Chapter 395 The Tang Dynasty dispatches a fleet of Ming envoys
Chapter 395 The Tang Dynasty dispatches the Ming Envoy Fleet
New Year is approaching.
The Yongzhou Yamen has also been sealed and locked. Except for the officials on duty, everyone is on annual leave.
This year, Yongzhou Yamen officials are very happy. There are a lot of welfare payments during the New Year. Even if there is a severe drought in Guandong and there are many victims in Chang'an, it has not affected the welfare that Wubiejia has prepared for everyone.
Mutton, pork, fresh river fish, rice, wheat, oil and vinegar are all available to the officials, even the temporary personnel have a portion. Who wouldn't like such an officer?
"The welfare of Yongzhou Yamen this year is very good, everyone is so happy."
Zhou Shaofan came to the door and smiled as soon as he came in.
Wu Huaiyu was a little curious as to why this person was here. As a doctor from the Six Sects, Wu Huaiyu knew a lot of secrets. For example, the person in front of him was extraordinary.
He has always been convinced that Li Shimin, in addition to the six-door intelligence agency, has a more secretive agency. This agency should be located outside the north gate, hidden in Baiqi, and the leaders of this agency should be Zhou Shaofan and Xu Luoren.
"Why is Duke Qiao free to come here today?" Huaiyu asked with a smile.
Yesterday he took a daughter from the Qiu family as his concubine. He didn't invite Zhou Shaofan, and Zhou didn't come, but he still sent someone to give her a gift.
"Come here and take a look." Zhou Shaofan stroked his beautiful beard.
"I would also like to congratulate Duke Qiao on his promotion."
Zhou Shaofan was a very special person. He was born in the famous Runan Zhou family in the Central Plains. His family had always been high-ranking officials and generals in the Southern Dynasties. In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, when family status was very important, Zhou Shaofan was one of those people who had a golden key to his family background.
During the Daye period of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Jingdian, the king of Qi, was born in a low-ranking and powerful position. Later, he went to Jiaozhi County to serve as secretary of the warehouse. He became an old subordinate of Qiu He and a colleague of Gao Shilian.
At that time, Zhou Shaofan, a very handsome young talent, did not escape Lao Qiu Baochang's choice of son-in-law, and took Qiu and his granddaughter as concubines. Therefore, Zhou Shaofan can now be regarded as Wu Huaiyu's cousin-in-law.
But the most remarkable thing about Zhou Shaofan is that he was once a super spy. After he returned to the Tang Dynasty with Qiu He, he was initially a member of the Qin Palace Kuzhen, but later he switched to the Prince's East Palace and became the Prince's Younei Commander. He was recruited as a confidant by Jiancheng.
In the ninth year of Wude, all battles at the north gate were inspected.
But in fact, Zhou Shaofan, like Chang He, has always been Li Shimin's confidant. The so-called transfer to the East Palace is just a trick to accept Jiancheng and recruit him to be a spy.
During the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Zhou Shaofan made great contributions and was directly granted the title of Duke of Yichun County and worshiped as the General of Youfu. When the Turks invaded, he became one of the confidants of the Emperor Liuqi Hui Jieli.
From before to after the Xuanwumen Incident, Zhou Shaofan always guarded Xuanwumen and commanded the imperial army.
A few days ago, Zhou Shaofan was promoted to a higher rank, Duke of Qiao County, General Zuo Tunwei, and inspected the school's supervisors.
The most important thing is that the emperor gave him a title, which is the same as that of Zuo Pu Shefang Xuanling.
The title is a bit confusing and abrupt, but the details are amazing.
With the same palm as the center, doesn’t this mean that the prime minister is not the prime minister?
The position of the Palace Supervisor was originally the chief secretary of the emperor, or the director of the general office. Previously, Yuwenshiji, Doulukuan, etc. had held the position of Palace Supervisor. They were all the emperor's close ministers, and even Yuwenshiji was originally from the palace.
This position will be promoted when the prime minister is appointed.
Zhou Shaofan has not yet entered the political hall, but he is already considered half a prime minister. Compared with Wu Huaiyu, who currently holds many positions, he should be said to be more powerful.
