"Your Excellency, Your Highness is already waiting inside."

Outside the living room of the Qiongzhou Palace, Zuo Jun led an envoy into the living room.

The envoy of the Champa State was nervous, and he couldn't understand why this highness suddenly summoned him.

As the first country to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty, the Champa State still had great respect for the Ming Dynasty and was very active in paying tribute every time.

This time Zheng He invited, and their king did not hesitate to send envoys to follow.

Originally, I thought that as before, they would pay tribute, and the Ming would return a lot of them, so that their king could make a lot of money.

But this time the tribute, Daming's side did not give back.

How can the small country of Fanbang know what rules, the envoy of Zhancheng went directly to the Ministry of Rites to ask, and the reply he got was that His Royal Highness the King of Yue was responsible for the tribute, why they did not return the gift, and the Ministry of Rites did not know it.

For Zhu Gaoyu, the envoys of Zhancheng were afraid and afraid.

The reason is not that Zhu Gaoyu punished him, but that he learned from other envoys along the way that this highness does not treat foreigners very well.

Once this highness is angered, the light one will usher in war, and the heavy one will destroy the country.

Even many envoys, in order to prove the truth of their words, even said some unwarranted news.

With the blessing of various rumors, His Royal Highness Zhu Gaoyu, the king of Yue, is like a devil in the minds of all envoys.

The Ministry of Rites asked him to ask Zhu Gaoyu, how could the envoy of Zhancheng have the courage to do so, in order not to anger His Highness, it is no longer important whether he returns the gift or not, national security is the most important.

The envoy with this in mind thought that when he returned, he would explain the matter to the king.

The excuses for the explanation have been thought of, but they have been stunned for more than a year, and Da Ming has not mentioned the matter of sending them back.

If it weren't for the daily provision of food and accommodation, they all suspected that the Ming court had forgotten about them.

Fortunately, after waiting for more than a year, almost two years, Da Ming finally remembered them and told them that they could go home.

The envoys wept.

Although the days in Daming are very comfortable, it is not home after all.

Moreover, the rules here are strict, and they are different from their customs, and after the freshness has passed, life is not so comfortable.

In addition to being able to go home, what made them happiest was that Daming actually had the idea of opening a mutual market and communicating with their country.

The silk tea and porcelain of the Ming Dynasty are high-end goods in their place, and many envoys are thinking about how to get a sum from it when they go back.

The same is true for the Champa envoys, who have already planned in his head, and all kinds of ways to make money are waiting to be implemented back.

However, seeing that he was about to arrive home, His Royal Highness King Yue, who was like a demon in the envoy's heart, suddenly summoned him, which made his heart panic.

On the way here, he had already recalled everything he had done in the more than a year since he went to Daming and came back, thinking about what he had done wrong, and whether it was possible to offend His Highness.

As a result, he suddenly found out in horror.

They wanted to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty, but they didn't prepare a gift for His Highness.

Thinking of this mistake, the envoy of Champa cursed viciously in his heart, and the official who prepared the gift.

Such a big mistake can occur, how did the other party behave as an official?

If this angers His Highness, the kingdom of Champa will suffer unjustified calamity.

However, the envoy forgot that when he set off with Zheng He's fleet, he had not heard of Zhu Gaoyu's reputation at all.

I guess even if I had known about it at that time, I wouldn't have thought that I would give a gift to a vassal king.

"The envoys of the subordinate Zhancheng State will meet His Royal Highness the King of Yue."

As soon as the envoy enters the house, he makes a great bow and pays homage.

It stands to reason that as an envoy of a country, he does not need to make such a big gift when he sees the vassal king.

In fact, he didn't want to, but the person in front of him was a well-known devil, and if he offended the other party because of this trivial matter, the other party would be angry and occupy the city, and the gain would outweigh the loss.

Regarding the envoy's sensibility, Zhu Gaoyu nodded secretly with satisfaction.

This is the consciousness that a good dog should have.

"Excuse me!"

Raising his hand slightly, Zhu Gaoyu invited with a smile: "There is nothing to do left and right, and now that I am about to go to the city of Zhancheng, I will invite the envoy to come over and discuss the arrangements for the time." ”

The envoy who got up from the ground did not breathe a sigh of relief when he heard that he was just discussing the arrangements for the arrival, but his vigilance in his heart was even more vigilance.

