Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 903 0898 [Foreign Affairs]

Ju Ming took a long time to meet with envoys from various countries.

In addition to Xixia, Annan, and Japan, there are also Dali, Champa, Chenla, and Yellow-headed Uighur.

The reason why they come to Luoyang in the past two months is because they all choose to set off after spring, and arrive one after another in early summer.

In the side hall of Chui Gong Hall, envoys from various countries gathered together to wait.

Du Yingwu glanced at the Champa and Zhenla envoys with a disdainful smile on his face. Last winter, he led his troops south, playing with the armies of the two countries like monkeys, and repulsed the coalition forces with a little trick.

"The envoys from Xuanzhancheng, Zhenla, and Annan are here to see you!"

"Xuanzhan City, Zhenla..."

One after another, the envoys from the Three Kingdoms stood up one after another and followed a eunuch towards the Chui Gong Hall.

Then, they all kowtowed to the Ming Emperor.

After being rescued, the envoy from Occupy took the lead in complaining: "Your Majesty, last year our country was ordered to send troops to join hands with Chenla to attack Annan. During the decisive battle, Chenla's army stood by and watched, and even escaped from the battle. On the way to withdraw, they looted our country's territory. Wuzhou!”

The Zhenla envoy argued: "The two countries' coalition forces captured the city of Malingzhou. The soldiers who occupied the city entered on their own, but they did not let us enter the city. Even when we attacked the enemies outside the city, the generals who occupied the city came to stop us."

"Are you attacking the enemies outside the city? You are looting the villages on the outskirts!"

"Even if you are looting the village, it is still looting the Annan village. What is it if it is not an enemy?"

"Malingzhou has always been my Champa territory, and the people there are also Champa people."

"You said that Maling Prefecture is a Champa territory. How come it was in Annan's hands ten years ago and is still in Annan's hands now?"

"But when you looted the villages, Malingzhou was in my hands!"

"..."

The envoys from the two countries kept quarreling, and Du Yingwu stood beside him and was very happy.

The envoy from Champa suddenly knelt down and said: "His Majesty, the Supreme Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, when you canonized the king of Champa, you also granted our country's rulers Mazhou, Lizhou and Zhengzhou the positions of military governor. I heard that Annan will also become a vassal of the Ming Dynasty. , please order Annan to return these three states to our country."

Du Yingwu said angrily: "Why return it? It was the late ruler of Champa who promised to cede it to our country!"

The envoy to capture the city said: "But His Majesty the Ming Emperor has granted the title of military envoy to the three states of our country. These three states are occupied by Annan. If Annan does not return the territory, where will the dignity of His Majesty the Ming Emperor be?"

Du Yingwu said no more, but looked at Ju Ming.

Ju Ming thought carefully: "Return Wuzhou to Champa."

Du Yingwu quickly expressed his position: "It all depends on the Holy Emperor. Our country is willing to return Wuzhou to Champa."

Annam and Champa have different ethnic groups, as well as different religions and customs.

The three states of Ma, Li and Zheng were occupied by Annan for thirty years and have not yet been completely digested. Although Wuzhou was captured last year, it was difficult to digest it, and it was also plundered by Chenla. Annan actually had no plans to occupy it for a long time.

Since the Ming Emperor ordered Wuzhou to be returned, Annan just went down the slope.

Of course, returning territory comes with a price!

Du Yingwu said: "You can return Wuzhou, but you have to spend 100,000 shi of grain to redeem the city."

The envoy from the city sneered: "If you need 100,000 shi of food, what else can you redeem? Think of it as army rations. We will fight another battle next year and take back Wuzhou ourselves!"

"How dare you say these things for a country that has been defeated many times? If we fight again next year, I will personally capture the leader of the Champa City and take him to Luoyang and hand him over to His Majesty the Emperor!" Du Yingwu mocked.

The Champa envoy said: "Who doesn't know that there is very little population left in Shenglong Prefecture? Who doesn't know that there will be a famine in Annan this year? If Wuzhou is not returned, we don't have to wait until next year. Our country will send troops this winter."

