Zhu Ying really didn’t know much about the Angkor Dynasty.
Even because of the different languages, the communication between the two parties was not much.
In the official name of the Ming Dynasty, it was called Zhenla.
The Angkor Dynasty is the name of the Khmer people themselves, which has the same meaning as the Ming Dynasty. In Southeast Asia, it is also called the Khmer Empire. After all, the main ethnic group is the Khmer people.
Diplomatic matters were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites, so Ren Hengtai, the minister of Rites, was called over.
Although Ren Hengtai has a bit of a stubborn personality, he is still not lacking in knowledge. Often, such stubborn people have some talent in reading.
When he heard that it was His Highness Taisun who summoned him, Ren Hengtai's heart suddenly dropped.
"It's been almost two years. Your Majesty, Your Majesty, won't come to trouble me because of the previous matter."
Two years ago at the Fengtian Palace, Zhu Ying proposed a reform of the imperial examination system, and Ren Hengtai, as the Minister of Rites, was the first to stand up and speak out against it.
There was naturally nothing to blame in normal court debates, but the subsequent success of the imperial examination system showed that the reform was effective.
Zhu Ying didn't remember it, but Ren Hengtai always remembered it in his heart.
This is because he is worried that His Majesty the Grand Sun will settle accounts in the future.
"Ren Hengtai, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, pays homage to His Highness the Grand Sun."
As soon as Ren Hengtai saw Zhu Ying, he immediately knelt down and kowtowed.
Seeing this, Zhu Ying was a little puzzled and asked, "Servant Ren, have you committed something?"
Under normal circumstances, kowtowing will only occur except for meetings like the morning court meeting. On weekdays, it is enough for the monarch and his ministers to do this when they meet. It does not mean that kowtowing is required at any time.
It was a custom only in later Qing Dynasties to kowtow when meeting someone.
"I...I am guilty." Cold sweat suddenly broke out on Ren Hengtai's forehead. His Highness Taisun had indeed called him here to settle accounts with Qiu Hou.
Zhu Ying asked curiously, "What crime do you have? Tell me."
Ren Hengtai thought about it for a few times and wondered where His Highness the Grand Sun might have caught him, so he tentatively said, "I shouldn't sleep secretly while on duty and neglect my duties."
What's the point of sleeping secretly at work? This is normal.
Getting up so early in the morning to rush to the morning meeting, few people can survive the whole day.
"What else is there?" Zhu Ying asked again.
He had already realized that Ren Hengtai would be mistaken, so he started teasing him.
Ren Hengtai's back was soaked, and he gritted his teeth and said, "I shouldn't have secretly gone to Qiushui Tower a few days ago. Please punish me, Your Majesty the Grand Sun."
Qiushui is not a brothel, its nature is similar to that of a brothel.
Zhu Yuanzhang once ordered Ming officials to engage in prostitution, and he would be punished if found guilty.
Now this ban is basically a fiction, but it has not been lifted by law. If it is really pursued, it can be punished.
"Is there more?" Zhu Ying asked.
This made Ren Hengtai anxious. Sweat was dripping down his chin. He was in a panic, thinking hard about where he had made the mistake.
In fact, as the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Rites, in the absence of the Minister of Rites, he is basically equivalent to the power of the Minister.
Ren Hengtai usually behaves well and works conscientiously.
I really couldn’t think of an answer to this at the moment.
"Okay, I won't tease you anymore. I asked you to come here this time to ask you some things about Zhenla. As the Minister of Rites, you should be the most familiar with these things."
Zhu Ying said with a smile and asked eunuch Guo Zhong to move a chair over.
Looking at Ren Hengtai's condition, he might even lose his balance.
Hearing this, Ren Hengtai suddenly felt like crying, and at the same time he felt relaxed, but he almost fell down when he stood up.
Zhu Ying's few simple words can be said to be the difference between life and death for Ren Hengtai.
The power of the king is so terrifying. For example, some foolish kings in history, even important officials of the court, may be executed for the smallest trivial matter.
It is said that accompanying a king is like accompanying a tiger.
That's the truth.
After taking a breath for a while, Ren Hengtai did not dare to delay, and quickly reported back: "The Kingdom of Chenla established diplomatic relations with me in the Ming Dynasty in the sixth year of Hongwu. King Huerna of Chenla sent his envoy Nai Yijilang to present gifts."
"Thereafter, tribute will be paid every three to five years, starting from the ninth year of Hongwu... to the fourteenth year of Hongwu... from the nineteenth year of Hongwu..."
"The current envoy of the Chenla Kingdom is Amona. He arrived in the capital of the Ming Dynasty in May this year and is expected to return to Chenla by water in September."
