Queen Xia held the yellow sleeves with golden dragon patterns, the emerald phoenix beads on the crown of soap on her head trembled gently, her eyebrows under her clear forehead frowned slightly, and a few fine lines were raised.

Liu Jin looked at her pretending to be an old man, smiled secretly in her heart, but said with a respectful and respectful look on her face: "Niangniang, you are the mother of the world, the example of the six palaces, if the princesses are so unruly, but Niangniang ignores them, this harem will not be easy to manage in the future."

Alas, Luo Xiang is also ignorant, he is now in charge of the Internal Affairs Office, but he is reckless in doing things, how can he report this matter to Niangniang, so that Niangniang wants to pretend not to know, and it is impossible to let them go."

Queen Xia said that when she saw Yang Lingtang, she invited the two princesses away, but she didn't ask herself, the master of the harem, and she was already very happy, but she ran back to the palace and complained to the empress dowager first, but the empress dowager gave the example of Wan Guifei abolishing the queen to persuade her.

Although Queen Xia was not angry in her heart, she thought that Wan Guifei was born as a palace maid and had no backer, so she could bring down the queen, if she wasn't too old, the queen mother at that time resolutely refused to allow her to enter the middle palace, I am afraid that even the queen would have become the queen.

Now the emperor is fascinated by the fox spirit surnamed Tang, she has a cousin who is in power, and it is not difficult for the three palaces to call him in to reprimand him, if you really want to move him as a courtier, it is not easy, and the heart of revenge is light.

But at this time, Liu Jin was agitated, her pretty face turned red, and her face was a little unbearable, and she couldn't help but scold: "When did this palace want to pretend to be deaf and dumb?" Although there is the emperor's will, Yang Ling dared to ignore the palace and take the princess out of the palace without notifying the palace and the internal affairs office. As for the two princesses".

Empress Xia hesitated, the two princesses are the sisters of the current emperor, the biological daughters of the empress dowager, if they are really severely punished, won't they be offended inside and out?

Liu Jin saw it in his eyes, and said with a smile: "The old slave understands it in his heart. If the mother doesn't punish her, in the future, other princesses and concubines will all make their own decisions and not listen to orders, are there any rules in this harem? Severely punished, and afraid of hurting the harmony in the palace, Niangniang is really hardworking"

He took a step closer and said, "The old slave has a way to get the best of both worlds, I don't know what the mother wants?" ”

Queen Xia was embarrassed, and couldn't help but rejoice when she heard the words: "Father-in-law Liu will speak quickly."

Liu Jin hunched his waist and said: "Yes, the old slave thinks that this princess, it is impossible not to punish them, but it is too much and it will not work, it is better to reduce the use of the two princesses in the palace by the Internal Affairs Office, and it will be regarded as a punishment. As for Yang Ling".

He glanced at Empress Xia and said softly: "This matter involves the princess, but it is not just a state matter, Luo Xiang, the head of the Internal Affairs Office, has the responsibility to impeach, but others are soft-spoken, and if there is no capable minister at the same time, the emperor will not punish him, won't he be even more unscrupulous in the future?" If Lord Xia writes at the same time, the emperor can't refute his face, why do he have to call him to reprimand, he is a courtier, and he dares to hate Niangniang because of this? If the mother is worried".

With a flick of her sleeves and her eyebrows, Queen Xia scolded coquettishly: "What are you worried about?" Go, pass on the will of the main palace, and ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs to reduce the use of Yongfu and Yongchun Palace! The female official of the Shanggong Palace was ordered to supervise the princess's mansion, and the two princesses were grounded for ten days! ”

"The old slave obeys the queen's will!" Liu Jin hurriedly paid a big salute, the prime minister of the inner court was so flattering, Queen Xia's self-confidence couldn't help but regain a few points, she snorted coldly, and led the six palace maids to the harem, Liu Jin got up from the ground, her flattering look was gone, and a cold smile appeared on the corner of her lips.

The day before the Oriental envoys entered Beijing, the Westerners' Kyoto Cathedral was completed.

A majestic building with a red brick, domed dome and pinnacles at the corners, a huge milky white cross towering over the church, Jacob and A3 the Fire Prophet, dressed in brand-new clergy robes, stood in front of the church by a petal-shaped basin of holy water.

Thousands of miles by sea, ten years of travel, a few years of beggars almost starved to death, they now finally have their own cathedral, in the land of the Ming Dynasty established the first place to preach for God, all the hard work and adventure have been rewarded, Yang Ling is really a messenger of happiness given to them by God.

