"Beep-"

"That spitting guy over there, don't you know you can't spit casually? A fine of three cents! ”

In the sound of firecrackers, the five years of Yongle passed smoothly, and the six years of Yongle followed.

However, compared with the five years of Yongle, the city of Nanjing at the beginning of the sixth year of Yongle is particularly strict, and the pickets are very strict in both public security and health.

The reason why this is so is because at the beginning of the new year, the Ming Dynasty is about to hold a big military parade as part of the "tributary banquet" at Qilin Gate and Jiangdong Gate.

There is a cloud in "Zuo Biography": "The major affairs of the country are in worship and Rong".

Among them, "ritual" refers to the state's public sacrifice ceremony, and "rong" refers to the country's military action.

For the Ming Dynasty, the upcoming military parade is a well-deserved national event.

As the upper kingdom of the Celestial Empire, the military parade is not only a way to declare the strength of the country and enhance national cohesion, but also an important means to expand the influence of the country.

Envoys from 25 countries at home and abroad have arrived in the capital one after another, some for a year, and some for 10 months.

In addition to them, nearly 300 Tusi from Nanyang, Zhongnan, Southwest, and Xifan also sent envoys or arrived in the capital in person.

Before the Zhengdan Festival in the sixth year of Yongle, they didn't know that Daming was about to hold a military parade, and when they knew, they were apprehensive and curious.

"Daming is really prosperous and clean, I don't know what they want to show in the big parade half a month later."

In an antique concrete six-story building, a man dressed in Central Asian Mongolian clothes slowly spoke, he is located in the room on the sixth floor of this building at the moment, it is the only room on the sixth floor of this building, although the area is not large, only less than a quarter of the land, but the scenery is excellent.

Standing on this tall building, which is nearly seven feet high, he can take in the surrounding scenery from behind the window.

As far as his eye can see, there are all kinds of Jiangnan pavilions and small courtyards, and he can see the daily life of many Ming people.

"Timur's cripple is dead, and the emperor of the Ming Dynasty should want to show his strength and let the countries know how strong the Ming is, so that the Quartet countries can put away their wolf ambitions."

A voice came from behind the man, and not far away was a luxurious man with deep eyes and a high nose, he was about thirty years old, and he was sitting quietly in front of a round table in the room, on which there were more than a dozen Jiangnan dishes.

"We can reconcile with Da Ming, after all, he is no threat to our religion."

The thirty-year-old man said his thoughts, but the thought made the man dressed like a minister frown: "Mahama, your brother Shamichagan Khan does not want to promote the teachings. ”

"Who knows." The fanatical religious man known as Mahama chuckled and commented to Da Ming:

"Sumuha, we went all the way south from the west, and met a lot of Semu and Mongols who believed in the doctrine, but they have already turned their backs on the doctrine, and even marrying wives and having children are subject to the restrictions of the Ming court, in my opinion, the doctrine of the northwest will be difficult to exist in a few decades."

"When the time comes, only the western region where we are located will maintain the glory of Allah."

"Okay, the doctrine will be talked about later, what matters now is the attitude of the Ming Emperor and the Ming Prince towards us." Su Muha interrupted Mahama while looking out the window at the prosperity of Nanjing.

"The task given to us by Shamichagan Khan is to obtain the support of the Ming Dynasty and use the power of the Ming Dynasty to go west to recover the lost territory seized by Timur's lame."

"In the past few days since we came to Daming, we have not seen the Ming Emperor and the crown prince of Daming."

"If you don't see them, you're doomed to fail."

"Now it seems that we can only approach them on the day of the big parade of the Lantern Festival."

While Sumha spoke his thoughts, Mahama was still immersed in how to convert the Mughals in the Chagatai Khanate to Islam.

There were many other countries that were as anxious and purposeful as they were, including Korea, which was sandwiched between the Ming and Japan, and the Ashikaga shogunate, which relied on the economic, political, and military power of the Ming Dynasty.

Faced with the situation that it was difficult to obtain an inch of land in the northeast and that maritime trade was cut off, Li Fangyuan sent his own son, Li Zhen, and the Korean Andong gate lord nobleman Quan, and the great-grandson of the former Goryeo Zhengcheng Quanpu to come to the Ming Dynasty to congratulate him.

The place where they lived was not far from where the Mahama people lived, and since Korea was the first subject country under the Ming Dynasty, the high-rise building they lived in was also the sixth floor of the tallest building in the center.

Li Zhen was only twelve years old, so he was sent here just to show the highest etiquette of North Korea's diplomacy with the Ming Dynasty, and the person who was really in charge was Zhu Di's old friend Quan Jin.

