I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 178 Establishment of Honglu Temple

After half an hour.

"Your Majesty, He Changyun, bows to your majesty. Long live my emperor, long live, long live." He Changyun made a grand ceremony of kneeling three times and kowtowing nine times to Zhu Yijiong on the throne.

Naturally, the venue for this interview could not be the original Imperial Study Room, but was changed to the Gate of Supreme Harmony where Zhu Yijiong went to court.

"No courtesy!" Zhu Yijiong raised his hand.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" He Changyun stood up.

Zhu Yijiong took a look and found that this man's appearance was very ordinary. To use a metaphor, he was similar to those country scholars in TV series. He had a bookish air about him.

Without any further nonsense, Zhu Yijiong got straight to the point: "General Lin asked Mr. He to deliver this letter of credence. What is his intention?"

General Lin and Mr. He do not recognize Lin Jun's title of King of Vietnam, and He Changyun was conferred the official position of envoy by Lin Jun in the name of King of Vietnam.

He Changyun's face did not change and he said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, I am only responsible for delivering the credentials. As for what the general wants, I have no idea."

One question three don't know?

And, General?It's quite interesting.

It seems that even the envoy sent by Lin Jun feels that Lin Jun is seeking death!
After all, the strength gap between Ming Dynasty and Lin Jun was too big. It was because Lin Jun could not defeat the Ming army that he took the initiative to go south to eastern Guangdong from Tingzhou to seek development.

Now that Guangdong has not even gone all-in, he dares to proclaim himself king and publicly sends letters of credence to his nominal former master, the Ming Emperor. This is almost like an open provocation.

"Is that so..."

Zhu Yijiong chatted with him casually for a few more words. Although He Changyun mostly stalled, there was a sense of alienation and disapproval of Lin Jun, the "King of Dayue" in and out of his words.

Zhu Yijiong almost figured out the other party's attitude, and after a few casual remarks, he asked him to leave because he was busy with official duties.

As for the certificate of credence, apart from mentioning it at the beginning, neither of them mentioned a word at the end, as if they had completely forgotten about it.

After He Changyun left, Zhu Yijiong immediately summoned the three giants of the cabinet, the Privy Council, and the Ordnance Bureau to come to the imperial study for a meeting.

Since it was only a temporary meeting, the only people who came were the Third Auxiliary of the Cabinet, the Privy Councilor (also the Auxiliary Minister of the Cabinet), and the Director of the Ordnance Bureau, Mr. Li.

Under the leadership of Chief Assistant Wang Li, the five people bowed and saluted, shouting long live the mountain.

"All the ministers are exempted from gifts!"

Zhu Yijiong only raised his hand as usual, and then he couldn't wait to take out the previous credentials and said: "How do you think you should reply to the credentials delivered by Lin Thief? Or, should you reply?"

After hearing this, Liang Wenxuan was the first to step forward and raised his hands and said: "Report to your majesty, the Lin thieves are arrogant and dare to ignore your majesty's order and call themselves King of Dayue. This is an unpardonable crime. I request you to send troops to attack immediately to rectify the court discipline!"

These words are decisive and in line with the current political stance of the Ming Dynasty.

But the problem is, if we really want to fight, where will the money be?

Where does the money come from?
Zhu Yijiong raised his brows, but before he could speak, Zhu Chengxun hurriedly stepped out and said: "Your Majesty, no, although what Liang Dajun said is correct, our Ming Dynasty is currently attacking Anhui, and all money, food and materials must be supplied to the southern Anhui front. If we want to continue If we start a war lightly in eastern Guangdong, I'm afraid..."

Chen Ji, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, also came out to express support: "Your Majesty, what Privy Zhu said is true. Now that the national treasury is empty and the front line is tight, it is really not suitable to start another war."

When Old Man Li saw two people jumping out, he also said, "Your Majesty, as long as the Arms Bureau has money, everything will be easy."

Well, to put it bluntly, it’s all for nothing if you don’t have money!
Seeing this, Zhu Yijiong had already made up his mind.

In fact, Lin Jun becoming king was unexpected by the Ming Dynasty monarchs and ministers.

For the monarchs and ministers of the Ming Dynasty, Lin Jun was a chess piece in the hands of the Ming court from beginning to end, an important chess piece used to involve Guangdong, Guangxi and even the Qing army in the future.

But I didn't expect that the chess piece would expand on its own before it could use up its residual heat.

If Ming wants to kill Lin Jun, it will not be said to be easy, but it is also very sure.

As long as Emperor Zhu's decree goes forward, the [-]-strong Third Army and Fourth Army in Fujian, plus the naval fleet along the coast of Fujian, can advance by land and water at any time to defeat Lin Jun's headquarters in Guangdong.

But the problem is that Emperor Zhu has no money.

