"Your Royal Highness, the ancient six calendars of the first dynasties, namely the Yellow Emperor calendar, the Zhuan calendar, the Xia calendar, the Yin calendar, the Zhou calendar, and the Lu calendar. In addition to the Yellow Emperor calendar, the other five calendars have been gradually abandoned due to their own calculation defects. According to the Emperor's Sexagenary Chronology, this year is the year 4115 of the Yellow Emperor's calendar. ”

Tang Yu, the subordinate officer of Qintian, had a rare opportunity to show his face in front of Zhu Zhanji, and the officials of the fleet gathered together today, so he couldn't help but be excited, and broke down the Yellow Emperor's chronology in detail.

Zhu Zhanji nodded to him, retracted his gaze, looked at the people in front of him and said, "I have a calendar for next year, because it has been changing with the emperor's throne, it looks a little chaotic. Even I, the grandson, often can't figure out the year, let alone ordinary people, barbarian border people. Therefore, for the prestige of my Ming Dynasty's unification, and for the determination of my status as the kingdom of the Ming Dynasty, I want to apply the Yellow Emperor's Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches and the Emperor's Throne Year together from now on, so that the barbarian country can also bathe in the glory of my Ming Dynasty. ”

Those generals didn't care what the age was, and they didn't understand why Zhu Zhanji summoned everyone, but he first brought up such an issue.

But Jin Chun and Xie Jin are very clear about the significance of this, and now whether it is the Ming Dynasty, Dongying, or the small country of Nanyang Yuer, there is no unified chronological standard, and it is often calculated according to the era name of the reigning monarch.

This kind of calculation is easy for them to calculate, because every Confucian student starts from learning Confucianism, and the first thing to learn is to remember the emperors starting from the Three Emperors and the Five Emperors.

But the common people don't know how to count, don't talk about this barbarian land, even in the countryside of the Ming Dynasty, most people don't understand the origin of the twenty-four solar terms.

Jin Chun said with some worry: "Your Highness, the determination of the year of the Heavenly Stem Branch needs to be appointed by Your Majesty. I am now implementing the Great Unification Calendar, which is determined by Taizu himself, and it is really inappropriate to change it rashly. ”

Of course, Zhu Zhanji knows that the calendar is the most important weapon of the country, and every emperor's accession to the throne and his removal from the throne are the most important things for the country.

To determine the date, it is necessary for the Manchu Dynasty civil and military forces to discuss with the emperor many times before it can be determined.

One of his own grandsons suddenly proposed to notify the barbarians according to the Yellow Emperor's calendar years, which is a big crime to kill the head.

However, Zhu Zhanji really neglected this matter at first, and it was not until he recently asked the merchants of the Western Regions about the major events that happened in Europe that he suddenly remembered this question.

In ancient China, before the Ming Dynasty, almost every few emperors, had to recalculate the calendar once, according to Tang Yu's rough statistics, before the unification of the three emperors and five emperors to the Qin Dynasty, most of the ancient six calendars were implemented, from the Qin Emperor to Zhu Yuanzhang to establish the Ming Dynasty, the calendar was changed nearly 50 times in all dynasties. Especially during the Tang and Song dynasties, almost every emperor ascended the throne and had to change the calendar.

Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, Hongwu 17 years set up an observatory in Nanjing Jiming Mountain, so that the doctor Yuan Tong revised the calendar, still in the name of "Datong", and the points all descended on the Yuan Dynasty "time" law, but to go to its years and grow and wane. Later, due to the inaccuracy of the estimation of the solar eclipse, the rulers of the calendar entered the new calendar and asked for reform, but the Ming Dynasty has always used the "Great Unification Calendar".

Zhu Zhanji's proposal to use the Yellow Emperor to publicize it to the outside world over the years is really a big rebellion.

However, Zhu Zhanji did not want to revise the calendar, but when he publicized it to the outside world, he told the world with the calendar year of the Yellow Emperor that this year was.

He didn't want to think of the year of Jesus' birth as the A.D. year, and although the length of the Western calendar year was not much different, it actually had no effect except for the simplicity of the algorithm.

The lunar calendar is completely different, according to the calculation of the sexagenary branch, through the leap month to adjust the year, not only can calculate the 24 solar terms of the year, so that farmers know when to plant, but also can calculate the annual solar eclipse and lunar eclipse, the exact time of the arrival of Halley's Comet, etc.