There are nearly three out of fifty rights, and he once participated in the Ming imperial examination twice during the Hongwu period and won the second place in the township examination.

If it weren't for his lack of age, he would have served as a Ming official before the fall of Goryeo.

Although he was born on the Korean Peninsula, he had a gentleman's style, and when he was in Goryeo, he sneered at the Northern Yuan, and repeatedly admonished the Northern Yuan Naihu, and Goryeo should have given advice to the Ming, and got the opportunity to envoy the Ming Dynasty in the 22nd year of Hongwu.

Later, when North Korea was established, although Li Chenggui's faction persecuted him, because of his pro-Ming faction, he did not harm his life, but was appointed as an envoy to Ming when North Korea needed the support of the Ming Dynasty, and skillfully eased the relationship between the Ming Dynasty and North Korea, and was called "honest Xiucai" by Zhu Yuanzhang.

It is precisely because of Zhu Yuanzhang's favor that although Quan Jin has been impeached repeatedly, he still stands.

When Li Fangyuan came to power, he was even more canonized as Ji Changjun, in order to show his political intentions in favor of the Ming Dynasty.

But inclination is one thing, and relationship interests are another.

Historically, Li Fangyuan was close to Zhu Di, mainly because of the land and the Ming Dynasty's recognition of Li Fangyuan's identity, and now the Ming Dynasty not only has land disputes with North Korea, but also politically does not recognize the Korean monarchs as kings, and economically it is because the Ming Dynasty directly opened a shipping company to Japan, which makes it difficult for North Korea's second-way dealer economy to sustain.

In such a predicament, North Korea will inevitably seek a way out, and Kwon Kwan's shoulders carry this burden.

"The power of the courtiers of the lower country is near, see His Royal Highness the Prince, Chitose Chitose Chitose Chitose ......"

Unlike Ma Ma and others in the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, because of Quan Jin's special status, he was summoned by Zhu Gaoxu.

He knelt in the Chunhe Hall and respectfully bowed to Zhu Gaoxu five times and bowed three times.

"Give a seat."

"Thank Your Highness for Your Grace ......"

Zhu Gaoxu, who was in the first place, opened his mouth to give him a seat, and Quan Jin also thanked him honestly.

When he took his seat, he looked at Zhu Gaoxu vaguely, looking at the first merit of this Jingjing battle, relying on the power outside the border to suppress His Royal Highness the Ming Prince of North Korea.

He was looking at Zhu Gaoxu, and Zhu Gaochu was also looking at him.

To be honest, Zhu Gaoxu knows about Quan Jin not because he is famous for his talents, but because of a book written by Quan Jin.

The name of this book is "Feng Envoy Lu", which is the earliest foreign historical material that records the relationship between Zhu Di and Empress Ma in the historical materials of the Northern Yuan Dynasty and the Ming and Qing dynasties.

He went to the Ming Dynasty in the twenty-second year of Hongwu, and recorded the cultural scenery of the northern land while going north, and met Zhu Di, who was only a king of Yan at that time, when he arrived in Beiping.

Coincidentally, as an envoy of Goryeo, Quan Jin's request to see Zhu Di happened to be the Zhongyuan Festival on July 15, so his request was rejected by the governor of the palace, Shi Wan, and said that it was not polite on this day.

Quan Jin stayed in Beiping for three days, and was not ready to say goodbye to Zhu Di until July 18, but happened to meet Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi, the three princes, who went to the Buddhist temple to burn incense.

After Quan Jin's inquiry, he learned that this day was the birthday of the Empress Dowager Mingji, that is, the birthday of Queen Ma before her death.

Because of this, Quan Jin's book just proves that Zhu Di's mother is Queen Ma, because Ming Ji happened to be the birthday of Queen Ma, and the record of sacrificing Queen Ma on the Zhongyuan Festival was also common in the Hongwu period.

A foreign historical material proves that Zhu Di is the son of Queen Ma, after all, no one will not sacrifice his biological mother on the Midyear Festival, and Zhu Di only sacrificed to Queen Ma on the Midyear Festival, which is enough to explain the relationship between the two.

At this time, Zhu Biao was still alive, and Zhu Di didn't know that he would be the emperor in the future, so there was no need to pretend to be his mother.

Because of this, Zhu Gaoxu remembered Quan Jin through this historical material, but what he didn't expect was that Quan Jin actually lived to the present, and he thought that Quan Jin would die after the fall of Goryeo.

