big song poppi

Chapter 602 0599 [Buy weapons? Garrison! ]

"Your Majesty, Chief Steward Yang has arrived."

While the two were talking, Liu Chang walked into the hall and reported.

"Xuan."

Han Zhen ordered.

The next moment, three people walked in.

As soon as he entered the hall, Monkey said with a smile, "Second Brother Han, look who's here?"

Seeing Ma Sangou, Han Zhen was immediately happy: "Sangou, you are finally willing to come out of the ravine."

"I pay my respects to Your Majesty."

Ma Sangou brushed his sleeves and bowed.

You know what, the posture is quite decent.

Han Zhen said with great interest: "Sure, Sangou, married people are different."

Ma Sangou stood up and said with a smile: "Thanks to Brother Han, officials from Qingzhou, both big and small, have come to visit me during the harvest years and festivals in the past two years. I have met more officials, so I have naturally become more proficient in bowing."

Han Zhen asked, "I heard that your mother gave birth to a son at the beginning of the year. Why didn't you bring him with you?"

Ma Sangou replied, "After a long journey, my young mother and the children are exhausted, so we are going to rest at the monkey's home first."

"Ah."

Han Zhen nodded and set his eyes on a young man.

The boy was about fifteen or sixteen years old. He was standing uncomfortably beside Ma Sangou, with his head slightly lowered. His hands were so nervous that he didn't know where to put them.

Han Zhen asked, "Is this your brother-in-law?"

"Yes, his name is Wu Ji."

Ma Sangou introduced them and then greeted them, "What are you standing there for? Come and meet His Majesty."

"I…I greet your majesty."

Wu Ji then came to his senses and bowed hurriedly.

Han Zhen laughed and scolded, "You are such a good Ma Sangou. You have repeatedly declined to come to the capital before, but now you suddenly come to the capital from the mountain valley. I thought you had a change of heart and came to ask for an official position for your brother-in-law."

"Haha."

Ma Sangou laughed: "My brother is the emperor, this relationship cannot be wasted."

Han Zhen joked, "Well, you still have to give me face. Now the imperial city is still short of a night fragrance man, so let your brother-in-law take the position."

Yakaro?
Wu Ji was shocked and frightened, tears were on the verge of coming out, and he was about to kneel down and express his gratitude tremblingly.

Ma Sangou, who was standing by, saw this and grabbed his arm, scolding him, "You idiot, His Majesty is joking with you."

Seeing Wu Ji’s expression of being about to cry, Han Zhen raised an eyebrow: “Sangou, your brother-in-law can’t help but be amused.”

Ma Sangou explained, "This child has a weak temperament and is usually a taciturn person. You can call him stupid, but he is extremely talented in engineering. If he becomes an official, it will harm the people and himself. This time I came to Beijing to find a teacher for him. There are not many teachers proficient in engineering in Qingzhou and Jinan. My father-in-law has found a few, but none of them can teach him."

"I never thought he was a talented engineer."

Han Zhen became interested. After looking Wu Ji up and down, he said thoughtfully, "The Institute of Technology will start recruiting students at the beginning of the new year. Let him enter the institute then."

Ma Sangou slapped him on the back of the head and said, "You idiot, why don't you thank His Majesty right away."

"Thank you very much, Your Majesty."

Only then did Wu Ji bow.

Han Zhen asked, "Why didn't Shitou come?"

The monkey laughed and said, "His wife is pregnant and can't come."

Hearing this, Han Zhen sighed and said with a hint of regret: "I wasn't there when you two got married and had children."

Ma Sangou waved his hand and said sternly, "You had important matters to attend to at that time. How could we bother you with these trivial matters?"

"It's a rare opportunity for you to come here, so don't leave today. I'll call Xiao Chong and Xiao Song over later, and we brothers can have a good gathering together."

After Han Zhen finished speaking, he ordered: "Liu Chang, notify the food officials to prepare a banquet."

"The slaves obey."

Liu Chang responded.

Since they were all brothers, Han Zhen did not make a big fuss and chose the small courtyard behind the Chuigong Hall as the venue.