Zhu Zhanji didn't believe these at first, but the more he knew, the more precious he felt about the wealth left by his ancestors.

Of course, the Gregorian calendar is not out of nowhere. The Gregorian calendar is the Gregorian calendar, which is calculated based on the revolution of the sun.

The lunar calendar is a lunar calendar, which is calculated according to the changes of the moon, and the two methods have their own advantages and can form an effective complement.

But because that cannon proposed a comprehensive westernization in 1912, it was in line with the West and in line with the world.

This led to the full adoption of the Western chronology after the end of the Qing Dynasty.

The year of birth of a religious activist has become the chronology of an ancient oriental country, which is really funny to think about.

In fact, the Gregorian calendar was originally changed from the Julian calendar, and the beginning of the year was not the current time, but began to be calculated from 45 BC.

When Julian Caesar became consul for the third time, he appointed a group of astronomers led by the Egyptian astronomer Sosicheni to establish a new calendar, which became the Julian calendar.

But then the Roman Empire declined and theocracy arose, so the year became the year of the birth of Jesus.

For a large agricultural country, the abandonment of the lunar calendar year has left the common people at a loss. So in the end, I picked up this set of the lunar calendar again and used the double chronology method.

In this era, except for a few countries that practice the solar calendar, most countries still calculate according to the chronology of their own countries and nations.

However, Zhu Zhanji was unwilling to let the Jesus calendar rise, so after seeing the chaotic chronology in Europe, he remembered to promote the Yellow Emperor calendar to Europe.

Zhu Zhanji said with a smile: "Shangshu is too worried, Lone does not modify the calendar, only follows the year." Although my Ming Dynasty now implements the Great Unification Calendar, the Yellow Emperor calendar has not changed. Now we are publicizing it to the outside world, announcing the Yellow Emperor's calendar and the year of God's throne, so that the people of the Western Regions can also know the history of our Ming Dynasty. ”

Xie Jin knows very well that Zhu Zhanji is a person, and he has always done things with a very heavy purpose, but in this matter, he can't see Zhu Zhanji's purpose.

If there is no benefit, why would Zhu Zhanji make such an opportunity? He couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness knows that this matter is taboo, why do you insist on doing this?" ”

Zhu Zhanji said with a smile: "Lone has only recently considered this problem, and now the Great Cannibals of the Western Regions adopt the Muhammad calendar, which is a lunar calendar, which is not much different from my Ming Dynasty, but their age is only eight hundred years, and the extreme west, using the Gregorian calendar, is far from my Ming calendar, and it is only 1,400 years so far."

If I only show them the Great Unification Calendar, wouldn't it mean that my Ming Dynasty history is not as long as theirs? And in reality? It has been more than 4,000 years since the Yellow Emperor began in the Chinese era. ”

At this time, everyone understood that Zhu Zhanji didn't want to revise the calendar, but he just didn't want to lose face in front of the people of the Western Regions.

As long as the calendar is not changed, just using the Yellow Emperor calendar to promote the year, although this is a bit inappropriate, it will not make Zhu Di taboo.

Therefore, everyone just hesitated for a while, accepted Zhu Zhanji's opinion, and in the future letters to the countries of the Western Regions, the Yellow Emperor's calendar year shall prevail.

Of course, they don't dare to lose the current Ming year, and they must have to add the fifteenth year of Yongle.

At this time, Li Liang said: "Now that this matter has been decided, let's move on to the next topic, my Ming Dynasty's external propaganda of the country's name......"

Suddenly, there was a burst of war drums outside, three long and two short, this was something new to discover.

For a moment, no one spoke, and everyone waited for the latest news from the heralds.

After a while, a loud voice sounded at the door: "Your Highness, the former army urgently returned and found a large city, or a big cannibal city!" ”

Everyone was excited to discover a big cannibal city thousands of miles away, which almost everyone had not expected.

If there is a city, it means that there is civilization, and if there is civilization, it means that there is large-scale trade.

