Chapter 22 Longevity Festival (Brothers, please vote for me)
In the 20th year of Shaowu's reign (AD 1666), on the 15th day of the fifth lunar month, it was the Longevity Festival, and no official congratulations were required.
This Longevity Festival was called Christmas Day in the early Ming Dynasty, and was also called Christmas Day. Later it was renamed Longevity Festival.
The three major festivals of Ming Dynasty, Wanshou Festival, Winter Solstice and Zhengdan, all require holidays.
The inner court, queens, concubines, concubines, princes, and princesses all kowtowed and congratulated.
At this time, Shaowu Emperor Zhu Yixi turned forty-two and headed towards forty-three.
There are forty-eight concubines in the harem, the prince is over six years old, twenty-two have been named, and the number of unnamed children has jumped to twelve.
There are twenty-two princesses and six married people.
After reigning for twenty years, Zhu Yixi had a large number of children. As an emperor and a man, Zhu Yixi was quite proud.
"Eat and drink!"
Zhu Yixi took a sip of the wine provided by Anxi. It was slightly sweet and not strong in flavor. It was more like a drink than wine.
Therefore, the concubines also drank one after another, and their faces turned red without knowing it.
"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the King of Qin would like to present a birthday gift and wish our Emperor a long life without borders."
At this time, the banquet entered the gift-giving stage.
In the past, this was an opportunity for the feudal officials in various places, but now it has been taken away by the vassal states.
I saw a pile of books being presented and carried by two eunuchs, which seemed to weigh a lot.
At this time, an elegant man wearing a scarlet robe came out with a respectful look on his face.
He is the envoy of the King of Qin.
Among the various countries sent by the Emperor of Heaven, the pro-vassals will be the imperial envoys, the foreign vassals will be the ambassadors, and the barbarians will be the public envoys.
However, envoys sent by various countries to be stationed in Beijing are all called royal envoys, representing the king's mandate.
Reporting to the emperor and delivering to the officials, this is the mission of the royal envoy.
It is normal to offer birthday gifts this time.
In addition to the Emperor's Longevity Festival, the Queen's Qianqiu Festival, the birthdays of concubines, the pavilion, and the welcome and arrival of distinguished ministers all require a lot of support.
According to statistics from North Korea, the amount of various exchanges in a year is no less than 50,000 to 60,000 silver coins.
As a result, all countries are afraid and have to implement a model that emphasizes etiquette and affection, and sends special products on behalf of others, which are of high value, save money, and are full of heart.
For example, in Zhu Yixi's eyes at this moment, there is nothing more than a stack of books in front of him.
He waved his hand and brought the book close to him, then he searched for it and understood it.
These are the household registration book of the Qin State and the book "Anantong History". These thoughts are enough to show the King of Qin's obedience to the Ming Dynasty.
The emperor was very satisfied: "The gift from King Qin is not bad, I am very thoughtful."
At this time, the envoy of the King of Qi also came out and said respectfully: "Our State of Qi is not as good as the State of Qin, but my king has a clear road and has to overcome thorns and thorns. The land is now bordered by this land, so my king sent his ministers to give birthday gifts-"
Immediately, four big men came over carrying a statue.
It is about two feet tall. It is a majestic general, riding a war horse, his cloak is moving in the wind, his armor is majestic, and his face is handsome and elegant. It can be said that every detail is revealed.
At the same time, what is striking is that its eyes are made of black gemstones, the sword is inlaid with sapphires, and the horse's eyes are made of emeralds. The entire statue has no less than thirty or forty gems of various colors, which is extremely eye-catching.
Whether it is carving or gemstones, they are all top-notch.
"This is?"
Zhu Yixi leaned forward slightly and felt that the statue was somewhat familiar.
"My king personally sent craftsmen from Southeast Asia to collect all kinds of precious stones, and sent tens of thousands of people to dig for real gold in the deep mountains. We hollowed out half the mountain to get this statue."
The envoy of the King of Qi proudly held up his hands and said: "This statue is for Your Majesty."
He was not afraid of the emperor's blame.
Although the icon should not be shown lightly, the current emperor is unusual and does not care about it.
The emperor even had the statues of the heroes carved and placed them together with his own statues in the imperial mausoleum that had been under construction for more than ten years.
Of course, this is the work of the prince himself, and it also reflects the emperor's prowess and filial piety.
"Very good." Sure enough, the emperor came closer to observe and noticed that the carving was careful, not as exaggerated as the traditional one, but very realistic.
Whether it's armor, a mount, or a real person, they are all vivid.
Although two feet is a bit short, I can't stand the fact that it is made of gold.
You must know that if it is a first-class restoration, the gold used will not be less than two or three thousand catties. If you add war horses, it will be no less than six thousand catties.