He not only commanded the imperial army, but also controlled the provinces in the palace.
Even if he is still just a county prince and has not even been included in the list of actual meritorious officials, it is estimated that not even one-third of the forty-nine actual meritorious officials can truly match his power and status.
"After retiring from the imperial court today, Your Majesty told me about the Haidong Ming Dynasty. He said that this empire was originally a descendant of the Yin and Shang Dynasties. The country lasted for thousands of years. After thirteen dynasties, they all had the same surname. I was very curious after hearing this.
Is that Haidong Daming the place of origin of the corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes you offered before?"
When Huaiyu heard this, he immediately understood that this was why he came.
Lao Zhou smiled to himself and said, "I also like to listen to stories, and I know a lot about the geography of the world. What are the countries in the Western Regions, even the more distant Persian Sassanids, Eastern Rome, Byzantium, and the Frankish countries? Brother
I’ve heard of the Kingdom of Tetra, Egypt, Syria, and Damascus on the Mediterranean coast, but I really didn’t know that there was actually a Haidong Continent to the east of the sea, and that there was also the Yin Shang Dynasty in the Central Plains.”
Huaiyu smiled mysteriously.
Once you brag, you have to repair it.
Fortunately, when he offered corn, potatoes and other auspicious things before, he briefly said that these things were obtained from some maritime merchants when his teacher traveled around the world.
In the eyes of people of the Tang Dynasty, Haedong was generally Goguryeo, Baekje, Buyeo, and Fusang. No one knew whether there was Haedong Continent further east.
But I know that along the Liaodong coast, all the way to the north, there are still some barbarian tribes, from the Mohe tribes in Baishan Heishui, to Dashiwei and Dashiwei, and then to the northeast coast, in the extremely cold and permafrost land, there seems to be something else
The Drifting Ghost Kingdom, Yaksha Kingdom, etc. are ice and snow tribes that drive away ghosts and make deer and fish hunt.
To the south, there are the coastal countries of Jiaozhi, Champa and other countries. There are also many islands and long, short and dark indigenous people in the sea.
According to legend, there is a sacred tree where the sun rises in the east of the sea, and the golden crow lives in that tree.
Penglai and other fairy islands are also in the East China Sea.
But really no one has heard of the Ming Dynasty in Haidong.
Everyone knows about Tianzhu, knows about Persia, knows about Rome, and knows about Egypt, but no one has heard of Haidong Continent and the Ming Dynasty.
It’s true that no one has heard of corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers, peanuts, sunflowers and many other Haidong crops before, but now the winter streets of Chang’an are full of stalls selling roasted sweet potatoes, fried potatoes and boiled corn. Zhou Shaofan really likes these auspicious crops.
.
Li Shimin believed that there was such a Haidong Ming Dynasty, and so did Zhou Shaofan.
After all, something from Haidong was spread to the Tang Dynasty, and it was spread by an expert from Zhongnan Yinxian Pavilion. With such great supernatural power, everything is possible.
Now that he knew there was such a magical place and such a magical dynasty, Li Shimin yearned for it and wanted to send envoys to establish diplomatic relations with it.
The emperor also wanted to study and learn about the national system of the Ming Dynasty, such as the system of clan enfeoffment.
Zhou Shaofan came with a mission. He did not directly say that the emperor asked him to come, he only said that he was curious.
But as long as he can get more information about the Haidong Continent from Huaiyu, the first batch of Datang envoys to visit the Ming Dynasty may not only set off soon.
With today's navigation technology, ships from the Shandong Peninsula to the Korean Peninsula often capsize in storms, and most of the time they cannot even sail directly. They can only reach the south of the Liaodong Peninsula through the Miaodao Islands, and then sail offshore along the Liaodong coastline to the Korean Peninsula.
It is estimated that it is very difficult to go to the American continent now. This is not an ordinary difficulty, and a narrow escape from death may not be described.
But facing Zhou Shaofan's expectant gaze, Huaiyu couldn't completely refuse.