Zheng He glanced at Zhu Zhanji and said softly: "Your Highness, isn't it the arrival of the Marin Kingdom that those merchants said last time?" ”

Zhu Zhanji nodded and said, "It should be, this also means that our destination is almost here." ”

The Kingdom of Marin refers to the Morocco of later generations. In the eighth century, the Arabs marched west from Egypt and conquered North Africa, expelling all the blacks to central Africa.

Since then, the Arabs have gradually settled down from nomads and established several dynasties, which are now ruled by the Marin Kingdom.

The journey of tens of thousands of miles was finally about to arrive, and everyone's spirits were lifted.

Zhu Zhanji was equally excited, and in later life, it only took him ten hours to take his own special plane from Singapore to Spain, but in this era, the journey of ten hours became seven months.

Although it may sound romantic and brave to cross the ocean, it is only after seven months of suffering on the ship that I realize how sinful it is.

He turned his head and asked, "What is the dimension now?" ”

A soldier on duty in Yulin Weixue said: "Back to Your Highness, it is about 30 degrees north latitude. ”

Zhu Zhanji couldn't think of any city in this dimension for a while, so he became interested and said: "Then let's go out and have a look, the journey of more than 20 miles is now downwind, and it will be there in half an hour." ”

As soon as they arrived on the deck, the ships in front were passing on the news again, and Zhu Zhanji took a telescope and looked at the flags from the ships in front.

The flag language of the Ming fleet was changed by him, so he quickly understood that the seaside was just a small town with a population of about 20,000 people.

In a few moments, a herald ship arrived on the flagship with detailed information.

The former army had landed and made initial contact with the people of the small town, which was called Agadir, a small city in the south of the Kingdom of Marin.

Because the population is not large, it is not a suitable trading point, and four hundred miles to the north is their capital Anfa.

Now the former army asked whether they would stay here for a while, or go directly to the capital to contact them.

Zhu Zhanji thought for a while and said: "The front army continued to explore, left a few merchant ships to trade, and sent the forward battalion to Anfa as soon as possible to make initial contact with the other party, and the Chinese army went directly to their capital. ”

Anfa is the Casablanca, and since it was still the capital of Marin, it means that the Portuguese had not yet embarked on their Age of Discovery.

Because Zhu Zhanji knows that the capital of Morocco has always been Rabat, but Rabat became the capital because the Portuguese razed Anfa to the ground during the initial colonial war, which made Rabat the capital.

Now that Anfa is still there, then Zhu Zhanji will cut off the hand that the Portuguese stretched out to the Kingdom of Marin, not to help Marin, but to limit the Portuguese's desire to conquer abroad.

The Age of Discovery, but it started in Portugal.

The fleet continued all the way north, and the ship took advantage of the wind, and the four-hundred-mile journey was completed in less than a day and a night.

The city on the shore had already come into Zhu Zhanji's field of vision, and countless figures stood on the shore, and from the binoculars, you could clearly see that everyone's faces showed shocked looks.

Yes, the fleet that covers the sky and the sun can make everyone fearful.

Yesterday, when five ships completely different from the Western warships arrived in the waters of Anfa, it had already shocked the Marins, who had never imagined that there was another civilization besides those Europeans.

And this civilization seems to be so powerful, with today's majestic warships, well-disciplined soldiers, and well-groomed appearance.

Their officials were mild-mannered, looking at them with a self-contained but calm expression. Abu Saeed Uthman III, the lord of Marin, felt that the other party did not seem to take him seriously at all, and looked at him as if he were a barbarian.

Where did they come from? Where did this Da Ming come from?

However, they didn't expect that these five ships were not all of them, just a forward battalion. Without authorization, they refused to disclose any information, telling him only that they had come with sincerity and peace, and that they were willing to trade with them.

They also gave gifts, which Osman III didn't care about, but when he saw the soft silk like skin, the fragrant tea leaves, the fine porcelain that could be used as a work of art, and the spices that were more magical than gold, he lost his temper for the first time.

He remembered a legend he had heard when he was a child, that in the far east, there was a rich oil-flowing country, a powerful civilization, and that the great cannibals had relied on them to develop.

But then the Turks appeared, the Mongols appeared, and that country never existed.

He thought that these were just legends, because both the Turks and the Mongol Yuan people brought porcelain and tea, as well as fine silk.

Many people like him thought that the country did not exist, and that those things were produced by the Turks, or the Mongol people.