Du Yingwu really didn't dare to continue the fight this year, but he still said stubbornly: "Let's bring troops to fight and see who will lose the city and land."

The two continued to bicker for more than ten minutes before Ju Ming finally said: "Let's do this. Wuzhou will be returned to Champa without having to pay any money or food to redeem it. The position of the governor of Champa as the governor of the three states will be revoked. From now on, both the Ming Dynasty and Champa will recognize that the three states belong to Annan."

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

The envoys of the two countries stopped making trouble and each took what he needed.

One regained the lost land of Wuzhou.

One obtained the final ownership rights of the three states of Ma, Li, and Zheng.

Ju Ming looked at the Zhenla envoy again: "Zhenla sat back and watched his friendly forces being defeated, and even fled before the battle. He also plundered friendly countries during the withdrawal. He ordered Zhenla to compensate the captured city 30,000 shi of food, otherwise he would be deprived of his position as the leader of the country!"

The envoy of Zhenla was very unhappy and said: "It was Champa that prevented our troops from entering the city! And why did they only punish our country but not the Golden Tooth Country? The Golden Tooth Country withdrew its troops without authorization and took me away from Annan. Chenla Land.”

That territory was in the northern part of Laos in later generations, and the specific situation was very complicated: nominally it belonged to the land of Chenla, but in fact the tribes were subordinate to Annan, but those tribes had the same origin as the Golden Tooth Kingdom.

Annan ceded that area to the Golden Tooth Kingdom in exchange for the Golden Tooth Kingdom withdrawing its troops last year, and the real owner Chenla was left alone.

Ju Ming said: "The Golden Teeth Kingdom ignored the order of the suzerain, withdrew its troops without authorization, and invaded the territory of its friendly countries. In the name of the Son of Ming Dynasty, I cut off all its titles and official positions, and ordered all the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty to attack it together! Including Dali, Annan, Champa, Zhenla, we must all attack Jin Teeth. Even if we are not bordering and cannot send troops, we should still declare war!"

The Zhenla envoy said: "Your Majesty, if our country sends troops to attack the Golden Tooth Kingdom, I am afraid that Annan and Champa will take advantage of the opportunity and invade."

Ju Ming said: "Zhenla is attacking Jin Teeth. No country can take the opportunity to attack Zhenla. Anyone who dares to use troops against Zhenla is equivalent to declaring war on the Ming Dynasty!"

"Your Majesty is holy."

The Zhenla envoys were overjoyed. They could finally take care of the Golden Teeth Kingdom.

The affairs of these three countries have been settled, and they all think that Ju Ming handled it fairly. After they retreated, the Dali envoy came to the palace again.

After the Dali envoy kowtowed, he quickly got to the point: "Your Majesty, there is a prince in our country who has grown up but has not married yet. I request the Ming Dynasty to grant a noble daughter of the country as the prince's concubine."

"Yes." Zhu Ming actually agreed directly.

There are many noble girls from the Jin Kingdom washing clothes in the Luoyang Palace. Just choose one of the right age and make her a princess and marry Duan Yu's son.

If the Seljuk Sultan proposes marriage next time, he can also choose a noble girl from the Jin Kingdom and canonize her as a princess to marry.

A total of five daughters of Wanyan Zongwang, Wanyan Zonghan, and Wanyan Zongqian are still virgins and are currently doing laundry in the Clothing Bureau!
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the marriage!"

The Dali envoys were very happy. They didn't care who the noble girl was, as long as they had a formal Ming title.

The internal strife in Dali Kingdom became more and more serious.

Prime Minister Gao Liangcheng could no longer suppress it, because it was purely an internal struggle within the Gao family.

Gao Liangcheng's ability to serve as Dali Prime Minister has nothing to do with his personal ability. Because he was too young at the time and had no chance to show his talent.

Instead, it was because he did not have a deep foundation and had not achieved any achievements that he was pushed out by various factions of the Gao family as a front.

