Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 210 Counties and Western Regions

The next day.

The side hall of Fengtian Hall.

Zhu Gaoxu pointed at the boxes of silk tea leaves and introduced Harima: "This is a little bit of Gu's thoughts. I hope that Master will bring these things back to Wusizang, and also bring back the greetings from Gu and his father."

"His Majesty and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince have shown great concern for us Tibetans. The poor monk would like to thank His Highness on behalf of the people."

Harima clasped her hands together, bowed and said.

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Master Harimah has sent people to Beijing to pay tribute before. This time you come to the court in person, which makes Gu Xin extremely happy!"

In the early years of Yongle, not long after Zhu Di came to the throne, he heard that the living Buddha Harima (the new Sheba) had a very high teaching, so he sent Hou Xian, the chief minister of ceremony, to welcome him.

At the beginning of this year, Harima set out from Karma and arrived in the capital a few days ago. He was grandly welcomed by Empress Xu, Prince Zhu Gaoxu, ministers of civil and military affairs, and monks and lay people.

Zhu Gaoxu led Harima to a seat, raised his hand and said, "Master, please sit down."

"The poor monk dare not sit on the upper seat." Harima took two steps back and bowed.

Zhu Gaoxu invited again: "Being able to come all the way to invite the eminent monk is all due to fate, and it should be done. Please——"

"Thank you, Your Royal Highness!"

Harima said respectfully.

After he sat down, he said slowly: "Since His Majesty succeeded to the throne, he has sent people to Tibet several times to deliver gifts and proclamations. The poor monk has long wanted to come to the capital to pay homage. Today, His Majesty the Prince has summoned me. I am very grateful." All."

"Although Wusizang is far away from the mainland, during the Hongwu period, Emperor Taizu had awarded titles to monk leaders and set up two capital commanders in the snow area. After His Majesty the Father succeeded to the throne, , everything will remain the same as Taizu’s previous regulations. When eminent monks come to Beijing, I will treat them well."

Zhu Gaoxu answered.

Harima put his hands together and said, "Tashi Delek (good luck and good luck)!"

Zhu Gaoxu said: "In half a month, when His Majesty the Emperor comes back, he will pray for Taizu Emperor Gao and Empress Gao at Linggu Temple. At that time, we must invite eminent monks to come and pray in person."

"Emperor Gao and Empress Gao are just like His Majesty today. They care deeply about Wu Si Zang, accumulate virtues and do good deeds. They are well-known for their good deeds, and they will be blessed forever. His Highness will not propose such a Dharma meeting, and the poor monks will also pray for them."

Harima responded.

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Then there is Master Lao."

"Harima is deeply honored."

Harima said respectfully.

half a month later.

Zhu Di returned to court and specially met Harima at Fengtian Hall.

Harima recommended the manuscript of "Kanyur", which is widely respected by Tibetans, to Zhu Di. Zhu Di was very happy and appointed Harima to be the chief editor of the Yongle edition of "Kangyur" and to publish it in a seal.

After that, Harima led the monks to set up Pudu Dazhai in Linggu Temple in Yingtianfu and Wutai Mountain in Shanxi Province to "recommend blessings" to the late Taizu Emperor Gao and Empress Gao.

Because of "many spiritual auras, the Emperor is greatly pleased", Harima was given the title of "Tathagata" and was conferred upon him as the "Great Treasure Dharma King of the Tathagata, the Most Excellent Perfect Enlightenment, Wonderful Wisdom, Good Universal Enlightenment and Blessing of the Nation, Teaching and Teaching in all walks of life" "The Great Good Buddha of the West, who leads Buddhism in the world", referred to as "the Karmapa", had a higher status than the Mahayana and Mahamerika Dharma Kings, and became the highest title among the leaders of Tibetan Buddhism at that time.

On this day, after Zhu Di finished handling matters related to Wu Sizang, he sent someone to escort Yalie Kuner to Wuying Hall.

"Ariel, do you know your sin?"

Zhu Di was sitting on the dragon chair, looking down at Ariel Kunel, whose hands were tied behind his back, and asked sharply.

Yalie replied in Chinese: "Today I fall into your hands. If you say I'm guilty, I'm guilty. Whatever you want to do, it's up to you."

"Your hands are stained with the blood of my Ming soldiers. How should you settle this account?"

Zhu Di asked.

Ariel said: "I just killed a few of your soldiers. You can settle the score if you want. Although I am no longer the king, I still have a lot of gold and silver in my family."

