Zhu Hengjia received envoys from twenty-five countries and local forces at the Wuying Hall of Prince Jing’s Mansion in Changsha.
Japan, Korea, the Zheng clan, Nguyen clan, Mo clan, Nanzhang (Laos), Siam (Thailand), Chenla (Cambodia), Champa (southern Vietnam), Ryukyu, Dafo Langji (Portugal), Xiao Franchi (Spain), Red Moorish (Netherlands), Anglican (Britain), Tessie (Italy), Gaul (France), Burma, Rakshasa (Russia), Rumi (Ottoman Turkey), Persia (Iran) ), Tianzhu (India), Nepal (Nepal), Johor Sultanate (Malacca), Aceh Sultanate (northern Sumatra), Tibet Zhigong Temple, envoys almost crowded the Wuying Hall.
This Prince Jing's Mansion was rebuilt on the ruins of Prince Ji's Mansion after Zhu Hengjia ordered it to be moved to Changsha. In order to save money, everything was kept simple, so it is naturally not as big as the Wuying Palace in Beijing.
"A Prince Ji's Palace is half the city of Changsha." Among all the palaces in the Ming Dynasty, Prince Ji's Palace has the largest area, with five halls and three palaces, and 800 houses of various types, accounting for seventy-eight percent of the provincial capital Changsha.
Unfortunately, he met Zhang Xianzhong, the Eight Great Kings who did not know how to protect cultural relics. When he evacuated Changsha, he burned down Prince Ji's Mansion.
Fortunately, the palace was too big and had not been burned down. Zhu Hengjia gritted his teeth and allocated 50,000 taels of silver to rebuild it. It was not that he was extravagant, but it was because the palace was related to the dignity of the court. It was too shabby and would disgrace the Ming Dynasty. , of course, with 50,000 taels of silver, we can only spend money on a few important palaces to repair. Anyway, it is a temporary residence, so we can make do with it, as long as it can be used.
After meeting so many envoys and giving a banquet, Zhu Hengjia felt sore in his waist and back. There was nothing he could do. He was fifty-five this year, and he was already fifty-six years old. Time is not forgiving!
I have only received these envoys, and I am already so exhausted. Those officials responsible for diplomacy have to work even harder. They arrange accommodation, teach etiquette, collect tributes, prepare rewards, etc. There are many trivial things.
Zhu Hengjia looked at Sun Kewang, the waiter of the Concierge Court, and said sincerely: "Thank you for your hard work, Sun Qing!"
Since the number of diplomatic countries has increased, the previous inconvenience of not having an independent diplomatic agency has become more and more obvious. Therefore, a Concierge House was established, with a third-grade minister in charge, directly under the cabinet, and responsible for foreign affairs. The Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple were not Then take charge of diplomacy.
Sun Kewang was the first Minister of the Zhengsanpin Concierge House. This man was talented and managed the complicated diplomatic affairs in an orderly manner.
Seeing Zhu Hengjia praising himself, Sun Kewang's face lit up with joy. It was not easy! He finally got the recognition of the supervisor! After surrendering to Zhu Hengjia and being promoted to a civil servant, this hero put down his old ambitions, worked conscientiously, and won It was well received by both the government and the public.
"It is the duty of an minister to be loyal to the country, and I don't have to work hard."
"Okay, okay, the Ming Dynasty needs loyal ministers like Sun Qing. Huh? What is Sun Qing holding in his hand?"
"Reporting to the Supervisor, this is a list of gifts given to envoys from various countries made by me. It has not yet been reported to the cabinet."
"Oh, how much money does it cost to reward envoys from various countries?"
"Reporting to the prison country requires about two hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver."
"What!"
Zhu Hengjia was so shocked that he almost jumped up, "Then how much are the tributes they handed over to Ming Dynasty worth?"
"I haven't calculated it carefully, but it's probably around 50,000 taels."
Oh my God! They gave us 50,000 taels, and we gave them back 250,000 taels. Isn’t this a huge loss? We must not do a loss-making business.
Accompanying a king is like accompanying a tiger, and the sacred heart is unpredictable. Zhu Hengjia was praising Sun Kewang with a smile just now, but in the blink of an eye his face sank and he said seriously: "Sun Qing, from today onwards, envoys from various countries will send us whatever tributes are worth to the Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty will reward them with gifts of equal value. Don’t reward them indiscriminately! Although the Ming Dynasty is rich, it does not have a tael of silver to spare. We are determined not to be 'Kaizi'!"
