"The emperor of the sixteenth year and the grandson of the emperor for five years is really in vain, and today I know that the outside world is so big, and my Ming territory is so vast."

After half a month of sailing, when he finally went ashore in Guangzhou, Zhu Ciyu's mood was very surging.

In the past month, he has seen many times more mountains and seas than the first twenty-one years of his life combined.

On the sea day and night, the average daily boat travel is two to three hundred miles, and there is no land for 15 consecutive days, before sailing from the mouth of the Yangtze River to the mouth of the Pearl River.

This period is usually not a long distance on the map of the palace, and it only accounts for about 20% of the span of the territory of the Ming Dynasty, but in reality it can be so wide.

Doesn't that mean that if you want to go from the mouth of the Heilongjiang River at the northeastern tip of the Ming Dynasty to the mouth of the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar in the future, you will have to sail at least three months on a high-speed clipper ship? As soon as he thought of this, Zhu Ciyu's heart was full of heroism.

This is the territory that my father has laid down for him! Although he inherited the throne of the previous emperors of the Ming Dynasty, at this moment, Zhu Ciyu already had a new understanding in his heart.

He knew that all the land that the so-called ancestors of the Ming Dynasty had beaten down was not much more than the land that his father had newly acquired in the past twenty years.

Although the Northeast, Sakhalin, Ezo Kyushu, or Myanmar now, are all wild and remote places with little economic value,

But only looking at the area and strategic value, it is said that his father first turned the tide and helped the building to collapse, and completely rescued the Ming Dynasty, which was almost lost. And then make persistent efforts to double the territory of the Ming Dynasty, which is absolutely not excessive.

He Zhu Ciyu He is virtuous and how can he be, he actually felt that he was the emperor in his heart, and he had the advantage in legitimacy, so he could do better than his father, and he would be happy to surpass him.

Now that I think about it, I'm really ashamed - he, the orthodoxy of the Ming Emperor, is actually only worth a few dollars? If my father wanted to, he would have been able to change Daming's signboard countless times. With the exploits of Cao Cao and Sima Yi and others in ancient times, didn't they change the dynasty in the end? But are the deeds of those men equal to a tenth of that of his father's king?

Father just had a long plan and didn't want to do this! This realm is so high that it is no longer understandable for people who read history books to learn to be emperors, it is an unprecedented existence that surpasses history books!

With the final end of the voyage, Zhu Ciyu also planted one more seed in his heart: "From the northeast to the southwest of my Ming territory, the voyage will still take nearly three months.

And the Hongyi people came to Daming from Europa, and it took more than nine months to drive the fastest boat smoothly! The size of this world is beyond imagination. In the future, the great tomorrow can no longer be a frog at the bottom of the well, and he will be self-styled with the Heavenly Empire.

In the future, if I have a son, I must find an opportunity to let them sail and see the world before they are crowned and crowned.

Even if you can't leave the Ming Dynasty, you have to run at least a voyage from the northeast to the southwest, feel the hardships of the ancestors' entrepreneurship, and see the huge differences in the customs of the people in various places, so as not to sit in the well and watch the sky, completely ignorant of the people's suffering. ”

In Zhu Ciyu's heart, the traditional thinking mode of pure land power empire and the values of Confucian education for small countries and widows began to crack and collapse, and gradually integrated new elements.

……

Zhu Ciyu was full of emotion and learned a lot at the same time.

In the city of Guangzhou, the officials and wealthy businessmen who got the news in advance and were ready to take over were also nervous.

The Ming Dynasty has not had an emperor tour south for more than 100 years. Since Baozong was captured, only Ming Wuzong Zhengde has been to the northern nine sides, and then Jiajing went south to bury his parents, and then no emperor has ever toured south.

