Bright Spring

He opened the topmost memorial, and after a general look, he couldn't understand the first two sentences; moreover, the handwriting was very bad, and the strokes reminded Zhu Gaoxu of a child who just learned to write!

But this aroused Zhu Gaoxu's interest instead, because it is impossible for court officials to be so uneducated.He immediately flipped through the place where the signature was signed to see whose memorial it was.A line of strange letters came into view, which made Zhu Gaoxu immediately understand: this is the memorial of foreign envoys.

Next to the letters, Chinese characters were added, envoys of King Mano Baxie.

The country of Manabaxie is located on Java Island in Indonesia. After Zhu Gaoxu ascended the throne, he had seen the charts left by Zheng He and some records in the files of the early Yongle period, so he had a general understanding.

Zhu Gaoxu continued to read the memorial, and finally understood the content.The Javanese envoys wrote a letter, hoping that the court would agree that Manobaxie Kingdom (Java Island) would be merged into Daming and become a province!

"Ha!" Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help laughing after reading it, and subconsciously thought that this envoy was simply weird.

Zhu Gaoxu rubbed his forehead and looked up at Hou Xian.Suddenly a question came to mind: Why is this memorial on top?

When Zheng He went to sea, Hou Xian did not go with him, but Wang Jinghong went as a deputy envoy; and Hou Xian and Wang Jinghong were eunuchs who vented their breath.Zhu Gaoxu immediately guessed that eunuchs such as Hou Xian and Wang Jinghong also had political demands.

Zhu Gaoxu handed the memorial to Hou Xian.

Hou Xian took it with a bow, and clasped his fists after seeing it, and said: "I will report to the emperor that the East King and West King of Mano Baxie Kingdom had internal strife before. The East King mentioned in the memorial has already lost everything. Territory, the meaning of the envoys, I am afraid that they want the imperial court to send troops to help them take back the land."

"So that's how it is... Now that I think about it, I seem to have read the dossier, and there is indeed such a thing. That King Xi, seems to have killed our navy officers by mistake?" Zhu Gaoxu said.

Hou Xian hurriedly said: "What the emperor said is very true. At that time, the officers and soldiers on the ship went ashore to do business, and were mistaken by the West King of Java as reinforcements hired by the East King, and their speech was not very smooth, so our people were killed for a while. There were more than a hundred people. Later, the king of the West wrote a letter to plead guilty, intending to pay 6 taels of gold, but when the memorial was sent to the capital, the first emperor had died. Later, the prince was abolished in power, and the fleet was not sent south, so the matter has been shelved to this day."

"6 taels of gold?" Zhu Gaoxu was taken aback. He didn't know about it. "The king of Java Island is so rich?"

Hou Xiandao: "In the northwest of the Manopache Kingdom, the Sanfoqi Kingdom (near Malaysia and Sumatra) produces gold; rich.

At that time, I had a giant ship of the Ming Dynasty Chen Binghai. After the King of the West found out, he was very afraid of the destruction of the country, so he promised a lot of gold!The Eastern King took the opportunity to send envoys to Beijing with the fleet, and promised to use the entire territory of Manabaxie Kingdom, but the promise was empty.The emperor's lesson. "

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at Hou Xian again, and Hou Xian immediately bent down even lower.This eunuch is trying to lure Zhu Gaoxu and restart the fleet to go to sea!Hou Xian should know that the emperor is very short of money now.

6 taels of gold!Zhu Gaoxu calculated in his heart "crackling" that the currency of Ming Dynasty is not gold standard or silver standard, except for treasure banknotes, copper coins are still the main ones.30 gold coins, roughly equivalent to [-] copper coins!

At the beginning, Zhu Gaoxu allocated 20 guan from the inner government and the Ministry of Households in order to support the Iron Works of the South Department, which literally saved tens of thousands of people in the imperial city. 30 guan of real gold and silver is considered a huge sum of money for the huge Ming court.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't even read the memorial and the file, stood up from the chair, and paced back and forth thoughtfully.

