Emperor Ming Dynasty

In the 20th year of Shaowu (AD 1666), on May [-]th, the Longevity Festival, all officials were exempted from congratulations.

This Wanshou Festival was called Christmas Day in the early Ming Dynasty, and it was also called Christmas Day, and it was later renamed as Wanshou Festival.

The three major festivals of Ming Dynasty, Longevity Festival, Winter Solstice, and Zhengdan are all holidays.

The inner court, empresses, imperial concubines, concubines, princes, and princesses all kowtowed and congratulated.

At this time, Emperor Shaowu Zhu Yixi turned 42 and was heading towards 43.

There are 48 concubines and concubines in the harem, the prince is six years old, 22 are named after enlightenment, and 12 are young children who have not been named.

There are 22 princesses, and six are married.

Having reigned for twenty years, the number of children can be said to be quite large. As an emperor and a man, Zhu Yixi is quite proud.

"Eat and drink!"

Zhu Yixi took a sip of the wine offered by Anxi. It was slightly sweet and not too strong. It was more like a drink than a drink.

Therefore, the concubines also drank one after another, and their faces were flushed unconsciously.

"Your Majesty, His Majesty the King of Qin presents a birthday gift, wishing His Majesty a long and boundless life."

At this time, the banquet entered the gift offering link.

In the past, this was an opportunity for the feudal officials everywhere, but now it has been snatched away by the vassal states.

I saw a pile of books being brought up, carried by two eunuchs, which looked quite heavy.

At this time, an elegant man in a scarlet robe stepped forward with a respectful face.

It is the envoy of King Qin.

Among the various countries sent by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the pro-vassals are the imperial envoys, the foreign vassals are the ambassadors, and the barbarians are the ministers.

However, the envoys sent by various countries to Beijing are all called king envoys, representing the king's order.

It is the mission of the king's envoy to report to the emperor and hand over to the ministers.

It is normal to present a birthday gift this time.

In addition to the Emperor's Longevity Festival, the Queen's Qianqiu Festival, the concubine's birthday, the old man's hall, and the welcoming and seeing off of noble ministers all need a lot of support.

According to North Korea's statistics, all kinds of exchanges in a year are no less than 6 to [-] silver dollars.

As a result, countries are timid, and have to implement a model that emphasizes affection over courtesy, and sends gifts with special products, which are of high value and save money, and are full of heart.

For example, at this moment, in Zhu Yixi's eyes, there was nothing more than a stack of books in front of him.

He beckoned, the book came closer, and he found out.

This is the Yellow Book of Household Registration of the Qin State, and the book "Annan Tongshi". This kind of intention is enough to show that the King of Qin is obedient to Daming.

The emperor was very satisfied: "King Qin's gift is not bad, I have a heart."

At this time, the envoy of the king of Qi also came out and said respectfully: "My country of Qi is not as good as that of Qin, but my king's road is blue and thready, and the land is now here, so my king sent his ministers to send birthday gifts—"

Immediately, four big men walked over carrying a statue.

About two feet tall, he is a majestic general, galloping on a war horse, his cloak flutters with the wind, his armor is majestic, and his face is handsome and elegant.

At the same time, what is striking is that its eyes are black gems, the sword is inlaid with sapphires, and the horse's eyes are emeralds. The whole statue has no less than thirty or forty gems of various colors, which is extremely eye-catching.

Whether it is a carver or a gemstone, it is a first-class existence.

"This is?"

Zhu Yixi leaned over slightly, feeling that the statue was somewhat familiar.

"My king personally dispatched craftsmen from Nanyang to collect all kinds of gemstones, and sent tens of thousands of people to dig for real gold in the deep mountains. Only half of the mountain was hollowed out to get this statue."

The envoy of King Qi proudly cupped his hands and said, "This image is Your Majesty."

He was not afraid of the emperor's rebuke.

Although the holy image should not be displayed lightly, the current emperor is not ordinary, and he doesn't care about it.

Even the emperor had people carve portraits of heroes, and put them together with his own statue in the imperial mausoleum that had been repaired for more than ten years.

Of course, this is a work made by the prince himself, and it also reflects the emperor's heroism, which is filial piety.

"Very good." Sure enough, the emperor came closer to observe and found that the carvings were carefully carved, not exaggerated like traditional ones, but very realistic.

Whether it is an armor, a mount, or a real person, they are all vivid.

Although two feet is a bit short, it can't stand that it's made of gold.

You must know that if it is a first-class restoration, the gold used will not weigh more than two or three thousand catties. If war horses are added, there will be no less than six thousand catties.

That is, 6000 taels of gold and 96 pieces of silver. How many years did it take Qi to make it?
Even this two-foot-high gold sculpture cost no less than a thousand catties, and with so many precious stones, the cost should be around 10 yuan.

