"Your Highness, King of Shu, I heard that there are many iron-eating beasts in Shu. I want to buy a few." Lin Xuan asked.
Iron-eating beasts are also giant pandas, because giant pandas often go to residential houses to look for food, lick food and cooking utensils, and some can even bite people's cooking utensils with their sharp teeth, so they are called iron-eating beasts by the people.
According to legend, Chi You's mount was a giant panda.
Of course, these are all legends, and there is no way to verify whether they are true or false.
The ancients lacked food, so giant pandas were naturally the targets of hunting by the ancients.
Some people have also caught giant pandas and kept them as pets.
Historical records record that during the period of Wu Zetian, a pair of giant pandas were given to Emperor Fuso.
Li Ke was slightly stunned and said: "Why do you want that thing? The meat of iron-eating beasts is not delicious, and the fur is not valuable. When there is a shortage of food, there are people who hunt iron-eating beasts. Usually there are very few people.
Attack the iron-eating beast."
Although the giant panda seems harmless to humans and animals, it does not mean that it is not really a threat.
Although it has a cat in its name, it is actually a bear.
Generally, jackals, tigers and leopards will not provoke giant pandas, which shows the fighting ability of giant pandas.
The main food of giant pandas is bamboo. Since bamboo has low energy, giant pandas need to eat constantly. Giant pandas spend almost half of their day eating and the rest of the time sleeping.
In order to save energy, in the wild, they rarely actively attack other animals, and most of the time they adopt avoidance and other methods. Therefore, giant pandas rarely conflict with other animals. This is not because they are not strong enough, but because giant pandas do not like to cause trouble.
Therefore, when there is no shortage of food, few people attack giant pandas.
"I keep them for fun." Lin Xuan said with a smile.
Li Ke was a little speechless. He wanted to say that it was just playing with things and losing one's ambition.
But this is an opportunity to make good friends with Lin Xuan.
"I will help you keep an eye on it after I get back. If there is any, I will send someone to bring it to you." Li Ke said.
"Then thank you, Your Highness, King of Shu." Lin Xuan said gratefully.
It would be great if you could get giant pandas without having to catch them yourself.
…
Time flies, and it’s New Year’s Eve in a blink of an eye.
The servants of the Lin family all put on new clothes and had smiles on their faces.
These slaves were all bought by the Lin family, and there was no such thing as a holiday.
But during the Chinese New Year, the master not only gave them new clothes, but also a lot of reward money.
night
Lin Xuan's family, after having a sumptuous dinner together, started playing cards and keeping vigil.
Later generations would keep vigil on New Year's Eve after twelve o'clock and then go to bed.
But in ancient times, people kept vigil all night long.
Except Lin Duoduo, no, now her name is Lin Wanxi.
In addition to her young age and no need to keep vigil, Lin Xuan and her parents were not allowed to sleep.
But the room was very warm and not cold at all.
The three of them played cards until midnight, ate some dumplings and continued playing.
It stopped only after dawn.
After offering incense at the ancestral hall, Lin Dongyang and Zhang Qing went to bed.
Lin Xuan couldn't sleep yet, he still needed to go to the palace to pay New Year's greetings to Li Shimin and Queen Changsun.
On the way to the palace, Lin Xuan remembered that he hadn't signed in today and thought to himself:
"Sign in!"
"Ding~, congratulations to the host for successfully signing in, and you will be rewarded with a diagram of Zheng He's treasure ship."
Zheng He’s treasure ship?
Lin Xuan was a little sleepy, but he suddenly woke up.
Later generations have been debating endlessly about Zheng He's treasure ships. Some people say that Zheng He's treasure ships refer to all the ships that Zheng He sailed to the Western Ocean.
Some people also say that Zheng He's treasure ship refers to the ship that Zheng He took.
According to the "History of Ming Dynasty: Biography of Zheng He", Zheng He sailed on a large treasure ship that was 44 feet long and 18 feet wide (that is, 146.67 meters long and 50.94 meters wide). It was the largest wooden sailing ship in the world at that time. The ship had four floors.
, the nine masts on the ship can carry twelve sails, the anchor weighs several thousand kilograms, and it takes two to three hundred people to set sail.
After Zhu Di's death, because sailing to the Western Ocean was too costly, the Ming Dynasty implemented a maritime ban: "No sails can be sailed into the sea."
In order to prevent subsequent emperors from sailing to the Western Seas, the methods for building Zheng He's treasure ships and the nautical charts were all burned.
