There were many envoys from the vassal states who came to pay tribute this time. In addition to Xixia, Dali, and Goryeo, there were also Champa and Chenla from Southeast Asia.
Looking at the two Song dynasties, which country had the best relationship with China?
It is undoubtedly Champa.
Since Jiaozhi established itself as the Annan Kingdom, the Song Dynasty and Champa no longer had territorial disputes, and they had a common enemy, Annan. As a result, the two countries had more frequent exchanges, and even sent troops together to fight against Annan.
Envoys from Champa came to pay tribute in the Northern Song Dynasty, sometimes once a year, sometimes once every two or three years, and they were more active than any other country.
They all rush to arrive in Beijing before the first lunar month, because in ancient China there was a spring suburb festival.
Every time the envoys from Champa arrived for the suburban festival, the emperor of the Song Dynasty would confer an official title on the king of Champa.
The winter before last, merchants from Champa brought back news of the fall of the Song Dynasty. King Yangbu Madie of Champa cried and mourned Song Huizong in the air, and then sent envoys to Guangzhou to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty. The envoys crossed Meiling and entered Jiangxi from the Yangtze River to Kaifeng.
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"My humble minister, Fo Ma, is the envoy of Champa. By order of the king, I congratulate the Emperor of Heaven on the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Long live the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!"
The envoy named Foma in front of me, although he comes from the southern part of Vietnam in later generations, is dressed a bit like Asan from India.
The Champa State was deeply influenced by Indian culture. It adopted the Brahmin system in the country, and the four major castes were clearly divided. Moreover, the political system was quite loose, and the local nobles had strong autonomy. Because they were often attacked by neighboring countries, they united to support the king.
Zhu Guoxiang nodded and smiled: "If you are flat, please give me a seat!"
The envoy, Fo Ma, could speak Chinese, but it was the Guangdong dialect, and a Cantonese official was required to translate.
After the envoy sat down carefully, Zhu Guoxiang asked: "How is the situation around Champa? Will Annan invade Champa again?"
Fo Ma said with a smile on his face: "Your Majesty, the great emperor, the cruel King Annan died of illness last year. This must be because of your majesty. When your majesty proclaimed himself emperor and founded the country in the Central Plains, he gave King Annan, who was thousands of miles away,
Scared to death!"
"Hahahaha!" Zhu Guoxiang laughed when he heard this.
Champa was bullied miserably by Annan, and King Annam died of illness. The news was celebrated by everyone in Champa.
More than ninety years ago, Annan invaded Champa. The entire country fought against Champa. More than half of the army was killed and they were forced to surrender to Annan.
More than seventy years ago, Annan used the excuse of not paying tribute for sixteen years to send troops to attack Champa again. The Champa state was defeated again, with more than 30,000 people killed and more than 5,000 captured alive.
More than fifty years ago, Annan invaded again, captured the king of Champa, and set fire to the capital of Champa, forcing him to surrender the land of the three states.
In recent decades, King Annan, who just died of illness, has been on the throne.
The Champa Kingdom won one battle and regained the territory of the three states. Later, it was defeated and lost the territory of the three states again.
Fo Ma was very happy to see Zhu Guoxiang, and immediately tried to say: "I have been living in Kaifeng for a month, and I heard that the Ming Dynasty soldiers have been victorious in the north. Now that King Annan has died of illness, his country's government will inevitably be in chaos. It is not as good as the Ming Dynasty and Champa.
Let’s send troops together to conquer the cruel and unkind Kingdom of Annan.”
Ju Ming, who had been sitting next to him, suddenly said: "The Ming Dynasty will definitely conquer Annan, but it will have to wait until the Jin Kingdom is destroyed. Go back and tell King Zhan to train his troops diligently, and Annan will be conquered within ten years!"
"
"Long live the Ming Dynasty!" Fo Ma was overjoyed.
Every envoy who came to pay tribute would take the opportunity to complain and tell how cruel Annan was, and then instigate China to attack Annan.
This time it was successful, why shouldn't they be overjoyed?
Zhu Guoxiang said: "The Ming Dynasty replaced the Song Dynasty. Since it is the master of China, it should treat friendly vassal countries well."
The ceremony officer then stood up and said: "The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty has a decree to restore all the titles and official positions held by Yang Bo Madie, the king of Zhan, in the former Song Dynasty. That is, the Huaiyuan Army Jiedu Envoy will observe and stay behind, and Jin Ziguanglu, the doctor, will inspect the school and make Sikong.