"When Grandpa was alive, he said that you were honest and talented, so I will meet you."

Sitting on the chair, Zhu Gaoxu explained the reason for meeting Quan Jin, and then said to Quan Jin: "Helan Mansion, the imperial court will not back down. ”

......Seeing that Zhu Gaoxu said his first purpose, Quan Jin was very embarrassed, after all, he didn't think that North Korea had Helan Mansion, but as a courtier, since the king ordered it, he naturally wanted to come.

Now that Zhu Gaoxu has rejected, it is difficult for him to continue to speak, so he can only put economic and political issues in front of the stage.

"The minister is here this time, and there are two things that bother His Highness."

Kwon Jin also spoke out about the maritime economic problems of North Korea and the problem of the Korean monarch's unjustifiable name, and Zhu Gaoxu was very clear about this.

North Korea itself does not produce gold, silver and copper coins, but they have a large population and are in great demand for gold, silver and copper coins.

In the past, they could use the tributary trade to trade with the Ming Dynasty, and then act as a second-tier dealer and sell it to Japan at a high price.

In this way, they can obtain gold, silver and copper coins from Japan, which can not only solve the problem of domestic money shortage, but also solve the problem of trade with the Ming Dynasty.

But now, with the establishment of the Japanese market, there is no doubt that the second-tier dealers in North Korea have declared bankruptcy, after all, in this era, they really can't get anything worth trading except for eunuchs and palace maids.

Just as Quan Jin's envoy to the Ming Dynasty this time, the tributes brought were three hundred eunuchs and three hundred palace maids, in addition to some worthless specialties.

On the issue of North Korea, Zhu Gaoxu did not feel too embarrassed.

North Korea is a barren land, and food, gold and silver need to be imported from the Ming Dynasty, and the population is larger than that of Annam.

Now that Daming is already a little overwhelmed, compared to taking North Korea, Zhu Gaoxu is thinking about how to digest Annan and Yunnan-Guizhou, Nanyang, Sanxuan and Six Comforts.

For Zhu Gaoxu, taking North Korea is to add millions of mouths, and the local arable land conditions are not good, and he relies heavily on the Ming Dynasty.

It can be said that before industrialization, North Korea's greatest weapon was its poverty, followed by its flexible mouth.

"The DPRK is indeed deferential to the imperial court, and I have also discussed with His Majesty the matter of canonizing the governor of the DPRK as the king, but I have never been able to make up my mind."

"The lack of copper mines in North Korea makes it understandable that the imperial court is worried about trade, so Gu has already said before that North Korea will be allowed to join the Western private trade zone, and North Korea can be allowed to order twenty large ships at the Longjiang Shipyard."

Zhu Gaoxu has already arranged the road to North Korea, since he is the filial son of Northeast Asia of the Ming Dynasty in history, then North Korea can also be used as the filial son of the Ming Dynasty in the West.

Whether or not North Korea will build colonies overseas, this is not important to Zhu Gaoxu, on the contrary, it would be better if they could build colonies.

After the opening of the Great Voyage trade, Europe, which was far away in the Western Hemisphere, could not escape the fate of being harvested by the Ming Dynasty with handicrafts after obtaining the gold and silver, so what would happen to North Korea, which was at the door of the Ming Dynasty?

Not to mention North Korea, even Siam, Champong, Manraka and other countries in the south are within the scope of Zhu Gaoxu's attempt to support.

In the previous life, the alternation of the Ming and Qing dynasties caused the tributary system to lag behind the Westphalian system, in the final analysis, because the national strength was not strong.

There is a weather vane in East and Southeast Asia, and that is the Central Plains Dynasty.

If the Central Plains Dynasty learns firearms, other countries will rush to learn it, and if the Central Plains Dynasty continues to go to the West to make profits, then other countries will also follow the West to make profits.

For Zhu Gaoxu, distant colonies can be built, but it is better to digest the three propaganda and six comforts of the Indochina Peninsula, as well as the Western Regions and the vast desert north.

In this era, the porcelain, tea, sugar, and silk of the Ming Dynasty are the high-tech patents of later generations, and the pricing power is in the hands of the Ming Dynasty, and other countries cannot imitate the same quality goods, so when the gold and silver they earn need to be consumed, only the Ming goods can satisfy them.

Before the industrial age, the Central Plains Dynasty harvested the world with sustainable handmade products.

The reason why the Tokugawa shogunate closed the country was that it could not prevent the large-scale outflow of gold and silver to the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the Opium War was also because European countries were at a disadvantage in long-term trade with the Qing Dynasty, and Britain used the addictive nature of opium to import the Qing Dynasty in order to fill the trade deficit with the Qing Dynasty.