Having said this, Ren Hengtai paused slightly and said, "According to my understanding, this Chenla delegation was accompanied by Sultana, the daughter of King Hu'erna of Chenla, but it was not reported to the Ministry of Etiquette. It should be a private act."
Ren Hengtai cautiously raised his head and glanced at His Highness Taisun. Feeling that he was more interested, he immediately continued: "This Sultana has the appearance of an Obaro. She is not as tall as a Zhenla."
"Therefore, I specifically inquired and found out that he was born to Obalo's concubine, Hu'er, King of Chenla. His appearance is extremely exotic. If His Highness is interested, I will allow him to come and pay homage to His Highness."
A woman who is over 1.7 meters tall is already eye-catching in the south, not to mention her blond hair.
Sultana is very famous in Tianjie Temple and has many suitors.
It's just that Zhenla is relatively powerful in Nanyang. As a princess of Zhenla, ordinary people are not qualified to pursue her.
Ren Hengtai wondered in his mind whether His Highness the Grand Sun got the news about Sultana from somewhere, so he summoned him to ask.
Of course he didn't know that before His Majesty the Grandson returned to the palace last night, he had already slept with Princess Sultana of Zhenla and would be canonized as a concubine in the future.
"What is the current situation in Zhenla Kingdom, Minister Ren knows something about it and tells everything he knows." Zhu Ying naturally has no need to talk about Sultana.
Now that there is no Minister of Rites, the most powerful person in the Ming Dynasty that envoys from various countries can contact is Ren Hengtai, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites.
As a hegemonic country, the Ming Dynasty had to be one level lower than any other country, so it was natural that it usually fawned over Ren Hengtai.
Ren Hengtai knew a little bit about some anecdotes from various countries.
In Ren Hengtai's narration, he gradually became familiar with the country of Chenla.
Chenla used to be very strong and was a big country that could not be ignored in the entire Indo-China Peninsula.
The Angkor Dynasty has a history of almost 600 years since its establishment. It is a truly old kingdom.
At that time, the Central Plains Dynasty was still in its heyday and power.
After six hundred years of history, the current Chenla Kingdom has also shown signs of decline.
Especially in the past hundred years, wars with Siam and Champa have continued, and the country's power has gradually declined.
As Sultana said, the eldest brother, the eldest son of King Huerna of Chenla, Shenlie Popiya, has reached the point where he needs to rely on the support of the general of Lancang to inherit the throne.
After having a general understanding, Zhu Ying asked Ren Hengtai to step down.
Ren Hengtai's hanging heart finally fell to the ground.
This time he was quite frightened.
Taisun's power was growing day by day, reaching the point where it was difficult to hear any opposition.
Even if he is a stubborn Yanguan, he keeps silent when talking about His Highness the Grand Sun.
The Yanguan system was created by His Majesty, and their power also comes from His Majesty's support. Now His Highness Taisun is obviously disgusted with the Yanguan system and has no intention of obeying His Majesty's emphasis on Yanguan.
There are courtiers every day, His Majesty is old, and the grandson is young but powerful. The Ming Dynasty will be dominated by the grandson from now on, and Yan Guan is not a fool, so naturally he will not talk against each other.
After hearing about the incident, the forbidden official could already see His Highness Taisun's attitude.
Originally, Yanguan's reputation was similar to that of Jinyiwei, and he could not get the support of the future emperor, so he naturally began to sink slowly.
The Yanguan who caused the disaster of Yanguan in the history of the Ming Dynasty were completely eliminated just because of Zhu Ying's attitude.
This is Zhu Ying.
Whether it is Zhu Yunqi, Zhu Di, or even Prince Zhu Biao is still alive
It won't be like this.
Because they will be more willing to follow the ancestral precepts.
Yongle Emperor Zhu Di violated the ancestral precepts and went to attack Annan. He was reprimanded by the officials, and in the end he could only endure it.
Zhu Ying doesn't like to spoil them.
...
Sultana was completely panicked at this moment.
She inquired around and found out that Amona was captured by Jin Yiwei.
Jinyiwei, this is the most powerful yamen in the Ming Dynasty, bar none.
Even the envoys from various countries did not want to deal with him. If they were targeted by the Jin Yiwei, not even the ministers in the Ming Dynasty could do anything, let alone envoys from small countries like them.
No matter how anxious she was, Sultana had no choice but to think about Zhu Ying in the end.
In Daming, she seemed to know Zhu Ying, a high-status person.
Amona came to Wenxiang Pavilion to look for him, and was arrested by the Jinyiwei as a troublemaker.
"Zhuying should be able to help, at least ask what the situation is."
At this time, Sultana felt a little regretful.
Apart from knowing Zhu Ying's name, she didn't even know where he lived, let alone how to find him.