Compared with the poor Qi State, this is already a capital.

After thinking about it, Zhu Yixi felt more and more his intentions, and also felt that he was a little sorry for the second king Qi when he closed the country. He said slowly: "Qi has a heart, but we must do what we can."

"I'm rich all over the world, don't I still need some gold from you? Now is the critical time for the Qi country, don't take a country for my birthday!"

"I dare not wait." The envoy of King Qi hurriedly knelt down: "If His Majesty is happy by overthrowing the country, our country will certainly do it."

"Without Your Majesty, how can there be Qi?"

"Sycophant—" On the side, the king's envoys sat in a row, cursing inwardly.

However, the emperor was very happy to hear that, and waved his hand to make him retreat.

"I will send [-] silver yuan later, and a thousand horses of Su satin to the envoy of the King of Qi."

Zhu Yixi ordered in a low voice, and Liu Afu kept nodding beside him.

Immediately, there were gifts presented by the old Wuyue King, a steed horse, two snow-white foxes, and two red foxes.

"Your Majesty, this is a special product of my country of Yue."

The envoy of the king of Yue said respectfully: "This horse was bred from Mongolian horses and northeast horses in our country. It is cold-resistant, omnivorous, and can carry heavy loads. It is suitable as a draft horse."

"Based on the two white foxes and the two red foxes, they are very rare. My king personally caught them."

"En!" Zhu Yixi glanced at the fox, and then saw the horse.

If the king of Yue can care about breeding horses, it means that his heart is in the government and governing the country with his heart.

As for Weiguo, the war is still going on, and I am afraid that he will not be able to come over to present gifts until next year.

Immediately, it was North Korea, the number one foreign vassal, in the same old way:
Korean ginseng, sweet red dew (wine), matsutake mushrooms, Dacheng gemstones, bows and arrows, that's all.

Other specialties are fine, but bows and arrows have something to say.

Because the bows and arrows are specially made in North Korea, and the skills of craftsmen who escaped from the Yuan and Liao Dynasties are used, coupled with its unique environment of mountains and mountains, the bows and arrows are extremely sophisticated.

During the Japanese Invasion of Imjin, the matchlock guns of the Ming army had a range of only [-] paces, while the bows and arrows of North Korea could reach [-] paces.

Therefore, tributes, gifts, and bows and arrows have always been indispensable over the years.

Next is Kang Guo, which is purely a specialty.

Red Cherry, Ginseng Fruit, Honey, Apple, and Cordyceps.

The U-Tsang Kingdom presented more special products, such as Tibetan carpets, Tibetan knives, Tibetan incense, matsutake and so on.

Next comes Japanese knives, fans, sake and more.

Myanmar is a bit special, sending a lot of jade and jadeite.

Jadeite became popular in the mid-Ming Dynasty, and now it reached its peak in the Shaowu Dynasty.

Where?

But there are too few precious stones in China, and jade is not enough, so we can only use jadeite for decoration.

Let's not mention the next European countries.

Most of these things go to the inner treasury, and then they are rewarded to the concubines according to their discretion, and the empress takes the most part.

……

Heilongjiang, Arctic City.

After more than half a year of hard work, Arctic City finally took shape with the help of a group of tribes.

Its city is three feet high and twenty miles in circumference, enough to accommodate 20 people.

On the day of its completion, a steady stream of businessmen moved in, and at the same time brought tribal herdsmen with a radius of nearly a thousand miles.

Collectively referred to as Savage Jurchen, it refers to the Hezhe, Ewenki, Oroqen, Feiyak and other tribes who lived a life of fishing and hunting.

Some have copper bells on their bodies, some have tattooed faces in a bun, some are dressed in fish skin, and some even use birch bark as their clothing.

The variety is eye-opening.

The vassal tribes of the Arctic City have already broken a hundred and can recruit more than [-] people at a time, dominating the entire barbarian Jurchen.

Zhu Cunqu boarded the three-storey building and looked at the scattered crowds on the street. All kinds of shouts were heard endlessly, and there was prosperity everywhere.

But he was in a bad mood.

Looking up at the blue sky, he sighed, "Today is the Longevity Day again."

Undoubtedly, as a prince, the desire for power comes from the heart, so staying in Arctic City, such a mouth of Heilongjiang River, the power he obtained is almost equivalent to that of a vassal state.

This satisfied his heart, but at the same time it aroused his desire for more.

The Arctic City now only has a population of [-], which is not as good as a county in the interior.

With the passage of time, this bug called power has been growing stronger and better at this time.

At this time, his psychology is extremely contradictory.

