Chapter 505

With the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, the influence of Confucian culture and the radiation ability of the Ming suzerainty gradually strengthened, and more and more foreign vassals were incorporated into the tributary system of the Ming Dynasty.

In addition to the original Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang's ten non-conquest abroad, to the Ming Dynasty Chengzu Zhu Di seven times to the Western Ming Dynasty, after the national prestige and the ocean supremacy, more Southeast Asian countries followed the fleet to the Ming Dynasty to pay tribute.

This part of the Ming Dynasty grew or contracted elastically with the rise and fall of the Ming Dynasty, and the national strength of the Ming Dynasty reached its peak during the period of the Yongle Emperor, and the number of vassal states reached more than 100.

Of course, the tributary system of the Ming Dynasty has gradually increased or died out with the passage of history. After all, the vassal states will change with their own circumstances, and they may not all be able to rest with the Ming Dynasty.

Many people don't understand the tributary system of the vassal state established by the Ming Dynasty, thinking that the imperial court just gets some beautiful words, flashy and unrealistic, while the vassal state gets a lot of benefits, but many people actually ignore the most important point, that is, trade, that is, international trade.

This trade reflects not only the economic exchanges between the two countries, but also the political changes and social dynamics between the two countries. In this trade, both sides have their own needs and interests, as well as their own institutions and environments.

Nowadays, most of these Ming vassal states have been reduced to colonies of the Dutch, Spaniards, Portuguese, and Great Britain.

Cheng Shijie put forward the current policy of the Ming Dynasty, in fact, he wanted to learn from later generations and build the federal system of the Ming Empire.

Sun Zhili looked at the position of the deputy minister who had been absent from the meeting, Yang Yunniang did not attend the meeting, it is said that she has rarely shown up, and even moved many affairs of the Ming Imperial Bank directly into the palace to handle, and I don't know if she will do this vice minister in the future, but this vacant position is not something that Sun Zhili can decide.

Sun Zhilan thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty, this problem is easy to solve!" ”

"How to fix it?"

Although many people think that John Bull is no longer good, in fact the influence of the people is still strong, this federation has 30% of the world's population, and is the second largest in the world in terms of overall national strength and strength.

If Sun Zhili can put forward a better suggestion, Cheng Shijie is also happy to see it.

Sun Zhili said: "Your Majesty, you ascend the throne, you ascend the throne and call the emperor, other vassal states can call their vassal kings, now you are just the regent of the country, those kings of the Ming vassal kingdom in the traditional sense, do you want to retire the title as a duke?" ”

Zhou Yandong made a rare speech: "I support Prime Minister Sun's suggestion, Your Majesty, you can ascend the throne!" ”

"The minister seconded the proposal!"

"The minister seconded the ......"

Cheng Shijie looked at the situation in front of him and had a headache: "Why did you mention this matter again?" ”

Sun Zhixi is naturally familiar with Cheng Shijie, of course, he doesn't dare to guess Cheng Shijie's meaning now, at the beginning, he thought that Cheng Shijie was preparing to take the world first, and gradually take the world, after eliminating Huang Taiji under the city of Beijing, it is said that Cheng Shijie should take advantage of the power of Jiannu and successfully ascend the throne and become the emperor.

But the problem is that Cheng Shijie did not organize land reform as he imagined, and then moved a large number of people to develop Luzon, Zhanzhou and Xinming, and then sent troops everywhere to take Terin and Lake Baikal, and then turned back to clean up the small court of Nanming in the south of the Yangtze River.

Sun Zhili thought that Cheng Shijie wanted to wait for the unification of the world, but the problem was that the grass on Li Zicheng's grave was now more than three feet high, but Cheng Shijie did not have the slightest intention of being the emperor, no matter how he pushed it, Cheng Shijie did not move.

Sun Zhili said: "The sky cannot be without the sun, the country cannot be without a king, and the king is ......"

Sun Zhili actually doesn't know what Cheng Shijie insists on, obviously only the emperor's daughter can be named a princess, and now Cheng Shijie's eldest daughter Cheng Jiayue is named Princess Chang'an, the second daughter Cheng Jiayi is named Princess Yong'an, the second son Cheng Jiale is named King Qi, the third son Cheng Jiayao is King Zheng, and the fourth son Cheng Jiaheng is King Su.

Since the tenth year of Chongzhen, the Chongzhen era name that has been used for ten years has been abolished, and the Yuan Dingxin has been changed, so to speak, Cheng Shijie has done a lot of things that only emperors can do, but he just didn't ascend the throne.