(Note: Because Jiajing's father was a vassal king in Huguang, his father had died when he became emperor, and only his mother went to Beijing with him, and his mother needed to return to Huguang to be buried with his father after his mother's death.) Other attempts to tour the south were rejected by civilian officials, and this time because of the pressure of filial piety, Xia Yan had no choice but to allow it)

Before the Age of Discovery, Guangzhou had always been regarded as a hot, humid and smoky place in the south, so how could an emperor come to such a south? There are no palaces or anything like them in the city. And there are only a few vassal kings in Guangdong in history, and the fief is not in Guangzhou City, so there is not even a royal mansion.

This emperor's southern tour, not only to boost morale, to supervise the battle of Zheng Chenggong and Li Dingguo, but also to deal with the foreign affairs of the Ming Dynasty nearby, involving the future disposal of Burma and Vietnam, it can be seen that the time to live will not be short, and it will definitely be degrading the Ming Emperor to arrange a house casually.

In the end, after coordinating the interests of all parties, the governor of Liangguang and other local officials consulted the emperor and set up the palace in the private garden of Zheng Rui, a wealthy merchant in Liangguang.

This Zheng Rui is not anyone else, in fact, he is Zheng Chenggong's fourth son, six years younger than his eldest brother Zheng Jing, and now he is just the age of the weak crown.

In the original history, not long after Zheng Jing's death, Zheng Kexuan voted, and many of Zheng Jing's younger brothers also voted. His fourth brother Zheng Rui is one of the more backbone.

When Dayuan was broken by the Qing army, although Zheng Rui was unable to resist the Qing, he at least tried to break through and go to the sea to evade, unwilling to surrender to the Qing. It's a pity that the last ship was intercepted and sunk by Shi Lang, and Zheng Rui drowned in the sea.

Because he is still very young, Zheng Rui certainly does not have the ability to take full charge of the Zheng family's new business in Guangzhou. However, these are not a problem for the Zheng family, Zheng Chenggong can send an old subordinate with high morality and rich experience to help his son.

The eldest son and second son of the Zheng family are all going to take the officialdom route, and the business matters are also assigned to the younger sons, the third Zheng Ming is responsible for the family business of Fujian and Zhejiang, and the fourth is sent to Liangguang.

Zhu Ciyu saw that Zheng Rui was the same age as him, only one year younger than him, so he didn't put up a fight with Zheng Rui, and the two got along very well. In private, Zhu Ciyu also gave favors to the other party:

"When my father and my father were in Nanjing, they were in trouble. None of them are outsiders, so they don't have to be formal. ”

Later, Zhu Ciyu also asked Zheng Ruike if he had an official status, and learned that he had just reached the crown and had no fame. And Zheng Chenggong has too many sons, and Enyin is not so behind, and it is not the turn of the fourth son.

Considering that the Zheng family has paid a lot of gold and silver money this time, the emperor's food and accommodation for most of the next half year have to be borne by the Zheng family's garden, and Zhu Ciyu also rewarded Zheng Rui with the fictitious title of a foreign minister of the internal affairs department.

In the Ming Dynasty, the official position of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was set up at the same level as the Ministry of Households, but the names of the departments and departments under its jurisdiction were different, and the staff of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were also the sixth grade.

There are only fictitious outsiders, and there are usually no errands, but it is equivalent to getting an entry threshold for running an imperial businessman. When necessary, they can temporarily take on some comprador tasks for government procurement.

The Zheng family spent so much money, and it was nothing to give it some convenience. And Zheng Rui doesn't care about these official titles, he cares more about the emperor secretly talking to him about the world, which makes him flattered. During the emperor's days in Guangzhou, he had to take over the performance even more.

Zhu Ciyu has lived in the deep palace for a long time, and all the treasures in the world have been seen and used, so Zheng Rui can only change his method and provide the emperor with tropical fruits and tropical seafood that Nanjing does not have every day.

Who let there be no refrigerator in this era, and Zhu Shuren doesn't want to be as extravagant as Li Longji and Yang Yuhuan, so Zhu Ciyu has not even had many opportunities to eat fresh lychees since he was a child, and most of the time he eats dried lychees with brown flesh, and mangoes are also dried mangoes.

