Hongwu Daming: Why hasn't my son rebelled?

Chapter 104 Preliminary Questions for the Marriage Contest!

Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang still had such lofty ambitions, Zhu Qi felt relieved, at least now Zhu Yuanzhang's ambitions included Korea.

Zhu Qi smiled and continued to explain the reason why he couldn't marry the princess and get married.

In the Yuan Dynasty, every king of Koryo married Princess Daeyuan. As a result, in the Battle of Bohai, seeing our army's superiority, the Koryo navy turned around and ran away.

Now he came here to ask for grace and marriage, which shows that this marriage cannot be exchanged for Gao Li's absolute loyalty.

To put it bluntly, the best choice is to set up government guards in Goryeo, clear household registration, and set up officials, just like the Central Plains, to establish effective rule.

Therefore, sooner or later there will be a war between Daming and Koryo, and it is natural to solve it as soon as possible at the beginning of the founding of the country and when the martial arts are prosperous, so as to benefit future generations.

Marrying the princess at this time, isn't that just giving away a hostage for nothing? Even if Zhu Yuanzhang is so ruthless and doesn't care about the safety of his daughter, then Goryeo killed Princess Daming to sacrifice the flag. It is not a very honorable thing to record such a thing in the history books. .

After Zhu Qi finished speaking so generally, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, obviously agreeing.

The Ming Dynasty was a very tough dynasty, and its toughness mainly came from the two emperors Hongwu and Yongle, who were full of martial arts virtues, and they did it when they were indecisive.

Among them, Yongle Emperor Zhu Dina was one of the representatives. He conquered Mobei five times and begged for more than a dozen grassland tribes. The number of times he asked for marriage is also clearly recorded in history as many as three times.

Did Emperor Yongle pay attention?
That is, there are no birds, so you should fight or fight, and you have been in the process of conquering the grassland all your life.

Of course, just like the situation encountered by many Central Plains dynasties, the unruly grassland tribes are not so easy to conquer. Even Emperor Yongle set the leaders of those tribes on the grassland as Ming Dynasty during his lifetime. Prince.

However, in the 22nd year of Hongwu, the three guards of Duoyan, Taining and Fuyu, who were said to have helped Zhu Di ascend the throne, were still rebellious and often rebelled.

Although Emperor Yongle once wiped out the three guards of Duoyan, he was still unable to effectively control the grassland. Although the Sanwei Duoyan was weak in the later period, Wala encroached on the territory of the Sanwei Duoyan and began to rise.

To put it bluntly, in order to completely conquer the grassland, there are only two ways to go together.

First, move the side!
Second, invent Maxim!

Both of these are extremely complicated and difficult. I won’t say much about the invention of Maxim. There are too many front-end technologies, and it is estimated that it will be difficult to see them in my lifetime.

There are also many prerequisites for side shifting.

First of all, it is necessary to establish effective and high-speed transportation lines, build cities on the grasslands, reclaim land, and establish effective administrative systems, economic systems, cultural systems, and so on.

Breaking it apart, it cannot be explained clearly in a few words.

At least you have to invent a jenny machine or something that can spin wool, right?

Only in this way can we start the opening song of the grassland economic development. Wool is a trade favorite in the era of great exploration. The famous black hole of trade between Britain and the lowlands in the English Channel, its core commodity is wool!
Even in the famous Hundred Years' War between Britain and France, they fought for three things, the throne, land, and wool!
In the Flanders region of northern France, in order to obtain British wool, they even publicly announced their support for the British. One can imagine the importance of wool in world trade.

As for cotton, it is really not suitable for planting on grasslands, but it is still very good for planting on the Tubo Plateau.

Of course, this is something for later.

And the reason why he didn't directly reject the requests of foreign envoys such as Goryeo and Wa was also Zhu Qi's decision for Ming's consideration.

After all, although this Goryeo has the heart of a tiger and a wolf, he still has to be a superficial brother. International diplomacy, he never said that because I don't like you, I just grinned at you.

The core of diplomacy is the relationship of interests. Only interests are the most real, and everything else is false.

So in order to prevent Goryeo from falling to Beiyuan, superficial work still needs to be done, so Zhu Qi contacted those envoys and asked them to take the initiative to write a letter, requesting a competition to obtain the qualification to marry the princess of Ming Dynasty.

At that time, if no one can pass the level, then it's no wonder that Daming didn't get married.

Of course, Enfeng still needs Enfeng, and when the time comes to directly sign the contract and conclude the tributary relationship, the appearance of what should be done will be successful.

