Chapter 2107, vassal countries busy with beauty pageants
Inside the palace of the King of Joseon.
"Your Majesty, this is the list of gifts to congratulate the Emperor of Heaven on his ascension to the throne!"
Pu Yuanzong respectfully presented a list to Lord Yanshan.
The Lord of Yanshan in front of him was famous for his cruelty and cruelty. After he ascended the throne, once his power was consolidated, he began to massacre the courtiers, concubines, etc. who had persecuted his mother in the first place, killing thousands of people at once.
Later, several changes occurred one after another. Lord Yeonsang became ruthless and committed mass killings. The entire Korean nation was trembling with fear.
Originally, Lord Yanshan should have died in a palace coup in history, but now due to the changes in the Ming Dynasty, great changes have also taken place in North Korea.
As a vassal state of the Ming Empire, Korea was also the most loyal vassal state. It also followed the Ming Empire and enjoyed the dividends of the colonial and capitalist eras.
Overseas, North Korea also has many colonies. On the Tianzhu continent and on the west bank of the Indus River, large areas of land are North Korean colonies. At the same time, in West Africa, North Korea also competes with Spain for colonies.
It has been at war with Spain for many years, and has also acquired a large area of colonies. The area of its colonies is several times the area of its mainland.
Because they have acquired a large number of colonies, they can plunder a steady stream of wealth from the colonies, and at the same time imitate the Ming Empire and move a large number of people to the colonies.
These have greatly alleviated the internal contradictions in North Korea, especially the contradiction between man and land. In the past ten years, North Korea has been calm and the sea is clear and the river is feasting.
In addition, according to the Ming Dynasty vassal state agreement, Koreans can also immigrate to the Ming Dynasty, and can go to the Ming Dynasty to work, do business, settle down, etc.
The large-scale development of the Liaodong region also attracted a large number of Koreans. Many Koreans married people from the Ming Dynasty. In the Nanyang region, Koreans and Japanese also immigrated in large numbers.
These people settled down in Ming Dynasty, obtained the status of Ming Dynasty citizens, and gradually became Ming people.
In addition, there are also a large number of Koreans and Japanese people in Huanghuangzhou, Australia and other places who immigrated and settled. They benefited greatly and enjoyed the same treatment as the Ming Dynasty people.
All these have greatly reduced the internal conflicts and pressure in North Korea, and the cruel Lord Yeonsang has been able to maintain his position, instead of being overthrown and exiled like in history, and died on the island of exile.
If there is anyone in this world who can make Lord Yanshan obedient, it must be the Emperor of the Ming Empire.
According to the vassal-state agreement, the King of Korea was a minister of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Although the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty never expressed any opinions on the affairs of Korea, he was the nominal monarch after all.
Every order from the Ming Empire was taken very seriously by the Korean people, and the same was true for Lord Yanshan.
Just like this time, Emperor Zhengde of the Ming Dynasty ascended the throne and will hold a grand enthronement ceremony three months later. Although the invitations are still on the way, North Korea has already begun to prepare related gifts for fear that they will not be fully prepared by then.
, unable to demonstrate North Korea’s loyalty to the Ming Empire.
"No, no!"
"This gift list is too thin."
"This is the first time that our country in Korea has presented a gift to the new emperor of the Ming Dynasty after he ascended the throne. It must be heavy enough to show our country's loyalty to the Ming Dynasty!"
After Yanshanjun quickly browsed the list, he shook his head and said.
"Your Majesty, this list is already very rich. It is almost worth nearly one million taels of silver!"
Park Yuanzong quickly explained.
"No, no!"
"One million taels of silver was naturally a large amount in the past, but now, one million taels of silver is simply not enough."
"We, Korea, have always been the most important vassal state of the Ming Empire. Over the years, the Emperor of Ming Dynasty has treated our Korean subjects as if they were his own subjects."
"There is no difference between me, a Korean, and people in Ming Dynasty. We enjoy the same treatment, which shows that the emperor of Ming Dynasty treats us well."
"Now we are competing with the Spaniards for the colonies in West Africa. From now on, we will definitely need the support of the Ming Empire. When the new emperor ascends the throne, the gifts sent to us must be important."
"On this basis, increase it five times!"
"In addition, I heard that the current Emperor of Heaven prefers beautiful women, so I immediately ordered the whole country to stop the marriage of all women over the age of 16. They must all participate in the beauty pageant and select the most beautiful tribute girls to send over."
Mr. Yanshan thought for a while and shook his head.
"yes!"
When Pu Yuanzong heard this, he quickly said yes.
Soon, following the order from Lord Yanshan, the entire North Korean nation immediately became busy. On the one hand, they were busy collecting precious tributes, and on the other hand, they were busy with beauty contests.
It has been a long-standing tradition of Korea to pay tribute to beautiful women to the Ming Empire.
