As Zhao Junchen expected, although it was just a map, it was so detailed and clear that it was unprecedented in the history of the Ming Dynasty. The impact on Emperor Deqing was so huge that he even walked down the imperial ladder in person regardless of his status.
When he came to the blanket depicting the territory of the Ming Dynasty, he lowered his body and looked at it carefully. His eyes were bright, and he seemed to be a little drunk. Perhaps even Emperor Deqing himself didn't know what exactly he said while muttering to himself.
Looking at the vast territory of the Ming Dynasty in front of him, Emperor Deqing may have understood for the first time how vast the country he ruled was concrete and objective. This feeling made him want to stop.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Zhao Junchen said softly from the side: "This is the Ming Dynasty that your Majesty rules, the most powerful, prosperous and prosperous country in the world."
"Zhao Aiqing, in my opinion, this map of the territory of the Ming Dynasty is more accurate and complete than the "Hongyi Map of the Ming Dynasty". Where did you get it?"
After hearing Zhao Junchen's reply, Emperor Deqing came back to his senses and asked Zhao Junchen.
In response to Emperor Deqing's inquiry, Zhao Junchen was well prepared and began to make up a story without changing his expression: "Your Majesty, before I entered the court as an official, I accidentally obtained a incomplete maritime map of the territory of the Ming Dynasty.
Although the maps drawn by the Romans in the West are somewhat incomplete, if I look at them carefully, they are much more detailed and perfect than the maps we have today in the Ming Dynasty."
Zhao Junchen had just finished speaking when Emperor Deqing was stunned and asked: "Rome? I remember that Matteo Ricci, who came to court during the reign of Emperor Wanli, was a Roman?"
Matteo Ricci came to the Ming Dynasty during the Wanli year of the Ming Dynasty and contributed world maps such as "Liangyi Xuanlan Map" and "Kunyu Wanguoquantu" to the Wanli Emperor. Although they were crude, they still aroused great concern in the Ming Dynasty at that time.
Shockingly, the name of the Romans who were good at drawing maps began to gain popularity in the Ming Dynasty at that time. Zhao Junchen mentioned Rome to increase his persuasiveness.
"That's exactly it. The territorial sea map I obtained is more detailed and accurate than the "Kunyu Wanguoquantu" and other maps sent by Matteo Ricci back then. It can be seen that over the years, the Romans' methods of drawing maps have
Great progress has been made again, and even our Ming Sea Territory and surrounding countries have been mapped in such detail."
Having said this, Zhao Junchen looked up and saw that everyone in the hall was untouched and seemed to be listening to novel stories. He couldn't help but frown slightly.
The reason why he mentioned these things today, although they are all lies, is also meant to be a warning. However, it is obvious that no one in the hall saw anything more profound from the progress of Westerners in charting.
However, these plans were just made casually. After seeing that no one cared about it, Zhao Junchen was not disappointed. He just continued: "At that time, when I saw the sea map, I was thinking that even people from far away could do it.
Why can't we, the Ming Dynasty, draw such a detailed map? Even the distant barbarian countries have clear and detailed territorial maps of their own countries, so why can't we, the Ming Dynasty? Although our Ming Dynasty has a vast territory, it is far from comparable to the small distant barbarian countries. Drawing a map
It is even more difficult to complete a complete map of the territory of the Ming Dynasty, but only in this way can we show the national power and prosperity of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, from that time on, I began to pay attention to collecting information from all aspects, and learned from many
Forefathers' works, such as "The Unification of the Ming Dynasty", "Kun Yu and the Complete Map of All Nations", "The Map of All Nations", etc. It took seven years to finally complete this map of the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and on the occasion of His Majesty's birthday today, it will be
Only for Your Majesty."
Of course, what Zhao Junchen said are all lies. He naturally drew from works such as "The Unification of the Ming Dynasty", "The Complete Map of Kunyu and All Nations", and "The Map of All Nations". In order to create this map of the territory of the Ming Dynasty, he did deliberately collect
There is a lot of information, but the real basis is the memory of the Ming Dynasty map in Zhao Junchen's mind.
And this is why Zhao Junchen wanted to draw the map of the Ming Dynasty territory on the blanket, not because it looked expensive and luxurious, but because the blanket was no better than paper and sheepskin, which allowed Zhao Junchen to deliberately blur many details of the Ming Dynasty map. After all, for the Ming Dynasty territory map
, Zhao Junchen only remembered roughly.
But Emperor Deqing obviously did not doubt this, and just nodded and praised: "Zhao Aiqing is thoughtful. This territory map is indeed detailed and organized, and is much clearer and clearer than the territory map currently used by our court."
After observing carefully for a while, Emperor Deqing's face flashed with a look of satisfaction. After reluctantly looking at the blanket again, he finally returned to the imperial steps and sat down, raising his voice and saying: "Take this blanket."
This map of the territory of the Ming Dynasty has been hung in my imperial study room, and it must be carefully guarded to ensure no damage is done."
After the eunuchs carefully rolled up the blanket and moved it away, Emperor Deqing turned his attention to Zhao Junchen again.
Zhao Junchen's three birthday gifts this year are each more surprising than the last. Anyone can see the satisfaction in Emperor Deqing's expression.
According to the rules, Emperor Deqing should express his thanks and condolences at this time.