Hou Xian's voice said again: "Your Majesty, the envoys of Champa, Boni, Siam, Chenla, and Java have lived in the capital for several years and have not been able to return to China. Hu Butang, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, complained many times and wanted to provide them with food and drink." ..."

"I know." Zhu Gaoxu said.

Hou Xian hurriedly stopped, bowed and said, "Yes, my lord."

Zhu Gaoxu thought for a while, and decided that after learning more about the situation in Nanyang and planning a reasonable and effective long-term strategy, it is best to get the support of the ministers before making a decision.Anyway, those envoys from various countries in Southeast Asia have been staying here for several years, so it doesn't matter if they stay for another month or two.

Thinking of this, he sat back on the chair again.

Zhu Gaoxu has obtained various information since he ascended the throne, and Zhu Gaoxu made some speculations and judgments in his heart.The Confucian cultural circle is mainly in East Asia. In addition to Ming Dynasty, North Korea, Japan, Japan, and Annan have a relatively large influence.The Southeast Asian countries, including Myanmar and Siam (Thailand), which had contact with the chieftains on the frontier of Yunnan, were likely to be more influenced by Indian religion and Islam.

Moreover, before the rise of Portugal and Spain, European religious civilization seemed to be relatively backward; on the contrary, Islam was very strong, with strong military force, wealth and wealth, and many believers.

What impressed Zhu Gaoxu the most was that the Tatars and Wachas in Mongolia even believed in Islam.The woman Roche, who was rescued safely, once said: The Tatar nobles used horseshoes to nail those pagans (Tatars who did not want to believe in Islam) into their heads.

Because Europe dominated the world after modern times, Zhu Gaoxu had to forcibly reverse his concept: In this era, in fact, compared with Western European religions and Islam, they are stronger and richer.

Zhu Gaoxu put aside his affairs in Nanyang for the time being, and continued to read the recent memorials.He dug out Xia Yuanji's memorial.

Xia Yuanji, Minister of the Ministry of household affairs, played on the content of Yanyin.Xia Yuanji suggested to stop giving salt rewards to vassal kings and nobles, emphasizing that they should not be given to the merchant Shen's family.

Xia Butang expounded the disadvantages in a large space.

(Probably means that the imperial court could have obtained huge benefits through the salt and iron official camp. Not only can it increase the income of the household department, but also the yamen such as the governor's office of the Five Armies can also use salt to exchange with merchants, let merchants transport food, or call refugees Farm directly at the border to supply the needs of the frontier army; greatly saving the expenses of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Households.)

However, the royal family indiscriminately distributed salt to vassal princes, relatives of the emperor, and nobles, which disrupted the rules and caused the court to suffer huge losses.

Zhu Gaoxu felt that what Xia Yuanji said was very reasonable, but these ills were not caused by Zhu Gaoxu, they had existed before.Moreover, the involvement is quite complicated, which is an important means for the royal balance to compensate the dignitaries of all parties.Once cancelled, I'm afraid it will intensify|intensify the conflict!

Xia Yuanji probably thought that last year Zhu Gaoxu captured the acting king, weakened the military power of the kings, and led a large army to the north to frighten the north... so he can start to recover the interests of the court center?

Zhu Gaoxu felt that Xia Butang did a good job in the household department, but he couldn't consider the overall interests.Of course, Xia Butang may have just advocated it, and did not force it to be implemented immediately.

But what was mentioned in the memorial, what happened to the businessman Shen Jiayan?

Zhu Gaoxu looked through the government records a long time ago, only to find out that a few months ago, he had ordered Yousi to arrange and canonize Shen Xu's daughter, Shen Baoyan, as "Concubine Zhuang".

The eunuchs of the Supervisor of Rituals added salt to the dowry, perhaps because Shen Xu was a businessman; salt in the Ming Dynasty was a monopoly, and as long as there was salt, it was huge profits, so all merchants wanted to get involved in the salt trade.

After figuring out the process in the middle, Zhu Gaoxu immediately guessed that this matter was mostly done by Wang Gui, and somehow passed the approval of the cabinet and the Dianbao Department.It was because Wang Gui and the Shen family had contacts, most likely because of the favor entrusted to him by Mrs. Shen Xu.

