Luo Jian's words caused a commotion among the officials attending the meeting, in the minds of most people, China as a **** country, it is natural for all countries to come to the dynasty, Yongle has reached its peak, how to deal with it has already had a precedent, and now the meeting is to study what, many people still don't understand.

"The governor and the superintendent, there is a precedent for how to reward foreign envoys who come to pay tribute in the Ming Taizu, and his subordinates think that as long as it is made in accordance with the Yongle period."

Sure enough, an official stood up and arched his hand towards the rostrum and said, Luo Jian looked at it, but knew that this person's surname was Li, who was originally an official of the Hongguang Dynasty Rites Department, and was later transferred to Zhu Yujian's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Luo Jian remembered that he was not on the list sent by Lai Fu.

The words of the official surnamed Li caused a resonance in the audience, and many officials stood up to express their support for his opinion, and even Zhu Yujian, who was sitting on the stage, nodded frequently.

Seeing that most people think so, Luo Jian shook his head, it seems that everyone is not clear about the true meaning of diplomacy at all, and some regret that this meeting was held too hastily, and more preparations should be made before the meeting.

However, Luo Jian knew that this matter was not in a hurry now, and it was not realistic to carry out diplomatic activities in the real sense now, and today's meeting was mainly to discuss how to deal with the missions of various countries that came to pay tribute.

"Everyone, I think that the precedent of the Yongle Dynasty is no longer available today, at that time, all countries came to pay tribute, and most of the treasures they brought were their so-called rare treasures, but they were of no use to us, and Emperor Chengzu rewarded him very richly, to put it bluntly, we bought a bunch of useless things at a high price and the face of the so-called **** kingdom."

Luo Jian immediately became interested when he heard this, it seems that not all government officials are pedantic people, and if you look closely, this official is from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce under the jurisdiction of Ren Minyu, and Luo Jian is more familiar with it. In the past, I had more contact with Yangzhou.

"Brother Liu is right, I don't know what the countries are paying tribute this year?"

Although what the official surnamed Liu said did not cause much resonance, a few people stood up and asked.

"Minister Zhu, can you tell everyone about this situation?" Luo Jian turned his head and said to Zhu Yujian, who was sitting on the stage, that Zhu Yujian had reported to him and Shi Kefa about this.

"It's about the same as before, everything. They are all so-called rare treasures, and there are not many useful ones. Zhu Yujian said simply.

"Who can tell me how the envoys who came to pay tribute were rewarded in the past?" Luo Jian asked the audience.

"Roughly given with 'brocade, leno, gold and silver, fine and soft.'" The official, surnamed Li, stood up and replied.

"To be specific, for example, during the Yongle period, Japan also came to pay tribute many times, and what is the value of the things that Chengzu once rewarded?" Luo Jian continued to ask, he actually already knew this question in his heart, and he asked people to check some information and files last night, but they didn't check it from the computer.

"This... At that time, there were a lot of things that Chengzu rewarded, and the specific value is not easy to say. The official surnamed Li was a little caught off guard by Luo Jian's question, so he had to answer perfunctorily.

"Who knows?" Luo Jian asked.

Yuan Jixian sat on the stage and looked at the officials in the audience. With obvious dissatisfaction on his face, he pointed to the officials in the audience and said:

"You don't know, I'll tell you. During the Yongle period, Japan came to the Ming Dynasty to pay tribute a lot, and the imperial court at that time gave it a very rich reward, and the most rewarding thing in history was equivalent to about 100,000 copper coins at that time, and if it was converted into silver, it was about 100,000 taels. ”

Yuan Jixian's words caused a sound of inhalation in the audience, and many people probably didn't expect that there would be so many.

"There was an incident during the Jiajing period. I'm afraid many people don't know either, right? Can anyone say what's going on? After Yuan Jixian finished speaking, Lu Zhenfei then asked.

The events of the Jiajing period originated from the "tribute" to Japanese merchant ships to China. Japan's Ochi clan envoy of the Saikaido clan is Kenmichi Sosui, and the envoy of the Hosokawa clan of Nankaido is Mizuzo Oshioka two "tributary" missions. Sailed to Ningbo, because of the dispute over "first come, first come", mutual blame for the authenticity, there was a dispute, Zong set up a humble way to kill the bend Gang Ruizo, and the mission took the opportunity to burn and plunder. Bei Wei Du commanded Liu Jin to be ordered to pursue it, but he was killed in battle, and the situation was chaotic.

"I don't know or I don't want to say it?" Lu Zhenfei said leisurely, and explained this matter to everyone thoroughly after speaking.

"Why would they rush to pay tribute? Could it be that they really admire the **** kingdom and sincerely come to worship? Luo Jian asked through Lu Zhenfei's words.

Speaking of which, for the sake of it. The officials sitting in the audience also understood that these countries were rushing to pay tribute, in fact, for a rich reward.

Seeing that most of the officials in the audience were no longer silent, Luo Jian continued:

"Let's call this kind of diplomacy tributary diplomacy, which has lasted for thousands of years in Chinese history, and its advantage is that Huairou is surrounded by all ethnic groups and countries, good-neighborliness and friendship, reduce friction, maintain the stability and unity of the country, that is, turn hostility into friendship, and at the same time enhance cultural and commercial exchanges between countries and nationalities."

When the officials in the audience heard Luo Jian say this, some of them began to be confused, and they didn't know what the Metropolitan Governor meant by saying so much just now.