Now that he has arrived in Guangzhou, Zheng Rui naturally has to prepare enough fresh lychees, mangoes, and coconuts for the emperor, concubines, and ministers every day, anyway, these things are not very valuable in Guangzhou.

Zhu Ciyu had seen these three things in the Nanjing Imperial Palace, but he had never eaten fresh except lychees. Nowadays, it is natural to drink coconut water as water every day, and you have to enjoy it.

For the emperor's new eating habits, some eunuchs and palace maids who were in charge next to them couldn't help but feel worried, but they didn't dare to manage it directly, so they found Gu Yanwu, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, who was accompanying him, hoping that Gu Yanwu would help persuade him and take ideas.

Gu Yanwu has also just been promoted to the Ministry of Rites in recent years, because Wu Weiye, the previous Ministry of Rites, is a little old after all. Although he has not yet reached the age of retirement, Wu Weiye's talent endowment is not suitable for diplomatic work, so Zhu Shucai made personnel adjustments before using troops against Burma and Vietnam.

Although Gu Yanwu originally had no official merits, after all, he was born as Zhu Shuren's personal staff for many years, and he was familiar with Zhu Shuren's political theories, had the most profound understanding, and could best understand Zhu Shuren's diplomatic program.

And the most important thing is that Gu Yanwu is a principled person, and in order to enhance the diplomatic credibility of the Ming Dynasty and make the surrounding areas stable for a long time, it is very important to talk about principles, and you can't just think about short-term benefits.

Zhu Ciyu also knew that Gu Shibo was specially sent by his father to assist him in handling diplomatic principles, so he did not dare to ignore it, and if there was really government affairs to deal with, he would listen to his opinions more.

It's a pity that the eunuch who accompanied him this time found Gu Yanwu and hoped that Gu Yanwu would persuade Zhu Ciyu to pay attention to the dragon body in terms of lifestyle, but Gu Yanwu refused.

Gu Yanwu's statement was very clear: "Before leaving, the regent explained to me, as long as you stare at Your Majesty and don't mess with flowers and grass outside, as for the appetite, gorgeous clothes and jewelry, you can enjoy yourself when you should enjoy it, and you don't have to suffer yourself."

Isn't it just drinking a few coconuts a day, as long as it is not like this all year round, it will not damage the dragon body. The prince said, let Your Majesty and the future emperor and grandson see more overseas products, don't always think that I have everything in the Ming Dynasty, this is no harm. ”

When the eunuch heard this, he couldn't help but secretly complain: "But if you become extravagant because of this, you will often have to pay tribute from all over the world when you return to Nanjing in the future, how can you work hard and lose money?" ”

When Gu Yanwu heard this, he pointed out very frankly: "The times have changed, the world is so big, the universe is 80,000 miles, can I still travel 30,000 miles and force England, France and Hongyi to be called ministers and tribute?"

In the future, dealing with foreign Yi thousands of miles away will rely on the power of trade, which will be profitable, and there will naturally be people who will go out of their way to study 'strange tricks'.

Or find a way to dry and dehydrate the fruit and fish, and then soak it in the future, in order to preserve it for a long time, or pickle, or freeze, the prince said, one day, the laziness, appetite, and profit-seeking of the people of the world will blend together and study the techniques for the benefit of all people. ”

Seeing that Gu Yanwu, a "scholar of the world", had made excuses for the emperor's pleasure, of course, the uneducated people of the ceremonial supervisor couldn't refute it. These words finally reached Zhu Ciyu's ears, which also gave Zhu Ciyu a deeper shock and understanding.

On the one hand, he felt that this Gu Ge Lao was really a person who knew the general and the righteousness, and was not informal, on the other hand, he also strengthened his idea of opening his eyes to the world, and decided that in the follow-up diplomatic negotiations, he should listen to Gu Ge Lao's advice more, and he must not rely on his own temperament.

Gu Yanwu made small concessions in life, but in exchange for the emperor's obedience in diplomatic affairs, it can be regarded as an unexpected gain.

……

In the next few days, nothing happened in the city of Guangzhou, and Zhu Ciyu was very relieved to hand over other daily foreign affairs to Gu Yanwu.