The next step is to seize the time to eliminate Beiyuan, and then plot against Goryeo!
The most important thing is that those ministers will not say anything more.

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard Zhu Qi's words, he immediately clapped his hands, thinking that this idea was very good.

And the reason why Zhu Qi didn't discuss with Zhu Yuanzhang at the beginning, but acted directly, was because he thought that if he was rejected, wouldn't it be cool.

This is the safest way to cut first and then play.

Of course, it is impossible to say this sentence to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's attitude, Zhu Qi felt relieved, and thought cheerfully, as long as the marriage fails, the marriage of Princess Lin'an will most likely continue with Li Shanchang's son Li Qi.

After all, Empress Ma planned to marry Princess Lin'an to Li Shanchang's son Li Qi.

He was thinking of leaving after finishing his speech, leaving the rest to Zhu Yuanzhang, who would stump the foreign envoys with two random problems, and then follow the normal process to accept them as tributary states and expand diplomatic relations, what should he do? How are you?

Unexpectedly, Zhu Yuanzhang slapped the table and said:
"Third brother, your method is great, it can not only save the face of those foreign envoys, but also prevent the ministers from quarreling over it, not to mention letting your sister go to make a marriage. This matter is great!

Since you came up with it, I will leave it to you in the end. You should also solve this difficult matter together!
From now on, I will make you a marriage envoy. You go to your eldest brother and prince, and discuss with him if you have anything to do. The two of you settle the matter, and that's it! "

After Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, Zhu Qiren was dumbfounded. He never thought that this matter would fall on him in the end.

But Zhu Qi had no way to refuse what Zhu Yuanzhang had decided, not to mention that he had chosen this matter in the first place. If something went wrong if he refused, Zhu Yuanzhang would find himself in trouble.

There was no other way, Zhu Qi could only bite the bullet and take over the matter.

But just as Zhu Qi was about to leave, Zhu Yuanzhang said again:

"By the way, there have been a lot of wars recently, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs can't come up with any extra money.

It just so happens that those envoys sent you these gold, silver and jewels, so you can take them all and hold this marriage competition. "

Good guy, it's time to dig out the world.

But the money, if you want to hold a marriage competition or something, it's not enough to be honest.

Letting other people probably have to pay for it himself, but who is Zhu Qi, he is already thinking about how to fill this gap in his heart.

Maybe these gold and silver jewels don't cost much.

But the real difficulty is how to arrange these foreign envoys.

After leaving the study room, Zhu Qi started to worry, he scratched several strands of his hair.

When they arrived at the East Palace, the prince Zhu Biaozheng was discussing something with a group of ministers. The key point was that these ministers were not officials of the prince, but officials from three provinces and six ministries.

In other dynasties, seeing the crown prince getting so close to the officials of the three provinces and six ministries, the emperor might be nervous to death, and even doubt the crown prince.

But during the Hongwu period, this kind of problem did not exist.

If Zhu Yuanzhang knew that the minister did not report to the prince for several days, then Zhu Yuanzhang would definitely call the minister to talk: "Did you have a problem with your thinking?"

Seeing His Royal Highness King Liao approaching, the ministers hurriedly bowed one by one, and then heard Prince Zhu Biao waving and saying:
"I've already found out about this matter, you all should step back first, I have something to discuss with my brother."

When the ministers heard what the prince said, they all bowed and retreated.

Then Zhu Biao began to talk to Zhu Qi about what the ministers and workers had just reported, that is, those foreign envoys who asked for fair competition and to marry the princess, and it was not just one or two who came to ask, but almost all of them. All the foreign envoys have done this.

After finishing speaking, Zhu Biao said to Zhu Qi:

"Third brother, I remember that you said before that you don't seem to support the marriage. These days you have been very close to those foreign envoys. I thought you were trying to persuade them not to think about making a marriage, but you didn't Thinking of letting them write a letter to say this in the end.

In this way, isn't Princess Lin'an sure to choose a foreign king as her husband? "

Zhu Qi smiled wryly, and then finished the story of what happened in Zhu Yuanzhang's study in detail. After Zhu Biao listened in a daze, he gloated and said:
"You're clearly beheading before playing. Father didn't punish you, but just asked you to clean up this mess. I think father is very kind."

When Zhu Qi heard this, his face panicked. After saying this, did Zhu Yuanzhang see his carelessness?
But when you think about it, even Zhu Biao can see this little thought clearly. As the founding emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang, how could he not see it.