The lesson that the Qing Dynasty taught Zhu Gaoxu was that when you can make everyone's money, you had better have the strength to fight everyone, otherwise you can only be like the Qing Dynasty and swagger through the market with gold bricks and robbers.

"The price of 5,000 guan is really not affordable by so many businessmen in China."

Quan Jin said with a bitter face, and Zhu Gaoxu shook his head when he heard this: "If one family can't do it, then form a merchant gang to go to sea." ”

"Korea is the first subject state of the imperial court, so in terms of trade, the old port will also open the door to Korea and provide a sufficient number of goods."

"As long as it can be sold, North Korea can make a profit on its own, so why not?"

Zhu Gaoxu would not give a discount for the sake of sympathy for North Korea, and in his opinion, it was cheap enough for a 3,000-material armed merchant ship to sell for 5,000 yuan.

In addition to the Ming Dynasty, which country in the world can manufacture large ships of 3,000 materials and above.

Quan Jin obviously knew this truth, so he hesitated and raised his hand: "The matter of the business gang, the minister will discuss it with Quan Zhi State Affairs after returning to China, but he just wants to promote this matter, and I am afraid that the name of Quan Zhi State Affairs will not be suppressed." ”

Quan Jin wants to seek recognition from the Ming Dynasty for Li Fangyuan and make him a veritable king of North Korea, but Zhu Gaoxu still said: "The court has not yet made up its mind about this matter, and it depends on what Quan Zhi is going to do and how to respond to the court." ”

Zhu Gaoxu picked up the tea, and when Quan Jin saw this, he also got up with interest, and walked out of the Chunhe Hall hesitantly.

After he walked out of the Spring and Hall and was blown by the cold wind of early spring, he realized it later.

Isn't what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said about making up his mind a land dispute between North Korea and the imperial court?

In other words, if the DPRK withdraws from Helan Province with interest, then the Ming Dynasty will not mind recognizing Li Fangyuan's throne.

If Li Fangyuan knew, then he would definitely have a hard time making a choice, so there must be external forces to intervene.

Thinking of this, Quan Jin thought of the big military parade of the Lantern Festival.

He already knew that the firearms of the Heavenly Army were sharp, but they had never met the Heavenly Army, so they didn't know how sharp the firearms of the Heavenly Army were.

At present, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince dares to speak, naturally thinking that after the military parade, North Korea will agree to end the land dispute and honestly obtain political recognition.

At this point, Quan Jin couldn't help but speed up his pace.

When he walked out of the East Palace, he happened to meet an oncoming team.

Looking at the Japanese envoy in a kimono, Quan Jin frowned and left, and the oncoming Japanese envoy also frowned and said to the twelve-year-old boy wearing a yellow cocoon-dyed imperial robe next to him: "If it is under the palace, it should be the envoy of North Korea." ”

"Huh?" Hearing the words of the people around him, the young man who was no more than four feet tall looked at Quan Jin in surprise, and then asked: "I see that his official uniform is the same as that of the Celestial Empire, how do you distinguish it?" ”

"Nature is from the outside." The envoy replied without hesitation, and gestured: "Most of the faces of the Koreans are mainly national characters and round faces, while most of the faces of the Celestial Empire are thin, mainly goose egg faces, long faces, awl faces, or round faces. ”

"In addition, the eyes of officials and people of the two countries are also different."

"Most North Koreans have small eyes and deep eye sockets."

"Most of the eyes of the Celestial Empire people are round or long-eyed, and the eye sockets are shallow."

After the envoy finished speaking of the appearance of the Koreans and Han people in his eyes, the young man next to him nodded suddenly in understanding: "I see." ”

"Your Royal Highness, when you meet His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Celestial Empire, you must be respectful, this is what the Minister of the Imperial Government (Ashikaga Yoshimitsu) specially explained."

"Whether or not you succeed as emperor depends on how much the Celestial Empire supports you."

"The Minister hopes that you will come to Nanjing to study, in order to help you expand your contacts in Daming."

The envoy said, and the young man nodded solemnly.

Soon, they came to the Chunhe Palace, and the eunuch on duty at the door also spread the word inside.

"Ashikaga Yoshitsugu, the son of Japan, has been summoned to come!"

"Xuan!"

A voice sounded in the hall, and Ashikaga Yoshiji, who had studied the official dialect for the past three years, also understood the content, raised his legs and walked into the Chunhe Palace, and walked to the side hall under the guidance of the eunuchs in the palace.