Although they brought fine porcelain and soft silk, they also brought war and death.

No one expects those things anymore, but is afraid that they will become the target of the Mengyuan people's conquest.

Although Osman III did not experience the threat of the Mongols, because Marin was too far away from the Mongols. But he had heard more than once about the tyranny of the Mengyuan people, and the holy cities at that time almost fell into the clutches of the Mengyuan people and the Turks.

But now, he knows, the legend is not fiction, but true.

Osman III gave a warm reception to the envoys of the country called the Ming Dynasty, and also paid a large amount of money to bribe the general secretary who served as an interpreter.

But these generals were recruited by the Ming in Kurumus, and they only knew that the Ming came from the far east, but they knew nothing about this Ming.

They also told Osman III the alarmed news that the opposing fleet was not just a few ships, dozens of ships, but thousands of ships.

Although only more than 600 ships came here this time, more than 600 ships were also unimaginable to Osman III.

They also had six hundred boats, but most of them were small boats fishing by the sea. There are less than a hundred real warships and cargo ships of more than two hundred tons.

But these experts also told him that the Ming people have a gentle personality, and as long as they are not hostile to the Ming, they will not regard them as enemies.

But as long as they dare to oppose the Ming, their army will crush the enemy. They told him that just half a year earlier, the Timurid state, which had robbed Baghdad, had a fleet of more than 200 ships, and it was wiped out in less than half a day.

So the next day, Osman III fearfully led the civil and military ministers of the country to the seashore to personally greet the grandson of His Majesty the Emperor from the Ming Dynasty.

It is said that they love to see everyone kneeling in front of them.

Fortunately, the messengers from the Ming Dynasty also forciflially allowed them not to kneel, because they were not enemies, nor were they their own people.

Osman III also told them that Marin was willing to be a friend of the Ming Dynasty.

But what he didn't expect was that the other party just sneered and didn't answer him. But the attitude has been obvious, and if he wants to be a friend of Daming, he seems to be a little unqualified.

He was still very angry in his heart, and a little messenger dared to despise him as a king.

However, when he saw one huge warship after another appear in his field of vision at sea, he was really terrified.

With such a strong strength, he, the little Marin Country Lord, really doesn't seem to be qualified!

With the promise of the general, he dared to wait on the shore in fear, but he could not help but tremble his legs.

And his people, when they saw the fleet, which could not see the edge, approaching in obscurity, were even more frightened one by one.

It was because of him, the king, that the people did not run away.

The barbarians of the north, who always had one or two ships coming, had to harass the coast and plunder some goods before leaving.

This Ming is so powerful, are they really coming with peace?

From early in the morning, they saw the fleet in view, and soon ships began to dock.

When the men arrived at the dock, they sealed it off, and a few of the people who were watching the excitement did not want to leave, but they whipped them with leather whips.

But the other party did not wantonly kill people, and let everyone know that these people are not cruel.

Osman III's heart was also a little calmer, and he sent his own guard captain to help the Ming people clear the docks.

Then, the small boats of the Ming people began to measure the depth of the water around the harbor.

But the attention of the Marin people was all attracted by the movement on the dock, and the Ming people who had landed in advance unloaded a house as large as a palace from the ship, and when they put it together, they realized that it was a carriage.

With such a large carriage, even Osman III wanted to get closer to see what was going on, but was stopped by the messenger. They told the monarch to wait until their noble highness arrived, and naturally arranged for him to come closer.

Then they laid on the wharf a carpet of pure wool from Persia, which was not felt for the common people, but a woolen carpet that even he was reluctant to use, and now it was pounced on the land of the port!

He also thought he had seen it wrong, and asked the messenger: "Your Excellency, why do you spread the precious carpet on the mud floor?" ”

The envoy was Cao Yi, a member of the Ministry of Rites, and the one who served as his deputy was Xie Zhen. Cao Yi was reluctant to talk to the smelly general, and always stood on the side with a pretentious high ground.

But Xie Zhen did not have such concerns, and got along very well with several generals. So much so that Osman III thought that the young man in the Liberation Period was a genuine messenger.

Xie Zhenqi smiled confidently: "Our Royal Highness the Imperial Grandson is the most respected person in the world, and nothing precious can set off his greatness. Although the carpet is precious, this specification is in line with the status of His Highness. ”

Several generals translated the words of the Xie Zhen period, and Osman III became even more curious about this highness the grandson.

