In the side hall of Qianqing Palace, the imperial palace in the capital, envoys from various countries were waiting patiently for an audience with Emperor Hongzhi.
“What a luxurious and magnificent palace~”
“It’s so beautiful~”
"Compared with the imperial palace of the Ming Dynasty, our palace is like a peasant's earthen house in the countryside."
"Yes, yes, it's really beautiful~"
With nothing to do, these envoys couldn't help but stare at their surroundings carefully.
Liu Jin and Zhu Houzhao spent millions of taels of silver to build the Qianqing Palace. Every detail is carefully crafted, and its appearance looks like a jade seal passed down from the country.
The interior is also carefully built. Each lobby floor is relatively high, equipped with large glass chandeliers, panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows, plus large paintings and other decorations.
It gives people a very majestic feeling!
Unlike countries in Southeast Asia that like to decorate with gold, silver, gems, jade, etc., the decoration here lacks these things, but it is precisely because these things are not used that it makes the place more noble and extraordinary.
"As expected of the imperial palace of the Ming Dynasty, it is majestic and magnificent!"
Park Yuanjong from North Korea looked at the palace in front of him and couldn't help but sigh.
The Ming Dynasty is the Ming Dynasty. Compared with the Ming Dynasty, North Korea is still far behind the Ming Dynasty. There are too many differences. This time when I came to the Ming Dynasty, Mr. Yanshan specifically told me that he would take a good look at the palace of the Ming Dynasty and build a replica of it in North Korea later.
But looking at the majestic Qianqing Palace in front of him, he suddenly felt that no matter how hard he tried to build it, North Korea would not be able to build such a majestic palace.
"This is where a monarch should live!"
As for Emperor Gokashiwara, he clenched his fists slightly and looked a little sad.
There is no harm without comparison.
The Qianqing Palace was just one of the places where the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty lived. There were also a very large palace complex around it, where the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty worked and lived.
And he, as the emperor of Japan, where he lives...
Not to mention, the Japanese king was too poor to open the pot and drank porridge every day. In the past few days since he came to Ming Dynasty, he could be considered to enjoy what a monarch should enjoy.
In my hometown in the Japanese country, it rains heavily outside and light rain falls inside, which makes it miserable.
"The envoy of Korea declares his presence~"
While everyone was waiting, a small yellow doorman came slowly and shouted loudly.
When Pu Yuanzong heard this, a smile appeared on his face.
"Haha, my treatment in North Korea is different. I am the first one to see you."
Pu Yuanzong happily followed Xiaohuangmen to the study of Emperor Hongzhi to have an audience. As for the remaining envoys, they were all slightly jealous. Why was he the first one from North Korea to have an audience?
Following Xiaohuangmen, Pu Yuanzong also carefully observed the entire Qianqing Palace. No matter where he went, the Qianqing Palace was very grandly decorated, with large porcelain vases everywhere, and large wall paintings that invited top calligraphers and painters from the Ming Dynasty to paint. , everywhere reflects the confidence and cultural heritage of a big country.
Soon, following Xiao Huangmen, we arrived at the study of Emperor Hongzhi. At this time, there were many important ministers of the Ming Dynasty in the study.
"Your Majesty, Pu Yuanzong, bows to His Majesty the Ming Emperor. Long live, long live, long live your Majesty~"
Seeing Emperor Hongzhi sitting on the desk mountain wearing a dragon robe, Pu Yuanzong immediately knelt down and bowed respectfully.
"No gifts, please give me a seat~"
Emperor Hongzhi smiled and nodded.
"Thank you, Your Majesty~"
Pu Yuanzong was very respectful from beginning to end. Korea was a vassal state of Ming Dynasty. Ming Dynasty was very benevolent and righteous to Korea. Korea has always respected Ming Dynasty, paying tribute and saying hello every year.
"Ambassador Park has come a long way and has had a hard time."
Emperor Hongzhi's voice was very gentle, which made Park Yuanzong relax a lot.
"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. It's not hard work. It's my honor to be able to come to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty."
"Your Majesty, this is a letter written by King Yeonsang of Korea. Please read it."
Pu Yuanzong took out a small notebook of memorials from his arms and said.
"Send it up~"
Emperor Hongzhi nodded and said.
Immediately, someone from Xiaohuangmen took the memorial and carefully checked whether it was poisonous or concealed weapons, and then handed it over to Xiao Jing, who then handed it over to Emperor Hongzhi.
Emperor Hongzhi took the letter and read it carefully. The content was relatively simple. It was nothing more than Lord Yanshan saying hello to Emperor Hongzhi and saying that he was a loyal younger brother of the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, he also offered some tributes and wished His Majesty the Emperor of Ming Dynasty a long life and so on.
"Mr. Yanshan is interested~"
After reading it, Emperor Hongzhi also smiled and nodded.
He read such letters every year, and every year when Joseon came to visit, he would bring an autographed letter from Lord Yanshan, but this time the tribute from Joseon was very generous.
There are hundreds of Korean beauties. These beauties have been carefully selected and rigorously trained. Since Korea became a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, North Korea has often paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty. The founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Comrade Lao Zhu, had five very beautiful women.
The beauty of North Korea is deeply loved by Comrade Lao Zhu.