What excites them the most is that Lord Yang actually invited the current emperor, the emperor of the most powerful empire in the world, to attend the inauguration ceremony of the cathedral and the first solemn mass. It is conceivable that the news of the emperor's visit will have a great impact on their missionary work.

No wonder several missionaries were in tears, but they kept grinning. The brocade guards surrounded the cathedral, and ordinary people could only watch from afar, Zhengde looked at this building with different styles curiously, and it was not until Gu Dayong called "Emperor" a few times in succession that he woke up.

Park Eun-hee, the special envoy of the North Korean state, watched coldly, shook his head slightly, and a trace of worry appeared between his eyebrows.

The Great Emperor died, the new emperor succeeded to the throne, and soon half of the six Shangshu in the court were purged, followed by the great bachelor who was known as the kingstone of the Great Ming Pillar was also deposed, and the rumors about the new emperor's mediocrity and turmoil in the government and the opposition reached as far as North Korea.

The king of North Korea was very worried when he heard the news, North Korea was a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, and the people's livelihood and national economy depended very much, and the neighboring Jurchens and Yueben frequently had small wars, all thanks to the Ming Dynasty to mediate the balance, if the Ming Dynasty was in civil strife, Korea would suffer first, so it was to immediately send envoys to the Ming Dynasty to find out.

When Park Eun-hee arrived in the capital, Jeongdeok was in Datong, Ambassador Park had nothing to do, often walked the streets and alleys, and every time he heard various rumors among the people, he was even more disappointed with the Ming Emperor, but after Zhengdeok returned to Beijing, he mentioned the great defeat of the Tatars and the merits of uniting with Uliangha, but after hearing about it, he was keenly aware of the value.

The Duoyan Sanwei and the Jurchen tribes lay across the grassland, either for the Ming or the Tatars, trading with each other, and using their interests to contain them and become allies of the Ming Dynasty.

The Tatars were defeated, the power of the Boyan Khan Biding, who had just unified the steppe, was unstable, and the internal political situation became unpredictable. If the distribution of power in the entire grassland and Liaodong changes as a result, it will directly affect the Korean state, which arouses his interest, could it be that this Emperor Zhengde, who is drunk and playful, wants to be the king of Chuzhuang?

However, Zhengde's ensuing absurd behavior in the leopard room once again shattered his illusions, and he really found it hard to believe that Zhengde, who was full of joy and anger in front of him, talked and laughed all the way, and had no imperial dignity, would be a promising king.

Ruan Dayou, the envoy of Annan next to him, saw him pondering, pulled his sleeve and said, "The emperor has left, follow quickly."

Only then did Park Eun-hee react and hurriedly followed the steps into the courtyard of the church.

Because the 'tributary' policy of the Ming Dynasty advocated that all tributes should be treated favorably, and the price of private goods should be doubled. Therefore, as long as the foreign small country verbally admits that it is a Ming vassal domain, this transaction is simply a sure profit, and the goods brought are sold to the Ming Dynasty at a price several times higher than the market price.

The Ming Dynasty originally stipulated that Annan paid tribute for three years, and the envoys were not allowed to exceed five people, but Annan sent tribute almost every year, and sent a delegation of one or two hundred people, and the Ming Dynasty was overwhelmed, but people played the brand of paying tribute to the Celestial Empire, and it was not good to keep the envoys out of the country, so they had to eat the yellow lotus dumbly.

This Ambassador Ruan came to Daming to fight the autumn breeze, and as for whether the emperor was wise or mediocre, for Annan, it was far less important than that of North Korea, so he didn't care.

Zhengde walked in front, he had listened to the introduction of the fire man Yasan, and curiously asked a few words about the language of greeting each other when they met, giggling and about to enter the church, Jacobs suddenly reached out and dipped his finger in a few drops of water from the white stone basin at the door, and flicked his finger at Zhengde.

Zhengde was stunned for a moment, a few drops of water had splashed on his face, and Jacob was still stretching out his watery fingers to draw talismans in front of him. Liu Jin was shocked and immediately shouted: "Catch the assassin!" ”

The two Ouchi guards rushed over and pressed Jacob to the ground, and the embroidered spring knife was halfway unsheathed and rested on his neck, making Jacob's face pale with fright, and he screamed wah-wah-wah-wah.

Seeing this, Yang Ling hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Come slowly, don't do it." He smiled at the stunned Zhengde: "Your Majesty, this is a ritual in foreign religion, called 'sprinkling holy water', washing the body and mind of those who enter the church, and asking God to bless him." Mr. Jacobs is wishing the Emperor a blessing and is not intentionally offensive."