Sun Kewang was stunned, "The country is under supervision, and the ministers are ignorant and ignorant. What is a 'Kaizi'?"
Oops, what a bad thing. In my hurry, I actually brought out all the words for future generations, almost exposing the identity of the time traveler.
Zhu Hengjia thought for a while and explained: "'Kaizi' is a hometown dialect spoken by a palace official. It means a fool who wastes money indiscriminately, a big fool!"
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There is a tradition in the Ming Dynasty that people like to be Kaizi.
Emperors of all dynasties have always emphasized "pay tribute from all directions and come to court from all countries". Taizu formulated a strict diplomatic tribute system, which is divided into "enfeoffment system", "tribute system" and "special tribute system". Special tribute is the basis of tribute, and
Tribute was the basis for enfeoffment, and enfeoffment eventually became the highest form of political subordination.
Through the tribute system, the Ming Dynasty ostensibly possessed "suzerainty" over these "vassal states".
In order to make people willing to pay tribute, the Celestial Dynasty has always been "little in return and thick in exchange". If other countries send tributes of 10,000 taels of silver to the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty will often give rewards of 50,000 to 60,000 taels of silver, and the rewards are several times that. In this way.
As soon as this was done, everyone wanted to pay tribute. There was a prosperous tribute scene such as "All Chinese barbarians have no respect for their relatives. From the sky to the end of the earth, they pay tribute". Ming Dynasty Emperor Chengzu sent Zheng He to the Western Seas seven times to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty.
There are actually more than 100 countries.
I can’t afford to be hurt, I really can’t afford to be hurt! The financial pressure is too great!
Even foreigners can't stand it. Italian missionary Matteo Ricci wrote in "Matteo Ricci's Notes on China": "The so-called tribute is in name only." "The Chinese accept such envoys from many other countries, such as Cochin China
, Siam, Ryukyu, Korea and some Tatar leaders, they put a heavy burden on the national treasury. Chinese diplomats knew that the whole thing was a scam, but they did not care about the deception. Rather, the way they complimented their emperor was to let him
I believe that the whole world is paying tribute to China, but in fact, China is indeed paying tribute to other countries."
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Specific issues require specific treatment. Although Zhu Hengjia is unwilling to be a villain and advocates equal exchange, it still depends on whether the other party has value for Ming Dynasty to use.
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You might as well give more money to win over useful countries and forces.
For example, Nibala and Zhigong temples are located near the territory of Gushi Khan in Tibet, so they are very useful.
This Gushi Khan was so talented that he actually sent troops into Lijiang Prefecture in Yunnan Province last time. Although the incident was eventually resolved peacefully, the ambition exposed by this great Khan made Zhu Hengjia extremely afraid. What if he and the Qing rebels were fighting fiercely?
, he stabbed himself in the flank, what should I do?
No, we have to create some trouble for Gushi Khan. Nibala belongs to the Nyingma sect, and Zhigong Temple belongs to the Gaju sect. They have a close relationship with Gushi Khan who believes in the Gelug sect, so they can be used to contain Gushi Khan.
Therefore, Zhu Hengjia received the envoys of Nibala and Zhigong Temple alone with great enthusiasm, and also very devoutly asked the eminent monk San Danduo of Zhigong Temple for Buddhist teachings. He rewarded them with a large amount of property and some military equipment.
Such as fire guns and telescopes.
In fact, if you want to suppress Gushi Khan, Jiarong Babu is a good choice. But Sang Jiepeng of Zagu tribe was arrogant and did not send anyone to pay tribute. Zhu Hengjia was secretly annoyed, but he was unwilling to deal with Sang Jiepeng. Inhibition
The strong and the weak are his basic strategies. Gushi Khan is strong and Jiarong Babu is weak, so he has no choice but to endure this tone.
The word "forbearance" means a knife on the head. Sang and friends, I will remember you alone. Hum hum!
This time, there was actually an envoy sent by King Mangtat of Myanmar. Myanmar has not come to court for many years, and this Mangtat is really different from other kings of Myanmar.
Burma, Burma, this has always been a serious problem in the south of Ming Dynasty!
Zhu Hengjia stared at the position of Myanmar in the "Comprehensive Map of Kunyu and Ten Thousand Kingdoms" presented by Matteo Ricci, and fell into deep meditation.
This chapter has been completed!