Chapter 619: The first step in expanding the circle of Han culture
Zhu Ying really didn’t know much about the Angkor Dynasty.
Even because of the different languages, there was not much communication between the two parties.
In the official name of the Ming Dynasty, it was called Zhenla.
The Angkor Dynasty is the name of the Khmer people themselves, which has a similar meaning to the Ming Dynasty. Over there in Southeast Asia, it is also called the Khmer Empire. After all, the main ethnic group is the Khmer people.
Diplomatic matters were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites, so Ren Hengtai, the minister of Rites, was called over.
Although Ren Hengtai has a somewhat stubborn personality, he is still not lacking in knowledge. Often, such stubborn people have some talent in reading.
When he heard that it was His Royal Highness Taisun who summoned him, Ren Hengtai's heart suddenly dropped.
"It's been almost two years. Your Highness, Taisun, won't come to trouble me because of the previous matter."
Two years ago at the Fengtian Palace, Zhu Ying proposed a reform of the imperial examination system, and Ren Hengtai, as the Minister of Rites, was the first to stand up and speak out against it.
There was naturally nothing to blame in normal court debates, but the later success of the imperial examination system showed that the reform was effective.
Zhu Ying didn't remember it, but Ren Hengtai always remembered it in his heart.
This is because I am worried that His Majesty the Grand Sun will settle accounts in the future.
"Ren Hengtai, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, pays homage to His Highness the Grand Sun."
As soon as Ren Hengtai saw Zhu Ying, he immediately knelt down and kowtowed.
Seeing this, Zhu Ying was a little puzzled and asked, "Servant Ren, have you committed something?"
Under normal circumstances, except for meetings such as the morning court, kowtow will only occur. On weekdays, when the monarch and his ministers meet, these bows are enough. It does not mean that kowtow is required at any time.
It was a custom only in later Qing Dynasties to kowtow when meeting someone.
"I am guilty." Cold sweat suddenly broke out on Ren Hengtai's forehead. His Highness Taisun called him here to settle accounts after the fall.
Zhu Ying asked curiously: "What crime do you have? Let me tell you."
Ren Hengtai thought about it for a few times, but he didn't know where His Majesty the Grand Sun had caught him, so he tentatively said: "I should not sleep secretly while on duty and neglect my duties."
What does it mean to sleep secretly at work? This is normal.
Getting up so early in the morning to rush to the morning meeting, few people can survive the whole day.
"What else is there?" Zhu Ying asked again.
He had already realized that Ren Hengtai would be mistaken, so he started teasing him.
Ren Hengtai's back was soaked, and he gritted his teeth and said, "I shouldn't have secretly gone to Qiushui Tower a few days ago. Please punish me, Your Majesty the Grand Sun."
Qiushui is not a brothel, its nature is similar to that of a brothel.
Zhu Yuanzhang once ordered Ming officials to engage in prostitution, and he would be punished if found guilty.
Now this prohibition is basically a fictitious statement, but it has not been abolished by law. If it is really pursued, it can be punished.
"Is there any more?" Zhu Ying asked.
This made Ren Hengtai anxious. Sweat was dripping down his chin. He was in a panic, thinking hard about where he had made the mistake.
In fact, as the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Rites, in the absence of the Minister of Rites, it is basically equivalent to the power of the Minister.
Ren Hengtai usually behaves well and works conscientiously.
I really can’t think of an answer to this at the moment.
"Okay, I won't tease you anymore. I asked you to come here this time to ask you some things about Zhenla. As the Minister of Rites, you should be the most familiar with these things."
Zhu Ying said with a smile and asked eunuch Guo Zhong to move a chair over.
Looking at Ren Hengtai's condition, he might even lose his balance.
Hearing this, Ren Hengtai suddenly felt like crying, and at the same time his mind relaxed, but he almost fell down when he stood up.
Zhu Ying's few simple words can be said to be the difference between life and death for Ren Hengtai.
The power of the king is so terrifying. For example, some foolish kings in history, even important officials of the court, may be executed for the smallest trivial matter.
It is said that accompanying a king is like accompanying a tiger.
After taking a breath for a while, Ren Hengtai did not dare to delay, and quickly reported back: "The Kingdom of Zhenla established diplomatic relations with me in the Ming Dynasty in the sixth year of Hongwu. King Hu'erna of Zhenla sent his envoy Nai Yijilang to present gifts."
"Thereafter, tribute will be paid every three to five years, from the ninth year of Hongwu to the fourteenth year of Hongwu and from the nineteenth year of Hongwu."
"The current envoy of the Chenla Kingdom is Amona. He arrived in the capital of the Ming Dynasty in May this year and is expected to return to Chenla by water in September."
