Gao Qiyu and Xu Fan were both extremely professional envoys, so they called Felipe II a king instead of an emperor, and Felipe II was not an emperor, which was a very certain fact that even Felipe II had to admit.

If Felipe II was not a believer, he could still be the emperor, but his character was a pious believer and an anti-Protestant vanguard, so the word emperor was destined to have nothing to do with Felipe II.

Don Juan said that Felipe II wanted to create the illusion that the sun never sets on the same status as the Ming Dynasty.

But Felipe II was really not an emperor.

The word emperor, in Latin, corresponds to Imperator, which means triumphant general, meaning the supreme military commander, and is an honorific title for generals returning from war in ancient Rome.

Later, it gradually evolved to become synonymous with the supreme ruler of the known world.

In fact, Gao Qiyu and Xu Fan have always believed that the word Caesar can more accurately describe the emperor, and this word means Caesar.

The emperor was defined in this way in the Ming Dynasty, the supreme ruler of the known world, the nominal co-master, has become accustomed to a definition that is difficult to part.

The supreme ruler of the known world is very easy to understand, that is, in the known world is the world co-master, similar titles are the heavenly khan, the lord of kings, the king of the four seas, the prince of the four seas is the honorific title given to the Ming emperor when the vassal country pays tribute, the Ming Dynasty has been in the Yongle years, will be able to go to the place, all the bowed down to the minister.

The nominal co-master, even if he is in charge, he is the emperor and the emperor.

Cao Cao coerced the Son of Heaven to order the princes, then Cao Cao was only the king of Wei on his deathbed, not the emperor, and in the same way, the current Ming Dynasty is Zhang Juzheng's country, and the emperor is young; Before Gao Gong, Li Chunfang, Xu Jie, Yan Song, Xia Yan and so on, Emperor Jiajing and Emperor Longqing were not very in charge, although these first assistants were able to make decisions on most of the affairs of the Ming Dynasty, but the supreme ruler was still the Ming Emperor.

The third is used to being difficult to part, in fact, a long time ago, the Central Plains Dynasty has realized that the world may really be very big, under the world, it is not the king's minister, the shore of the land, it is not the king's land, it is just a beautiful and unattainable dream, the Han Dynasty made Zhang Qian out of the plug, has opened the door to a new world for the Han Dynasty, Ming Zheng He went to the West seven times, exploring the vastness of the world.

But he is already accustomed to being called an emperor, so he no longer cares about the emperor who is both the three emperors and the five emperors, why is he not the supreme ruler of the known world.

This definition is somewhat conflicting and contradictory, but the conflicting and stable state is ubiquitous.

Even though the sun never sets on the Spanish Empire, Felipe II was not the emperor, and there were two emperors in Tessie at this time, one was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and the other was the Ottoman Sultan who broke through Constantinople.

The Holy Roman Empire is indeed neither sacred, nor Roman, nor empire, and the Ottoman Sultan is even more pagan, but he is indeed the emperor, and the emperor of the Ottoman Sultan is very authentic, after all, the Ottoman Sultan really eliminated the Eastern Roman Empire and took the throne.

Gao Qiyu continued: "Why does the king have such a mentality? If we want to cross the ocean and attack the Ming Dynasty, which is thousands of miles away, has the contradiction between us been fierce to the point of fighting each other? I don't understand why the king had such confidence. ”

"I heard that the commander-in-chief of your country, Don Juan, was defeated by the Ottomans the year before, seemingly in the battle for Tunisia, and the general of the opposing party, Ulrich Ali, captured the Tunisian king and sent him back to Junbao, oh, it should be called Istanbul now."

"The threat of the Ottomans is imminent, and the king wants to attack the Ming Dynasty thousands of miles away, which is really unbelievable and incomprehensible."

Gao Qiyu's words directly poked Felipe II's lungs and talked about Felipe II's defeat.

In the second year of Wanli, Tang Juan was defeated in Tunisia.