He wanted to go back to the capital and participate in the monstrous power, but he was afraid of arousing the emperor's fear, so he sat in the East Palace and became a puppet.

"Father, father, when will you remember me as a prince?"

Zhu Cunqu muttered.

After a while, there was a noise in my ears.

Looking around, I saw a boat returning with a full load of catches, this time salmon.

Although the meat is fat, its caviar is more sought after.

Many merchants loaded with ice cubes, put caviar into the cabin of the ship, and traveled thousands of miles to the capital, so that the dignitaries and dignitaries could enjoy the delicacy.

This is also a specialty of Arctic City. Although it is not as good as the whaling industry in Heilongjiang City, it has great potential.

Dengdengdeng-

There was a burst of hurried footsteps.

"My lord, news from America."

A big man came out of breath: "There is already a boat back..."

"Oh?"

Zhu Cunqu was surprised.

"At the pier?"

"At the pier."

"Follow me."

Zhu Cunqu hurriedly walked.

When I arrived at the pier, I saw a slightly tattered ship parked at the pier, with the flag half crooked.

"Suppressing—"

At this time, a middle-aged man in a state of embarrassment came down from the boat, his footsteps staggered: "It's almost impossible to see you."

"Just come back, just come back."

Zhu Cunqu comforted him, and then personally helped him into the carriage.

Sitting in the car, the man talked about things.

Last year, after the emperor continued Zhu Cunqu's greater authority, Zhu Cunqu sent a fleet to search for the Jinsha River along the direction he went.

After untold hardships, the fleet finally returned.

"Walking tens of miles along the Jinsha River, there is a gold mine. The land is vast and the water is fast-flowing. I can't wait for more than two hundred people, so I can't mine it at all."

"So I marked the road along the way, camped on the coast, and left a group of people to return..."

"However, in the border of America, there are a lot of wild animals, and there are no roads. I just occasionally meet a few savages in animal skins, their faces are painted, and they are extremely ferocious..."

Then I talked about the difficulties when I came back, and I burst into bitter tears.

All in all, they lost some manpower, and some ships were damaged, but they generally came back.

"The land is huge. Ships have been traveling along the coastline for several days without interruption. It is at least as big as a province. No, it may be even bigger than the northeast..."

"Zhenfu, this boat is really too small. If there is a big boat with [-] materials, why fear the wind and waves?"

The man smiled wryly.

Zhu Cunqu also calmed down at this time: "It really is a gold mine, isn't it big?"

"Please take a look." Seeing that he didn't believe it, the man took out the package from behind, and saw a big piece of mud.

He pulled it a few times with his hands, revealing a piece of dog's head gold underneath.

Its brilliance made Zhu Cunqu dizzy.

"What a big piece of gold."

"Zhenfu, you can imagine how big it is just with this dog's head gold." The man excitedly said:

"As long as more people come over, even if they are panning for sand and gold, there will be many."

Zhu Cunqu took a while to calm down.

Even as a prince, it is extremely rare to come across such a large gold mine.

Money touches people's hearts, and no one can be short of money.

Before the fall of the Ming Dynasty, both the government and the public believed that the lack of money was the main reason, so both the emperor and the ministers loved money and hoped that the treasury would increase.

Even as far as he knows, once the elders realize that the treasury has less than [-] million yuan in silver, they feel that they are in danger.

Gold mines mean that gold coins can be cast, which is another income for the court.

"Don't worry, I will report to the court and send more ships and people over."

"Court?" The man was startled, his expression changed drastically.

"That's right." Zhu Cunqu said casually, "If there is no support from the imperial court, how can we continue to develop gold mines?"

"I don't need to ask about the gold that you scooped up. This is the hard work of your travels."

"But remember, on the shore of the land, could it be the king's subjects, and in the whole world, could it be the king's land."

After saying that, he left directly.

When the man saw his back, his face was full of disbelief: "Hey, there are still officials in this world who are not corrupt?"

If Zhu Cunqu is really just a local official, covering up a gold mine and making it his own, after all, the sky is high and the emperor is far away, and no one can control it.

But it can't stand that he is the heir of Daming, this gold mine will be his sooner or later.

What's more, even if this gold mine is hidden, he can't do it.

As a prince, he has countless eyeliners around him. It's true that he behaves carelessly, but if he crosses the line, he will be finished.

After returning to his township governor, Zhu Cunqu came to the study room, spread out the paper and began to write.

Regarding the American affairs, he did not dare to conceal the slightest thing and reported truthfully.

At the same time, regarding the characteristics of the emperor who likes to expand territory, he said: "If you are proficient in water and land, the imperial court can send people to station in half a month's journey, open up wasteland and farm, and also mine. In time, you can also place relatives..."