Having said this, Ren Hengtai paused slightly and said: "According to my understanding, this Chenla delegation was accompanied by Sultana, the daughter of King Huerna of Chenla, but it was not reported to the Ministry of Rites. It should be a private act."
Ren Hengtai cautiously raised his head and glanced at His Highness Taisun. Feeling that he was more interested, he immediately continued: "This Sultana has the appearance of an Obaro person. She is not as tall as a Zhenla person."
"Therefore, I specifically inquired and found out that he was born to Obalo's concubine, Hu'er, King of Chenla. His appearance is extremely exotic. If His Highness is interested, I should allow him to come and pay homage to His Highness."
A woman who is over 1.7 meters tall is already eye-catching in the south, not to mention her blond hair.
Sultana is very famous in Tianjie Temple and has many suitors.
It's just that Zhenla is relatively powerful in Nanyang, and as a princess of Zhenla, ordinary people don't have the qualifications to pursue her.
Ren Hengtai wondered whether His Highness the Grand Sun had gotten the news about Sultana from somewhere, so he summoned him to ask.
Of course he didn't know that before His Highness the Grandson returned to the palace last night, he had already slept with Princess Sultana of Zhenla and would be canonized as a concubine in the future.
"Shilang Ren knows what is going on in Zhenla Kingdom now, so he will tell you everything he knows." Zhu Ying naturally has no need to talk about Sultana.
Now that there is no Minister of Rites, the highest official in the Ming Dynasty that envoys from various countries can contact is Ren Hengtai, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites.
The Ming Dynasty was a large country with a hegemonic level. Any country that came to the Ming Dynasty had to be one level lower. Naturally, it usually fawned over Ren Hengtai.
Ren Hengtai is somewhat familiar with some anecdotes from various countries.
In Ren Hengtai's narration, he gradually became familiar with the country of Chenla.
Chenla used to be very strong and was a big country that could not be ignored in the entire Indo-China Peninsula.
The Angkor Dynasty has a history of almost 600 years since its establishment. It is a truly old kingdom.
At that time, the Central Plains Dynasty was still in its prosperous and powerful period.
After six hundred years of history, the current Chenla Kingdom has also shown signs of decline.
Especially in the past hundred years, wars with Siam and Champa have continued, and the country has gradually declined.
As Sultana said, the eldest brother, that is, the eldest son of King Huerna of Chenla, Shenlepa Piya, has reached the point where he needs to rely on the support of the general of Lancang to inherit the throne.
After getting a general understanding, Zhu Ying asked Ren Hengtai to step down.
Ren Hengtai's hanging heart finally fell to the ground.
This time he was quite frightened.
Taisun's power is increasing day by day, reaching the point where it is difficult to hear any opposition.
Even if he is a stubborn speaker, he keeps silent when talking about His Highness the Grand Sun.
The Yanguan system was created by His Majesty, and their power also comes from His Majesty's support. Now His Highness Taisun is obviously disgusted with the Yanguan system and has no intention of obeying His Majesty's emphasis on Yanguan.
There are courtiers every day, His Majesty is old, and the Taisun is young but powerful. The Ming Dynasty will be dominated by the Taisun from now on, and the official is not a fool, so naturally he will not talk against each other.
After hearing about the incident, the forbidden official could already see His Highness Taisun's attitude.
Originally, Yanguan's reputation was similar to that of Jinyiwei, and he could not get the support of the future emperor, so he naturally began to sink slowly.
The officials who caused the disaster in the history of the Ming Dynasty were completely eliminated just because of Zhu Ying's attitude.
This is Zhu Ying.
No matter whether it was Zhu Yunqi, Zhu Di, or even Prince Zhu Biao, this would not happen if he were still alive.
Because they will be more willing to follow the ancestral precepts.
Yongle Emperor Zhu Di violated the ancestral precepts and went to attack Annan. He was reprimanded by the officials, and in the end he could only endure it.
Zhu Ying doesn't like to spoil them.
Sultana was completely panicked at this moment.
She inquired around and found out that Amona was captured by the Jin Yiwei.
Jinyiwei, this is the most powerful yamen in the Ming Dynasty, bar none.
Even if the envoys from various countries do not want to deal with him, if they are targeted by the Jin Yiwei, even the ministers in the Ming Dynasty will have no way to do it, let alone envoys from small countries like them.
No matter how anxious she was, Sultana had no choice but to think about Zhu Ying in the end.
In Ming Dynasty, she seemed to know Zhu Ying, a high-status person.
Amona went to Wenxiang Pavilion to look for him, and was arrested by the Jin Yiwei as a troublemaker.
"Zhu Ying should be able to help, at least ask what the situation is."
At this time, Sultana felt a little regretful.
Apart from knowing Zhu Ying's name, she didn't even know where he lived, let alone how to find him.