But things are like this, even if you know it is very difficult, you can only bite the bullet at this time.

Fortunately, Zhu Yuanzhang didn't ignore him, but he also dragged the prince Zhu Biao to Zhu Qi.

With Prince Zhu Biao in hand, it is really much more convenient, and there is a lot of room for manipulation.

When he was on the way, Zhu Qi had already thought about it, and now he and Zhu Biao had already made a rough plan together.

Marriage makes this Zhu Qi able to be the leader, but it arranges for the ministers to compete fairly and marry the princess. On the bright side, it must not be Zhu Qi, but on the bright side, it must be the prince Zhu Biao.

This marriage envoy is just the deputy of Prince Zhu Biao.

Only in this way can I hide behind the scenes, and it will be much more convenient for me to do anything.

Zhu Qi quickly expressed his thoughts, and then began to discuss with Zhu Biao in detail. The details of how to hold this fair competition came...

------

Yingtianfu, Honglu Temple.

Li Chengxu, the envoy of Korea, was waiting patiently in the guest house for the good news from His Royal Highness King Liao.

Not long after, I heard someone coming from outside, claiming to be sent by His Royal Highness Liao Wang, without bringing anything, so I whispered to Li Chengxu:
"Your Highness asked me to ask a word, and the competition with relatives has already been done!"

Li Chengxu, the envoy of Korea, was extremely ecstatic, but he reacted quickly and asked: Where is His Royal Highness King Liao?
The person who sent the message sighed, and quickly talked about the "ins and outs" of His Royal Highness King Liao's persuasion to the emperor.

His Royal Highness the King of Liao argued with reason and spoke good words for Goryeo from the beginning to the end, but the emperor had already made up his mind. His Highness the King of Liao knelt from morning to night, and from night to morning, which can be regarded as making His Majesty change his mind.

However, His Royal Highness King Liao is also overworked and is now recuperating in the palace. Please wait patiently for the news of the competition.

Li Chengxu was very moved, and said that he had to search for some special products from his hometown.

Never mind, as long as His Royal Highness Liao Wang can settle this matter, I will give you all the travel expenses to go back to His Royal Highness Liao Wang!
We guys can just beg along the road!
At the same time, those foreign envoys, one after another, also received the same news.

Li Chengxu originally thought that it would take a long time for the marriage match to officially start, but he did not expect that on the tenth day of the first lunar month, a big notice was posted at the gate of Yingtian Mansion.

At the same time, special officials also came to Honglu Temple to announce the news.

After many days of research by the Ming officials, it was decided that there was only one Princess of the Ming Dynasty, but all the ambassadors wanted to marry the princess.

That's easy to do, those who have both ability and political integrity can marry the princess just now!
All envoys can choose a representative to participate in the competition.

In addition to the envoys, ordinary people also have the opportunity to participate, but if they want to participate, they must be good-looking, capable, and between the ages of 25 and [-].

Of course, there must be a lot of applicants, so in the preliminary selection, an exam must be taken first, including the representatives of the envoys.

The winner of this competition can marry Princess Lin'an.

Good guy, as soon as the news came out, the common people were all boiling!

Such a good thing as marrying a princess, can it be the turn of ordinary people?
The common people are gearing up, everyone is eager to try, but anyone who can read is ready to participate.

It's still more than a month before the Spring Festival starts, but the atmosphere has already begun. Some candidates who arrived early and are preparing for the imperial examination are also thinking about participating at this time.

In their opinion, such things as shortlisted examinations must be the same as imperial examinations. We have studied sage books for so long.

If you can't pass the exam for the champion or something, it's still okay to take the shortlist exam and compete for the princess or something?

All of a sudden, the sound of reading aloud in Yingtian Mansion was deafening.

As for those ordinary people participating in the competition, Zhu Qi didn't plan to hold it so grandly. In fact, it was just a reason for Li Qi to join the competition.

So on the second day, when the test questions for the shortlisted exam appeared at the gate of the city, everyone was stunned.

I just saw this on the title:

"Today there is a wall several feet thick. Two rats wear each other. The rat is one foot a day, and the mouse is also one foot a day. The rat is doubled every day, and the mouse is half a day. When we meet again, how much will each wear?"

As soon as the topic came out, the whole city was confused!
Not only the common people were dumbfounded, but even the envoys were dumbfounded one by one.

Li Chengxu was the first time, so he packed the travel expenses for them to go home, let alone, let's send the special products of his hometown to His Royal Highness King Liao.

(End of this chapter)