Han Zhen then ordered, "Monkey, take the three dogs to the backyard to sit for a while."

"it is good."

Monkey knew that he would also meet Zhu Da and Zhao Ke, so he nodded and led Ma Sangou to the courtyard.

……

Outside the palace gate, Zhao Ke stood aside with a respectful expression.

Even though his legs were a little sore from standing, he did not feel a trace of impatience in his heart, but instead was extremely humble.

Along the way, his awe of the Celestial Empire has reached its limit.

Especially the imperial guards stationed on the Xuande Gate Tower.

They were all tall and strong, and their murderous aura made him breathless.

Compared with these imperial guards, the soldiers from Champa, Zhenla and Annan were like beggar refugees.

"Announce Zhuda, Zhao Ke to see you!"

At this moment, the eunuch Huangmen shouted in a loud voice.

"Let's go."

Zhu Da greeted them and took the lead to step into the hall.

"Greetings, Your Majesty. I am honored to have fulfilled your mission!"

Entering the hall, Zhu Da bowed and greeted.

"Foreign minister greets His Majesty."

When I entered the palace earlier, the eunuch had already explained the etiquette of meeting the emperor, one of which was that I must not look directly at His Majesty.

But Zhao Ke still couldn't help it. He wanted to see what the emperor who ruled the Celestial Empire looked like.

As soon as I saw it, I was shocked.

It is really domineering.

Seeing Zhu Da's pitiful appearance, Han Zhen chuckled and said, "I know you have had a hard time on this trip, and I will not treat you unfairly. Don't act pitiful in front of me."

"hey-hey."

Zhu Da smiled flatteringly and began to flatter: "Your Majesty has a sharp eye. You have seen through my little thoughts."

Han Zhen instructed: "You have made a great contribution on this voyage, so I will allow you a few days to rest and go back to rest." Zhu Da used to be plump and white, but now he has become thinner and his face is dark. It is estimated that if he suddenly returns home, his parents will not recognize him at first sight.

Although Han Zhen had never been out to sea, he could fully imagine how dangerous the ocean was.

This is really like putting your head on your belt.

Therefore, when faced with Zhu Da's request for credit, Han Zhen did not feel the slightest bit of aversion.

After receiving the assurance from His Majesty, Zhu Da replied with a smile on his face: "Thank you, Your Majesty. I will take my leave first."

"and many more."

Han Zhen called out to him.

Zhu Da paused and asked, "What else does your Majesty want to ask?"

Han Zhen said in a deep voice: "Send the list of martyred sailors to the Commerce Institute, and we will provide pensions to the families of these brave men."

"Wei Chen understands."

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Zhu Da restrained his smile and nodded solemnly.

"Just go."

Han Zhen waved his hand.

After Zhu Da left, he set his eyes on Zhao Ke.

The new leader of the Bintonglong tribe is fairer than the ordinary Champa people, but compared with the people in the Central Plains, he is still dark, and his skin looks particularly rough due to years of erosion by sea breeze.

Feeling Han Zhen's gaze, Zhao Ke felt as if he was being stared at by a wild beast and dared not move.

After a moment, Han Zhen slowly said, "Are you Zhao Ke?"

Zhao Ke quickly responded, "Your Majesty, the foreign minister is Zhao Ke."

Han Zhen asked, "Since you are the Datuk of Champa, why don't you pay tribute together with the Champa envoys? Don't you know that this is against etiquette and rules?"

"I have long admired the splendor of the Celestial Empire. I am sorry for my imprudence. Your Majesty, please forgive me."

Zhao Ke was startled and immediately tried to excuse himself, his waist almost bent to 90 degrees.

"Ah."

Han Zhen smiled with an ambiguous tone and said calmly, "Get up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Zhao Ke breathed a sigh of relief and slowly straightened up.

Han Zhen asked pointedly, "I heard that the Bintonglong tribe broke away from Champa a few years ago and established their own kingdom?"