Qiongzhou is not far from Zhancheng, and it stands to reason that the fleet does not need to dock for supplies, and if you want to sell goods, it is enough to park a few cargo ships.

Therefore, this highness in front of him must have other purposes for going to Champa.

The envoy said with a smile on his face: "It is an honor for His Highness to be able to come to the Champa Kingdom, and His Majesty must know about it and will warmly welcome it." ”

Sipping his drink, Zhu Gaoyu looked at the envoy opposite lightly.

With Zhu Gaoyu's gaze, the smile on the envoy's face slowly disappeared, and was finally replaced by panic.

Zhu Gaoyu called this guy over, but he didn't really do it to chat.

He has been interested in this place for a long time, but it is listed by Lao Zhu as a country that is not to be conquered, which is a bit difficult to start.

Not to mention that this is the most important supply to the West, Zhu Gaoyu needs a transportation channel if he wants to transport coal from Southeast Asian countries.

There was a large mountain range in the way of Cochin, which was not his ideal target.

In the control area of the city, there is a connecting passage between the east and the west, whether it is by land or sea, it is very convenient.

So this time, the goal of Western conquest, Zhu Gaoyu was the first to lock on the body of Zhancheng.

"I have received news that the war in the north is coming to an end, and that the rebellion in Cochin will soon be suppressed."

"The Great Tomorrow Division is mighty, and the traitors are like mayflies shaking trees, which enemy is the power of the Heavenly Empire."

The envoy hurriedly offered his fart.

Zhu Gaoyu bowed slightly and poured a glass of wine for the other party.

The envoy was flattered and hurriedly stood up to thank him.

"I think you're a good person, and you also have a lot of respect for me and the Ming Dynasty, so I'll tell you some truth today."

The envoy understood in his heart that this highness was going to go straight to the point, and hurriedly knelt on the ground.

"I respectfully ask Your Highness for your advice."

Drinking the wine from the wine glass in his hand, Zhu Gaoyu said seriously to the envoy: "Jiaozhi is too far away from the center of the Ming Dynasty, and if I move the capital of the Ming Dynasty again in the future, the impact will be weaker." ”

"What kind of character those Jiaozhi people are, I think you also know it."

"Once my Ming influence lands, they will be chaotic again."

"Not all emperors have the courage of my grandfather."

"Once the emperor behind him feels that Jiaozhi is difficult to control and decadent money, I am afraid that he will completely give it up and let it become bigger."

The envoy's body trembled slightly, and he vaguely understood the meaning of what Zhu Gaoyu was going to say.

"You're a smart person, and you don't need to say it, but you can understand what the consequences are."

"The north of Jiaozhi is the Ming Dynasty, although they dare to rebel, but they dare not invade the Ming Dynasty, the east is the sea, and the west is the mountain."

"The only way for them to open up the land is to go south and attack your Zhancheng state."

"At that time, without the help of Daming, dare to ask your country if it can resist their attack."

"If you can't resist it, with their hatred for you, what will happen to you?"

Every time Zhu Gaoyu said a word, it was like a thousand catties of boulders, slamming into the envoy's body.

When the last question was raised, the envoy fell to the ground, gasping for air.

After speaking, Zhu Gaoyu poured another glass of wine and tasted it carefully.

I don't know how long it took, the envoy raised his head with difficulty, looked at Zhu Gaoyu and said expectantly: "Your Highness's fief is in Qiongzhou, presumably when the time comes, Your Highness will not let the thieves and insult me to occupy the city." ”

Zhu Gaoyu looked at the envoy silently for a while, and under the expectant eyes of the other party, he put down the wine glass and sighed slightly.

"I am the king of the Ming Dynasty, and when my father is here, you can still let me play around."

"But one day my father is gone, I will be honest, you occupy the city country is not my territory, if I send troops to help you, what do you say the emperor sitting on the dragon chair will think."

Hearing this, the envoy's body was paralyzed to the ground again.

