Tianhuang stone is produced in Shoushan, Fujian, and has the word "Fu Shou".
And because of its yellowish color, moderate hardness and softness, it is suitable for engraving seals. It is the first seal stone and has been highly praised by the courts of all dynasties, and is known as the Imperial Stone.
This thing is also said to have one or two fields of yellow and three taels of gold. Its value is among the best among stones.
Especially the piece that Xu Xianzhong stole, which is so huge, clean and pure, is ten times or a hundred times better than ordinary Tianhuang.
If you can find a skilled craftsman, you can carve a three-chain seal.
Such a precious thing was taken out by his son in a grand manner. Xu Jingchang wanted to slap him, but he couldn't bear to slap him.
"Later, I will find you the Chengxintang of Empress Shidao Li, and give it to your teacher."
The child Xu Xianzhong was very dissatisfied when the good stone turned into paper, but because his father's performance was satisfactory, he didn't care about it anymore.
"Next time I'll take the box on the table. It's big. There must be good things in it." The little guy yelled.
Xu Jingchang's face turned dark immediately, "My dear son, you can't wait to be an orphan!"
You dare to steal the queen's seal, will you steal the jade seal next?
Xu Jingchang believed that it was necessary for this boy to go to school and learn some rules, otherwise the whole family would be harmed by him.
But little boy Xu Xianzhong didn’t care at all. What do I have to be afraid of? My father, Xu Jingchang!
As the new generation of dandy leader of the Ming Dynasty, we must carry this banner and not lose our father's face. Not only did Xu Xianzhong want to enter school, but his grandson Zhu Zhanji also gave up Taixue and was transferred to martial arts.
This also caused a little trouble, that is, all the royal children in the future will have to enter martial arts.
Learning some fighting skills, as long as you don't become an overseas student in Wala, is better than studying the Four Books and Five Classics with Hanlin.
While they were actively planning here, Zhu Gaosui found Xu Jingchang, which surprised Xu Jingchang, "You also want to go to school?"
Zhu Gaosui shook his head repeatedly, "You won't suffer the consequences even if you kill me... But I do want to ask about one thing, that is, can people from overseas enter our martial arts?"
Xu Jingchang said: "What do you think?"
"I think it's naturally possible, but the Ministry of Rites doesn't agree."
"Why?" Xu Jingchang asked.
"The Ministry of Rites is afraid that our good things will be copied by others, so we should cherish them ourselves!"
Xu Jingchang is not afraid of spreading the word. After all, teaching with great fanfare will leak out sooner or later. The key is that Ming Dynasty must establish a complete system first and gain the upper hand. Even if it spreads, it will only follow behind and eat dust.
Moreover, once a country whose national power is far inferior to that of the Ming Dynasty learns the tactics of the Ming Dynasty, it will not be a strong army, but it will be unhappy for itself.
"By the way, who wants to enter the martial arts school? Aren't the three guards of Duoyan and my people from the Tatar tribe sent to Peking?"
Zhu Gaosui sighed, "Cousin, you don't know something!"
Zhu Gaosui let out a long sigh, and then told Xu Jingchang vividly... It turned out that with the support of Xu Jingchang, the voyages to the West were not only larger than in history, but also went deeper into the barbarians to understand the situation.
The eunuch Sanbao brought back too much news, including the Fulin Kingdom, which hoped to form an alliance with the Ming Dynasty.
Fulin?
Couldn't it be Eastern Rome?
Xu Jingchang became interested and asked Zhu Gaosui. Zhu Gaosui couldn't explain clearly for a while, so they called people from the Ministry of Rites to search for credentials and collect information.
After working hard for several days, Xu Jingchang finally figured out that this Fulin Kingdom might really be the Eastern Roman Empire... They were already living in such a miserable state that Ryukyu was vast compared to them.
Today, there is only one city left in Eastern Rome, Constantinople. Its commerce has shrunk and its military strength has been depleted... The internal situation is worrying, and externally the Ottomans are eyeing it.
The empire sent envoys to Europe to ask for help, and received all support except help.
We are at the end of our rope and there is no way out.
Eastern Rome is waiting for the inevitable end...
But at this moment, he stood up from his dying illness and realized that there was a Ming Dynasty in the east!
In this way, some dignitaries from the Eastern Roman Empire mingled with the caravan, took Zheng He's ships, and came to the Ming Dynasty, asking for help from soldiers and horses, and borrowing troops to help suppress the rebellion. When the rebellion was successfully suppressed, the Eastern Roman Empire was willing to form a permanent alliance with the Ming Dynasty.
When Xu Jingchang heard this, he felt bad. He only heard that Yelang was arrogant, but not that Rome was arrogant... No one told them that Eastern Rome was going to be doomed!
Zhu Gaosui was talking to Xu Jingchang, "It's not that I don't know that several businessmen I know hope to learn the Ming Dynasty's military tactics, train a strong army, and fight back to Constantinople to save their country.
Xu Jingchang was very curious, "What do they think? Why do they want to train in the Ming Dynasty? Why don't they think about returning to their home country?"
Zhu Gaosui rolled his eyelids and said, "Cousin, you still don't understand the Fulin Kingdom! It's hard to recover and is riddled with all kinds of diseases. If you expect them to reform and strengthen themselves, you might as well expect their god to descend from the sky and save them!"