Zhu Di said disdainfully: "Your dirty money cannot buy the lives of my Ming soldiers. If you kill others without permission, you will die unjustly. I will use your head to pay homage to the souls of my dead soldiers!"

"Since I was detained by you in Ming Dynasty, I never thought I could come back alive."

Yalie shouted loudly: "Zhu Di, don't think that others can't understand your sinister intentions. Why did you send people to the West? Our country in Ceylon Mountain is an important place for maritime transportation. Even if I don't attack Wang Jinghong, The fleet you lead, you will still find other excuses to seize my land and my treasure. I will risk my life to expose your lies about being a friendly neighbor!"

Zhu Dihan said with a face: "Sophistry! The Ming Dynasty fleet has been cruising for several years and has never occupied an inch of land of other countries. It is friendly to all countries, and it is obvious to all the world. You cannot confuse right and wrong."

"Forget it, wasn't the Majapahit Kingdom destroyed by your Ming Dynasty? What's more, you caught yourself in the Ming Dynasty, how can you talk about justice?"

Ariel retorted: "Don't think that I can't understand you. If I had your strength, I would do the same! Whoever has strong force will have his word as justice!"

"The Boyi Kingdom of Manja burned, killed, looted, and occupied the territory of our country. It is only natural that the Ming Dynasty sends troops to destroy it. As for your land in Mount Ceylon, I am not interested. But blood debts must be paid with blood. This is the law of nature."

Zhu Di stood up suddenly, and was so angry that he said harshly: "I will use you to pay tribute to the souls of the Ming Dynasty soldiers, and I will execute you in Lingchi!"

Yalie looked directly at Zhu Di and said loudly: "Zhu Di, you can't pretend anymore! If I had known you would kill me to maintain the majesty of the Ming Dynasty, I knew I would die from the day I came to the Ming Dynasty. But I want to tell you, If you kill me, your plan will be exposed to the world. On that day, your Ming Dynasty's loyalty will be lost, and everyone in the overseas countries will be angry!"

"You are still stubborn when death is imminent. Someone, please take him down first."

Zhu Di was too lazy to talk nonsense with Yalie and raised his hand to tell the guards outside the palace.

The next day.

Fengtian Temple.

early morning.

"Your Majesty, the envoys of Pahang, Aru and Kochi have arrived in the capital. The amount of tribute is several times more than the prescribed amount, and they have once again presented their credentials to express their gratitude."

Zheng Ci, the Minister of Rites, bowed and spoke.

"Your Majesty, the reason why Pahang and other three countries are so grateful to our Ming Dynasty seems to have another meaning. I am afraid that it is partly out of awe of our Ming Dynasty, and they are deeply afraid that Ya Lie's incident will affect them. The merchants from all over the coast have also left one after another recently. Ming Dynasty."

Jin Zhong, Minister of the Ministry of War, answered.

Zhu Di said bluntly: "They are worrying too much. A Yalie will not let me change the basic national policy of Ming Dynasty overseas."

Li Zhigang, the right general, bowed and presented a memorial and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, this is a memorial jointly signed by the families of the soldiers killed by Yalie." Zhu Di asked: "Why did this thing fall into your hands?"

"Your Majesty, ordinary people can only rely on public transportation to petition to reach heaven. This is the joint petition received by the Military and Horse Division."

Li Zhigang replied respectfully.

Immediately afterwards, Wei Guogong Xu Huizu bowed out and presented a memorial, saying: "Your Majesty, this is a joint memorial of all the generals in Beijing. Everyone implores your Majesty to kill Yalie and avenge the death of his brothers. I think that As a patrol envoy, Wang Jinghong has brought disgrace to Ming Dynasty overseas and should be dismissed. I would like to ask your Majesty to choose someone else for the new patrol envoy."

Zhu Di looked at Wang Jinghong, who was standing at the end of the class below, and said loudly: "Wang Jinghong, you brought me a hot potato! Now the ministers want to kill Yalie in unison, but if you kill Yalie, you will be with him again. The national policy of me, Huairou Yuanren, has made all Western countries lose trust in the imperial court. What do you think of this?"

