Smuggling Daming

Zhengde never thought that Zhou Zhong's arrival would bring him such a big surprise. Not only did he offer cannons and binoculars, two sharp weapons on the battlefield, but also corn and sweet potatoes, two high-yielding crops, It can be predicted that in the next few decades, Daming will no longer have to worry about food shortages.

Thinking of this, Zhu Houzhao was also extremely excited. He turned his head and saw that the roasted lamb next to him was similar, and immediately ordered loudly: "Come on, quickly bring up my favorite roasted lamb. I want to taste it with Zhou Zhong!"

Zhou Zhong was naturally very happy, he was able to impress Zhengde with the above things, and he was already thinking about how to make his own request next, especially the matter of Ming Dynasty sending troops, which is a major event that determines the entire ocean situation, and he can't be sloppy at all.

The little lady who was grilling meat next to him listened to Zhengde's order, and immediately put the roasted golden lamb on a large plate, and then took out some seasonings to make the sauce. In the seasoning, he saw cornel sauce, which he had eaten before. Although it also had a spicy taste, it could not be compared with real chili.

"Your Majesty also likes to eat dogwood sauce?" Zhou Zhong asked now, taking this opportunity, he planned to send up the remaining gifts, and then put forward his own requests.

Zhu Houzhao was taken aback when he heard Zhou Zhong's question, and then smiled and said, "That's right, I really like the spicy taste in cornel sauce, not only when I eat barbecue, but also in some other dishes I usually eat. .”

Zhou Zhong was overjoyed when he heard this, and said, "That's a coincidence, Caomin brought some chili sauce to His Majesty this time. It's made from a plant called chili, and it's hotter than cornel sauce." Several times, this plant, like corn and sweet potatoes, was produced on a continent in the Far East, and was later brought to Europe and India by the Frangji people, and finally brought back to Daming by the grass people!"

"Oh? There is still such a thing, quickly bring it up and let me see it!" Zhengde was also very interested when he heard this, and at the same time, he also became somewhat interested in the continent in the far east that Zhou Zhong was talking about. .

I saw Zhou Zhong took out the chili paste from the gift again and presented it. Originally, the production of chili this year was not much.In addition, Zhou Zhong and Bracelets also like to eat, so Zhou Zhong only prepared a few for Zhengde, and put them in eight large glass bottles. The mouths of the bottles were sealed with corks, which looked like Same as canned.

Zhou Zhong took out one of the bottles and opened the stopper, but Zhu Houzhao couldn't eat these things directly.Instead, it must be tasted by someone trusted by the emperor. This is mainly because he is worried about being poisoned. Now Zhengde only has Gu Dayong and a young eunuch with him, so the matter of tasting it naturally falls on his head.

I saw Gu Dayong digging out a spoonful of chili sauce with a silver spoon, checked that the silver spoon had not changed color, and was just about to put it in his mouth to try it.At this time Zhou Zhong hurriedly reminded: "Eunuch Gu, be careful, this chili sauce is very spicy. Most people may not be able to stand it for the first time!"

Hearing Zhou Zhong's reminder, Gu Dayong smiled slightly and said: "Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Zhou, but you don't know something. The Sa family also likes to eat cornel sauce, so the chili pepper is not a big deal."

Gu Dayong put a spoonful of chili sauce into his mouth as he spoke, but the smile on his face froze all of a sudden, and his chubby face suddenly turned red.Sweat also poured out from his forehead.Then I saw him no longer caring about his manners, he opened his mouth wide in embarrassment and took a breath while shouting, "Spicy... so spicy! Quick... give me water!"

Zhengde next to him saw Gu Dayong's panic.I was stunned for a moment, and then laughed heartlessly. Fortunately, Zhou Zhong next to me was prepared, and immediately handed the vinegar for seasoning on the table to Gu Dayong and said, "Grandpa Gu, rinse your mouth with vinegar!" , so that it won't feel too spicy!"

The capsaicin in chili is alkaline, so when you can't stand the spiciness, you can neutralize it with something acidic, which can relieve the spiciness very well.Gu Dayong took a sip of vinegar hard according to his words, and then held it in his mouth for a long time before he felt much better, but he still felt very uncomfortable in the part of his mouth close to his ears.

"Hahahaha~, great use, great use, Zhou Zhong has already reminded you, but you just don't care, and now you are suffering... no, it should be spicy, hahahaha~" Zhengde was covering his mouth with a smile Stomach, pointing at Gu Dayong gloatingly.

Gu Dayong swallowed the vinegar in his mouth, then wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with a wry smile: "It's all because I don't know good people, and I didn't take Mr. Zhou's warning to heart. I will pay for this old life."

When Gu Dayong said this, he suddenly paused, and said with a smile on his face: "But this chili is indeed much hotter than cornel sauce, and after being spicy, it makes people feel endless aftertaste, and even has a kind of appetite. I feel that it really is a rare condiment treasure!"