Chijie is in charge of all the armies in Linzhou, the governor of Linzhou, the governor of Baizhou, the governor of Lianzhou and the imperial censor, the king of Shangzhu State, the king of Champa City, with a settlement of 1,000 households, and a real seal of 500 households."
He also said: "The Emperor of Ming Dynasty showed his favor by conferring the title of King Yang Bu Madie as the governor of Lizhou!"
"Long live the emperor! Long live the emperor..."
When Foma heard about the official appointment, he knelt down excitedly and kowtowed frantically.
Lizhou was one of the three states that was taken away by Annan a few years ago.
The Ming Emperor canonized the king of Champa as the governor of Lizhou, which was a clear statement of support for Champa to regain its lost territory. He no longer acted as a peacemaker most of the time like in the previous Song Dynasty.
The envoy Foma left happily. He had made such diplomatic achievements and would definitely be rewarded heavily by the king when he returned.
"The envoy of Xuan Zhenla is here to see you!"
Chenla is Cambodia.
Moreover, this was the peak period of the Angkor Dynasty.
"My little minister Jiumo Sengge, by order of King Chenla, congratulates the Ming Emperor on his control of China!"
The chief envoy of Zhenla Kingdom is called Jiumo Sengge, and the deputy envoy is called Mojun Mingji. It sounds like a martial arts fantasy.
The territory of this country is more than ten times that of Annan and Champa.
But the expansion speed is too fast, and there are a lot of mountainous areas. The overall national strength is not as good as Annan for the time being, and it even fights back and forth with Champa.
Annan imitated China and called himself Little China in Southern China. He regarded Champa and Chenla as barbarians and tried to make the two countries his tributary states.
While Zhenla was fighting with Ananxu, he also wanted to encroach on the territory of Champa.
However, Annan was known as Little China, and Champa was canonized by China. Chenla always felt that he was a head short. So during the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, Chenla also took the initiative to pay tribute in an attempt to gain stronger legal rationality in the war.
Brother Jiumo met Song Huizong ten years ago. After he was given the throne, he began to look at Zhu Guoxiang and Ju Ming very rudely.
Emperor Zhu sat too far away and Brother Jiumo could not see clearly, so he focused all his attention on Prince Zhu.
Ju Ming smiled back, and Brother Jiumo quickly lowered his head.
The envoy from Champa filed a complaint against Annan, and the envoy from Zhenla filed a complaint against Champa.
Jumoko said: "His Majesty the Ming Emperor, Champa always sends troops to plunder our country. This time when I was on a mission, my fleet was almost robbed by Champa. Please make the decision for our country!"
This is not a lie, Champa does belong to Teddy.
Although Champa was repeatedly invaded by Annan, it also liked to provoke other countries. In the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, Champa even robbed Arab merchant ships, and then took the goods of Arab merchants to engage in tribute trade with the Southern Song Dynasty.
Chenla and Champa were enemies, and over the next few decades, the two armies invaded each other's capitals.
And it's still a turn-based system. You capture my capital first, then I capture your capital, and you capture my capital... Then Annan said, don't fight anymore, they are all my vassals!
Zhu Guoxiang said: "If this matter is true, I will rebuke the king of Champa and order him not to harass neighboring countries."
Jiumo Sengge said happily: "The people of our country admire the Chinese style. Last time I came to pay tribute to the Song Dynasty, I brought back a batch of Buddhist scriptures. The whole country was rejoicing. I would like to ask His Majesty the Ming Emperor to give you another batch of Buddhist scriptures for me to take back."
Understand Buddhism.”
Zhu Guoxiang said to the ceremony officer: "List the Buddhist scriptures owned by the Ming Dynasty and let the Zhenla envoy carefully select them."
"Yes!" the etiquette officer promised.
Zhu Guoxiang added: "China not only has Buddhist scriptures, but also Confucian scriptures. Go back and ask King Zhenla if he truly surrenders to the Ming Dynasty, he can send his countrymen to study Confucianism in the Ming Dynasty."
Jiumasenge said: "I must go back and tell the king."
The ceremonial officer began to read out the edict, conferring the title of King Chenla and giving him a few more official positions, but they were far less numerous than those of the King of Champa.
There was no way, the Champa State paid tribute frequently, and it came every now and then, and every time it caught up with the suburban festival, it would be promoted to official position.
The edict in front of me only announces its content.
For the actual canonization, envoys will be sent out to sea to go to the capitals of the two countries to complete it.