Zhao Ke was obviously well prepared. After organizing his words, he said respectfully, "Your Majesty, it is true. The Champa King has been oppressing our tribe for a long time and exploiting us too much. My father could no longer tolerate it and chose to leave Champa for the sake of the livelihood of his people."

Han Zhen naturally didn't believe this nonsense.

The tribes in Champa are just like the native aborigines in Lingnan. Each of them is a local tyrant. The king of Champa is too busy trying to curry favor with them to dare to exploit and oppress them.

Especially the Bintonglong tribe, with a population of nearly 100,000 and 5,000 private soldiers, plus it is backed by a seaport, so it has money and food.

If it were really as he said, the neighboring countries of Zhenla and Annan would probably wake up laughing in their dreams.

Han Zhen got straight to the point and said, "You are a smart man. Tell me, what do you want?"

Zhao Ke said cautiously: "Your Majesty, Zhenla has been coveting our army for a long time and is ready to take action. I beg Your Majesty to sell some weapons to our army so that we can protect ourselves."

"ordnance?"

Han Zhen suddenly smiled.

Zhao Ke hurriedly showed his sincerity: "Your Majesty, please be at ease. I will buy it at double the price. From now on, merchant ships from your country can dock at our port for free, and you only need to pay 15% of the commercial tax."

Han Zhen suddenly asked, "I heard that the King of Zhenla is a warmongerer?"

"good."

Zhao Ke was unsure of what Han Zhen meant, so he answered truthfully, "The three generations of Zhenla kings were all like this. The country had tens of thousands of war elephants and more than 30,000 soldiers."

"Champa is a vassal state of the Central Plains. As the suzerain, we should help. I have agreed to the purchase of military equipment."

Han Zhen’s words made Zhao Ke overjoyed.

However, before he could thank him, Han Zhen continued, "But just purchasing weapons is not enough. I want to set up a naval division in Linyi Port and send a fleet of Shenzhou warships to station at the port. This way, we can deter Zhenla, eliminate pirates, and protect the safety of maritime trade. What do you think?"

How could Han Zhen let go of the meat that was delivered to his door?

Station troops in Champa first, and then the subsequent strategy can be implemented smoothly.

"This……"

Zhao Ke was stunned. He had never expected Han Zhen to do such a thing. He was dumbfounded.

garrison?

He had seen with his own eyes how terrifying the combat power of the Shenzhou battleship fleet was.

How can he still sleep well if there is a fleet of Shenzhou warships at his doorstep?

Seeing this, Han Zhen frowned and said, "You don't want to?"

"No, no, no, my lord... my lord can't help himself."

Zhao Ke replied with tears in her eyes.

"Haha, Champa is a vassal state of our Great Qi, so it should be so."

Han Zhen smiled and said, "You must be tired after the long journey. Go back to the inn to rest and experience the prosperity of the capital. As for the purchase of military equipment, the officials in the court will contact you when the time comes."

"The foreign minister resigns."

Zhao Ke bowed, turned and left.

After watching Zhao Ke leave, Han Zhen turned around and asked, "Have Gu Song and Lin Cong arrived?"

Liu Chang replied: "Your Majesty, the two ministers are already in the backyard."

"Ah."

Han Zhen nodded, walked out of the hall and went to the backyard.

At this moment, Ma Sangou and three others were already chatting in the courtyard, and from afar they could hear laughter and scolding.

Han Zhen smiled knowingly, pushed the door and walked in.

The five brothers were particularly happy to get together again, and the atmosphere at the table was warm and lively.

Ma Sangou took a piece of food with chopsticks and put it into his mouth, commenting: "The food in this palace is delicious. The restaurants in Yidu can't compare to it."

The monkey laughed and said, "The chefs in the food office are all very skilled. They can even stir-fry a plate of cabbage into something beautiful."

Ma Sangou shook his head, his face full of reminiscence as he said, "But it's still not quite there. The most delicious meal I've ever had in my life was the braised pork stewed by Brother Han himself in Zhenquan Temple. That stew was really delicious. I ate five pounds of it by myself. My stomach hurt from the bloating, but I still wanted to eat."

(End of this chapter)