The Ottoman general Ulrich Ali was defeated in the previous Battle of Lepanto, and after returning, Ulrich tried his courage and won back in the second year of Wanli, and the defeat of Don Juan in Tunisia was very unfavorable to the Spanish strategy, because the defeat of Don Juan proved two things, the first is that the Armada is not invincible; Second, Spain is not invincible;

The Strait of Tunisia divides the entire Mediterranean Sea into two, the East and West Mediterranean, and Tunisia is the key to the place, and whoever is in the hands of the Tunisian region has the initiative in the Mediterranean. The victory of the Ottoman Kingdom in the Tunisian battlefield allowed the Ottoman Kingdom to gain this strategic initiative in the struggle for sea power in the Mediterranean.

The defeat of Don Juan, the commander-in-chief of the Holy Alliance, made the entire Tessie very uneasy.

Felipe II's face became even more ugly when he heard Gao Qiyu talk about the defeat in the Battle of Tunisia, and his eyes looked at his younger brother, if it weren't for Don Juan's defeat in Tunisia, he wouldn't have been so ridiculed by the envoys of the Ming Dynasty.

The cause of the incident was provoked by Felipe II, who first started and said that his army was invincible and could conquer all the places he wanted to conquer, which caused Gao Qiyu's counterattack.

And Gao Qiyu's counterattack was so sonorous and powerful, which made Felipe II a little unbearable, but he had to accept this humiliation, he really didn't fight if he didn't fight, and he couldn't solve the problem by quarreling with the Ming envoys.

"Yes, the situation in Tunisia is as the messenger said, but we will definitely win it back." Felipe II said a little bit about the scene and no longer mentioned the conquest of the Ming Dynasty.

"Really? Then I wish the king a good wish. Gao Qiyu gradually became less aggressive, and began to talk to Felipe II about trade with the Ming Dynasty, and determined some details of the trade between them.

This kind of trade is partially reciprocal, for example, the Ming agreed to enter the Ming Dynasty with the galleon assigned by Felipe II, so when the Ming sailing ship came to Seville, it should not be blocked, the Ming Dynasty had a ban on raw silk, and Felipe II found that he did not have a corresponding ban, should he ban silver?

This kind of trade is also partially unequal, for example, the Ming Dynasty has absolute pricing power over the goods, and Felipe II is resolutely opposed to this, and the two sides did not reach an agreement on this matter, Gao Qiyu was not in a hurry, and there was no quarrel, nor quarrel, but he just skipped this topic.

When there is strong military protection, the advantage of commodities is vividly reflected.

It's you Spain who needs the Ming Dynasty's commercial goods, not my Ming door-to-door supply, this is completely a seller's market, Felipe II just disagrees with the surface, the Ming Dynasty raises prices, and Spain can only accept it.

The premise that commodity advantage can do whatever it wants is that the Ming must have enough force to ensure the commodity advantage of the Ming Dynasty.

After certain results were reached on these key issues, the atmosphere became warm.

Felipe II specially tossed a Chinese room to display goods from the Oriental trade, silk, porcelain, glaze, etc., and the painting of the Nanjing glazed pagoda brought back by Antonio was placed in the center, and Felipe liked this glazed pagoda very much.

"If I could, I would like to build such an all-glazed tower, but I can't, the huge military expenditure has bankrupted me twice, and although I can pay off these debts, there will always be some invisible consequences that are quietly blooming, such as the general revolt in the Netherlands in the Low Countries." When Felipe II took Gao Qiyu to visit the China Room, he looked at the glazed pagoda and was filled with a kind of yearning.

He also wanted to repair one, but there were not enough craftsmen, or he couldn't.

"You are a wise monarch, and your diligence has been heard even from far away in the Ming Dynasty." Gao Qiyu did not hesitate to praise himself, and said with a smile, what he said was sincere, compared to the lazy Ming Emperor, Felipe II was absolutely diligent.

"Oh? Is it? Thank you for the compliment. Felipe II's face was delighted when he heard this, and if he were to praise him in other aspects, he might think that Gao Qiyu was in the perspective of commercial boasting, but the matter of diligence, even in the Netherlands, which was the most opposed to him, was very much in favor of this.

