Smuggling Daming

Zhengde was in a very good mood during this period. After finding Zhou Zhong, his own brother, he finally completed a matter of his heart, and Zhou Zhong was not like him infertile. Now he has a daughter. When he wrote a letter some time ago He also told himself that his two wives were pregnant together, which made Zhengde and Queen Mother Zhang overjoyed, thinking that they should give birth to a boy now.

As long as his younger brother Zhou Zhong has a boy, it means he has offspring. At least the succession to the throne is no longer a problem. This also makes the mountain that has been pressing in Zhengde's heart finally disappear. He was still a little concerned about the matter, but he would not specifically collect young women who had given birth into the palace like before, and he even felt that his previous thoughts were a bit ridiculous.

In addition to the private affairs of the royal family, Zhengde was also very relieved by the affairs of the court, especially the corn and sweet potatoes that Zhou Zhong gave him before. After a year of trial planting, the yields of these two crops were astonishing. It was stable at about [-] catties, while the output of sweet potatoes was about [-] catties. Of course, if the sweet potatoes were dried into dried sweet potatoes, the yield would shrink a lot, but it could still exceed [-] catties. Such an astonishing output shocked the entire court. Without his urging, Li Dongyang, Yang Ting and those people are desperately promoting these two crops, intending to leave a good name in history.

This year is the most critical year for the promotion of corn and sweet potatoes. After breeding last year, the two crops can be planted on a large scale, and the names of corn and sweet potatoes have begun to spread from the capital. Many people know that the imperial court has Two grains with amazing yields.So at the beginning of the year, many state governments wrote letters, hoping that the imperial court could distribute sweet potato and corn seeds to themselves.

The cabinet is very cautious about the requirements of those state capitals. After all, the growth of a crop is also restricted by the environment. Corn and sweet potatoes grow very well near the capital, and the yield is also high, but it does not prove that the yield in other places is also the same. Very high, so the court finally decided.I still selected a few prefectures with a climate similar to the capital to promote planting on a large scale. As for other prefectures, I only sent a small amount of seeds and seedlings to these prefectures for trial planting. It is not too late to promote.

Think of the bright future after the promotion of corn and sweet potatoes.Zhengde couldn't help laughing excitedly. He didn't like being an emperor at first, so he could push away the affairs of the court. spokesperson in the hall.It's a pity that Liu Jin didn't live up to his expectations, and finally provoked anger and resentment.He had no choice but to get rid of Liu Jin. Originally, Zhengde wanted to find another spokesperson, but after finding his own younger brother, he also solved the problem of inheriting the throne. Although he is not as diligent in government affairs as his father Xiaozong.But much stronger than before.

However, although Zhengde is more diligent than before, his nature has not changed much.They still play when they should play, and sometimes they don’t even care about government affairs. Fortunately, Li Dongyang and the others have already gotten used to Zhengde’s temperament. In their opinion, the changes made by His Majesty the Emperor have made them very satisfied. Necessity can no longer be too harsh.

When Zhengde was in Shuangyu Port, he heard Zhou Zhong talk about overseas affairs and the strange customs of those European countries, especially the European custom of not taking a bath, regardless of men and women. Zhengde was even more curious, and he wanted to Know what it's like to be a person who hasn't bathed since birth?It's a pity that all the European craftsmen that Zhou Zhong recruited had already learned how to take a bath, so he never met a European who didn't take a bath.

It was precisely because of this regret in his heart that Zhengde immediately agreed without hesitation when he heard that the Portuguese sent a mission to see him. Of course, he was not just to satisfy his own curiosity. When he was in Shuangyu Port, he heard Zhou Zhong say that among the current European countries, although Portugal is a small country with few people, it is the most powerful country in Europe, so he also wants to see this European power this time.

So when the officials of Honglu Temple reported to him that the Portuguese mission had arrived in the capital, Zhengde was also very happy, and in the afternoon he summoned Da Gama and his party in the Leopard Room. Curious, there would be no major national affairs to discuss at all, so I didn't show up at all.

"Vasco da Gama, the envoy of Portugal from a small overseas country, pays homage to His Majesty the Emperor of Ming!" After Da Gama entered the main hall of the leopard room, he immediately led Magellan and others behind him to kneel down and salute. The officials of Honglu Temple asked them to do what they had to do, otherwise they would not even be able to enter the Forbidden City.