Finally it was time to get dark.
Song Zhong came to the Tianjie Temple Embassy in person.
"Miss Sultana, Master Zhu invites you."
The envoys from various countries had almost no dealings with Jinyiwei, so naturally they did not know Song Zhong, the governor.
When Sultana heard that they were from Zhu Ying's faction, of course she followed them happily.
Private room on the third floor of Ping'an Restaurant.
When Sultana came over, Zhu Ying happened to be arriving at about the same time.
"Zhu Ying, do you know anyone in Jinyiwei? All the envoys of our Angkor Dynasty were captured by Jinyiwei."
How could Sultana still have the heart to eat at this time? When she saw Zhu Ying, she asked directly, with hope in her tone.
Zhu Ying turned to look at Song Zhong and asked, knowingly, "What's going on?"
Of course Song Zhong understood, and he quickly bowed and said: "Sir, last night the Zhenla delegation brought a dozen guards to Wenxiang Pavilion to cause trouble. The Jinyi guards happened to be passing by on inspection, so they were all arrested and sent to prison."
Zhu Ying nodded and said lightly: "Since it's nothing serious, let's go and let him go."
Song Zhong bowed and said, "Yes, Young Master."
After answering, Song Zhong turned around and left to order his subordinates to go down.
It was not Song Zhong's turn to personally come forward for such a trivial matter as releasing someone.
"Are you so powerful?" Sultana's eyes lit up at this moment.
She also said last night that Zhu Ying was very powerful, but this power was completely different from today's power.
Zhu Ying picked up a piece of white and tender fish meat and put it into Sultana's bowl and said, "This is the sea fish caught from your place in Zhenla. Try it to see if it tastes like this."
"Now that the matter has been settled, let's eat first. We won't do it if we're starving."
No matter how stupid Sultana is, it is definitely not easy to guess Zhu Ying's identity.
"The Jinyiwei Yamen is under the direct jurisdiction of the Ming Emperor. Neither the emperor's relatives nor the court ministers can interfere, but you can directly ask the Jinyiwei Yamen to release people."
"There are only two people in the Ming Dynasty who can order the Jinyiwei Yamen to act. Apart from the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, there is only the most famous grandson of the Ming Dynasty."
At this point, Sultana was shocked.
He just stared at Zhu Ying blankly for a long time, and finally started to cry, and asked with a trembling tone: "Are you the grandson of the Ming Dynasty!!!"
Zhu Ying smiled and said, "You guessed it right, here I will reward you with a piece of shark fin."
Sultana was already enveloped in surprise at this time, so much so that she was so excited that she spoke in Khmer and babbled a lot.
Only later did he realize what he was saying, and he quickly switched to Chinese and said, "Oh my god, my man is actually the most noble grandson of the Ming Dynasty and the future emperor of the Ming Dynasty."
Then he asked nervously, "Then will you canonize me as your concubine? If I become your concubine, then I don't have to marry to the Lancang Kingdom. I can always stay in the Ming Dynasty."
"Whether it's my father or my eldest brother, they can no longer control me."
Zhu Ying said firmly, "You forgot that I told you yesterday that you are my woman, so of course I will make you my concubine."
Then he added: "The child we give birth to will be the future king of the Angkor Dynasty."
Sultana asked curiously, "Are you going to attack Angkor?"
Zhu Ying shook his head and said: "You can't say that. Today I have asked about the situation of the Angkor Dynasty. Now Angkor is no longer as strong as it was back then, and the army has begun to become weak."
"Your father, Prince Hu'er, is in poor health and no longer has the ability to control the entire country, and your eldest brother, Shenlie Po Piya, is even less able."
"Since you have become my concubine, I will naturally send an army to Angkor to assist the Angkor royal family in their rule."
Zhu Ying's words were without any scruples. He had already seen that Sultana didn't have much affection for her father and eldest brother.
Simply speak out your thoughts.
"Great, then we have to give birth to a son as soon as possible. When our son grows up, he can inherit Angkor."
While she was talking, Sultana bypassed the table and sat directly next to Zhu Ying. She didn't mean to sit down, but squatted down slightly.
"I'm hungry." Sultana said, looking directly at Zhu Ying.
Zhu Ying immediately turned to look at Guo Zhong, who was waiting beside him.
Guo Zhong immediately closed the door of the private room and had the entire floor cordoned off, prohibiting anyone from going upstairs.
Two sticks of incense passed by.
The door to the private room opened, and Sultana licked her lips.
She was already hungry after a worried day, and with some Zhenla hometown dishes, she was satisfied.
Zhu Ying would simply take her to Kunning Palace tonight.
Sultana hasn't seen what the Ming Dynasty's palace looks like.