Of course, he actually had some small expectations in his heart. What if he had the support of the Emperor of Tang Dynasty and formed an adventuring fleet, maybe it would be possible to discover the American continent in advance?
He was thinking about how to tell him this.
It is certainly unrealistic to directly cross the Pacific Ocean. Although the Spaniards in later generations had a direct route from South America to the Philippines, and there were many islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean for supply, this route and ocean currents cannot be easily summarized with today's technology.
The only reliable route should be the route north along the coastline, which has a better reference and is convenient for replenishment at any time. Finally, it crosses the Bering Strait to Alaska, and then goes south to the west coast.
Of course, this route is also difficult.
After all, just the cold and ice in the north is a big problem.
Wu Huaiyu put the kettle on the stove and started boiling water.
"My teacher traveled all over the world and visited the bitterly cold places in the far north. He crossed Liaodong, passed through Fuyu, and trudged through the white mountains and black waters, all the way to the northeast. The farther he went, the colder and colder he went, and the more barren he became.
We encountered forest tribes who fished and hunted, we also encountered the Shilu tribe who made a living by raising deer, we also encountered the Shigu tribe who rode dog sleds, we also met the tribes who caught big fish in the river and wore fish skins.
There are even whaling tribes that hunt giant whales in the sea,
He later arrived at the legendary Three Kingdoms of Ice and Snow in the Far North, the Kingdom of Qiduumei, the Kingdom of Yaksha and the Kingdom of Liugui.
I thought it was the end of the world,
But there, my teacher learned that the easternmost point of Yasha Kingdom actually spans a strait of hundreds of miles. There is also a huge Haidong continent to the east. After crossing the strait, it goes all the way along its coastline.
The south is just like ours, the farther south you go, the warmer it gets.
It is said that the continent is tens of thousands of miles long from north to south."
Zhou Shaofan didn't expect that he would gain so much from his visit. He was so excited that he quickly took the pen and paper from Huaiyu's desk and asked Wu Huaiyu to help draw a map.
Wu Huaiyu hesitated.
You can't draw a map of the world.
But after thinking about it, he decided to draw a simpler world map.
He first drew a map of the Tang Dynasty in the center of the paper, with the Yangtze, Yellow, and Bohai Bays starting from Liaodong in the north, Jiaozhi in the south, and Dunhuang Desert in the west.
Although the drawing was intentionally not so detailed, the scale is still much better than the map at this time.
He even marked the locations of some important states.
Zhou Shaofan became more and more surprised as he watched.
Is the Central Plains that big?
Is the South so vast?
The land south of Lingnan alone is so big, and the area south of Bashu and central Guizhou is also that big?
Tuyuhun's territory is also quite large, and Tubo seems to be a bit big too. Well, the countries of Tianzhu behind Tubo are quite close.
Taking the Tang Dynasty as the center, Huaiyu included the Eastern and Western Turks, the Three Kingdoms on the Korean Peninsula, and the Japanese Kingdom in the East, followed by Kumoxi, Khitan, Shiwei, Mohe, Fuyu, Qudumei, Liugui, and Yaksha Kingdom one by one.
superior.
"Is the north of the Tang Dynasty still so big?"
The Monan area outside the Great Wall is so vast, but the Mobei area to the north of the Yinshan Desert is even larger. Even to the north where the Turks and Tiele people are located, there is actually a wider area, which was marked by Wu Huaiyu as a barbaric tribe in the forest.
In comparison, Datang is so small.
"Is it wrong to draw the Central Plains so much?"ωωw..net
"It's really not that big within the Great Wall," Huaiyu said.
If we talk about the traditional core areas, they must be within the Great Wall, and then north of Lingnan, the southwest area, at most half of Sichuan, Guizhou, Xiangxi, Yunnan, and most of Guangxi are not included.
Looking at it this way, it's really not that big.
Especially compared with the surrounding places, even if you take Mohe, Shiwei, Tiele, Turk, Tubo, and Tuyuhun, the territory is quite large and borderless.
Even the Cuan family in Nanzhong controlled a vast area of Nanzhong.