Sincerely, or out of politeness, Felipe II could still tell the difference.

Felipe II had to deal with 2,000 documents a day, and seven hours a day spent on them, and he complained to his secretary, María José Rodríguez Salgado, that he always had 100,000 documents in front of him, and when they were disposed of, they would become even more the next day.

In order to reduce these cumbersome official documents, Felipe II set up a number of councils, although these councils could share some general affairs for him, but these councils were difficult to coordinate with each other and needed to be handled by Felipe II himself. Most importantly, and in many cases, the decisions reached by the council will conflict with the king's opinion, or even completely contradict it.

In order to make sure that the decision of himself or the council was more beneficial to the empire, Felipe II would write letters to the governors of various places, personally asking for their opinions before disposing of them.

"Is the Ming Emperor also the same diligent?" Felipe II asked with some curiosity, he really didn't know the life of the Ming Emperor, Li Yashi's letters, the description of the emperor's life was not clear, Li Yashi really didn't know, he didn't know the life of the Ming Emperor, even in the Ming Dynasty, he didn't know much.

Felipe II's words inadvertently poked Gao Qiyu's lungs.

Was the Ming Emperor diligent? The answer is no.

Emperor Jiajing has not been to the court for more than 20 years, and sometimes even the music can be backlogged for several months, and Emperor Longqing directly opened the hidden mode, all of which were handed over to the courtiers to dispose of.

This should have been a question that Gao Qiyu couldn't talk about.

"Yes! Our emperor of the Ming Dynasty is also very hard. ”

"Our Majesty is only fourteen years old this year, but after getting up on the fifth watch, he began to listen to the government, give banquets, practice martial arts, farm land, study agricultural books, arithmetic, and calendars, and write letters to officials in various places to appease them, especially Xi Wu, who can already open a 63-pound hard bow at the age of fourteen." Gao Qiyu talked about the hard work of the Ming Emperor, and involuntarily puffed up his chest.

Gao Qiyu didn't know the emperor's hard work, and after being driven out of the Quanchu Hall by Zhang Juzheng, Gao Qiyu deliberately learned about it, and then figured out that the Ming Emperor had changed his temper and became diligent!

This kind of diligence is so incredible, it is as magical as the sun coming out in the west.

Gao Qiyu didn't believe it at first, but he met His Majesty at Xuanwu Gate, and after watching His Majesty's hard work in Baoqi Division, he could no longer question this ironclad fact, although this incident was very outrageous, but it did happen.

Born noble, he actually knows what a heavy burden he carries on his shoulders, and works hard to become a scholar of Hongyi.

And now, Gao Qiyu has fulfilled the mission assigned by the emperor very well, came to meet the king of Spain in Ctessy, presented his credentials, and reached a number of specific treaties for trade and trade.

"So hard?" Felipe II said with envy: "An emperor who rules over a population of 100 million, whose territory is even greater than that of the entire Taixi Ming Emperor, is only fourteen years old, so diligent, it is indeed the luck of the empire." ”

Felipe II really envied, the heir of an empire, the helm of an empire, diligence was inevitable.

But his son Don Carlos, because he was the eldest son and the heir, did evil, and finally directly became an unscrupulous and lawless madman, although Felipe II kept emphasizing that his eldest son was Don Carlos was sick, but Felipe II himself knew that his son was crazy after being imprisoned by him because of arrogance and willfulness.

His heir, Don Carlos, although he united with his brother Don Juan, intended to overthrow the rule of Felipe II, and even publicly criticized Felipe II many times, but the reason why Felipe II made up his mind to imprison his son was that Don Carlos made the shoemaker eat the shoes.

Gao Qiyu and Xu Fan were to take part in a big trip from Madrid to the whole of Tessie, a trip to Lisbon, France, the Netherlands, England, and then to Austria, Germany, the Holy Roman Empire, Tsarist Russia, and if possible, to the Ottomans.