Just a compromised prime minister.

Gao Liangcheng was able to suppress the king, but he could not suppress the Gao clan. This guy has already announced his semi-retirement, leaving each of the Gao family to fight on their own.

Duan Yu had eight sons, and various factions of the Gao family placed bets, each choosing one of them to support.

So the internal affairs of Dali became interesting. The king was unable to control it and the prime minister was too lazy to control it. A group of people from the Gao family wooed the big names in the country and supported the eight princes in their struggle for power.

Eight insects seize the direct descendants!

The winner in history is Master Yideng and his father.

The envoy from Dali added: "There is a Princess Zhaoqing in our country who is only fourteen years old. I would like to ask your Majesty to take her into her care."

"Yes." Zhu Ming was too lazy to refuse. It didn't matter if he had one more concubine.

On the contrary, Dali took the initiative to request marriage, and the political signal it released is worthy of study.

It's probably because Duan Yu felt that the Eight Insects' seizure of the direct descendants was too confusing and would most likely affect him. So he selected a son and asked to marry a noble daughter of the Ming Dynasty, so as to determine the position of crown prince and suppress the succession disputes among various factions in the country.

Duan Yu married his daughter to Zhu Ming to further gain Ming's support and consolidate his power.

This puppet king is now an ally with the powerful prime minister. The king and the prime minister joined forces, and with the support of the Ming Dynasty, they were able to quickly quell the chaos.

Ju Ming didn’t want to marry Duan Yu’s daughter, but he wanted to marry Duan Yu’s sister.

It would be best to call this sister Wang Yuyan, but if that doesn't work, she could just as well be called Mu Wanqing.

But no matter who he marries, Zhu Ming's seniority will not be lower than Duan Yu's because he can adopt the "promotion" system of the Song Dynasty.

For example, if a prince-in-law marries a princess, the prince-in-law will be directly promoted to the same generation as his parents.

In this way, when the princess gets married, she doesn't have to pay junior courtesy to her father-in-law and mother-in-law.

Now that Duan Yu's daughter is married, she will definitely be "promoted", and she will be promoted two generations in a row according to the country of father and son.

After Princess Dali was promoted to the throne, Zhu Ming became both Duan Yu's son-in-law and Duan Yu's father!

Ju Ming said: "When you return home, tell the leader of Dali that the Golden Teeth Barbarians have betrayed the Ming Dynasty, and all Ming vassals should attack them together. I have ordered Chenla, Annan and other countries to send troops, and Dali should also send troops to attack Jin Teeth."

"The Holy Emperor has orders, and Dali will definitely obey them."

The Dali envoy was very happy because the Golden Teeth Kingdom was their enemy and had been invading and encroaching on Dali's territory over the years.

The next one is Cao Tuan, the Xixia envoy.

Mainly negotiating the disputes between the border residents of the two countries, Cao Tuan once again assured that the Xixia border residents would not cross the border again and had already punished the relevant tribes.

Ju Ming expressed his approval and verbally commended Li Qianshun for his respect.

Finally, the Japanese envoy entered the palace.

The two sides had a polite conversation, and Hanoi Jingguo said: "His Majesty the Holy Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, our country has hired several prospecting craftsmen to search for gold, silver, and copper mines in various counties."

"Oh?

Ju Ming was overjoyed: "Yes, please."

After Japan was forced to open its country, a large amount of Chinese goods poured in, and many of them were luxury goods.

Japan first started bartering, and then gradually used Ming coins. Now it is running a deficit every year and not enough money.

Not to mention gold and silver mines, they couldn't even find copper mines.

Super-large copper mines in Japan were not discovered until the end of the Ming Dynasty, and their locations were not very remote. It’s purely a matter of prospecting technology!

Ju Ming is very happy to help Japan prospect and will not send troops to occupy it again.

The greater the amount of gold, silver and copper mining in Japan, the more financial resources Japan will have to purchase Chinese goods, which can stimulate the development of China's industry, commerce and maritime trade.

(End of this chapter)