Anyway, what kind of treasure did the Japanese people take out, which caused a burst of exclamations. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Coral.

That's right, it's red coral, which is of the same quality as the one given to Wu Yuanqing in the morning.

But the quality is the same, but the size is very different. The red coral given to Wu Yuanqing is only more than half a meter above and below the pedestal, but now the red coral that is brought up to the hall can look like a little more than a meter without counting the pedestal.

Red coral is an organic gemstone with a pleasant color and a lustrous texture, which grows in the deep sea from 100 meters to 2 kilometers away from humans.

It is formed by the accumulation of polyps, which grow very slowly and are not renewable, while red coral only grows in a few straits (Taiwan Strait, Japan Strait, Baltic Strait, Mediterranean) and is limited by the sea area, so red coral is extremely precious.

In later generations, red coral was exploited indiscriminately because of its value, resulting in its extreme rarity, and the price rose and rose, and rose again and again.

In ancient times, it was due to the difficulty of mining, after all, it was in the deep sea, and the fishermen who died trying to mine this thing did not know how many, so it was also collected as a rare treasure.

Especially in China, red coral is regarded as an auspicious and happy thing, representing noble power, so it is also called "Ruibao". For example, the lamas and monks in Tibet now hold prayer beads made of red coral, and in the Qing Dynasty in later generations, the hat and pearls worn by the second-rank officials were made of precious red coral.

The number of red corals is scarce, and it is not easy to obtain, especially the coral trees that are more than two feet tall are even rarer, and now the country has actually taken out a red coral that is more than three feet long, whether it is color, block, clarity or luster, it is the best, and the crimson color shines brightly in the candlelight of the temple. Let the bright yellow hall and the faces of the people in the hall reflect a touch of red.

It is natural that such a quality and size of red coral arouse people's exclamation, after all, people who can have the financial resources or power to collect red coral are not too common in this hall, at least those officials below the fifth grade may not have them in their homes, and even if they do, they will not be so good and so big.

In contrast to this exclamation, the slightly ugly faces of many officials, especially those like Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Eldest Sun Wuji, Wang Qi and other Zaifu, all looked very gloomy.

It's not that they don't think this red coral is qualified to be offered to the emperor, on the contrary, they feel that this thing is too valuable to give to the emperor.

Foreign tribute to the Central Plains has a long history, and since the third century B.C., countries in East Asia, Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia have begun to do so with political significance. In this way, the act of the state against the state is called tribute.

The tributary system began in the Shang Dynasty, when only some surrounding tribes paid tribute to the rulers of the Shang Dynasty.

In 221 B.C., after the Qin Dynasty unified the Central Plains, it established a centralized empire in the strict sense, except for the Xiongnu, the surrounding countries had no ability to compete with the Qin Empire, so the tributary system was naturally extended to the surrounding countries that were not strong.

Later, the Rebellion of the Eight Kings broke out in the Western Jin Dynasty, and then the Central Plains Dynasty collapsed, and the Five Hu Rebellion led to the collapse of the tributary system, which was restored after the Sui Dynasty unified the world.

After the Western Jin Dynasty and before the Sui Dynasty, there were often multiple regimes at the same time who claimed to be the rulers of the orthodox world in China and demanded tribute from the surrounding countries.

Even in the current Tang Dynasty, when the national power was at its peak, the Wa State and the Bohai State also tried to become a secondary tributary center, and even called each other's envoys "tributary envoys", just like the Wa State forced Silla to pay tribute to them in 623, and then came to Chang'an this year to pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty.

Corresponding to the tributary is the tributary system within the Central Plains countries, which is very similar to the tributary, except that the surrounding countries have become internal local governments at all levels.

Whether it is a tribute or a tribute, it is inseparable from the tribute. "Yu Gong Shu" contains: "The tribute, from below the name of the offering, is said to be out of the valley, the city of its land born of foreign objects, dedicated to all of it, called the tribute. It can be seen that the things that are given by tribute are the "foreign things" of a place, that is, the things that are special.

The tributes offered by various countries are basically their own specialties, what is a specialty, it does not have to be a local characteristic treasure, even if it is a local characteristic crop, or a commodity, or an animal can be counted in this category.

Tribute is a kind of political and commercial behavior, foreign countries send tribute to the rulers of the Central Plains countries, the rulers will often reward them, and because of the great power idea of the Celestial Empire, it can also be called habitual coercion, often the things and goods that are rewarded to the countries are far more than the number of tributes sent, and the value is much greater.

For example, in the second year of Zhenguan, the Baltic Kingdom offered Boling vegetables, and Li Shimin rewarded people with a hundred fine silk horses with a wave of his hand. The Baltic country is also the Nepal of later generations, and the so-called "Polengcai" is the spinach that everyone in later generations is known as the autumn spinach that secretly sends the autumn Bori.

A few bundles of spinach were sent all the way from Nepal, and Li Shimin rewarded them with a hundred high-quality silks, the price of this Nima was completely unequal, and the Nepalese made a lot of money, but Li Shimin, who lost a lot of money, looked proud, and rewarded those spinach as good things to several ministers, and Wu Yuanqing and his father were also among the several people who were rewarded.

There are also pomegranates that the Nanzhao Kingdom pays tribute every year, and walnuts, grapes, etc., which are paid back by the countries of the Western Regions, all of which earn back several times, dozens of times, hundreds of times, and thousands of times the wealth for their country.

Of course, these countries will also send some gold and silver treasures and other things, but the amount is not too much, and people are not stupid, and they can exchange a lot of valuables such as silk and porcelain by sending some local products, who will send good things.

Of course, in addition to the rulers of the Central Plains countries, most of the courtiers did not want these countries to send too valuable things, because the emperors were out of stock one by one, and the rewards were too heavy.

And the same is true of the tribute paid by the government at all levels in the country, unless it is the so-called auspicious, otherwise it is generally not the best local thing that is given to the emperor. Of course, this matter does not involve the issue of rewards, and the emperor rarely rewards local officials because they send something good.

Not to send the best things to the emperor, but it is a common rule at all levels, what I am afraid of is to send things to the extreme at one time, the emperor likes to have it every year, in case the quality of the things produced in which year is not as good as before, the emperor blames it and loses his official hat, or even loses his head.

Therefore, the so-called tributes that are basically sent to the palace will not be high-quality products, but second-class goods, referred to as defective products.