Annam is now the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and the Mo Dynasty in the north was beaten by the Later Li Dynasty in the south and could only defend Gaoping, which was still under the protection of the Ming Dynasty to barely hold Gaoping.

The Later Li Dynasty was divided into two parts, the north and the south, and the emperor of the Later Li Dynasty had no real power. The powerful minister in the north is the Zheng clan, called this Zheng lord, and the powerful minister in the south is the Nguyen clan, called the Nguyen lord.

The Nguyen lord of this generation was named Nguyen Phuc Yuan, and ten years ago Nguyen Phuc Nguyen allowed Portuguese merchants to build a commercial port of Pheu Phuc. At this time, he began to buy advanced European cannons from the Portuguese, while learning how to design European ships, and over time, Port Fifford became an important trading port in the southwest Pacific, and many Chinese, Japanese, Europeans and Southeast Asians came to Fafo Port to trade.

Cui Chengxiu heard that Lord Ruan also had a cannon, and his heart shook up, and it seemed that what Zheng Zhan said was true. Originally, he was going to be tougher and threaten Lord Nguyen with artillery, but now it seems that this path will not work.

He asked: "How does their artillery compare to ours?" ”

Wang Jianxiong said: "We have only seen them test their guns from a distance, and they can hit as far as about 500 paces. There are only iron bullets and stone bullets, no chain bullets. ”

Cui Chengxiu nodded at this time, since they are all just solid bullets, they are worse than the equipment of the Ming army. He asked again: "I came all the way, but I didn't see the navy army of Annan, which port is the navy in?" ”

Wang Jianxiong said with a smile: "The Annan people don't pay attention to the navy, they pay attention to the construction of merchant ships, but their merchant ships are also good in some places, as for the gunboats, they have not been found in the lower part of the world." ”

Cui Chengxiu nodded again, whether it is Hue or Hoi An, the Nguyen clan is close to the sea, since the Annam naval army is not very good, it really has to turn its face, but it can have an advantage in naval battles.

The next day, Cui Chengxiu traveled north to Hue, where Lord Nguyen warmly received him. After the two sides saw each other, Cui Chengxiu said: "The foreign minister has just come from Qinghua, and the Mo Dynasty has captured Qinghua, and the two generations of Zheng lords have been captured. ”

Ruan Fuyuan also just got the news of Thanh Hoa, and he said indignantly: "Lord Zheng is arrogant and domineering, there should be this report, but my emperor of the Li Dynasty actually fell into the hands of the Mo Dynasty, but the ministers could not do anything, they could only sigh in vain, hateful, hateful." ”

Cui Chengxiu said: "Emperor Li actually has no effect on the people of the Mo Dynasty, and the people of the Mo Dynasty don't want to do anything to Emperor Li. If Lord Ruan wants to be loyal to Emperor Li, I can say something from it and let the Mo Dynasty hand over Emperor Li to Lord Ruan. ”

Ruan Fuyuan was overjoyed and said: "If Da Ming can help my Li Huang reach Quang Nam safely, then the Ruan family is grateful." ”

Cui Chengxiu was silent. Ruan Fuyuan naturally knew the meaning, so he said: "The Ruan family is willing to serve the Ming Dynasty as a positive retrospective, and the tribute for three years is not respectful, and he is willing to pay a tribute for a year." ”

Cui Chengxiu couldn't wait to scold his mother in his heart, the matter of tribute was clearly taken advantage of Annan, although now the emperor of the Ming Dynasty has limited the number of tributes from the subject countries, but at least they will not suffer, it is just a matter of earning more and earning less. You specially changed the tributary every three years to an annual tribute, as if you gave the big face to the big tomorrow, do you think that the Ming Dynasty is still as stupid as before.

He thought for a while and said: "One tribute a year can show the sincerity of Lord Ruan, then pay 100,000 stone of rice every year, and the Ming Dynasty will give 10,000 silver coins in return." ”

Ruan Phuc Yuan said: "The Great Tomorrow Dynasty is the upper country, governing the country with courtesy, and has always been kind to the tributaries, and there has never been a matter of returning gifts that are lower than the tributaries. ”

Cui Chengxiu said: "A tribute is a gift from a vassal to the suzerainty or a subject to the monarch. Originally, there was no such thing as a return gift. I am merciful and benevolent, and I realize that the material resources of the country are difficult, so there is a matter of returning the gift. Tribute is the loyalty of the subject country, if it is actually paid because of the return of the tribute, then where does the original intention of the tribute be reflected? ”

Ruan Fuyuan couldn't imagine that he was so sharp-tongued, but Danli was on his side, but he couldn't think of a rebuttal for a while. Ruan Shoujing, a scholar next to him, said: "Tribute is a gift from a vassal state to the suzerain, but is there a reason to limit the gift?" ”

Cui Chengxiu replied: "Of course, to give gifts, you have to be useful. For example, if the Lord of Nguyen is called the Lord of the Buddha, if he wants to dedicate himself to the temple, he will not give alms with a comb, but the food and incense candles required by the temple. I am rich in products, Annan has everything, I have all of them, what is the benefit of giving them. It's just that I don't have much of this rice, so I want you to pay tribute. This is not a limited gift, but a guide to what gift you should give to make me satisfied. Isn't it true that you have given the gifts we need? ”

Ruan Fuyuan thought for a moment and said, "100,000 stones is too much, at most 50,000 stones." ”

Cui Chengxiu said: "Lord Ruan's base is in Guangnan, the land is wide and flat, three crops a year, 100,000 stone is not much." ”

Nguyen Phuc Yuan said: "In the Hengshan area, there are no paddy fields available. However, Guangnan squeezes out 100,000 stone of rice every year within the tolerable range, but China's transportation capacity is limited, and it is impossible to transport 100,000 stone rice to the capital of Shangguo. ”

Cui Chengxiu said with a smile: "If this is the reason, there is a way to solve it, your country can set up a special wharf in Hue or Hoi to let our ships berth, and the transportation can be done by our ships." ”

Ruan Fuyuan said: "There is a wharf, but it means that ships from other countries cannot berth?" ”

Choi Chengxiu nodded. Ruan Fuyuan said: "What about ships from other countries?" This is not possible. We can give you a piece of land in Hue, and you can pay for the construction of a wharf, and then this wharf can only allow your ships to berth, and all the tributary rice will be transported to this wharf in the future, and the tributary will be completed. ”

Cui Chengxiu's heart blossomed, when he came, the emperor had told him that it would be good if he could rent a place, but now he doesn't even need to pay money, and Lord Nguyen promised to give Daming a piece of land in Hue, which has exceeded the emperor's expectations. He didn't dare to agree too quickly, and hesitated for a while before he said reluctantly: "Then thank Lord Ruan first." ”

And the reason why Nguyen Phuc Yuan agreed to allocate a piece of land to Daming to build a wharf is because in his opinion, the wharf is in Hue, and it is the money of Daming, and it is impossible for Daming to move the wharf. When the Ming Dynasty moored his ships at the wharf, he would always have to buy some basic daily necessities from Hue, which was a lot of income. If there is something to be gained and nothing to lose, why not do it.

So Cui Chengxiu used the Le Shen Sect, which was not yet in his hands, in exchange for 10,000 silver coins a year to get 100,000 stone rice from the Nguyen family, and obtained a piece of land in Hue that was two miles long and one mile wide to build a special wharf for the Ming Dynasty. Both parties felt that they had earned the deal, so everyone happily signed the agreement.