If it is said that in the past, when Xiang Hui did not come to Daming, Cheng Shijie really did not want to be the emperor, not only because it was difficult to give up for future generations, but more importantly, the emperor was a cage. But now Cheng Shijie's mood is completely different, first of all, Xiang Hui came, and Cheng Jialong also put a lot of hard work in order to be the emperor.

Cheng Shijie said: "Then prepare for the enthronement ceremony!" ”

When Sun Zhili heard Cheng Shijie's words, he wanted to cry, he had been waiting for this sentence for more than four years.

"Minister, Sun Zhili greets Your Majesty, Your Majesty is safe!"

"Your Majesty!"

Cheng Shijie originally wanted to hold a political conference on how to expand the Ming federal system, but it turned out to be a preparatory meeting for enthronement.

The capital of the Ming Dynasty is in Beijing, and there is no dispute about this ability, but the problem is that in order to defend the security of the capital, more than 800,000 troops are stationed on the border line of more than 3,000 miles from Shanhaiguan to Xuanfu, but this line of defense has become a sieve.

Of course, the current Ming Dynasty will not face such a problem, but the biggest problem is that the originally dense population has been almost migrated, and now there are one hundred and four counties in the entire nine and two prefectures in the north, with a total of more than 4,027,000 people.

The population withered, and it was difficult to support the operation of the national capital of the Ming Dynasty economically, followed by the cold weather, continuous drought year after year, and the northern Zhili had been war-torn for a long time, and it had long been dilapidated, and the population shortage was extremely serious.

Whether militarily or economically, the city of Beijing is no longer suitable as the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

Cheng Shijie looked at everyone and asked: "The four ancient capitals, Beijing, Nanjing, Chang'an, and Luoyang, which one should be chosen as the capital?" ”

Sun Zhilan said: "First of all, Chang'an should be excluded, there is an emperor's foundation in Guanzhong, but there is no emperor's industry, now Guanzhong is eight hundred miles of Qinchuan, almost all of it is deserted, and Guanzhong has a large outflow of population, last year's population statistics results, the entire Chang'an Prefecture fifteen counties and two states, a total population of 763,943 people, and the fertile land of Qinchuan in the past was very barren......

"Nanjing should also be excluded!"

Chen Guodong expressed his opinion: "Jiangnan is also outflowing, even more so than Guanzhong......

The population of Nanjing and its surroundings, mainly the Jiangnan gentry group, was either assigned to Zhanzhou or Xinming, and the original population was less than one.

Cheng Shijie said: "In this way, only Luoyang is the most suitable as the capital of the Ming Dynasty?" ”

"Your Majesty, in fact, the most suitable capital is precisely Beijing!"

Sun Zhili said with a wry smile: "First of all, the strategic position, the most industrially developed area of the Ming Dynasty is in Liaodong, and the second is that Beijing is not far from the Bohai Sea. The third point is that the cost is less, whether it is Nanjing, Chang'an, or Luoyang, have been greatly damaged, relatively speaking, the city of Beijing is relatively well preserved, and the capital of Beijing can save a lot of money......"

"Okay!"

Cheng Shijie reluctantly said: "The capital is Beijing, Chang'an, Jinzhou, Luoyang, and Nanjing all belong to the capital, and it is decreed that Xiang Hui will be crowned as the queen, Yang Yunniang will be the concubine, Zhu Weiyuan will be the concubine, and Jin Qiaoer will be the concubine of De......"

Cheng Shijie canonized his eldest son Cheng Jialong as the prince of the East Palace of the Ming Dynasty, his adopted son Cheng Hu was canonized as the Duke of England, Cheng Shi was canonized as the Duke of Germany, and his adopted daughter Cheng Anning was canonized as the lord of Qinghe, and Cheng Jingjing was canonized as the lord of Shunde.

The original title of the Ming civil and military officials remains unchanged......

Francesco Erizzo started from Shanghai, and did not take a boat, but went north all the way along the way, which was chartered by Cheng Shijie, just to let him see the customs of Daming, as well as the real strength of Daming.

After more than four years of development in the Dingxin Dynasty, Daming's current Huanhai Highway has been opened to traffic, which is the first cement road with eight lanes in Daming, and a Charr's horse, dragging this carriage RV loaded with more than four tons, let Francesco Erizzo enjoy what is high-tech.

Unlike the worst roads in Europe, the roads of the Ming are extremely smooth, and the wheels are covered with rubber, with bridge and spring damping and airbag damping.

The shock absorption effect of this kind of carriage RV is not even worse than that of later generations of cars, the key is that this kind of carriage is very large, there is a toilet on it, there is a simple kitchen, and you can eat and live on the carriage RV.