It was almost noon, and the dense fleet was finally assembled, centered on the wharf of the port of Anfa. They were lined up in a fan, leaving a huge passage in the middle.

Then, Zhu Zhanji's flagship slowly approached the pier along the passage, but because of the limited water depth of the port, the flagship's draft of more than six meters could not be docked.

Zhu Zhanji's huge flagship approached, causing countless people to let out bursts of exclamations. It's just that the giant ship they had never seen before was more than ten times larger than their largest ship.

If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they simply couldn't believe that humans would be able to build such a huge ship.

The Marin guards who were on duty in Mayou, when they saw such a huge ship, the timid people had already knelt down and prayed. In their eyes, this is a miracle.

The flagship's two huge anchors, weighing 3,000 catties, were lowered by winches to stabilize the hull. Subsequently, more than a dozen flat-bottomed sand boats, under the arrangement of the commander, inserted one by one to form a pontoon bridge.

All the ships were connected, secured, and a passage was laid out on the deck of the hull.

It took so much effort just to land, and it also made the people of Marin see the dignity of the person who came.

At this moment, the royal dragon flag on the flagship slowly descended, and a huge drum music sounded, and as the drum music on the flagship sounded, all the gongs and drums on the ship sounded rhythmically.

When all the gongs and drums sounded on the hundreds of boats in the field of vision, this rhythmic heavy bass made many people numb and incontinent.

Almost everyone is asking in their hearts, how powerful is this Da Ming!

The dragon flag was lowered, the Taisun flag was also lowered, and the drumming on the ship also stopped. A group of brightly armored guards formed four lines and stretched out on both sides of the road in the docks, and the drums on the piers rang out.

Taisun ceremonial guard finally came out, and Zhu Zhanji, who was wearing a dragon robe and a crown, finally got off the boat and appeared in front of everyone.

At this time, Xie Zhen only let the general tell Osman III that he could now go to the dock to meet His Royal Highness.

Osman III was completely numb, and at first he was a little angry at the Ming envoy for being so arrogant, but now, he did not dare to show a trace of dissatisfaction at all.

Such a grandeur was something that he, a king, had never imagined.

The difference is too far away, and he doesn't dare to compare anymore.

He finally saw His Royal Highness the Taisun, who was known as the most noble person in the world, even among the tall Semites, this Taisun His Royal Highness looked very tall, and the gap with the Orientals who were generally shorter than them was even greater.

The other party had a beard similar to theirs, but instead of letting the beard grow around, it was neatly repaired and formed a beautiful pattern.

He wore a boat-shaped hat on top of his head, and nine strings of precious stones hung from the front and back, and this hat alone was worth a fortune.

And from the inside out, he was dressed in the finest silk, embroidered with mighty animals.

He didn't understand how the patterns were embroidered on such thin silk.

Twenty years ago, he walked 8,000 miles to the Holy City to worship and met not only the powerful Mamluk kings, but also the Romans who traded with the Mamluks.

But no nobleman can have such extravagant dressing. If the other party is willing, he is willing to exchange a city for the other party's hat.

What a dazzling jewel that jewel is!

A middle-aged man in red followed behind the grandson, and the clothes on his body also amazed Osman III, it can be seen that the man in red is just the entourage of the grandson, but the clothes of an entourage are more exquisite than that of him as a king.

What made him even more puzzled was why the other party didn't grow a beard?

Before he could figure it out, the other party had walked along the fine carpet to the front of a carriage that looked like a palace. At this time, the Ming envoy reminded him, and he came to his senses and hurriedly stepped forward to say hello.

To the surprise of Osman III, the retinue who followed the grandson also understood their language. Although the tone is somewhat different from theirs, the language and script, which are also established by the Great Prophet, allow the people everywhere to understand the teachings of Allah.

Zhu Zhanji originally wanted to show a gentle attitude, but as soon as Osman III arrived, he almost smoked him to a big head.

The other party probably hasn't taken a bath for a year, and now it's September, and the temperature here is nearly 30 degrees, which is still relatively hot. There was a smoky smell from his body, and in order to hide it, he smeared a lot of sesame oil on his body, and the smell was mixed together, making people want to vomit when they smelled it.