Wang Jinghong was called by Zhu Di, and he immediately walked out of the class, bowed and replied: "Your Majesty, the humble minister has betrayed the emperor's favor and his sin is unforgivable. But the humble minister still wants to say that Yalie cannot be killed. Killing this person will cause the loss of small overseas countries. Misunderstanding that the Ming Dynasty's cruise was to promote hegemony and power, and hating the Ming Dynasty from the bottom of their hearts. In the future, the wars faced by the fleets going to sea will be one after another. By then, the number of Ming soldiers who died overseas will not be 3000. Zero five people, but [-] people, or even more!”

"Furthermore, what Yalie did cannot represent the entire Ceylon Mountain Kingdom. The old Queen Mother and the royal sages of the Ceylon Mountains were grateful to the Ming Dynasty for their courtesy. Especially Yalie's mother, she was very grateful to Yalie. Feeling guilty for Lie's crime, he asked Wei Chen to take Ya Lie back to the Ming Dynasty to make amends."

Zhu Di said in surprise: "You want me to let him go?"

"I forgive you for being stupid. I don't know how to deal with Yalie. But the impact of killing him will be more harmful than good for the Ming Dynasty. After all, the policy of going out to sea has only been implemented since June of the first year of Yongle. More than four years."

Wang Jinghong knelt down, touched his forehead to the ground, and said respectfully: "I beg you, Your Majesty, to think twice."

Zhu Di hesitated for a moment, looked at Zhu Gaoxu next to him and said, "Prince, what do you think?"

Zhu Gaoxu bowed and said: "Father, I believe that Yalie cannot be killed, let alone replace Wang Jinghong's position as patrol envoy for this reason."

"Tell me about it." Zhu Di stroked his beard.

"Since the founding of Yongle, in just five years, my father has implemented new policies, established new customs, established grand ceremonies, moved to a new capital, sailed to the West, opened trade, captured Annan, pacified the Western Regions, and settled the Mobei. Every one of them has been earth-shattering. A feat that has gone down in history, and at the same time, every incident has mixed reputations. If Yalie is killed and Wang Jinghong is replaced, our Ming Dynasty’s national policy of Huairouyuanren will definitely be doubted by overseas countries."

Zhu Gaoxu said slowly: "Killing Yalie will arouse more serious conflicts. The countries surrounding the Ceylon Mountain Kingdom will definitely be frightened, fearing that the Ming Dynasty will also raise a butcher's knife against them. If things go on like this, no one will do it with us again. Trade. Changing national policies and plundering foreign countries is not only unethical, but the price to be paid will also be huge. We, the Ming Dynasty, sacrificed our soldiers to open up the sea, and we cannot be stigmatized as plundering overseas countries."

He knew that the reason why the courtiers were chattering and causing trouble was because they were in different positions.

And Zhu Di felt disgusted because Ariel Kunel violated the law of heaven and committed a crime that harmed heaven and earth.

In Zhu Gaoxu's view, Zhu Di knew better than anyone else that a small foreign king who secretly did bad things was just a clown, and would never become a big deal, let alone endanger the power of the Ming Dynasty.

It was just this slap on the face that made Zhu Di unable to lose face and unable to swallow his breath.

The key to this matter does not lie in the life and death of Yalie alone, but in how Ming Dynasty faces all nations in the world with the mind of a heavenly kingdom.

Therefore, Zhu Gaoxu then said slowly: "By reducing killings, we can be friends with all nations and share peace. Otherwise, patrolling overseas will only bring endless vendettas and wars. The old Queen Mother of Mount Ceylon handled this matter appropriately. , understands the righteousness well. I believe that Yalie can be detained in the Ming Dynasty, and a sage can be supported to inherit the throne of Ceylon Mountain Kingdom."

When Zhu Di heard this, he fell into deep thought.

He knew in his heart that when the Ming Dynasty fleet went out on a cruise and opened the country, it also brought strangers to the Ming Dynasty.

However, between countries, we cannot only rely on force and power, but also use culture to influence.

The subjects of the Ming Dynasty originally regarded the Fan people as savage beasts. Now some people are taking advantage of the dispute between the Ming Dynasty and Mount Ceylon to hate and exclude the Fan people. This further points the finger at the national policy that the imperial court has always pursued: showing kindness to distant people and treating all nations with courtesy.

The implementation of national policies has always been about sailing against the current. If we do not advance, we will retreat.

If he killed Yalie at this time, it would be equivalent to admitting that he had caused harm to the country and the people by patrolling.

"Wang Jinghong, as the envoy of the Ming Dynasty and the commander of the fleet, cannot bring glory to the court. Instead, he brings humiliation to the Ming Dynasty and the death of his soldiers. He is temporarily dismissed from his post to see the consequences."