After all, Emperor Zhu is now regarded as the emperor of the dynasty. He has to support not only a huge bureaucratic administrative agency, but also an elite army of more than 20.

These armies are all trained according to modern military training methods. Not only do they train every day, but they are also replenished with meat and oil every day.

Without fighting every day, the consumption of military rations alone would be an astronomical figure.

Now, when the Ming army conquers southern Anhui and competes with the Qing army for the defense line along the Yangtze River, it will soon have to conquer Jiangxi from southern Anhui and western Zhejiang, which all costs money.

If you still have to work hard to defeat Guangdong's Lin Jun, then you really intend to force Emperor Zhu to death!Moreover, after Guangdong is won, Zhu Yijiong will allocate funds for governance and recovery. Next, he will have to face the threats from Guangdong, Guangxi and the Qing army in Hunan and Jiangxi.

This is purely Song Huizong's behavior, thankless.

"What do Wang Aiqing think? To fight or not to fight?" Zhu Yijiong asked.

This cannot be said by the emperor Zhu Yijiong himself, but must be done by his ministers.

Wang Li was already ready and said immediately: "I think your majesty should put the overall situation of the country first!"

"...Then this certificate of credence?"

"Withdraw it directly and don't reply."

"In that case, let's do it!"

Withdraw directly without reply.

This meaning can be understood in two ways, one is to deny it, and the other is to acquiesce. It all depends on the other party's own guess.

For Zhu Yijiong and Daming, not replying means not explicitly acknowledging it. Even if outsiders think it is acquiescence, if there is no written material, it will not count and it will not cause too much loss of face.

And, most importantly, you can regret it at any time in the future.

No, this can't be called repentance. After all, we deliberately withheld the credentials without our consent in the first place. We didn't even have written materials, yet you still refuse to repent.

"Since Wang Aiqing raised this matter, let it be handed over to the cabinet!" Zhu Yijiong made the final decision.

"I obey the order." Wang Li quickly responded with his hands raised.

Zhu Yijiong added: "Also, according to my decree, a new Honglu Temple will be established from now on, which will be responsible for the affairs of foreign vassals and the reception and negotiation of envoys."

Honglu Temple existed in the Tang Dynasty and was one of the Nine Temples. It was once a subordinate institution of the Ministry of Rites. In the Qing Dynasty, it also alternated between being independent and subordinate to the Ministry of Rites.

But now, when Zhu Yijiong established it, he made it clear that Honglu Temple was a new type of official office, with the three departments of Yitong and not under the jurisdiction of the six cabinet ministries.

After all, this thing is equivalent to the ancient Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should deal with diplomacy and does not need to be involved in the power struggle at the center of the cabinet.

This government agency had not been set up before. It was simply because it was established in the early Ming Dynasty. The treasury was empty, and there were wars and things to do. Administrative agencies that were basically useless were simply not established.

It's like the Imperial Academy, but now, He Changyun's arrival has reminded Zhu Yijiong.

Although Lin Jun is an arrogant younger brother, there will definitely be more and more foreign envoys like him who will actually come to the Ming Dynasty for pilgrimage in the future.

After all, the Ming Dynasty will definitely have to set foot in Nanyang in the future, not to mention Western countries, but also the Japanese countries in the east. These envoys are an indispensable link.

Diplomacy is also part of a country's strength. Without diplomacy, unless your country is truly invincible and cannot win against anyone in the world, diplomatic wars will always exist.

The establishment of Honglu Temple was necessary. If he were not afraid of being looked down upon as uneducated by these ministers, Zhu Yijiong would have wanted to call the Ministry of Foreign Affairs directly.

"The minister obeys the order!"

After hearing this, Wang Li and others had no objections. Honglu Temple was a normal administrative agency and did not involve the center of power.

Whether it falls under the jurisdiction of the cabinet and the Ministry of Rites actually doesn't mean much.

"Your Majesty, I wonder where the official office of Honglu Temple should be built?" Li Bexun, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, asked.

"Well... let's just say it's at Cheng'en Temple! It happens to be empty." Zhu Yijiong only thought for a moment and said.

Chengen Temple, this temple is very special. It has never been open to the public since the Ming Dynasty. All its funds come from royal allocations.

In the Ming Dynasty, Chengen Temple was the emperor's palace. In the Qing Dynasty, it was given to Prince Li (Daishan) as a family temple. Four generations of Prince Li were buried here.

Zhu Yijiong didn't have a perverted habit of digging people's graves, so he simply tore down all the memorial tablets and other items in the temple at Prince Li's house and used them as firewood.

Now it is just in time to use it as an official office and guest house for Honglu Temple.

As for the cost of repairs, didn’t the Ministry of Industry spend all the money to repair the Confucius Temple some time ago?

After everything was finalized, Zhu Yijiong encouraged the five people a few more words, and then asked them to step back.

　so tired

　　
　
(End of this chapter)