Because for a long time before, Zhu Gaoxu did not directly govern the government, so that some things were not decided by him.

Zhu Gaoxu also remembered the matter of Luo Shi. The eunuch Cao Fu once asked Luo Shi about Huang Yan's whereabouts... Was this to curry favor with Huang Yan's enemy?Wang Gui and others showed signs of wanting to form an alliance with Hou Xian and Wang Jinghong!

Zhu Gaoxu was suddenly upset, he picked up the ink pen, and wrote on Xia Yuanji's memorial: Among the betrothal gifts of the Shen family, Yan Yin was changed to other property.

After he finished writing, he threw the memorial on the table with a bang, and said to Hou Xian, "Look at my reply, and then tell the person in charge of ceremonies."

Hou Xian held up the memorial carefully, and kept nodding his head, saying: "Your servant obeys the order, my servant obeys the order!" He glanced at the memorial, his face suddenly turned pale, and he quietly wiped his forehead with his sleeve.

Zhu Gaoxu said again: "Huang Yan, the eunuch who escaped from Zhao Wang's residence, is indeed on the side of the Tatars. I can ask the Sanfa Division to issue a disparity list. There must be Tatars who want to make money and bring Huang Yan back."

Hou Xian knelt down on the ground, kowtowed, and said: "Then Huang Yan was involved in the treason case on behalf of the royal family. This thief's life and death depend entirely on the will of the emperor. After the emperor succeeded to the throne, he still trusted and reused slaves and maidservants. His great kindness is like reborn parents. , slaves and maidservants can’t repay the emperor’s kindness just in case! The servants will never dare to be selfish, and they will swear to be loyal to the emperor for the rest of their lives!”

Zhu Gaoxu took a deep breath and said: "I also believe that you can understand the seriousness. Get up."

"Thank you, the emperor, for your kindness." Hou Xian said.

Zhu Gaoxu breathed a sigh of relief, and said kindly: "We have built hundreds of ships before, and the shipbuilding and training are costly, so we must not give up halfway. However, I will change some strategies, and I must choose a truly loyal eunuch from now on. For the envoy, continue this matter."

Hou Xian said: "Your Highness is wise!"

Chapter 7 and Seven

Before noon, Zhu Gaoxu stayed in Rouyi Hall and didn't go out for half a step.During this period, he never saw King Annan and Queen Chen again.

Zhu Gaoxu had been reading recent memorials throughout the morning, but he did not review most of them, but handed them over to the cabinet for processing; even so, it took half a day.

There is also another memorial to the envoys of foreign vassals, which Zhu Gaoxu attaches great importance to.Japan | The funeral document sent by the Japanese envoy is signed "Japan's son Yoshimitsu Minamoto", and the content is to report the news of the death of his father Minamoto Yoshimitsu.

Yoshimitsu Minamoto (Yoshimitsu Ashikaga) once accepted the canonization of "King of Japan" by Emperor Jianwen of the Ming Dynasty, and carried out exploration and trade with Daming through the method of tribute.

(The so-called reconnaissance trade, Zhu Gaoxu understands it as an official trade with political|political color. It means that Japan sends envoys and merchants to the capital to pay tribute, and the imperial court rewards the merchants with the goods they need and issues licenses and visas; those who hold visas The import of goods by Japanese merchants is recognized by the Japanese government as legal. However, the cycle is very long. Japan’s domestic trade with the Ming Dynasty stipulates that the cycle is ten years.)

Because there are few contacts between the two countries, the official records of the imperial court on Japan are far less detailed than that of North Korea.

Fortunately, Zhu Gaoxu was very diligent after he took the throne.Although he did not succeed to the throne as the crown prince, he found many previous documents and files to review, and he was particularly interested in foreign records.So Zhu Gaoxu also has some general understanding of Japan...

The relationship between Japan and Ming Dynasty was relatively poor during the Hongwu period.At that time, Japan was in the stage of civil war between the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the early Southern Dynasty had a great advantage; therefore, the court of the Ming Dynasty acquiesced that the leader of the Southern Dynasty, "Prince Huailiang", was the actual ruler of Japan.