After a while, Zhu Di broke the silence, looked down at the civil and military ministers in the palace, and said loudly: "As for the treatment of Yalie, we will discuss it in a few days. Now we are discussing another major matter. The Western Region has been peaceful, and I have decided to put it into counties. Do you think how?"

"Your Majesty, the Western Regions have been in constant war since the Tang Dynasty and have never enjoyed a hundred years of peace. Although the Western Regions have been pacified now, there are only over two million people in the territory, and most of them live in cities."

Jin Zhong, Minister of the Ministry of War, bowed and said: "The land there is vast and sparsely populated. If it is set up as a county, it will be difficult to establish effective management due to the rugged roads. Therefore, I think that we, the Ming Dynasty, can follow the example of the previous Han Dynasty and set up a governor's office in the Western Regions." Governing the Western Region.”

The Western Regions Protectorate was a jurisdictional institution set up in the Western Regions during the Han Dynasty. It governed more than 30 kingdoms east of Dayuan and south of Wusun. , Qianchang, Duwei, Qiequ, Danghu, generals, ministers, and princes all wore Han seal ribbons" and governed the Western Regions as local officials of the Han Dynasty.

As for the Protector of the Western Regions, it was the highest-ranking official position in the Western Regions in the Han Dynasty, with a rank of [-] shi. It was equivalent to the Commander-in-Chief of the County in the Mainland. The Commander-in-Chief was the deputy to the governor of a county and was in charge of the military.

Due to the special status of the Western Regions, the establishment of "duhu" is actually equal to the county-level division.

The main responsibilities of the Protectorate of the Western Regions are to protect the territory, coordinate conflicts and disputes among the kingdoms in the Western Regions, stop intrusions from external forces, maintain peace and order in the Western Regions, and ensure the smooth flow of the Silk Trade Road.

Qi Tai, the minister of the Ministry of War, had a different opinion. He bowed out and said: "Your Majesty, considering that the Western Region is vast and sparsely populated, and is divided into north and south parts by the Tianshan Mountains, I think we should follow the example of the prosperous Tang Dynasty and set up Anxi. The Duhufu and Beiting Duhufu divide the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains."

In the second year of Wu Zhou's reign in Chang'an, Wu Zetian established the Beiting Protectorate in Tingzhou in order to further consolidate the northwest frontier, with jurisdiction over the area west of the Altai Mountains, east of the Aral Sea, north of the Tianshan Mountains and around Lake Barkol.

After the establishment of the Beiting Protectorate, it supported thousands of miles, and social stability, agriculture, animal husbandry, commerce, and handicrafts all achieved unprecedented development, becoming the center of the northwest region.

Nine years later, the Beiting Protectorate was promoted to the Great Protectorate, and the Anxi Protectorate divided the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains.

Two years later, in the first year of Kaiyuan, Guo Qianjin, the second governor, stationed in Beiting, organized his troops into field soldiers, cleared wasteland, cultivated land, and garrisoned the border.

"Your Majesty, the Anxi and Beiting Protectorate Offices are the highest-level military and political offices established by the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions, allowing the Tang Dynasty to effectively appoint officials at all levels in the Western Regions, command the border defense troops, and implement imperial decrees."

Qitai bowed and said: "Setting up two Protectorate Palaces can, firstly, consolidate the Ming Dynasty's border defense in the northwest, secondly, it can communicate with the countries in the Western Region, and thirdly, in the event of an emergency military situation, the two can serve each other. Rely on, waiting for reinforcements from the imperial court."

When Zhu Gaoxu heard this, he thought of the fourth benefit of setting up two protective palaces, that is, the two would compete to govern the people in their respective jurisdictions, which would accelerate the court's construction and development of the Western Regions.

"Jin Qing, Qi Qing, I plan to prefecture and county in the western region and do not plan to set up a protective palace. What do you think?"

Zhu Di asked loudly.

Jin Zhong bowed and replied: "I agree with the Western Region of prefectures and counties."

"I agree." Qitai bowed and agreed.

"What do you think, ministers and ministers?"

Zhu Di looked around at the ministers in the palace and asked loudly.

"The minister waits for a second opinion."

The other ministers said in unison.

"In that case, I would like to hear if you have any suggestions on how to govern the Western Regions?"

Zhu Di then asked again.

(End of this chapter)