Speaking of the Forbidden City, Da Gama and others have been amazed since they came in. They used to think that the Portuguese royal palace was majestic enough, but they didn’t realize how ridiculous and ignorant they were until they saw the Forbidden City where the Ming emperor lived. His own king only lived in a stone fortress, but the emperor of Ming Dynasty actually built himself a city within a city in the capital. The Forbidden City, which occupies such a vast area, is actually just the emperor's private residence. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes , I'm afraid I can't believe it anyway.

It was also seeing this majestic Forbidden City and the various beautiful buildings in the palace with their own eyes that made Da Gama and others feel awe of the Ming Emperor from the bottom of their hearts. People are probably the most powerful people in the world, so they dare not be in awe, and it is this kind of awe born in their hearts that makes them not resist at all when kneeling down to salute. The emperor of the Ming Dynasty should be the only person in the world who can be compared with God.

"Pingshen!" Although the cabinet was not there, Zhengde did not mess around. He was wearing a dragon robe and had a solemn expression on his face, which added a bit of psychological pressure to Vasco da Gama and the others.

After Da Gama and others stood up, Zhengde took a serious look at each other. Although he wanted to go over and smell the smell of people like Da Gama who never took a bath, this occasion was really not suitable, so I could only suppress my curiosity and said: "I already know that you have signed a treaty with my governor, and promised to compensate Daming with 200 million taels of silver. , you must abide by the laws of Ming Dynasty in the future, and there must be no troubles!"

Regarding Zhengde's lesson, Da Gama and others naturally nodded in agreement. They all knew that the young man in front of him was the ruler of the entire Ming Empire, and his power was greater than that of the Pope in Europe, so they dared not have the slightest thought in their hearts. disrespectful.

After Zhengde reprimanded him a few times, he also felt very bored, and immediately began to ask Da Gama about the situation in Europe, and how they crossed thousands of mountains and rivers to reach Daming?

Regarding these problems of Zhengde, da Gama naturally knew everything. In order to show his erudition, he first talked about the situation in Europe as a whole. The kinship relationship between the countries is extremely complicated, and he will not be able to figure it out for a while, and there are endless wars between the countries. Today you fight me and tomorrow I fight you. There is no peace for a day. The reason why the Portuguese are so hard to open up In addition to seeking overseas wealth, they also want to expand their own living space. Even if Portugal in Europe perishes, they can still establish a country overseas.

For this kind of chaos in Europe, Zhengde couldn't figure it out for a long time, and finally he stopped thinking about it, but focused on the strange customs in Europe, such as not taking a bath. As a result, Da Gama He told Zhengde very proudly that he hadn't bathed for ten years, and the last time he was surrounded by water was when he accidentally fell into the sea on a boat.

Hearing that the Portuguese ambassador hadn't taken a bath for ten years, the eunuchs and maids in the hall looked at Vasco da Gama with a bit of disgust and fear, and several eunuchs who were closer to him retreated involuntarily. two steps.

Zhengde was also very curious, and immediately stood up and walked beside Vasco da Gama, but before he got close to da Gama, he was stopped by a pungent smell of spices, and he really didn't have the courage to move forward , At the same time, I thought it was no wonder that these Portuguese were in such an urgent need for spices. It is estimated that if the whole of Europe was separated from spices, it would have become a cesspit long ago.

In addition to the European custom of not taking a bath, Zhengde also does not understand the special position of the Pope in Europe. In his opinion, religion is only used to educate people's hearts, how can they interfere with secular power, and the power of the Pope is so great that even It is unimaginable in Ming Dynasty that the monarch of a country can be appointed and dismissed directly, so Zhengde also cannot understand what kind of existence the pope and the church are?However, this also reminded Zhengde, and he decided to tighten the control on religion in the future, so as to prevent Ming Dynasty from repeating the mistakes of Europe.

After learning about the situation in Europe, Zhengde asked Da Gama about the routes from Europe to Daming in detail. He had heard about these routes from Zhou Zhong before, but Zhou Zhong only learned the knowledge from later books, and he didn't know much about them. Not very detailed, especially in terms of sea routes, Da Gama personally opened up the route from Europe to the Indian Ocean, so when talking about the hardships and dangers on this route, Zhengde was also very fascinated. When I was at the incomparable southern tip of Africa, I couldn't help admiring the bravery of Da Gama and others.

Generally speaking, the first meeting between Masanori and Portuguese envoys such as Da Gama was perfect. The Portuguese gained the favor of Masanori, and Masanori also satisfied his curiosity, and even hosted a banquet in the palace to entertain Da Gama As a result, these Portuguese who only ate with their hands made Zhengde laugh again. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)