But after Emperor Deqing looked at Zhao Junchen for a long time, he just said slowly.
"Junchen, you are very kind and you have won my heart."
There were not too many words or too many compliments, but the seriousness in his tone and demeanor could be seen by anyone.
As Emperor Deqing's words fell, everyone in the palace looked at Zhao Junchen with envy and jealousy. Now the situation is clear. With the weight of these three birthday gifts, I am afraid that Zhao Junchen will get Emperor Deqing's gift not long after the birthday ceremony.
"Repay".
Zhao Junchen, on the other hand, looked unfazed by flattery and saluted Emperor Deqing and said: "Your Majesty is overly complimentary. As your Majesty's minister, I should be loyal and filial to Your Majesty. I don't deserve your Majesty's special praise."
"
Seeing Zhao Junchen being so humble, Emperor Deqing nodded with satisfaction again.
Next, the ceremony of the noble officials in the court presenting birthday gifts and speeches to Emperor Deqing continued. However, compared with the three birthday gifts sent by Zhao Junchen, the birthday gifts and speeches presented by those behind him could not help but pale in comparison.
However, after these three birthday gifts from Zhao Junchen, Emperor Deqing became very interested. Although there were no more birthday gifts worth mentioning, Emperor Deqing still had a smile on his face.
After the birthday ceremony was finally over, the sun was setting and it was almost dusk.
Emperor Deqing was in high spirits and announced that hundreds of officials would stay in the palace and enjoy the lanterns and banquet with Emperor Deqing.
Naturally, all the officials thanked Emperor Deqing for his arrangements.
………
However, when the birthday ceremony finally came to an end and before the Lantern Appreciation Palace Banquet, Emperor Deqing left with the Wanmin Umbrella, while the officials and nobles inside and outside the palace had a short period of free time to move around and stood for an entire afternoon.
There is always a need to address physical fatigue and physiological problems.
But Zhao Junchen stole the show today, walking towards the outside of the hall amidst everyone's polite greetings.
However, just after taking a few steps, I heard someone shouting loudly: "Zhao Shangshu, please stay."
Although he was calling loudly, anyone could hear the weakness in his voice, which always gave people the feeling of being out of breath and out of breath.
Zhao Junchen stopped and turned around, only to find that the seventh prince Zhu Hejian, whom he had met a few days ago, was walking quickly towards him.
Zhao Junchen frowned. When he was celebrating Emperor Deqing's birthday in the Hall of Supreme Harmony just now, he could clearly see that the seventh prince Zhu Hejian had been standing with the prince Zhu Heyu. They even gave Emperor Deqing a birthday gift.
They are all jadeite Ruyi that can be combined into a pair, and were praised by Emperor Deqing as "two brothers with one heart and one mind".
However, Prince Zhu Heyu had not left yet. Zhu Hejian met him so blatantly, wasn't he afraid of arousing the dissatisfaction of Prince Zhu Heyu?
Subconsciously, Zhao Junchen looked in the direction of Crown Prince Zhu Heyu, only to see that Zhu Heyu was surrounded by a group of noble clan members. He seemed to notice the look in Zhao Junchen's eyes and turned to look at Zhao Junchen.
At first glance, the eyes were full of coldness. After noticing Zhu Hejian walking towards Zhao Junchen, the coldness turned into helplessness and brotherhood and trust that surprised Zhao Junchen.
While Zhao Junchen was thinking secretly, the seventh prince Zhu Hejian had already arrived in front of Zhao Junchen, smiled and said with his hands raised: "I have met Mr. Zhao, and I met with Mr. Zhao today, but it was to thank Mr. Zhao for the past few days.
The precious medicinal materials you gave me were really thoughtful."
Seeing that Zhu Hejian took the initiative to speak to him, Zhao Junchen quickly returned the greeting and said: "Your Highness does not need to be like this. His Highness was ill that day, and the official saw it in person, so it is appropriate to send some medicinal materials to express his feelings."
While speaking, Zhao Junchen looked Zhu Hejian up and down, only to see that Zhu Hejian was similar in height to Zhu Heyu, but much thinner. His face was pale and he was sweating profusely. It was obvious that Emperor Deqing's birthday celebration had made him stand taller.
Throughout the afternoon, considering his body, it was reasonable for him to be a little weak.
However, even though he looked extremely tired, Zhu Hejian's humble, courteous and kind smile did not change at all at this time. His eyes were a little dim, but more of them were deep, as if he didn't care about his body at all.
After taking a breath for a while, Zhu Hejian shook his head and said: "No matter what, it is Mr. Zhao's sincere thought, and it is only right for me to thank you in return."
Zhao Junchen nodded and asked meaningfully: "But, if His Highness meets me like this, aren't you afraid that His Highness the Crown Prince will blame you?"
Zhu Hejian shook his head again, with a serious look on his face, and smiled softly: "I have attached great importance to the word 'property' since I was a child. Since I have received gifts from Mr. Zhao, I should express my gratitude in some way. For these, the prince, he
You know it, so how can you blame me?"
The most important word is ‘ritual’…
The smile on Zhao Junchen's face became more and more meaningful, and he said: "So it turns out that it is the lower official who uses the heart of a villain to judge the heart of a gentleman."
"Where." Zhu Hejian waved his hand and said: "However, when I met Mr. Zhao, I actually had some doubts in my heart and wanted to ask for your advice."!