Zhengde laughed when he heard this, and said: "This is interesting, don't say it if you don't bless it, it's much better than spitting on your face."

Zhengde blocked the guard's knife, helped Jacob up, and said with a smile: "This is your recklessness, don't you make it clear first, what kind of treasure are you selling?" I almost snapped off my own head, hahaha."

He turned to the envoys of Korea and Annam and smiled: "I have heard that a temple of the Buddha from thousands of miles away has been built, and I have never seen it in other countries, and I asked you to come and see it fresh, do you think this blessing gift is new and interesting?" ”

Park Eun-hee and Nguyen Dae-woo leaned over and said yes, and Jeong-deok said to Jacob excitedly: "Do you need to wear this black robe to be blessed?" Come, take it off and put it on me, and you line up and go inside, and I will bless you one by one."

Everyone laughed, and the two foreign envoys shook their heads secretly. Jacobs and his missionaries were not as rigid as the Confucian scholars and monks in the Central Plains, although the emperor was not qualified to wear priestly robes to bless, but in order to gain a foothold in the Ming Dynasty, they even dared to change the world map, and they moved China to the center of the world map, so that the emperor was afraid of a cameo priest.

Jacobs was tall and thin, he took off the silver cross, took off the black robe, and dressed it for the emperor, and the priest of the robe officially appeared.

Jacobs dipped two fingers in water to bless, Zhengde's holy water was a whole slap, and all the courtiers and two foreign envoys, even Yang Ling and several missionaries were no exception, all of them were washed by Zhengde, and then they entered the cathedral [***].

In fact, although the church is large, it is relatively simple, without the stone carvings, frescoes and magnificent gold ornaments of Western churches, Zhengde read it with great interest, and walked up to the pulpit to say to the people: "Father Jacob? Father Yasan the Fire? Well, you have come all the way to Daming, I am very happy, in the near future, I will rebuild a treasure ship, which can cross thousands of miles of sea, and then you can return to your hometown by boat, and bring more people who think of my Daming, I welcome you. ”

He said to the two envoys of Park Eun-hee: "After the two envoys go back, they can tell the king of the other country that their country has sent an envoy to meet them, and that the Ming Dynasty will open the sea ban, and except for a few goods that the imperial court restricts the export and purchase, there will be no more restrictions, and the people will be allowed to travel freely."

You can tell the king to prepare early, build more big ships, I will not rule Yidi, those who come will not refuse, and those who go will not chase. The seas are inclusive, tolerant and large, and all countries, regions, and tribes that are willing to pay tribute, regardless of distance or near, regardless of whether they have had grievances or suspicions, will all be accepted. ”

Park Eun-hee was shocked when he heard this, he didn't expect to hear such a major change in national policy this time, North Korea and Daming are very close, Daming is going to open the sea ban, and to allow free trade between the people, what a great impact this will have on North Korea.

Correspondingly, the DPRK must also immediately set up the corresponding yamen, organize the corresponding caravan as soon as possible, seize the Ming market, and get one more business opportunity one step earlier, and this matter must be notified to the king immediately.

Ruan Dayou, who was originally absent-minded, also realized the importance of this matter, and the two of them immediately made up their minds. Zhengde also talked about the introduction of Western crops, the improvement of agricultural yields, the alliance with Duoyan Sanwei, and the borrowing of land to cultivate war horses, although he did not say that he would divide the Tatars and march into the northern Xinjiang, but the ambition in his words was undoubtedly revealed.

As a vassal country of the Ming Dynasty, they are not worried about the strength of the Ming Dynasty, and if the host country they are attached to is stronger, the more benefits they will get, so they are naturally optimistic.

After listening to Jacobs' sermon like thunder, Zhengde and his ministers walked around the cathedral inside and out, and instructed the Ministry of Rites to provide a certain amount of food, rice and firewood to the priests of the cathedral every month, and then set off and left.

As soon as the emperor got up, the two envoys of the vassal state, Park Eun-hee and Nguyen Dayou, also hurriedly took their leave, and Pegasus hurried back to the accommodation arranged for them by Honglu Temple. Park Eun-hee spread out the blank paper and wrote: "King Zhongzong: The minister was ordered to consult the state of the Ming Dynasty, and now he looks at His Majesty the Ming Emperor, not a mediocre king." However, his surname is frolicking, straight like a naughty boy, but his mind has his own world, and his ambition is not high. ”

(To be continued)