Later in the Ming Dynasty, Japanese pirates were rampant along the coast, which was also the reason why the blueprints for building Zheng He's treasure ship were burned.
Otherwise, with such a big Big Mac here, cooperating with some other ships and equipped with firearms, it would be simply invincible on the sea at that time.
Lin Xuan didn't know whether Zheng He's treasure ships were invincible at the time.
But this thing was definitely invincible during the Zhenguan period.
Does the system know that I want to sail and send me blueprints specifically?
Lin Xuan didn't understand shipbuilding and couldn't see the subtlety of this drawing. He was excited for a while and then calmed down.
Whether Zheng He's treasure ship is as amazing as the legend says, we won't know until it is built.
In the new year, the entrance to the palace is peaceful.
Although they usually fight and wish each other would die, when they met, they greeted each other with a smile.
Lin Xuan came to the palace gate, greeted Cheng Yaojin and others, chatted for a while, and then the palace door opened.
Today Li Shimin summoned the ministers in Taiji Hall.
Li Shimin and Empress Changsun sat high on the throne, waiting for all the civil and military officials to pay their respects.
"See Your Majesty, see the Queen, may the Tang Dynasty last for thousands of years and the country be forever solid!"
Civil and military officials saluted and shouted blessings.
Li Shimin laughed loudly and said: "With all your courtesy, the Tang Dynasty can be what it is today, and the people can live and work in peace and contentment, all because of your dedicated support to me."
The two sides flattered each other, and Li Shimin talked about some things about tomorrow's court meeting and let them go back.
As for the banquet, there was no such thing. I didn't sleep all night. If I was eating, I don't know when it was done.
Generally, Li Shimin would entertain officials and foreign envoys after a large court meeting.
After paying New Year greetings, everyone went home to sleep.
…
Honglu Temple is also very lively at this time.
Envoys from various countries are counting the gifts and waiting to be presented to the court tomorrow.
It's not that the Tang Dynasty has now conquered the world, and all nations have come to court.
But they knew that Datang was very generous. They offered some worthless things, but Datang gave them real money in return.
In order to show their magnanimity and the demeanor of the Celestial Kingdom, the Central Plains Dynasty has always adhered to a foreign policy of thin exchanges and thick exchanges.
When foreign countries come to pay tribute, they will even write special letters about it. After all, it is a matter of face, right?
Foreign countries don't pay that much attention. They think there is such a "fool", so they are naturally happy to pay tribute.
Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty asked Zheng He to sail to the West for many purposes, one of which was to promote the national prestige of the Ming Dynasty.
However, Zheng He only took 20,000 to 30,000 people with him on his voyages and did not fight. How could he promote his country's prestige?
It's very simple, that is giving gifts.
Every time he went to sea, Zheng He would bring a large amount of porcelain, silk, and tea.
Wherever Zheng He went as an envoy, he would first read out the emperor's edict, give gifts, accompany the delegation, and then conduct barter transactions with the local people.
Of course, although the gifts given are valuable, through trade, this part of the consumption can still be offset, and even some profit can be made.
However, the ships that Zheng He sailed to the West were expensive to build and suffered losses every time. In addition, the people who died needed to be paid pensions, and many precious things were shipped back and were used as tributes for the royal family and nobles to enjoy for free. To sum up,
Zheng He's voyages to the West were not profitable.
Although Zheng He's voyages to the West were banned, there were many reasons.
But the most important thing is not making money.
If it can earn a lot of benefits for the court, the court will definitely find ways to overcome these problems.
However, Zheng He's voyages to the West did not bring profits to the court. On the contrary, they also consumed the court's money and food.
Coupled with some other comprehensive factors, it is normal for voyages to the West to be banned.
It was precisely because the Central Plains Dynasty was so proud that many countries were willing to pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty.
In history, some people even made up a fictional country, brought some gifts, paid tribute to the Central Plains Dynasty, and defrauded the Central Plains Dynasty into receiving gifts in return.
Many people find it unbelievable, but it actually existed in ancient times.
After all, it was an achievement for the emperor to pay tribute, and it was too late for them to publicize it.
Coupled with the inconvenience of transportation in ancient times, the circulation of information was very slow.
By the time the court found out, they had already run away with the gifts.
As for whether lessons will be learned in the future, that doesn't exist.
As long as the news doesn't spread, who will know?