Xu Jingchang became even more angry, "If that's the case, why bother? Just let them fend for themselves."
Zhu Gaosui frowned, "Cousin, let me tell you the truth. If the business has reached this point, it will inevitably develop outside. This is what you have always advocated. But right now we can't find a suitable place to stay. I
Just thinking about whether I can win over Fulin Guo, that's not what I mean, my second brother also thinks the same way."
Xu Jingchang blinked his eyes, feelings are knocking on the door of the country outside!
"The idea is right, but there is something wrong with the way to solve the problem."
Zhu Gaosui was puzzled, "Then where did we go wrong?"
"The mistake is that Fulin Country has no future and is about to die. There is no need to save them and we cannot invest our strength."
"Then what should we do? Expel the people from Fulin Kingdom?"
Xu Jingchang shook his head, "That's even worse. After all, it has a history of a thousand years. It is considered a rare ancient country."
Zhu Gaosui looked at Xu Jingchang, full of helplessness, "My brain is not working well, so just tell me what needs to be done, and I will follow your arrangements. Isn't that okay?"
Xu Jingchang smiled and said, "If you really listen to me, this matter is not complicated. You just need to arrange it this way..."
Xu Jingchang whispered a few words, and Zhu Gaosui immediately understood. He couldn't help but stretched out his thumb and gave Xu Jingchang a thumbs up. When it comes to bad ethics, this guy is definitely the best.
That's a cap, my old Beibi.
Three days later, an article appeared in Di Bao... This article said one thing: outside of the Ming Dynasty, there is still a civilization and a thousand-year-old country that has been passed down to this day.
During the Han and Tang Dynasties, envoys from the Central Plains traveled thousands of miles to explore the wilderness and open up roads. Zhang Qian, Ban Chao, Gan Ying...today, our Ming Dynasty has sent thousands of ships, adhering to the spirit of our predecessors, and going where no one has gone before.
path, explore other civilizations, and broaden the horizons of the Chinese people.
Then he used a lot of space to introduce Fulin Kingdom and talked about a lot of things, basically to popularize overseas knowledge to the people.
But on the second day after the article was published, Xu Jingchang summoned the newly appointed ministers of various ministries to the General Affairs Department for a meeting.
"Since ancient times, China has been a civilized land. Outside of China, everyone is barbarian. Now among this group of barbarians, there is a country that is not so barbarian. It can last for thousands of years. It is not easy for Fulin Kingdom!"
These ministers nodded one after another, it was really not easy.
But if we are asked to send troops, that will not work no matter what.
Yang Rong took the initiative and said: "Dong Guo, you also know that your Majesty intends to attack Oara, and the southwest border is not peaceful. The treasury only has a small amount of money, and I am really worried that an expedition of thousands of miles will waste people and money, and waste national power."
Yang Shiqi also said: "Dong Guo, if it is just for the reputation of helping the poor, I don't think you should take the risk."
Huang Huai and Hu Guang also spoke one after another, with similar contents.
Xu Jingchang fully understood that the butt determines the head. The chair of Liubu Shangshu has magical power, and whoever sits on it will be quickly assimilated.
Fortunately, Xu Jingchang had already planned it.
"I very much agree with your views. Our Ming Dynasty is definitely not a warlike country, and we cannot waste national money and people's wealth in vain... But then again, we cannot really ignore death and remain indifferent. Therefore, I propose that we
Sanctions against the Ottomans."
"Sanctions?"
"Yes, it's a moral embargo! We can't do business with the Ottomans, we can't provide them with profits, and we can't help them destroy an ancient civilization. This is absolutely not possible! Ming Dynasty must look at this from a moral perspective.
Something.”
At this moment, Xu Jingchang seemed to be enveloped in holy light, and even his voice became sacred.
"In view of the Ottoman state's destruction of peace, bullying of the weak, and insatiable greed, the Ming Dynasty decided to suspend trade with them, and told all merchants to suspend trade from a moral perspective. Don't ignore right and wrong just because you are greedy for a little money and small profits!"
This is true and impeccable.
It's just that Yang Rong, Hu Yan, and Yang Shiqi all know Xu Jingchang's character very well, and it is really difficult for them to expect him to stick to morality.
As expected, Xu Jingchang then said: "In order to go further and combat the Ottoman arrogance, I decided to give out five hundred thousand taels as a bonus to encourage merchants to find new routes, bypass Ottoman control, and sell our goods to
Sell further afield.”
Sure enough, Xu Jingchang saw the plan. This was not about saving the Eastern Roman Empire. It was clearly about opening up a new sea route.
Xu Jingchang added: "If you want to sail farther, you must have better ships. If you want to do your job well, you must first sharpen your tools, and then give out 500,000 taels to reward the development of new sea-going ships."
"Furthermore, new weapons are needed for the maritime campaign. We will also spend 500,000 taels to reward weapon development. Anyone who invents corresponding results will receive a heavy reward!"
Three orders, one and a half million taels of silver.
Compared with traveling thousands of miles to send troops to rescue Fulin Kingdom, it is more reasonable to spend such money.
Several ministers looked at each other and agreed quickly, otherwise they would really send out troops.
Then Xu Jingchang said: "Everyone, this sanction is moral, and it is not completely impossible. If Osman admires the products of the country, there is still a way."
Several ministers nodded together, "We understand... we need to add money!"