He didn't think that Zhu Gaoyu was alarmist, the other party, as the vassal king of the Ming Dynasty, had such a huge fleet, how could he have so much spare time to scare him, a little person.

The envoy lay on the ground in silence.

The meaning of Zhu Gaoyu's words has been said obviously, if you want to be safe in the future, the only way is to join the Ming Dynasty and become a part of the Ming Dynasty, or more precisely, to become part of the territory of His Royal Highness the King of Yue in front of him.

In this way, no matter what happens to Champa in the future, if it is attacked in any way, this highness will have a reason to take action.

But what's the use of figuring it out.

He is only an envoy, and he cannot be the lord of His Majesty.

He actually wants to join Daming, he has seen the world of flowers in Daming, the poor place in Zhancheng, if it weren't for his relatives there, he really wanted to live in Daming for a long time.

"I heard that your king has a little daughter, who is known as the most beautiful flower in the Champa country."

"And the two sons of your king, one of them is constantly sick, and the other is cruel and kills many enemies, isn't it?"

Just when the envoy was silent, Zhu Gaoyu opened his mouth again.

The envoy jerked his head up and understood the words.

Half an hour later, the envoy walked out of the parlor tremblingly.

Looking down at the small bottle in his hand, thinking about the promise given by His Royal Highness King Yue just now, the envoy gritted his teeth and threw his fist to the left army beside him.

"Trouble the general to arrange a ship and send me back first."

Zuo Jun nodded, smiled and stretched out his hand to invite the other party to come with him.

Zhu Gaoyu, who was sitting in the living room, quietly sipping fine wine, looked at the place where the envoy's back disappeared, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"The country that is not conscripted, grandpa, I didn't send troops to recruit them, it was your granddaughter-in-law who brought the dowry, this shouldn't violate your rules."

Ten days have passed in the blink of an eye.

Zhu Gaoyu, who felt that he had harvested the owners of these ships, gave the order to set sail again and go to the first stop of this maritime trade, Zhanchengguo.

When Zhu Gaoyu continued to set off with the fleet, the envoys who traveled lightly on a fast boat had already returned to the Champa Kingdom.

The envoy did not return home, but went straight to the palace.

When Jaya Sangha Vamana V. When he heard the servant's report, he was stunned for a long time before he came back to his senses.

Good fellow, after so much time, he forgot about sending envoys to Daming.

If it weren't for the envoy coming back today, he wouldn't have remembered that he had this person under his command.

Now that he thinks about it, his heart is a little excited.

Da Ming is very arrogant, every time he sends someone to pay tribute, he can get a large reward.

Now that the envoy has been gone for so long, it must be that Da Ming has given a lot of rewards, otherwise this guy would not have come back so late.

"Meet Your Majesty!"

At the king's call, the envoy strode into the palace.

I have to say that these monkeys were really willing to spend money when they built the palace.

Although the palace is not big, the decoration everywhere is very gorgeous, and even some of the decorations are still golden, and some places are inlaid with precious stones, which shows how rich this guy is in the bar.

"Hahaha... Hurry up, how much reward did Da Ming give this time? ”

The old king was very anxious, and he didn't even care about his subordinates running out for so long, and directly asked how much Da Ming's reward was.

"Huh!"

The envoy was silent for a moment, and looked at the old king's occupation of the bar.

"What's wrong? Is it too much to remember? ”

The old king thought that the envoy did not speak because there were too many things, and some could not remember clearly.

The envoy shook his head awkwardly, thinking that it would be said in the morning and in the evening, so he gritted his teeth and said:

"Back to His Majesty, Da Ming did not give back the reward this time."

"What!" The old king stood up in shock.

No reward? This is not in line with the style of the Ming Dynasty, the emperor named Zhu Di is not dead yet, why is he suddenly so picky?

Seeing that the old king's face changed for a while, the envoy was afraid that he would have some misunderstanding, so he hurriedly explained: "Although there is no reward, it has brought us a great glory to occupy the city. ”

When the old king heard this, he nodded.

He said, Zhu Di, the emperor, can't suddenly change his pick, it turns out that there are other rewards.

"What reward?"