In order to prepare for Cheng Shijie's enthronement ceremony, the original half-dead city of Beijing was instantly rejuvenated, and countless businessmen transported a large number of goods to Beijing, and at the same time, Beijing City also began a comprehensive rectification, just like in Dengzhou Weizuo Thousand Households, whether it was the people or officials, the mansion was comprehensively inspected, and the health problems must be thoroughly rectified.

Just like the urine sludge in the corner of the wall has been scraped dry, the whole city has been renewed, "It is worthy of being the capital of the Ming Empire, and it is really extraordinary." ”

Francesco Erizzo sat in the carriage and admired it through the lifted curtains.

After meeting Catherine in Dengzhou, Catherine acted as a guide and interpreter for Francesco Erizzo, saying: "I came to Beijing two years ago, and every time I was struck by the rapid development of the city. ”

However, Catherine used to enter the city as a tourist, but now she is as an envoy of Venice, and her identity is different, and her mood is naturally different. She was nervous about the magnificent walls and palaces, and if Francesco Erizzo hadn't been by her side, it would have taken her much longer to muster up enough courage to enter Beijing.

In the past two years, Beijing has changed a lot, most of the streets have been widened and turned into concrete roads, which are clean and beautiful. The biggest change in Beijing was the construction of an urban water supply system.

Unlike Shanghai, Beijing suffers from a severe water shortage, and the water is transported from the Miyun Reservoir, which is not a small price.

Just when Catherine entered Beijing City, Cheng Shijie also walked into the East Palace!

"Your Majesty, do you want to inform His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to come out to greet you?"

"No, if my father wants to see his son, do I still need to pass it on?"

The martial law in the palace is far from being strict, and if another emperor dares to be so relaxed, he doesn't know how many times he has died, so Cheng Shijie dared to plant a large number of palace guards to save expenses, and he was still alive.

Along the way, the pitiful palace guards just saluted Cheng Shijie.

Cheng Shijie was familiar with the road and found the study of the East Palace, and when he saw that the door of the study was closed, he showed a mysterious smile and said to Xiang Hui: "Guess what our son is doing in there now?" ”

Xiang Hui thought of the bewitching face beside the Cheng family, and became more and more worried: "Could he not be here?" ”

Cheng Shijie sighed: "You really don't know him...... He wasn't necessarily there when the door to the study was wide open, but if the door was closed, he was definitely there! ”

Cheng Shijie pushed hard and pushed the door open.

Of course, Cheng Shijie pushed open the door and didn't go in, he was also worried about seeing things that shouldn't be seen, after all, his son is getting older, and it's not a good thing to be too strict.

Cheng Shijie was not disappointed, there were more than a dozen people in the entire study, and they were playing role-playing, of course, these role-playing were not acting, but doing war games.

At this time, Cheng Jialong was wearing a paper armor, shining silver, and holding a wooden stick in his hand: "Rocket artillery, fight for three days, Lao Tzu has cannonballs, even if it can't kill them, it will scare them to death......"

Cheng Jialong is worthy of being Cheng Shijie's son, the preferences of the father and son are the same, the poor are interspersed with roundabouts, and the rich are carpet bombarded, Cheng Jialong watched Cheng Shijie and Xiang Hui come in, standing there in a daze, his neck turned like a rusty bearing, and it took a lot of effort to turn his head and look at Cheng Shijie: "Father, mother, what's wrong with you?" ”

Cheng Shijie pointed to the surrounding officials of the East Palace and said, "Wait for all to retreat!" ”

Cheng Jialong is now the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, Cheng Shijie naturally can't scold him at will, he should keep the dignity of the prince for the prince, and retire with all the subordinate officials and companions.

"Look, what I'm talking about!"

Cheng Shijie pointed at Cheng Jialong and said: "You are now the prince of the East Palace, you are wearing a dragon robe, you can't still maintain the royal majesty at all times as before!" ”

Cheng Jialong said disapprerovingly: "My majesty is not pretending, but the real national strength, the millions of soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, even if the son is a fool, with the current strength of the Ming Dynasty, no one dares to despise me, of course, if the Ming Dynasty does not have the strength, even if I pretend again, it is a joke!" ”

Cheng Shijie nodded and said, "How does it feel to be a prince?" ”

Xiang Hui said: "Jialong will be sixteen next year, according to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty, can he get married?" ”

Cheng Shijie said: "It's not a good thing to get married too early!" ”

Xiang Hui said: "I'm not very familiar with Daming, do you know if there is anything suitable for you?" ”

Women are very double-standard, they all hope that their husbands can be single-minded, and their sons hope that their sons' wives and concubines are like clouds, Xiang Hui is very disgusted with Cheng Shijie's so many women, but there are too few women who hate Cheng Jialong.

This is the classic double standard.

(End of chapter)