Gao Qiyu didn't plan to go to Rome to see the Pope, just like Felipe II didn't understand that the Ming Emperor didn't need the canonization of the Holy See, and the Ming people actually didn't understand the fact that the human gods couldn't canonize the kings of the world.

Not to mention Taoism and Buddhism, it is Confucianism, the family of the Master's Yan Shenggong, but if you give birth to a little bit of this thought, even breathing is a mistake.

Gao Qiyu and Xu Fan will stay in Taixi for a long time, observe the customs and customs of various countries, record them, and send them back to Daming, which is the second mission of their mission.

At the beginning of April of the fourth year of Wanli, Gao Qiyu and Xu Fan set sail again and set off for Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.

At this time, the Ming Emperor who was far away in the sky, as always, listened to the government at the imperial gate, and the long table of the Wenhua Hall of the Ming Jiuqing Yuan Court was supposed to be the position of the official book, which was empty.

Four months have passed in a flash, and Zhang Juzheng still has not found a suitable official book.

"Today, no matter what, we have to decide that a secretary will come out." Zhang Juzheng's tone was a little helpless, the selection of the secretary of the ministry is not difficult, it is very difficult, Zhang Juzheng looked at Wang Chonggu and said: "I still nominate the secretary of the criminal department to move Wang Chonggu." ”

"Yuanfu, although I am on an errand in the Criminal Department and doing the work of the official factory of the Ministry of Industry, I will never do this official book." Wang Chonggu immediately objected, and he himself objected to his appointment as the secretary of the ministry.

From the Criminal Department to the Ministry of Officials, if Wang Chonggu agrees, he will be able to take charge of the election of hundreds of officials, which seems to be a flat adjustment, but it is a real promotion, and the power is greater.

Wang Chonggu's refusal to agree is because he knows in his heart, there is such a thing as power, his identity cannot be contaminated too much, even if he enters the cabinet, he should not be in charge of the election.

The power of the criminal department is not big or small, just right, Wang Chonggu is bent on making money, and entering the cabinet is also running for the affairs of the official factory.

"It's understandable that the chief priest doesn't want to go to the ministry to be a scholar, why don't you let Ge Zongxian do it?" Wang Guoguang proposed that Ge Shouli, Yang Bo was the leader of the Jin Party, Zhang Han was the leader of the Jin Party, and Wang Chonggu was the clan party of the Jin Party, so it was better to let Ge Shouli, the leader of the Jin Party, continue to work.

"I don't do it, I'm old and frail, the officials are busy, I can't do it, if I am asked to do it, then I can only do it." Ge Shouli rejected very clearly, the reason for Ge Shouli's refusal is very simple, the official department is busy, he can't get it, he is old, he is old, he is old, the last time he was to Shi, His Majesty Wen Yan retained, but Ge Shouli has gradually faded out of the core of power and concentrated on party building.

The official department is the inherent territory of the Jin Party, whether it is Yang Bo Gao Gong Zhang Han, they are all Jin Party, so they must nominate candidates for the Jin Party.

But this person can't be an extremist yet, such as Zhang Siwei, it will never work, Zhang Han is really a little numb in this position.

Zhu Yijun coughed lightly and said: "I said to let Mr. take it as well, but Mr. refuses, then the position of this official department has been empty for four months, and the ministry is fine, why don't you get a brand, engrave the official department book, and let the brand be the official department?" ”

The level of humiliation of the little emperor is recognized both inside and outside the Ming Dynasty.

The meaning of these words is that even if you get a brand to be a secretary, you are better than Zhang Han.

Zhang Juzheng was silent for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, the minister still has a candidate to propose, and the minister proposes that Wan Shihe, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Rites will be headed by Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Officials and Ma Ziqiang, the vice president of the "Daming Huidian", as the secretary of the Ministry of Rites. ”

Don't say it, don't really say it, Wan Shihe is really suitable to serve as the secretary of the ministry.

