Queen Zhang Jinping and Prince Zhu Yang were both very interested in Australia and kept asking about the expedition's experiences there.
Suddenly, a eunuch came over and whispered in Ju Ming's ear: "Your Majesty, an urgent message has been sent from the Anxi Protectorate. Seljuk Sultan Sanjar has been captured by the rebels. Xiliao has no worries and is moving to the Ili Valley.
Send troops!"
Ju Ming personally read the telegram, and the content about Seljuk was very brief. It is estimated that the Anxi Protectorate did not receive detailed information.
Sanjar was captured by his domestic rebel army, which was not much different from the historical trend. However, because the Ming Dynasty conquered Xinjiang, similar historical events occurred several years in advance.
But it is said that the Central Asian countries have formed an alliance with each other and formed two factions, and have been causing friction in the border areas.
Due to the fierce internal conflicts, Sanjar had to forcefully launch a war. He first went to deal with Khwarezm. Although he captured a castle, he suffered heavy casualties due to the siege.
Ajisi surrendered and betrayed him several times, and sent envoys to surrender again.
This King of Khwarezm wrote a letter of surrender in a strange and sinister manner, which angered Sanjar again and again.
Sanjar wrote back and said that if he sincerely surrendered, he would ask Ajisi to come to see him in person.
Ajisi actually came.
In order to show his majesty, Sanjar carefully prepared an honor guard and planned a grand surrender ceremony.
Ajisi led his cavalry to the other side of the Amu Darya River. He didn't even dismount his horse. He only rode his horse and bowed towards Sanjar, then galloped away with a playful smile.
Where is this coming from to surrender?
It’s a mockery to your face!
Just when Sanjar was about to crush Khwarezm, the Oghuz people in the country rebelled.
However, after the Battle of Katwan, the strength of the Galulu people who worked as mercenaries for Xiliao increased sharply. The Galulu people continued to invade the land of the Oghuz people, and more and more Oghuz refugees fled to Seljuk.
.
The founders of the Seljuk Empire were a group of Oghuz people. These Oghuz refugees who lost their homes were like poor people who came to the city to seek refuge with their relatives, thinking that they could get good treatment.
As a result, the Seljuk nobles did not regard them as compatriots at all, and even regarded them as low-level barbarians. They levied brutal taxes on them in peacetime and forced them to fight in wartime.
While Sanjar was leading his troops outside, the unbearable Oghuz people broke out in a large-scale uprising.
Sanjar did not bother to deal with Khwarezm anymore and hurriedly returned to his country to put down the rebellion. His army suffered heavy losses in Khwarezm. He did not get much benefit and had to fight back and forth. He was beaten by a group of beggar-like rebels.
Big defeat.
Even Sanjar himself was captured by the rebels!
The simple and barbaric generals of the Oghuz rebel army gathered from all directions, all wanting to see if Sanjar, a compatriot, had three heads and six arms.
They made fun and mockery and actually elected Sanjar as the leader of the rebel army...
Well, it can be compared to Song Jiang, Fang La and others, who captured Song Huizong, who was marching in person. Since no one obeyed anyone and could not choose a leader, they made Song Huizong the leader of the rebel army and took everyone with them to change the dynasty.
.
Just a puppet.
Sanjar was tied up in the army every day, and even put in a cage at night, and was forced to fight with the rebel army.
Today's Seljuk is divided into two parts, but it can be roughly divided into two parts: east and west.
Among a large number of sultans, there are two sultans with the highest status.
Sanjar belongs to the Sudan in the east, and his title is "The Greatest Sultan". There is another Sudan in Baghdad in the west, and his title is "The Great Sultan".
The rest of the Sudans are naturally ordinary Sudans.
Now, the greatest sultan has been captured and has no heirs, and the rebels are unwilling to release him. So the domestic ministers have elected a new sultan, and the identity of the new sultan is actually the exiled Xikara
The king of the Khanate - nephew of Sanjar.
The former king of the Western Kara Khanate and the new sultan of the Seljuk Empire was driven away by the party members settled by Yelu Dashi, and those party members were driven out from the Hexi Corridor by the Ming Dynasty.
Without the external military pressure from Seljuk, civil strife broke out in the Gejining Dynasty, Xiliao's ally.