The old king rubbed his hands a little excitedly, thinking in his heart what kind of precious treasure, or maybe he was going to give them the northern Jiaozhi to occupy the city.

The old king's thoughts, the envoys naturally could not guess.

If he wanted to know, the old king fantasized that the Ming would give him the land in the north, and he would definitely spit without hesitation.

Phew, I really think of myself as a thing, and I still want the land of Daming, do you want a big mouth?

"It's an in-laws!"

The envoy, who didn't know what the old king thought, directly said about the marriage.

The old king was stunned, and there was obvious disappointment in his eyes.

He also thought that Daming generously gave him the land of Jiaozhi, and the relationship was just a marriage.

Although I was a little disappointed in my heart, it was not a bad thing to be able to climb into a relationship with a strong country like Daming.

At least there is this relationship, and when he asks Daming for help in the future, Daming is embarrassed to refuse, right?

"I don't know which princess Daming plans to marry to our Zhancheng country, His Majesty the Ming Emperor is in love with which of my sons."

The old king took advantage of Lai, but he never thought that this in-law would be on him, after all, he is so old, Daming will not marry the princess to him blindly.

"Huh!"

A row of black lines appeared on the envoy's forehead.

Is this king of his own family old and confused, how can he just think about these impossible good things.

Also the princess of Daming married, Daming has been established for so many years, which princess have you seen married a foreigner.

The slogan is that you don't get along and don't pay tribute, and you still want to get married, I think you want to get off the shelf.

"Your Majesty, it's not what you think, this in-law is His Royal Highness King Yue, the fourth son of His Majesty the Ming Emperor, who wants to marry Princess Dona!"

"What, marry my daughter!"

I heard that it was not what I thought, but that I wanted to marry my own daughter.

The old king was a little reluctant.

Dona is the treasure in the palm of his hand, which is in his mouth for fear of being frightened, and holding it in his hand for fear of melting.

How many men wanted to marry his daughter, but the reluctant old king refused.

And he also promised his baby girl to let the other party choose his own wishful husband.

As a result, she hadn't promised for a few years, and Daming was going to marry her daughter.

This made the old king a little embarrassed.

He promised his daughter, but he didn't dare to refuse.

If you refuse this marriage and anger the unpredictable emperor of the Ming Dynasty, you can directly let the Ming army that has finished fighting Jiaozhi march to him, and it will be a calf.

After worrying for a long time, the old king finally gritted his teeth and decided to agree to this in-law.

No matter what the other party says, he is also the Prince of Daming, according to his status, he is of the same level, and his daughter married to become a princess, which is an equal to himself, and it is not a disadvantage to his own precious daughter.

Besides, with Daming's boldness, he married his daughter, and Daming would not treat himself badly.

I heard that Daming has such a thing as a bride price, so I want to take the land in Jiaozhi in the name of the bride price.

The old king thought about it and wanted to fly again, and he had already begun to wonder in his heart, in the name of the bride price, to ask Daming for a toe, whether the other party would agree to him.

"Okay, I agreed to this matter, I want to be the princess of Daming, and Dona will not refuse this child."

"But you have to make it clear to them that Dona is my treasure, and if you want to marry her, you must give a full bride price."

"Gold and silver are too cheesy, not in line with the identity of the Great Ming Dynasty, I think with the status of the Great Ming Dynasty, the land of Jiaozhi is quite suitable for a bride price."

The envoy standing below looked at the old king talking to himself in a daze.

How could he not have discovered that this king was so stupid before?

Daming marries a daughter-in-law to ask for a bride price, but the problem is that people still have a return gift.

Even if people give you a handover, let's not mention whether you can keep it, even if you can keep it, then what do you take to return the gift, do you plan to take the entire Champa country back?

Looking at the old king who was talking to himself, he had already begun to plan who would manage after taking over Jiaozhi.

The envoy opened his mouth, but still did not say the rest of the sentence.

Yes, he just needs to be happy, anyway, he won't be the king for long, so what's the matter with being happy before the family dies.

Thinking about this, the envoy stood silently in place, looking at the old king who had already said that he would control Jiaozhi, how to make the country strong, continue to attack other countries, and make the Champa country a more powerful country, showing sympathetic eyes.

(End of chapter)