Starting from Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, North Korea has regularly paid tribute to beauties to the Emperor of Heaven. Especially after the new emperor ascends the throne, North Korea will definitely hold a beauty pageant to select the most beautiful beauties to pay tribute to the Emperor of Heaven.
This has become a common practice in North Korea and has formed a certain system.
Almost every few years, the Korean side would choose one and then pay tribute to the Emperor of Heaven. In the case of Hongzhi Dynasty, even though Emperor Hongzhi did not like women, there was only one Queen Zhang.
However, North Korea still regularly paid tribute to beauties from the Ming Dynasty. Starting from the level of Emperor Hongzhi, they paid tribute several times, with more than a hundred people in total.
Most of these beauties who paid tribute to the Ming Empire had a miserable fate. A few who were favored by the emperor were lucky enough to be named concubines. Most of those who were not favored could only become palace maids. In the Ming Palace,
Die alone.
Most of these beauties who paid tribute to the Hongzhi Dynasty had been maids in the palace until they grew old. They had dragon-slaying skills, but they would never be put to use. Only a few were given Zhu Houzhao by the Hongzhi Emperor, so that it would not be too much.
tragic.
Some of them even gave birth to sons for Zhu Houzhao. The mother gained status and lived a pretty good life based on the wealth of her son.
Generally speaking, the fate of the beauties who came as tribute was not very good.
But for North Korea and the Ming Dynasty, this is no longer important. No one cares about how they live, and no one cares. Everyone only cares about the relationship between North Korea and the Ming Empire.
North Korea is a vassal state of the Ming Empire and a minister of the Ming Dynasty. The relationship between the two parties is like this. They only pay tribute to some beauties, which is simply insignificant to North Korea.
The sudden beauty pageant order also caught everyone in North Korea off guard. Soon everyone knew that it was the new emperor of the Ming Dynasty who had ascended the throne. As usual, it was time for the beauty pageant again. The beauties selected were obviously tribute to the Ming Dynasty.
Son's.
For a time, the entire North Korean nation was troubled by this matter.
This beauty pageant is not a random selection. Women from ordinary people's families are naturally not eligible to participate. Women from gentry, officials, and merchant families are chosen.
Not only must you be young and suitable, but you must also be beautiful and in good shape, and you must also be knowledgeable and courteous. It is best to be proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. In addition, after you are selected, you must also learn the language of the Ming Dynasty and the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty court.
, plus some special training and learning, etc.
Only those who have gone through such rigorous selection and training will have the opportunity to pay tribute to the Ming Empire and serve the Emperor of Ming Dynasty.
All the unmarried women from the official families, gentry families, and merchant families in Korea were included in the list, and the beauty pageant was held in full swing.
Many people are crying and wailing, regretting not marrying off their daughters early. If they are chosen and sent to the Ming Empire, if they want to see each other again in the future, I am afraid it will be worse than going to Tiandu.
It’s even harder.
When you arrive at the imperial palace of the Ming Dynasty, where the palace is strict, you are really completely isolated. Unless one day you are lucky enough to be able to work for the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and the mother is more valuable than the son, and has gained a certain identity and status.
It can be said that there is contact with the family here.
At this time, it was not only North Korea that was busy with beauty pageants, but also Japan.
The Japanese king and the shogun of Japan issued the order for the beauty pageant almost at the same time.
Similar to Korea, beauty pageants in the Japanese country only select ladies from famous families. The famous families in the Japanese country naturally have to be nobles, daimyo, and samurai classes.
Ordinary people who don't even have a surname are the most humble. No matter how beautiful they are, they are not qualified to serve the Emperor of Heaven.
The current Japanese state is learning from the Ming Empire in all aspects, changing their surnames to Chinese names, and wearing Han clothes, but this is only the middle and high-level people of the existing Japanese state.
The common people at the bottom of the Japanese country are still prohibited from having their own surnames. Only a few people who have made great contributions can be given a surname. Having a surname of their own is a goal that countless Japanese people strive for throughout their lives.
Because it is an extremely glorious and amazing thing to have a surname of your own that can be passed down to your descendants.
For this reason, many people immigrated to Nanyang and overseas places in the Ming Dynasty at all costs. In these places, they could get the same treatment as the people of the Ming Dynasty, and would be given a Han surname by the local officials.
With the orders issued by the Japanese king and the shogun, the entire Japanese country became busy.
The Japanese state was very active in this matter, because Zhu Houzhao had a concubine from the Japanese state, and he gave birth to several sons, including women from the Ashikaga family of the shogunate. This time the shogunate was extremely excited. Over the years,
They even continued to send a lot of money.
Now that Zhu Houzhao has ascended the throne, everyone knows about Zhu Houzhao's lewdness, so naturally they have to choose carefully.