The Gur dynasty, which had been invaded by the Gokinin and protected by the Seljuks, suddenly changed from sheep to lion. They invaded the Seljuk territory to the west and the Gekinin territory to the east. In half a year, the land area tripled.
times.
By the way, the rebels who captured Sanjar also nominally surrendered to the Gur Dynasty.
King Ajisi of Khwarezm also beat up the fallen dogs and continued to invade Seljuk territory.
The situation in Central Asia became increasingly chaotic, but Xiliao could take a breather and free up its energy to concentrate on guarding against Ming's invasion.
Of course, some troops must be left in the west.
Because that damn Ajisi went back on his word again and tentatively lowered the promised tribute to 40,000 gold coins to 30,000 gold coins. If Xiliao does not send troops to fight, it is very likely to be reduced to 20,000 next year, or even
Just don't give me a penny.
Ju Ming stared at the telegram for a long time and ordered to summon officials from the Military Intelligence Department.
Seeing this, Wang Chongdu stood up and resigned, and was led out of the palace by the eunuchs.
Zhang Jinping played with the opal and said to Ju Ming: "This kind of gem has no name, so the officials might as well give it a name."
Ju Ming smiled and said: "If the queen likes it, she can choose a name herself."
This thing is just like diamonds, and its price has been exorbitantly high in later generations.
According to the quality level, the top quality can be sold for 3,000 to 4,000 yuan per gram, which has really deceived a group of stupid Chinese buyers who have too much money.
To put it bluntly, it is a kind of water-containing amorphous silica.
Zhang Jinping was still thinking about naming the gems, and Ju Ming added: "I will leave fifty gems for you. I usually summon the royal wives in the capital, and give a few out from time to time to show the empress's dignity. The emperor will give some as gifts, and the concubines in the harem will also give them to each of them."
One. Australia will continue to offer gems in the future, so don’t be stingy with rewards.”
"I understand." Zhang Jinping smiled.
Zhu Ming said to the prince again: "You also choose two."
Zhu Yang carefully selected gems and gave one to the main concubine and one to his favorite concubine.
Not long after, the doctor from the Military Intelligence Department came to see him.
Ju Ming ordered: "Send someone to contact King Ajisi of Khwarezm and tell him that the Ming Dynasty will use troops in Xiliao in the next two or three years. Let him refuse the tribute money dedicated to Xiliao, and Xiliao will not dare to do anything to him.
Sample."
Ajisi is quite funny. Ju Ming thinks this guy is very interesting, and he actually makes Yelu Dashi and Sanjar play around.
…
Lu You's father, Lu Zai, had been transferred from the position of the Minister of Rites to the Envoy of the Tongzhengyuan.
This is a promotion.
Because the Tongzhengyuan established by Zhu Guoxiang is at the same level as the Imperial Procuratorate and the Privy Council. It is not only responsible for connecting the cabinet and the six ministries, but also manages the emperor's secretaries (secretaries) and pedestrians (errands), and also takes away part of the planned edicts from the cabinet.
right.
Due to its excessive power, after the Metropolitan Procuratorate established the Six Procuratorate Divisions, the General Council Yuan’s right to deny the six subjects was revoked.
After Zhu Guoxiang's direct disciple Liang Yi recovered from his illness, Ju Ming also set a rule. That is, officials who had served as envoys to the Tongzheng Yuan, like the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and the Yushi of Zuodu, could not serve as prime ministers again in this life.
His wife Tang came out of the palace and excitedly said to Lu Zai when she returned home: "Today the saint (the queen) has a reward."
Lu Zai was reading: "What reward?"
"Let's take a look, sir." Tang took out an opal.
The dazzling colors made Lu Zai dizzy, and he couldn't help but ask: "What is this?"
Tang replied: "Rose."
Lu Zai praised: "What a good name."
In ancient China, there was the name rose, and there was also the flower rose.
But the word rose has specifically referred to glass beads since the Qin and Han Dynasties.
And what about roses? They are called wandering flowers, lily flowers, red roses, etc.
It was not until the Ming Dynasty that the name rose came into being.
The original meaning of the word rose refers to the gorgeous jade, but now it has become the Ming scientific name of opal.