The time soon came to the ninth day of the third lunar month, Zhu Ciyu also played and rested in and around Guangzhou for almost a week, and his freshness for coconuts finally passed a little, from drinking three coconut water a day to two.

However, at the daily meal, Zheng Rui still asked his own cook to show the emperor the Eastern Star Spot of Su Mei Tsing Yi, which is produced in Danzhou, Tsing Yi is from the coast of Vietnam, and Su Mei is caught in the open sea near Borneo. All of this inspires Zhu Ciyu's inner desire for Southeast Asian specialties.

In the afternoon of this day, the emperor had just finished enjoying a Borneo wrasse and the remaining sixteen side dishes, and drank a cup of coconut milk sago, Zheng Rui, who was in charge of accompanying the emperor to eat, drink and have fun, asked people to bring two plates of fruit.

Both of these things are golden in color, one looks dewy and the other is drier. And next to it are two intact and uncut ones for the emperor to see.

Zhu Ciyu's first reaction subconsciously was to cover his mouth and nose, but after slowing down for a while, he still got used to it. He has become accustomed to these days, Zheng Rui will always come up with strange things, but in the end it turns out that they are quite delicious. With so much good historical credit, Zhu Ciyu has a little more patience and curiosity.

"What is this? Why do they all have such spikes? It seems to be the genus of the golden gourd and silver Yue honor guard. ”

Zheng Rui hurriedly replied: "Your Majesty, this spike is a slightly weaker one, it is a pineapple produced in Danzhou, and as for this spike, which is sharp and hard, and it also exudes a strange fragrance, it is a durian produced in Borneo."

Durian has been recorded as early as in the Yongle Grand Canon, the world is produced in the Boni country, Zheng He went to the West to taste it, but unfortunately it could not be brought back to Beijing, only the people along the coast of Guangzhou, Guangxi and Guangxi tasted it.

Pineapple is in the Zhengde period, Francois Jiren Goshi discovered America, transmitted back to the European continent, and then in the Wanli period, from Luzon to Danzhou, Liangguang. More than 20 years ago, when the regent was the governor of Huguang, he ordered people to visit and promote. ”

Zhu Ciyu couldn't help but admire: "Nanyang and Hongyi are so rich, how can I be complacent." Let's try the pineapple first, as for this durian, just taste one bite, and give the rest to Gu Ge Lao. The ministers of the Ministry of Rites accompanied me to Lingnan this time, and it was hard work. ”

Zhu Ciyu is not used to the smell of durian, but out of curiosity, he will not eat more. The rest is used to express the emperor's favor and give it to the important ministers.

So someone immediately went to Gu Yanwu and invited him to the palace.

Gu Yanwu had never eaten durian before, and when he heard that it was the first time the emperor had seen this kind of strange fruit, he thought of the important ministers after only taking one bite, and he also felt the emperor's grace, so he shared the remaining pulp with several other ministers, and didn't care if it stinked or not.

After eating durian, Gu Yanwu said that there was just a government affair today. It turned out that the messenger sent by Li Dingguo to deliver the letter of surrender from the Burmese had finally arrived, and Gu Yanwu wanted to state his reply ideas.

Zheng Rui, who was eating, drinking and having fun with the emperor next to him, heard this, and hurriedly asked people to prepare herbal tea with lemongrass and lemon, so that Gu Ge would rinse his mouth and do it again, so as not to smoke the emperor from eating too much durian and lose his honor in front of the emperor.

Gu Yanwu had never drunk this Cantonese herbal tea before, and when he heard that it could relieve his breath, of course he took it and drank it all. As a result, it's okay not to drink it, but when I drink it, I almost lost my honor even more.

"This is Nanban herbal tea? It's sour and bitter, how can anyone drink this kind of tea?! Gu Yanwu only felt that the strong acidity of lemon and the great bitterness of herbal tea rushed straight to Tianling Gai.

Do Cantonese people usually rely on these things to solve the "hot gas"?

(End of chapter)