In fact, there is no need for Gu Dayi to praise, as long as anyone with eyes can see from his performance just now, the chili sent by Zhou Zhong must be much hotter than the cornel sauce, so Zhengde is also a little impatient at this time I tasted it, and found that the chili sauce is really terribly spicy, but for people who like spicy food, the hotter the better, so Zhu Houzhao immediately put a lot of chili peppers in his sauce, and then picked up a knife to cut The next piece of barbecue dipped in the sauce and put it in his mouth, immediately showing a very enjoyment expression on his face.

People who like to eat chili know that as long as they eat something spicy, they will keep eating it until the stomach can't hold it, and then they have to stop.This was the case with Zhu Houzhao in front of Zhou Zhong. The first time he ate chili, he didn't have any discomfort. On the contrary, the more he ate, the happier he was. Most of a roasted lamb went into his stomach.

When Zhu Houzhao was full, Zhou Zhong took the opportunity to present other gifts, among which the monosodium glutamate made of sea intestine powder made Zhu Houzhao very interested, but now he couldn't eat anymore, so he had to wait until the next time to try again.

But when Zhou Zhong took out the glass mirror, Zhu Houzhao stood up excitedly again with his stomach full, holding the mirror in his hands and looking left and right, looking smug, probably the first time he has grown so big Seeing yourself so clearly.

The presents were finished, and the banquet was almost over. Dang Gu Dayong took the eunuch to clean up the table, and then brought a pot of tea. Emperor Zhengde sat opposite Zhou Zhong, chatting while drinking tea, and Emperor Zhengde I am very interested in the origin of corn and chili, which is the continent in the far east that Zhou Zhong said, so I asked a lot of questions about it.

It was rare for Zhou Zhong to see that Emperor Zhengde was interested in overseas affairs. While introducing the situation in America, he kept organizing words in his mind, intending to tell his plan of borrowing troops.

But at this moment, Emperor Zhengde suddenly heard asking: "By the way, I heard that there are envoys sent by the Wa Kingdom to accompany you to Beijing this time, and you also agreed to some conditions of the other party. what's going on?"

Hearing that Masanori first asked about Ashikaga Ikki, Zhou Zhong had no choice but to dismiss the matter of borrowing troops for the time being, and immediately opened his mouth to talk about the current situation in Wa Kingdom, and at the same time, the relationship between Ashikaga Ikki and himself, and finally this They concluded: "Your Majesty, there are endless turmoil in the country, and the dignity of the Ashikaga Shogunate has been completely lost. They want to seek a chance to make a comeback, so they want to ask His Majesty through the grassroots, hoping to use the power of Ming Dynasty to re-establish the majesty of the Shogunate Shogunate!"

After Zhengde listened to Zhou Zhong's words, his face also revealed a contemplative look, and he said after a long time: "Wo's internal turmoil has nothing to do with my Ming Dynasty, and when the Taizu was in power, the Wa country treated me very badly. Therefore, today’s Japanese war is raging, and it can be regarded as their retribution for their disrespect to me at the beginning.”

Zhengde paused when he said this, and then continued: "In addition, I, Ming, seem to be powerful now, but in fact, there are many crises, and the treasury is even more empty. There is no money to support that Ashikaga general, let alone I have no money. Why worry about their domestic affairs, but since you have promised to introduce them, Zhou Zhong, then I will meet the Japanese envoy, and then I will refuse them face to face!"

Zhou Zhong was not surprised that Zhengde didn't care about the affairs of the Wa Kingdom. In the end, he heard that the other party agreed to meet Kazuki Ashikaga and the others for his own sake. This made Zhou Zhong very grateful. Bow down and thank you again.

However, after Zhou Zhong thanked him, he hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "Your Majesty, the grassroots have some ideas of their own about the matter of the Wa Kingdom, and I don't know whether to say it or not?"

"Oh? What do you think, let me hear it?" Zhengde asked with a very interested expression on his face when he heard Zhou Zhong's words.

"Your Majesty, just now, Your Majesty, you mentioned Emperor Taizu. The grassroots remember that the Wa Kingdom angered Taizu several times, causing Taizu to call it a country inferior to animals. In addition, after the internal strife in Wa, countless Wa kingdoms went out to sea as pirates, which caused my great Ming The Japanese riots in the coastal areas continued, and later the sea ban was implemented. Therefore, for the Japanese country, the grassroots thought that if conditions were met, their civil strife could be aggravated, so that when the population of the Japanese country was greatly reduced due to the war, our Ming You don’t have to worry about Japanese riots in history anymore!”

Zhou Zhong said with a smile at this time, although he knew that Emperor Zhengde didn't want to interfere in the affairs of the Wa Kingdom, but he wanted to take this opportunity to intervene in the political situation of the Wa Kingdom, so he wanted to try to persuade Emperor Zhengde to give Ashikaga Ikki and the others some nominal support At that time, he will also justifiably intervene in the affairs of the Wa Kingdom. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)