However, the disadvantages of this diplomatic method are obvious, that is, it consumes the national treasury, condones and breeds the greed of the surrounding ethnic groups and countries, and constantly worships for various reasons in exchange for high returns, and even attacks it with strong troops, forcing the Central Plains Dynasty to buy peace with heavy money. Worse still, over time, tributary diplomacy forged a style of face-loving, formalistic in various dynasties, and the king exchanged his pride for the bowing of envoys of various ethnic groups and countries, regardless of financial weakness and the suffering of the people. ”

Luo Jian's voice continued to echo in the Wuying Palace, and the officials all showed thoughtful expressions on their faces, but the expression on Zhu Yujian's face was a little embarrassed, after all, it was his ancestors who were talking about it.

"Our government can't want these false faces, every dollar we have is the people's fat and people's ointment, and it must be used where it should be used, if anyone still says that they want to reward these envoys like in the Yongle period, then you take money from your family, and the government will not pay this money." As soon as Luo Jian finished speaking, Lu Zhenfei slapped the table vigorously and said very resolutely.

"Yes, Minister Lu said it well! However, since people have come to the door, even if the people are relatives, there is also a person who comes and goes, and the so-called coming and not going is rude. We have also prepared a return gift, Brother Shi Ze, will you tell everyone about our return gift? Luo Jian took Lu Zhenfei's words and said.

"Hehe, the return gift we have prepared for each mission is as follows, according to the value of the tribute paid by each mission, roughly three to five wool coats will be given to each mission. A bicycle, two sides of a one-meter glass mirror, and a pocket watch, that's probably it. Ren Minyu said with a smile.

When the officials in the audience heard this, they were a little surprised, and it was really hard to say the value of this gift, because this wool coat and bicycle were quite rare in Nanjing, and if you really wanted to buy a bicycle, it would cost 5,000 Chinese yuan, and a wool coat would cost more than 1,000 yuan. Many officials have not used it yet, so why do they use it as a gift in return?

"You might think wool coats and bicycles are too expensive, right? Let me tell you that both of these things are sponsored by my wife, and I don't want the government to pay a penny. Some people may say that Madame must have been a mallet, and such a valuable thing was given away like this. ”

As soon as Luo Jian's words were finished, there was a burst of laughter in the audience, and even Shi Kefa, who was sitting next to him, said with a smile: "I think Liu Lan is a mallet this time." ”

"Let's not talk about him now, I want to ask everyone. Do you want to wear and use wool coats and bicycles? Luo Jian asked with a smile.

"Of course!" The following answers are almost unanimous.

"If you want to use it, you have to pay for it, it's too expensive now, isn't it? A little reluctant, right? Why is it so expensive? It's because of the low production now. The production cost is too high, what should be done to reduce the cost? That is to increase production, expand sales, and the price is always very high at the beginning, and such a high price cannot be used by our own people, but by foreigners, even though they are very poor. But there are still quite a few princes, nobles and rich people, right? ”

"Madame, is this an advertisement?" As soon as Luo Jian's words were finished, someone in the audience said. The word advertising is no longer new since it appeared in the China Daily, and everyone knows what it means.

"Then is my wife still a mallet?" Luo Jian asked with a smile.

"That's also a mallet, this matter is so decided, do you have any opinions?" Shi Kefa said with a smile.

"The Governor, the Governor. Some of the envoys have offered to admire our Chinese culture and ask us to give them some books. An official stood up and said, Shi Kefa looked at this official, it was a director surnamed Wu under the Organization Department, and the grade was probably equivalent to the fourth grade of the Ming Dynasty.

"Yes, some missions have offered to send students to study in our country, and they are willing to pay for the tuition." Another director of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry stood up and said.

After the two finished speaking, the officials sitting below stood up one after another, and seven or eight people expressed their support for the opinions of the two, and some people had already noticed that Shi Kefa and Lu Zhenfei's faces were getting more and more ugly.

Luo Jian's face did not change, he raised his hand and pressed down, and waited for the audience to be quiet, then he said:

"Okay, this is no problem, please ask Minister Zhu to come down and arrange this matter, I am in charge of this matter, "Four Books and Five Classics", "Analects", and "Zhu Zi Daquan" Each mission will send ten sets, no, send fifty sets. If they want to send students here, they can set up a special college, and we have a lot of old masters, so we are worried about the difficult arrangement, so we invite them to teach these international students, what do you think? ”

As soon as Luo Jian said this, everyone on and off the stage showed a strange look on their faces, including Shi Kefa, who was also a little dissatisfied.

"Xinghua, you don't want to see our ancestors like this?" Shi Kefa whispered to Luo Jian.

"Most of the countries that come to pay tribute are barbarian states, and we should use the learning of our saints to educate them, isn't it good?" Luo Jian said.

"But, as far as my subordinates know, these books are already widely circulated, and we do not need to reward them. For example, Japan is very eager for the scientific way of our country, so why not give them some such books? The director surnamed Wu stood up and said.

"Smack!" Before the director surnamed Wu finished speaking, Lu Zhenfei slapped the table and stood up, "Which ministry are you an official of?" Your hand is too long, isn't it? The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should take care of this, right? What benefits did the Japanese mission give you? ”

When the director surnamed Wu saw that Lu Zhenfei was angry, he was still unconvinced, and said with a stiff neck: "Didn't the governor and the superintendent convene this meeting just to let me wait to express my opinions?" Why shouldn't subordinates put forward their own opinions? In the previous dynasty, as a courtier, you can also give advice to the court, right? ”

"Exactly, the Metropolitan Governor has also called on everyone to participate in politics more, as government officials, why not put forward our own suggestions?" Director Ma of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce then stood up and said. (To be continued.) )