Wan Shihe was born in the Jin Party, Wan Shihe was ordered to ride the wall, Wan Shihe is not extreme, and even sleek excessively, he is indeed an excellent candidate, this is a key position in the power struggle, and it is not a bad thing to have such a person in power.

At least Wan Shihe's temperament will not further intensify the contradiction between the Zhang Party and the Chu Party, he is ordered to ride the wall, and he can visit the whole Chu, Jin, and Zhejiang halls.

Everyone looked at Wan Shihe, Wan Shihe pointed to himself and said, "Me? I don't do it. ”

"I agree." Wang Chonggu was the first to agree, and everyone else sat on it and barbecued on the fire grill, but Wan Shihe was not, who made Wan Shihe sleek?

Wang Guoguang thought about it seriously, nodded and said, "I also agree." ”

Ge Shouli smiled and said, "I have no opinion. ”

Tan Lun, the secretary of the military department, thought about it again and again, and said with a smile: "It's good." ”

Seeing that more than half of them agreed, Zhang Juzheng bowed his head and said, "What does Your Majesty think? ”

"Excellent, it's decided, let the great uncle be the secretary of the ministry." Zhu Yijun thought about it for a while, and felt that there was no problem, Ma Ziqiang was the vice president of the "Daming Huidian", and he was the left waiter of the Ministry of Officials, and his qualifications as a secretary of the Ministry of Rites were enough.

After Ma Ziqiang printed the emperor's illustration for the little emperor, he returned to his hometown and returned to the court after the expiration of the Ding worry, led the affairs of the James Mansion, and then served as the left servant of the Ministry of Officials, and he was also one of the few civil officials in the Ming Dynasty who was proficient in history.

It is very noteworthy that no one recommended Zhang Siwei.

"This is so good, how can I be a secretary of the ministry?" Wan Shihe still did not give up the struggle, and said with great confidence: "Da Situ Wang Guoguang is also from the Jin Party, and his qualifications and reputation are among the best officials of the country with both ability and integrity, I propose that Da Situ Wang Guoguang do it." ”

"Qingzhang, returning the field, six volumes and one account, one whip method, no matter what it is, I can't find a replacement person, Uncle Zong, what do you say?" Wang Guoguang said with a smile: "If I can find someone who can be the secretary of the household department, it is not impossible for me to be the secretary of the ministry." ”

"Zhang Xueyan?" Wan Shihe asked tentatively, Zhang Xueyan's arithmetic was recognized by the imperial court, at least the acres of land in Liaodong could be sorted out by Zhang Xueyan.

Zhang Juzheng shook his head again and again after thinking and said: "He is in Liaodong, so he is not suitable for transfer. ”

Hou Yuzhao went to Liaodong, Zhang Xueyan couldn't return to Beijing in a short time, and he had to look at Li Chengliang, don't Li Chengliang said in Beijing, he changed the hexagram when he went back, and all the dispositions of the Ming Dynasty in Liaodong were in vain.

"Okay." Wan Shihe finally agreed, isn't it just the official book? I haven't done it, can't I turn into a brand?!

Anyway, the test method is already very mature, what kind of mess can you do by pasting the name and filling in the bottom book?

Zhang Juzheng wrote the floating ticket, and the book was escorted to the emperor for His Majesty to use the seal.

Zhu Yijun said with a smile: "Uncle Zong, do a good job." ”

"Obey." Wan Shihe bowed to the leader's order again, he had already made up his mind, not seeking merit but seeking no fault.

Zhang Juzheng took out the second book and said: "The second thing is that Ning Yuanbo Li Chengliang sent a congratulatory gift, saying that it was the Haixi Jurchen who gave Li Chengliang a money gift, which was dug up near Huining Mansion, and it was the money minted by Song Huizong, which said Xuanhe Yuanbao, which is extremely precious, and to this day, there is only this one left. ”

Xuanhe ingots gold coins, Song Huizong minted a total of sixty-six, the country was captured, Song Huizong's gold made of money, were melted and forged by the gold people, this one is the only one left, very precious.

Li Chengliang saw such a rare thing, and directly sent it to Jingshi as a gift.