Finally it was time to get dark.
Song Zhong came to the Tianjie Temple Embassy in person.
"Miss Sultana, Master Zhu invites you."
The envoys from various countries had almost no dealings with Jin Yiwei, so naturally they did not know the governor Song Zhong.
When Sultana heard that they were from the Zhu Ying faction, of course she followed them happily.
Private room on the third floor of Ping'an Restaurant.
When Sultana came over, Zhu Ying happened to be arriving at about the same time.
"Zhu Ying, do you know anyone in Jinyiwei? All the envoys of our Angkor Dynasty were captured by Jinyiwei."
How could Sultana still have the heart to eat at this time? When she saw Zhu Ying, she asked directly, with hope in her tone.
Zhu Ying turned to look at Song Zhong and asked, knowingly, "What's going on?"
Of course Song Zhong understood, and he quickly bowed and said: "Sir, last night the Zhenla delegation brought a dozen guards to Wenxiang Pavilion to cause trouble, and the Jinyi guards happened to be passing by on inspection, so they were all arrested and sent to prison."
Zhu Ying nodded and said lightly: "Since it's nothing serious, let's go and let him go."
Song Zhong bowed and said, "Yes, Young Master."
After answering, Song Zhong turned around and left to order his subordinates to go down.
It was not Song Zhong's turn to personally come forward for such a trivial matter as releasing someone.
"Are you so powerful?" Sultana's eyes lit up at this moment.
She also said last night that Zhu Ying was very powerful, but this power was completely different from today's power.
Zhu Ying picked up a piece of white and tender fish meat and put it into Sultana's bowl and said: "This is the sea fish caught from your place in Zhenla. Try it and see if it tastes like this."
"Now that the matter has been settled, let's eat first. We won't do it if we're starving."
No matter how stupid Sultana is, she can guess Zhu Ying's identity. It's definitely not easy.
"The Jinyiwei Yamen is under the direct jurisdiction of the Ming Emperor. Neither the emperor's relatives nor the court ministers can interfere, but you can directly ask the Jinyiwei Yamen to release people."
"There are only two people in the Ming Dynasty who can order the Jinyiwei Yamen to act. Apart from the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, there is only the most famous grandson of the Ming Dynasty."
At this point, Sultana was shocked.
He just looked at Zhu Ying blankly for a long time, and finally started to cry, and asked with a trembling tone: "Are you the grandson of the Ming Dynasty!
!”
Zhu Ying smiled and said: "You guessed it right, here I will reward you with a piece of shark fin."
Sultana was already enveloped in surprise at this time, so much so that she was so excited that she spoke in Khmer and babbled a lot.
Only later did he realize what he said, and he quickly switched to Chinese and said, "Oh my god, my man is actually the most noble grandson of the Ming Dynasty and the future emperor of the Ming Dynasty."
Then he asked nervously, "Then will you canonize me as your concubine? If I become your concubine, then I don't have to marry to the Lancang Kingdom. I can always stay in the Ming Dynasty."
"Whether it's my father or my eldest brother, they can no longer control me."
Zhu Ying said affirmatively, "You have forgotten that I told you yesterday that you are my woman, and of course I will make you my concubine."
Then he added: "The child we give birth to will be the future king of the Angkor Dynasty."
Sultana asked curiously, "Are you going to attack Angkor?"
Zhu Ying shook his head and said: "You can't say that. Today I have asked about the situation of the Angkor Dynasty. Now Angkor is no longer as strong as it was back then, and the army has begun to become weak."
"Your father, Prince Hu'er, is in poor health and no longer has the ability to control the entire country, and your eldest brother, Shenlie Po Piya, is even less able."
"Since you have become my concubine, I will naturally send an army to Angkor to assist the Angkor royal family in its rule."
Zhu Ying did not have any scruples in his words. He had already seen that Sultana did not have much affection for her father and eldest brother.
Simply speak out your thoughts.
"Great, then we need to give birth to a son as soon as possible. When our son grows up, he can inherit Angkor."
While she was talking, Sultana bypassed the table and sat directly next to Zhu Ying. She didn't mean to sit down, but squatted down slightly.
"I'm hungry." Sultana looked directly at Zhu Ying and said.
Zhu Ying immediately turned to look at Guo Zhong, who was waiting beside him.
Guo Zhong immediately closed the door of the private room and had the entire floor cordoned off, strictly prohibiting anyone from going upstairs.
Two sticks of incense passed by.
The door to the private room opened, and Sultana licked her lips.
She was already hungry after a worried day, so with some Zhenla local dishes, she was satisfied.
Zhu Ying would simply take her to Kunning Palace tonight.
Sultana has never seen what the Ming Dynasty's palace looked like.