Next, it was finally Xixia’s turn.
"My young minister, Li Renli, pays homage to His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and pays homage to the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty!"
Li Renli not only came by himself, but also repeatedly requested in advance to bring his adopted daughter to Li Qianshun.
The father and son of the Zhu family discussed it, agreed to Xixia's marriage request, and accepted the fake princess of Xixia.
After being seated, Li Renli began to introduce his daughter: "This is the daughter of His Majesty our country. The king gave her the title Princess Furong."
Ju Ming suddenly said: "This title is not good."
Li Renli was startled: "I dare to ask His Highness the Crown Prince, but what taboo did you commit?"
Zhu Ming said: "I once heard someone say that the most beautiful woman in Xixia is Princess Li Qinglu of Yinchuan. Why not send Princess Yinchuan to us for marriage?"
Zhu Guoxiang: "..."
Li Renli was confused when he heard this: "Your Highness, there is no Princess Yinchuan in our country. It must be a meddlesome person spreading lies."
But Zhu Ming said: "Since it is a lie, then let it be true. Go back and tell the leader of the Xixia Kingdom to change his daughter's name to Li Qinglu and change her title to Princess Yinchuan."
Li Renli felt insulted. How could he force a princess from another country to change her name during formal diplomatic relations?
But his arms couldn't hold his thighs, so Li Renli could only obey: "What His Highness said is absolutely true. I will definitely return to the country to report to the emperor."
The last time the two countries signed a contract, although they were a country of father and son, there was never a formal ennoblement.
This time, the canonization ceremony had to be performed. Zhu Guoxiang named Li Qianshun the King of Xixia, and also had a series of false titles such as Doctor Jin Ziguanglu, Shangzhuguo, and Xiliang Governor.
When the Xixia envoy left the main hall, Zhu Guoxiang ignored the fact that there were eunuchs, ritual officials, and historians present, so he couldn't help but yell at his son: "Are you crazy?"
When Qi Julang heard this, his writing brush trembled, and he didn't know how to record it.
But Zhu Ming said with a smile: "Father, didn't you tell your son the story of Princess Li Qinglu of Yinchuan?"
Zhu Guoxiang angrily ordered the living man: "You don't need to remember these sentences."
"yes!"
The living man breathed a sigh of relief and blamed himself for being so ignorant that he had never heard of what mental illness is.
I have to ask the prince for advice when I find time.
"The envoy of Xuan Dali Kingdom is here to see you!"
Li Boxiang and Huang Jian came in to pay their respects, and were both given seats.
After chatting for a while, Zhu Guoxiang asked: "You two, one surnamed Li and the other Huang, are your ancestors Han?"
The two of them were familiar with Confucian classics and admired the culture of the Central Plains. They clung to their ancestors without hesitation.
Li Boxiang said: "Reporting to your majesty, my ancestors are descendants of the Tang royal family."
Huang Jian was even more awesome: "The ancestor of Xiao Chen is Lord Chun Shen."
Zhu Guoxiang was greatly shocked and nodded in approval: "They all have a long history. It can be seen that Dali is also a Zhuxia."
"Your Majesty, Holy Ming!"
The two were immediately overjoyed, they liked this, and it contained profound political elements.
In fact, they all belong to the Bai ethnic group and only had Han surnames in the Tang Dynasty.
In addition to the Li family and Huang family in Dali, there are also Duan, Gao, Yang, Zhao, Dong, Wang, Zhou, He, Su, Zhang, Gong, Yin, etc.
They were the first to become Chinese and regarded the surrounding ethnic groups as barbarians.
Annan is similar. It calls itself China and is surrounded by barbarians.
Fan Chuo's "Yunnan Chronicles" recorded detailed information about the southwest region in the Tang Dynasty, but unfortunately it was only partially circulated in Yunnan at this time.
Regarding the Dali Kingdom, the Ming Dynasty monarchs and ministers had dark eyes.
Zhu Guoxiang said to the two of them: "Both the Central Plains and Dali are states of Xia, and it would be inappropriate not to have contact with each other for a long time. Not only should the governments of the two countries trade with each other, but the merchants of the two countries should also be allowed to freely enter and exit each other's borders."
"Your Majesty is wise!"
Li Boxiang praised.
During his current mission to the Ming Dynasty, in addition to requesting canonization, another important task was to restore business contacts.
Zhu Guoxiang and Ju Ming's idea was to let the businessmen find out the reality of Dali and draw the marching route and the enemy's city!
