the Yao insect is a unique fire insect in the desert in the territory of my exquisite country, often used to guard the tombs of kings and nobles, they penetrate the sand at night to bask in the moonlight, absorb and absorb the essence of the moon, and hide in the bottom of the tomb during the day, in the dark environment can emit a faint blue light, and people will be burned into ashes when they are touched!" It burns even in water, so it never goes out! Its essential oil is extracted from insect eggs, which is extremely rare, but whenever the skin has wounds, burns, and scalds, as long as it is smeared with obsidian essential oil, it will be restored in a few days, leaving no traces! It can also be used on weekdays to apply it to the whole body, once a month, in the middle of the bath, can always maintain the face and skin smooth and white, this is the queen of our country's special skin care treasures, every queen when she dies, her face is still like a girl! It's just that this obsidian eggs are extremely rare, and refining them is also time-consuming and laborious, and only one drop can be produced every day! ”

Hua Mulan heard so many benefits of this thing, women love beauty by nature, and their hearts are inevitably itchy.

But before she could speak, the exquisite envoy Huiyang said: "If the mother likes it, the queen of our country is willing to present two bottles every year, once a month, three drops each time to wipe the whole body is enough, no matter how much is a waste!" ”

Hua Mulan couldn't help but look at Zhao Junsheng.

Zhao Junsheng was helpless, and had to say that the tribute of the Exquisite Kingdom was more precious to Mulan than any tribute, and he said to Hui Yang: "The Exquisite Queen has a heart, and I and the Empress are very satisfied with the tribute of your country, so it is decided, other tributes can be more or less, and this Obsidian essential oil cannot be less!" Passed the decree, the queen of the spirit is the king of Anhui and the general of Yunlu, and the reward is the same as that of the king of Khotan! Ordered Gao Jinzhi to garrison 300 troops in Niyang City to prevent the enemy from invading! ”

Hui Yang was overjoyed and thanked: "Your Majesty, Niangniang is blessed!" ”

Zanlilang shouted again: "Please come forward and worship the envoys of Pushan Kingdom!" ”

Another bearded envoy stood up and saluted Zhao Junsheng and Hua Mulan, and I have to say that the people of the Western Regions are very similar to Central Asians in terms of appearance and characteristics.

"The envoy of Pushan State, Pilu, visited the Emperor and the Empress of Daqian, and came to worship His Majesty and Niangniang on the order of the king of our country, and specially presented four desert foxes with the letter of the minister and tribute, ten hundred-year-old snow lotus, a bag of snow lotus for more than ten years, a car of Cistanche, and a car of Codonopsis, and I specially ask for the blessing of Daqian!"

Before Zhao Junsheng could speak, Hua Mulan smiled and said: "The hundred-year-old snow lotus is a good thing, I have seen a lot of foxes, but the desert fox has never seen it!" ”

An official of Honglu Temple said that this Pushan country is the former Pishan country, the population is not large, the geographical area is only the size of a county, and the tribute is not a rare thing, only the hundred-year-old snow lotus is still precious.

Zhao Junsheng still rewarded the lord of Pushan, but it was much worse than Khotan and Jingjue.

The next to see the envoy of the country of Mo, according to the official introduction of the Honglu Temple, the right to the country of Mo in the Han Dynasty called Wuzhen, there is a record in the Book of Han, the capital is called Wuqin City, 9,950 miles away from Chang'an, only a population of more than 3,000 people, it can be regarded as a real village kingdom.

The right to pay tribute to the country of Mo presented a piece of Kunlun Mountain top weighing 300 catties of 10,000-year-old cold iron, according to the envoy said that the weapon cast with it is sharp and tough, and the iron can be sharpened like mud.

After that, there are the envoys of the thirsty Pantuo country to come forward to see, its country is in the country of green mountains, located on the plateau, the territory of its country is covered with snow all the year round, the envoys have dedicated two thousand years of Ganoderma lucidum, which is extremely rare.

Zanlilang shouted again: "Please come forward to meet His Majesty the Emperor and the Empress of our country!" ”

A Shule man dressed in costume stepped forward and saluted: "The envoy of the Shule State, Alami, visited His Majesty and Niangniang of the Emperor Daqian, and on the order of my king, the minister brought a golden Buddha weighing eight hundred and ten catties; an adult snow leopard; Fennel, some sunflowers! ”

After listening to these tributes, especially the 810 catties of the Golden Buddha, the ministers all gasped and built a golden Buddha with pure gold.

Hua Mulan raised her hand and said: "I've seen a lot of beasts in this palace, but I've never seen this snow leopard, presumably Zhu Qing also wants to open his eyes, and the golden Buddha of more than 800 catties, bring it into the main hall to see!" ”

The eunuch immediately sent a decree and ordered the golden Buddha and the snow leopard to be brought in.

Not long after, ten armor warriors carried a figure covered with a curtain into the main hall, and when the curtain was opened, a golden Buddha statue stood in front of the ministers.

Minister Lu Xuan walked up to the Golden Buddha and looked at it, and praised its exquisite casting skills, which were not gold-plated, but pure gold.

Some ministers exclaimed: "Only a place like Shule where Buddhism flourishes is willing to cast a golden Buddha with so much gold!" ”

All the ministers, including Zhao Junsheng and Hua Mulan, all took a closer look around the Golden Buddha.

Hua Mulan said to Zhao Junsheng: "Your Majesty, there is a royal Buddhist temple in the city, it is better to enshrine this Buddha statue in the Buddhist temple for the subjects to visit!" ”

Zhao Junsheng nodded in agreement: "Yes!" Let the temple sell affordable tickets to the devotees and tourists for the daily expenses of the monks in the temple and the maintenance and repair of the Buddhist utensils in the temple! In the future, Buddhism, Taoist temples and Taoist temples will be under the jurisdiction of the relevant yamen of the Ministry of Rites, and monks and Taoist priests must have degrees to prove their identity! ”

Next, an iron cage was carried in by the armorers, and the iron cage was covered with a black cloth.

When the iron cage was lowered, the two armorers pulled open the covering, revealing the beast inside the iron cage.

"Roar" The beast roared, its sharp claws scratched on the iron cage, and the sound of metal came out, and the ministers were so frightened that they changed color, and involuntarily retreated, and some people were so frightened that they sat on the ground and almost became incontinent.

"Ahem, what kind of system? A beast in a cage will scare you like this, and if the enemy comes in, will you not flee in the wilderness? Zhao Junsheng scolded loudly.

The ministers were immediately ashamed.

Hua Mulan looked at it and said in surprise: "What a fierce big cat!" ”

Zhao Junsheng couldn't help but be speechless for a while, this is a big cat? Please, once this beast is released, it won't stop without killing a few people!

Zhao Junsheng sighed: "This beast is fierce, but it costs a lot to feed it!" Come on, send it to the Royal Zoo! Don't worry about it, let it catch what it eats! ”

"No!"