But for Emperor Hongzhi, it was obviously a bit of a waste.
Beauties were the largest tribute paid by Korea to the Ming Dynasty, and they were also the most distinctive tributes. In addition, there were 100 pieces of yellow gauze cloth, 200 pieces of white gauze cloth, and 200 pieces of linen cloth, 200 flower-filled mats, and two curtain mats.
There are one hundred square banquets with flowers, one hundred yellow banquets, and one hundred colorful banquets.
In addition, there are a hundred Korean BMWs, a hundred catties of Korean ginseng, six leopard skins, six tiger skins, six mink skins, a hundred yellow brushes, and a lot of miscellaneous items.
Of course gold, silver and jewelry are also essential. They are all packed in boxes, three big boxes of gold, twelve boxes of silver, and six boxes of jewelry, Dongzhu and the like.
In addition to the tribute items given to Emperor Hongzhi, each time North Korea paid tribute, it would also prepare a separate tribute for Empress Ming, which was also very generous and very thoughtful.
In terms of paying tribute to the Ming Dynasty, North Korea has always been very attentive and willing to put in effort.
For example, when it comes to paying tribute to North Korean beauties, North Korea will make preparations two years in advance. When the girls are thirteen years old, they will participate in a draft to select the beautiful ones and train them with good temperament. When they are sixteen years old, they will be sent to the Ming Dynasty as tribute.
In addition, high-quality stallions must be paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty on a regular basis. For this reason, North Korea's various provinces were required to select the tribute stallions two years in advance and feed them carefully to ensure that the tribute stallions were tall and strong.
Isn’t it rare to see such a loyal little brother?
But this is the historical North Korea, the most loyal younger brother of the Ming Dynasty.
"Xiao Jing, read it~"
Then Emperor Hongzhi also nodded to Xiao Jing.
"Yes~"
Xiao Jing quickly replied respectfully.
"Give Korea two horses of blood, a hundred horses of prairie, a hundred bolts of silk, a hundred bolts of silk, a hundred bolts of satin, a hundred bolts of cloth, a thousand pounds of sweet potatoes, a thousand pounds of corn, a thousand pounds of potatoes, a hundred pounds of peppers, and a hundred pounds of peanuts.
One hundred catties, if you plant ten catties of tomatoes, it will be considered a good variety.”
"Give Huanghuangzhou five boxes of gold, twenty boxes of silver, ten sets of South Sea red corals, ten sticks of ivory, ten boxes of emeralds, jade, ten boxes of jewelry, and ten sticks of agarwood..."
Xiao Jing's voice was loud and loud, and he kept reading out a series of things and numbers. This was a gift from the Ming Dynasty to Korea.
For a loyal brother like North Korea, although Emperor Hongzhi also listened to Liu Jin's advice and decided not to make a fool of himself in the future, North Korea was still an exception.
Still gave extremely generous rewards.
Pu Yuanzong, who was listening below, couldn't help but smile. North Korea was sincere to the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty had never let North Korea down.
Every time the tribute was paid, the rewards given by the Ming Dynasty were very generous. This time, North Korea paid more tribute, and the Ming Dynasty gave more gifts in return.
Yes, now the Ming Dynasty is also becoming stronger and stronger, and Emperor Hongzhi's personal funds are also very rich. This year he defeated the Japanese country again, swallowed up the grasslands in the north, and also occupied the north of Luzon in Nanyang.
There are countless gold, silver, jewelry, jade, and corals snatched from Luzon, and the rewards are quite generous.
You can even get a horse with blood, but as for the good horses of the grassland, that is even more trivial. Even the northern grasslands are from the Ming Dynasty.
"Give Korea two ocean-going treasure ships and one Nanyang island~"
The gift list in return was so long that Xiao Jinnian's voice became a little hoarse, but at the end of the reading, Pu Yuanzong and the ministers present were dumbfounded.
Why did such a good person endow North Korea with two ocean-going treasure ships and Nanyang islands?
Ocean-going treasure ships are very expensive now. One ocean-going treasure ship is worth more than 200,000 taels of silver, and two ships are worth almost 500,000 taels of silver. The previous items combined are not as valuable as these two ships.
As for the Nanyang Islands, this thing always feels a bit strange to people. Although there are many islands in Nanyang, the Ming Dynasty also occupies many of them. What is the meaning and purpose of giving Korea a Nanyang Island?
Not only Park Yuanzong, but also Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, Zhang Mao and others present were a little confused.
"This is a bit too generous~"
Zhang Mao was slightly jealous. Two ocean-going treasure ships cost almost half a million taels of silver. This was real gold and silver.
Of course he didn't know that this was actually Liu Jin's idea.
By giving ships and islands, isn’t this a clear attempt to drag North Korea into the water?
In the Age of Discovery and Colonial Era, Ming Dynasty always did things alone, which was a bit monotonous and boring. Of course, the most important thing was the lack of competitiveness.
During the Age of Discovery in history, European countries blossomed all over the world, and countries competed for colonies around the world. In the future, the competition between the Ming Dynasty and Western European countries will be the competition between Eastern civilization and Western civilization.
So Liu Jin thought that he should bring more of his younger brothers with him now, so that Korea could also taste the sweetness of this age of navigation. Only in this way, it would be even more inseparable from the Ming Dynasty in the future.