That is 96,000 taels of gold and 960,000 pieces of silver. How many years did it take Qi to make it?
Even this two-foot-tall gold sculpture cost no less than a thousand kilograms, and with so many gems, the cost should be around 100,000 yuan.
Compared with the poor Qi State, this is already a waste of money.
After thinking about it, Zhu Yixi became more and more aware of his intentions. He also felt that he felt a little sorry for his second son, King Qi, when he sealed the country. He said slowly: "Qi is interested, but it must act according to its ability."
"I am rich all over the world, do I still need a little bit of gold like yours? Now is the critical moment for the Qi State. Don't let the whole country suffer because of my little birthday!"
"I don't dare." The King of Qi hurriedly knelt down and said: "If your Majesty is happy to overthrow the country, our country will definitely do the same."
"Without Your Majesty, how could there be Qi?"
"Flattery——" On the side, the royal envoys sat in a row and cursed secretly.
However, the emperor was very happy and waved his hand to let him go.
"I will send you 10,000 silver yuan and 1,000 pieces of Su satin to the envoy of the King of Qi later."
Zhu Yixi ordered in a low voice, while Liu Afu on the side kept nodding.
Immediately, there were gifts presented by the old Wuyue King, a horse, two snow-white foxes and two red foxes.
"Your Majesty, this is a specialty of our country."
The envoy of the King of Yue said respectfully: "This horse was bred for our country from Mongolia and Northeastern horses. It is cold-tolerant, omnivorous, and can carry heavy loads. It is suitable as a draft horse."
"Because these two white foxes and two red foxes are very rare, my king personally caught them."
"Yes!" Zhu Yixi glanced at the fox, and then saw the horse.
If the King of Yue was able to care about raising horses, it meant that his heart was in government affairs and he was dedicated to governing the country.
As for Weiguo, the war is still going on, and I am afraid that I will only be able to come and offer gifts next year.
Soon, it was North Korea, the number one foreign vassal, with the same old formula:
Korean ginseng, sweet red dew (wine), matsutake mushrooms, Ayutthaya gems, bows and arrows.
Other specialties are just that, but bows and arrows have something to say.
Because this bow and arrow were specially made in Korea, using the skills of craftsmen who escaped from the Yuan and Liao Dynasties, and coupled with its unique mountainous environment, the bow and arrow are extremely sophisticated.
During the Imjin Japanese Rebellion, the matchlock guns of the Ming army could only shoot a hundred paces, while the North Korean bows and arrows could reach a range of 300 paces.
Therefore, the tributes, gifts, and bows and arrows over the years are always indispensable.
Next, there is Kang State, which is purely a specialty.
Red cherries, ginseng fruit, honey, apples, and cordyceps.
Wei Zangguo presented more special products, such as Tibetan blankets, Tibetan knives, Tibetan incense, matsutake, etc.
Next are Japanese knives, fans, sake, etc.
Myanmar is special, sending a lot of jade and jade.
Jade became popular in the mid-Ming Dynasty, and now reached its peak in the Shaowu Dynasty.
Where did it come from?
However, there are too few gems in China and not enough jade, so we can only use jade for decoration.
It’s okay not to mention the following European countries.
These things were collected in the inner treasury and then given to the concubines at discretion, with the queen having the largest share.
…
Heilongjiang, Arctic City.
After more than half a year of hard work, Arctic City finally took shape with the help of a group of tribes.
Its city is three feet high and twenty miles in circumference, enough to accommodate 200,000 people.
On the day it was built, a steady stream of businessmen moved in, bringing with them tribal herdsmen from nearly a thousand miles around.
Collectively called the Savage Jurchens, they refer to the Hezhen, Ewenki, Oroqen, Feyak and other tribes who live a life of fishing and hunting.
Some have copper bells hanging on their bodies, some have tattoos on their faces, some wear fish skin, and some even use birch bark as clothing.
The variety is quite eye-opening.
The vassal tribes of Arctic City have exceeded 100, and can recruit more than 5,000 people at a time, dominating the entire savage Jurchen.
Zhu Cunqu climbed up to the three-story building and looked at the scattered crowds on the street. All kinds of shouts and shouts could be heard constantly, and everything he could see was bustling.
But he was in a bad mood.
Looking up at the blue sky, he sighed: "Today is the Longevity Festival again."
There is no doubt that as a prince, his desire for power comes from his heart, so staying in Arctic City, an estuary of the Heilongjiang River, the power he gains is almost equivalent to that of a vassal state.
This satisfied his heart, but at the same time aroused his desire for more.
Arctic City now only has a population of 10,000, which is not as good as a county in the mainland.
As time goes by, this bug called power has grown stronger and become more and more powerful.
At this time, he was extremely conflicted mentally.