I used to think that the Jiaozhi area controlled by the Central Plains was very large, but now I look carefully at the map drawn by Huaiyu, and I see that Jiaozhi is just a slender tail along the coast, and there is a very large land to the west, which is no smaller than the Central Plains.
Zhou Shaofan, who once served as an official in Jiaozhi County, had a very intuitive and profound impression of Jiaozhi County. He knew very well how big Jiaozhi County was, and he also vaguely knew that the barbarian territory to the west of Jiaozhi County was very large. But now the map drawn by Huaiyu, Jiaozhi County
It was so slender and narrow. Compared with his impression, the barbarian land was too big.
There are even so many large and small islands in the South China Sea, many of which are as big as the Central Plains.
Huaiyu went back to painting and continued painting.
The Western Regions of Gaochang, Kucha, Shule, and Khotan all sound very famous, but they are indeed not big. They were once controlled by the Han Dynasty, and there are maps for all of them. Zhou Shaofan compared them and it seems that the drawings are quite correct.
Further west, there are several large lakes.
Western Turks, Western Turkic Khazars, Tocharians, then Persian Sasanians, and then west and east Rome...
Wu Huaiyu did not draw the map as a connected earth, but as a tiled one.
From the Tang Dynasty to the east, there is the Haidong Continent and the Ming Empire, and to the west, it reaches Persia, Rome, Frankfurt, Gothic Egypt, etc., and then there are no more paintings on both sides.
He also painted the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Caspian Sea, and the Black Sea.
Zhou Shaofan held this somewhat abstract map of the world in his hands as if he had found a treasure.
His eyes blinked.
"Then Haidong Continent is so big and so isolated overseas. Is it just the Ming Dynasty?"
"My master has never been to Haidong, but when he was in the Yaksha Kingdom, he heard a lot about Haidong. He also saw the merchants who were stranded on the seashore of the Yaksha Kingdom due to the storm on the Haidong merchant ships. It is said that the Haidong continent is actually
There are also many countries and tribes,”
Zhou Shaofan stared at the map and looked at the long coastline, "If I built strong ships in the Tang Dynasty, selected the best sailors, and sailed along the coastline, would I be able to reach the Ming Dynasty in the east of the sea?"
"It's difficult, but if you make more preparations and spend twenty years, you should be able to do it."
"Twenty years?"
"It is definitely not possible to sail directly to the Ming Dynasty, but it can be sailed in sections. For example, there is a mature route to Silla now, but there is no mature route further north. Then we have to find a new route and establish one along the new route.
supply point,
After all, the further north you go, the more unknown you get, and the weather in the north is freezing cold, and the sea will even freeze in winter. Therefore, you will definitely not be able to continue sailing during the winter ice period, and you must have a supply base for the winter.
I suggest that we establish more supply strongholds along the coast for the winter. We can even establish contact with the local indigenous tribes, trade with them, and even recruit them for His Majesty. In this way, we can also hire local people as guides.
In this way, we can continue to expand northward. In twenty years, we should be able to find a mature route from the Tang Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty in Haidong."
Twenty years is a long time, but Zhou Shaofan felt that Wu Huaiyu was making a conservative estimate. Even if he used this stronghold-style method to find new routes, if more ships and people were invested, it would not take so long at all.
If it's up to ten years, that's acceptable.
During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Central Plains did not know the situation in the Western Regions. Zhang Qian's passage to the Western Regions made the Central Plains aware of the situation in the Western Regions. Later, didn't the Han Dynasty conquer the Western Regions and establish the Anxi Protectorate?
Now that the Tang Dynasty knew the route to the Ming Dynasty in Haidong, even if there was no existing route, it could still find one.
When Wu Huaiyu saw him like that, he knew what he was thinking. It was estimated that Li Shimin would definitely think the same way after seeing the map, but he was not worried at all that the Tang fleet visiting the Ming Dynasty would not be able to find the Ming Dynasty, and then Li Shimin would come to him to question him.
With today's shipbuilding and navigation technology, it would only take a few decades to go north from Daming along the coast, or even pass through the Bering Strait, pass through Alaska, and finally reach San Francisco. Isn't that just a dream?
Even if it takes decades, it may not be successful.