And the reason why Zhang Juzheng wants to talk about this matter is because he wants to discuss the Ming money method, the expansion of Yunnan Yunnan copper production is already on the way, and the Ming military battle bureau finally came up with a silver coin that satisfies the emperor.

Zhang Juzheng flicked his sleeves, took out a row of silver coins and opened his mouth in turn, saying: "This is one tael (37.25g), five coins, one silver coin, this is a white copper coin." Copper coins are mixed with tin, lead and iron, Wanli Tongbao one tael of silver coins is equal to one thousand copper coins, five silver coins are equal to five hundred copper coins, and one silver coin is equal to one hundred copper coins. ”

"Your Majesty, the minister has a lot of money from the town treasury." Guo Chaobin, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, bowed his head and said.

"Bring it in." Zhu Yijun thought that the big money was at most the size of a palm, but he miscalculated the size of this money.

When it was time to submit it, Zhu Yijun looked at the big money the size of a wheel, and asked in a daze, "This is big money?" ”

Guo Chaobin bowed his head and said: "Yes, this is the big money made by the minister, with a diameter of one foot eight inches and seven points, the copper coin weighs 83 catties 9 taels and 8 coins, the silver coin weighs 98 catties 7 taels 4 coins, and the money weighs 180 catties 2 taels and 8 coins." ”

The weight of gold, silver and copper coins of the same size rises with the increase in density, Zhu Yijun looked at the three big coins that were brought up, the town treasury, and naturally had the meaning of the town treasury.

First of all, its most important significance is that the currency design of the Ming Dynasty can be vividly displayed on nearly two feet of money.

The copper coin is cast, or the original shape, the sky is round, which is convenient for the people of the Ming Dynasty to use and carry.

The gold and silver coins are to remove the hole in the middle, and it is a circular rolling, which is naturally a reference to Taixi's coinage method, and it is also a practice, because the rolling is easy to deform the hole in the middle, so when the Ministry of Industry rolls, it chooses a circle.

There are cumbersome and exquisite patterns on it, used to prevent counterfeiting, the pattern chosen by the Ministry of Industry is the ear of wheat, in the view of the Ministry of Industry, His Majesty personally set up the Baoqi Division, which is of great significance, so it directly took the meaning of the Baoqi Division, with two arc-shaped ears of wheat as filling, the front is written Wanli Tongbao, the back is written the weight of the money, one or two, five money, four money, and the specific time, Wanli four years.

If the coinage is not exquisite, it is better not to mint the coin.

The significance of casting the big money in the town treasury also represents the innovation of the Ming process, from the minting of the coin to the improvement of the rolling process, and this improvement represents that the unsightly pores on the silver coin no longer exist, and the silver is shining, durable and wear-resistant, and the most important thing is the size and weight, which has been standardized.

"Good, good!" Zhu Yijun held the silver coin that was about to be issued in his hand, and said with a smile: "Okay, good, very good, Guo Shangshu is very good, very good." ”

Zhu Yijun listened in detail to the speeches of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Household on the rolling and issuance of silver coins, and spoke highly of the work of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Households, which is responsible for minting coins and the Ministry of Households is responsible for issuing money, and the division of labor is very clear.

"Yesterday, Tang reported that Daning Weiqinglong Fort fell, and the Tuman Khan came to Xinglin Fort." Zhang Ju said another thing with a solemn face.

The battle of Daningwei, taking advantage of the winter, the Ming attacked, and now the spring is blooming, everything is recovering, the enemy's mobility is beginning to recover, and the Ming army entrenched in Daningwei has begun a counteroffensive.

Moreover, the momentum of the counteroffensive was extremely rapid, and it took the lead and took the Qinglong Fort.

Everyone was worried, only the little emperor's face was relaxed, the fall of Xinglin Fort and Qinglong Fort was expected, after all, winter could not be built, just after the spring flowers bloomed, the barbarian department began to attack.

Asking for a monthly pass, woo!!!!!!!!

(End of chapter)