He wanted to return to the capital and join the overwhelming power, but he was afraid of arousing the emperor's jealousy and becoming trapped in the East Palace and becoming a puppet.
"Father, father, when will you remember me as the prince?"
Zhu Cunqu muttered.
After a while, there was a noise in my ears.
Looking around, I saw a boat returning full of catches. At this time, salmon.
Although the meat is plump, its caviar is even more popular.
Many merchants loaded ice cubes, loaded caviar into the cabins of ships, and traveled thousands of miles to the capital to let the dignitaries enjoy the delicious food.
This is also a specialty of Arctic City. Although it is not as good as the whaling industry of Heilongjiang City, it still has great potential.
Thumb thump thump——
There was a slight rush of steps.
"Sir, news from America."
A big man came panting: "A ship has returned..."
"oh?"
Zhu Cunqu looked surprised.
"At the dock?"
"Parking at the pier."
"Just go with me."
Zhu Cunqu walked in a hurry, running around.
When we arrived at the pier, we saw a slightly shabby ship parked at the pier, with the flag half crooked.
"Zhenfu——"
At this time, an embarrassed middle-aged man got off the boat and staggered over: "I almost missed you."
"It'll be good to come back, it'll be good to come back."
Zhu Cunqu comforted him, and then personally helped him get into the carriage.
Sitting in the car, the man started talking about things.
Last year, after the emperor granted Zhu Cunqu greater authority, Zhu Cunqu sent a fleet to search for the Jinsha River along the direction it went.
After untold hardships, the fleet finally returned.
"A few dozen miles along the Jinsha River, there is a gold mine. The land is vast and the water is fast. I can't wait for more than two hundred people, so I can't mine it at all."
"So we marked the route along the way, camped on the coast, and left a team of people to return..."
"However, in that American land, there are many wild beasts and there are no roads. I only occasionally encounter a few savages wearing animal skins, with paint on their faces, and they are extremely ferocious..."
Then he talked about the difficulty of returning home, and burst into tears.
All in all, they lost some manpower and some boats were damaged, but generally they came back.
"It's a huge land. Ships can travel along the coastline for several days without stopping for more than three to five hundred miles. It's at least as big as a province, no, or it's even bigger than the northeast..."
"Zhenfu, this boat is too small. If it is a big boat with three thousand materials, why should we be afraid of wind and waves?"
The man smiled bitterly.
Zhu Cunqu also calmed down at this time: "It's really a gold mine, isn't it big?"
"Please take a look." Seeing that he didn't believe it, the man took out the package from behind and saw a big piece of mud.
He pulled it a few times with his hand, revealing a piece of gold nugget underneath.
Its brilliance made Zhu Cunqu dizzy.
"What a big piece of gold."
"Zhenfu, just with this nugget of gold, you can imagine how big it is." The man said excitedly:
"As long as more people come here, there will be a lot of gold even in the sand panning."
It took Zhu Cunqu a while to calm down.
Even as a prince, it is extremely rare to encounter such a large gold mine.
Money moves people's hearts, and no one can be short of money.
During the collapse of the Ming Dynasty, both the government and the public believed that lack of money was the main reason. Therefore, both the emperor and the ministers loved money and hoped that the treasury would increase.
As far as he knew, once the cabinet elders realized that the national treasury stockpile was less than 100 million, they felt that they were in danger.
The gold mine meant that gold circles could be cast, which provided another source of income for the court.
"Don't worry, I will report to the court and arrange for more ships and people to come over."
"The imperial court?" The man was startled and his expression changed drastically.
"That's right." Zhu Cunqu said casually: "How can we continue to open gold mines without the support of the imperial court?"
"I don't care about the gold you've caught. It's all the hard work you paid for coming here."
"But remember, the shore of the land is not the land of the king, and the whole world is the land of the king."
After saying that, he left directly.
When the man saw his back, his face was full of disbelief: "My dear, there are actually officials who are not corrupt in this world?"
If Zhu Cunqu is really just a local official covering up a gold mine and making it his own, after all, the sky is high and the emperor is far away, and no one can control it.
But there is no denying that he is the heir to the Ming Dynasty, and sooner or later this gold mine will be his.
Besides, even if he could mine this gold mine, he couldn't do it.
As a prince, he has countless informants around him, and it is true that he should be a bit wild in his behavior, but if he crosses the line, he will be doomed.
After returning to his hometown in Fu, Zhu Cunqu came to his study, spread out the paper and started writing.
Regarding matters in America, he did not dare to hide anything and reported truthfully.
At the same time, in view of the emperor's tendency to open up new territories, he said: "If the emperor is proficient in water and land, and the journey is less than half a month, the imperial court can send personnel to station, open up wasteland for farming, and also do mining. In due course, it can also be settled as a vassal..."