But he didn't realize this at all, and he wanted to desperately get to Zhu Zhanji's side.

Fortunately, Zheng He, who was with him, knew that Zhu Zhanji loved Jie, and even he couldn't stand the smell, let alone let him smoke His Highness.

Zheng He stood in front of Zhu Zhanji, waved with him for a long time, and said: "His Majesty the Great Ming Emperor, His Royal Highness the Imperial Emperor of the Ming Empire, on the orders of His Majesty the Emperor, went to the West to seek to expand trade routes. Passing through your country today, I want to trade with you. The contemptible person is the deputy marshal of the mission, Zheng He, the Duke of Dian of the Ming Empire, greetings to His Majesty the King! ”

Osman III paused for a moment before he hurriedly asked, "What is the position of the Duke of Dian State?" ”

"The Duke of Dian is the duke of the Ming Empire, and the duke of the Western countries is the same level as the duke of the great powers."

Osman III understood at this time, and knew that the other party was almost the same as his identity, although the other party was only a duke and he was the king, but the duke of such a powerful empire was probably more noble than his own lord.

He hurriedly saluted Zheng He again, and the two exchanged polite words, and Zheng He invited Zhu Zhanji to board the dragon chariot.

Zhu Zhanji glanced at Osman III and said lightly: "The Duke of Dian will also call him Longran, no matter how stinky he is, he is also a lord of the country." ”

Zheng He smiled and said, "Your Highness, bear with me, these barbarian small countries, where is there anything important. ”

Smelling the smell of the other party's body today, Zhu Zhanji suddenly remembered that in Europe in this era, people don't take a bath. Moreover, there are no toilets in the city, and people defecate in the open, thinking of this, he is very interested in Europe at this time.

The ancient Romans were very clean and loved to bathe. But when the population of Europe increased and diseases were rampant, people had a natural fear of bathing.

In Europe at this time, it was not that there were no doctors, but most of their doctors were priests who relied on prayer to heal the sick.

Even in the eighteenth century, when people were sick, doctors mainly bleed patients.

Since the Middle Ages, especially the Black Death 70 years ago, Europeans have become even more afraid of bathing, although they did not know that the germs were transmitted from rats at first, but they also knew that places close to water sources were more likely to get sick.

So their cities began to be built on the mountains, and even if they carried water every day, they did not dare to live near the water, let alone take a bath.

In this, too, the church has played a huge leading role.

They believed that a filthy body was seen as closer to God, and that not bathing became a symbol of holiness! Those who have the courage not to take a bath for many years will even be canonized as saints!

Inspired by this great spirit, many devout clergy and Christians began a painstaking practice of filth – His Excellency St. Abraham persisted for fifty years without washing his face or feet, and finally succeeded in canonization.

Monsieur Saint-Simon allowed maggots to arch over his festering wounds, and never washed them until he died.

The mother of King Henry IV of France insisted on not bathing for the rest of her life and was canonized as the Holy Lady Agnès.

Thinking of this, Zhu Zhanji even wondered if it was a mistake for him to come to Europe at this time.

Now it's just in North Africa, where people love cleanliness more than Europeans, and that's the case now, when you go to Europe, I'm afraid you don't have to keep sachets on hand.

Bringing Osman III to the dragon chariot, he was led by Zheng He to the corner opposite Zhu Zhanji and sat down, he did not realize the trouble caused by the smell of his body, but admired the huge carriage with great excitement.

Sitting in such a carriage made him feel even more noble, and he couldn't help but keep waving to his subjects on both sides of the road.

Zhu Zhanji looked at his movements, couldn't help but be a little funny, and said to Zheng He: "Ask him about their relationship with the Mamluk dynasty and the European countries in a while." The map, which was marked with major cities in Europe, was given a good look at by him. I hope to provoke conflicts between them and Portugal and Spain. The harder they fight, the better it will be for me......"

Zheng He didn't take the little Portugal in his eyes, and said: "Your Highness, then Portugal is just a small country according to the general, dare to fight with the Marin Kingdom?" And that Spain, although it has developed over the years and has recaptured most of its territory, but Granada is still in the hands of the Moors, and they are not united, so what is there to fear? ”