When he walked to the hall, he knelt down according to the Ming etiquette he had learned, bowed to Zhu Gaoxu five times and bowed three times, and sang loudly: "The third son of the king of Japan, Ashikaga Yoshiji See His Royal Highness, His Royal Highness Chitose Chitose Chitose Chitose ......"

Ashikaga Yoshitsugu finished singing, but he did not get an answer that allowed him to get up, because Zhu Gaoxu was looking at Ashikaga Yoshiji.

To be honest, it was the first time he had seen someone so short.

Ashikaga Yoshiji is also twelve years old, and if he is placed on the people of the Ming Dynasty, he should at least have four feet, six or seven inches, or even about five feet.

But Ashikaga Yoshitsugu's figure is at most more than four feet, less than one meter four.

"Get up."

Zhu Gaoxu motioned for Ashikaga Yoshitsugu to get up, and then instructed Yisha: "Give me a seat." ”

"Yes......" also lost his answer, and someone brought a chair.

"Your Highness Your Highness Long's ......"

Ashikaga Yoshitsugu got up and thanked him and tried to sit on the chair, but it was a bit of a struggle for his height, so he sat down on the chair with his feet dangling in the air and looked rude.

His face flushed, and he had to sit forward, letting his butt touch the edge of the chair so that his feet could step on the ground.

Looking at his appearance, many eunuchs on duty couldn't help but want to laugh, which made Ashikaga Yoshiji lower his head.

In this regard, Zhu Gaoxu said heartily: "Raise your head, Lone and you are equal." ”

Ashikaga Yoshitsugu slowly raised his head when he heard this, and instantly gasped.

From his point of view, Zhu Gaoxu is like a giant, even when he is sitting, he is much taller than him standing.

The two upturned eight-character Hu Pingsheng was majestic, and Ashikaga Yoshitsugu suddenly became nervous, not knowing what to say.

"Your father said that you are the son of the world, so he asked you to come to the Ming Dynasty to study for three years."

Zhu Gaoxu opened his mouth to talk about Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's arrangement, and naturally knew Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's little ninety-nine in his heart.

He wanted the Ming Dynasty to support Ashikaga Yoshitsuro to sit in the position of emperor, after all, Ashikaga Yoshitsugu had already been in advance in accordance with the prince's Motofu ceremony, which was called Wakamiya.

As long as the Ming Dynasty supports, then coupled with Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's black-box operation, Ashikaga Yoshitsu will be in the position of emperor just around the corner.

But the question is not how to sit in this position, but how to sit in that position.

Although the Ashikaga shogunate nominally unified Japan, it did not even dare to say that Gyeonggi could control it all, let alone other places.

If they usurp the throne, it will probably lead to a crusade against the nation.

Because of this, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was close to the Ming Dynasty, and was even willing to give up Hidden Ambiguity and Treasure Island to the Ming garrison.

Anyway, he can't control these two islands, and after the Ming Dynasty gets it, he can get the power to mobilize part of the Ming army and tens of thousands of taxes, why not?

Moreover, this was only his first step, and his second step was to get Ashikaga Yoshitsugu and Daming to have a good relationship, so as to ensure that when the Ashikaga shogunate was besieged by the national guardians in the future, Daming would take the initiative to send troops to help the shogunate put down the rebellion.

Even if no troops are sent and the shogunate is defeated in the end, the shogunate can retreat to the Ming Dynasty and serve as an excuse for the Ming to enter Japan in the future.

No matter how you choose, the wealth of the Ashikaga family can be preserved, which is Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's careful thinking.

Zhu Gaoxu knew his thoughts, so in the face of the arrival of Ashikaga Yoshiji, he did not resist, but welcomed it very much.

Anyway, as long as Ashikaga Yoshitsugu doesn't touch the core, but simply learns Confucian culture, it will be good for Ming culture to penetrate Japan.

If Ashikaga Yoshiji can really sit in the position of emperor, then they will inevitably bear the infamy of usurping the throne, after all, in the eyes of the Japanese, the emperor has been inherited for nearly 2,000 years, and once the Ashikaga family usurped the throne, it would be more unacceptable than the Hu people entering the Central Plains.

In order to maintain their rule, the Ashikaga shogunate could only rely on external forces, and the Daemi were the only external force they could rely on.

The more the Japanese people hated the Ashikaga shogunate, the deeper the Ashikaga shogunate's dependence on the Ming Dynasty, and this was what Zhu Gaoxu wanted.

Thinking of this, the smile on Zhu Gaoxu's face became even stronger......

(End of chapter)