Tang said with great interest: "This kind of gem does not exist in China. It was brought back from a place called Australia. I heard the sage said that it takes a few days to set sail from Java Island and reach Australia with a favorable wind. There are no countries there, only indigenous people.
Savages, but the land is full of ores.”
"Ore everywhere?" Lu Zai was surprised when he heard this.
Tang said: "As soon as they got off the boat, they encountered an iron ore, which was a rich open-pit mine. Then they encountered a copper mine and a gold mine, and they were planning to recruit gold diggers to mine gold. They also brought back several kinds of parrots, one of which was a special species.
The bouncing ones can also talk.”
Lu Zai smiled and said: "There are also talking parrots in China."
"That's different," Mrs. Tang said, "its feathers are in several colors, just like the ones in the painting. When people don't tease it, it will come to tease them."
Lu Zai asked: "The animals that were shipped back to Beijing a few days ago came from Australia, right?"
Tang replied: "They are from Australia. When they are well taken care of, ordinary people can buy tickets to see it."
Today is a holiday. When the couple were talking at home, their son Lu You was in the auction hall of Luoyang Exchange.
"In how many days will you leave Beijing?" Lu You asked.
Li Zuqia nodded and said: "We have to rush back before the trade wind comes. This time we have to transport hundreds of people to Australia. These few hundred people are just the first batch. The second batch will be transported next winter. It is estimated that the number of people may be two to three thousand.
Your Majesty promised not to send officials for five years. You can farm there!"
Lu You said: "If you can cultivate it, your profits will be huge."
Li Zuqia chuckled: "I plan to get some tribesmen from Chuzhou. In the last Huainan case, the Li family was implicated a lot. Not only were they imprisoned and exiled, but several families were also fined and punished to the point of bankruptcy. I will take the tribesmen there.
In Australia, open a store near the gold mine and get some land for farming. In a few decades, although it is remote, the population there will be more and more, and the Li family will definitely become a prominent family in Australia."
It is impossible for the treasure-hunting trio to steal gold from gold diggers. The only direct way for them to make profit is to collect taxes.
Excessive taxes will dampen the enthusiasm for gold mining, so you won't actually make much money.
The real money is elsewhere.
For example, most of the people who went out to sea to pan for gold were poor, and most of them couldn't even afford a boat ticket. They could only take the boat on credit from the treasure hunting trio, and then use the gold they found to pay off their debts and interest.
They can also engage in human trafficking, transporting women from Japan and Nanyang and selling them to Australian gold diggers as wives.
You can also build ports and towns, encourage members of the expedition team to open shops, and then transport goods from Nanyang to wholesale to the shops. Both ports and shops can tax, and other fleets that hear the news will also have to pay taxes to them.
There are also ways to seize land first, or buy it from the indigenous people, or directly drive the indigenous people away.
The main members of the expedition team are all big landowners and shop owners. Even if the court sends officials in the future, it is impossible to confiscate the land and shops, and the explorers can make continuous profits.
"The starting price is 200 guan, and each bidding price must not be less than 10 guan. This is a rose gem given by the Queen herself. It is only given to nobles and cannot be bought by ordinary people. There are only three auctions in Luoyang. If you miss it this time,
There will be no next time. Interested bidders can come and take a closer look..."
Regardless of whether they would participate in the bidding or not, businessmen in the auction hall rushed over to observe the gems up close.
After a while, the auction started.
The first one was sold at only 520 coins, and the second one was sold at 780 coins. The third one... was not only the last one, but also the one with the best quality, and the bidding soared to 1,460 coins.
1460 Guan Ke bought more than 200,000 kilograms of rice in Luoyang, and ended up buying a natural silica stone.
A censor who wanted to be promoted through meritorious service secretly took note of the last big buyer and planned to check whether he was involved with any official.
It doesn't have to be revealed immediately, but it may be used someday.
Lu You exclaimed: "Is this kind of gem rare in Australia?"
Li Zuqia chuckled.
When more and more fleets rush to Australia after hearing the news, the price of rose stone (opal) will decrease year by year. Although it is impossible to sell it at a cabbage price, such sky-high bidding will definitely not happen again.