I soon got tired of seeing the so-called rare and exotic animals. Just as the drinks and dishes were arranged in Wuying Hall, Lao Zhu led the ministers into the hall. After drinking a few glasses together, they just had a drink while watching the ritual music and dance music. .
The father and son left the show relatively early, and soon summoned the Duke of Haiguo away. It was a rare banquet, so it was good for them to have a good time. With the monarch on board, they would be a little restrained and cautious after all.
Some poor imperial censors, Qingliu, may not have the opportunity to taste meat except for the banquet given by the emperor.
Therefore, filial or loving people often secretly hide some meat and take it home to feed the family. When Queen Ma found out, she ordered the palace guards to turn a blind eye when the ministers came out of the palace after the royal banquet, and not to investigate carefully.
I have thought about giving it directly, but I am afraid of favoring one over the other. After all, the salaries of officials of the same rank are the same. If you easily give someone another based on the rich or the poor, there must be something wrong.
The Empress is naturally kind and virtuous, but the moral standards of the warriors are very low, and they are often targeted by Yushi Qingliu, so they are happy to laugh at jokes and make things difficult for them.
"Hey, Chen Yushi, this fire-flavored sheep's head and hoof is so delicious, why can't you take a bite?"
"Hey, Mr. Zhao, I have always heard that your Majesty loves to eat fish. As the saying goes, like father, like son. Why can't you put down a chopstick? Could it be that the heat is not right?"
Zhang Guanglie, the imperial censor, took down his chopsticks and picked up a piece of pepper-vinegar goose and said to his colleagues: "Today is a banquet given by the emperor, and Duke Hai Guo comes back from the ocean. It is a very happy day, and there are foreign guests here. Please enjoy it. ."
Several poor censors glanced at the barbarian envoys not far away who were still unable to hold their chopsticks. They thought that it was just a normal day, and it was really hard to lose the dignity of the court today, so they took off their chopsticks one after another.
As the saying goes, if you don't move, you will be gone, but if you move, you will be like the wind and the remaining clouds. This made the few princes who came to provoke you feel sour. Damn it, we Qiu Ba are not as rude as you when we eat.
If you are so greedy, you still pretend to be polite. If you don't impeach me on weekdays, but you still need your food and wine, bah, you are despicable.
Several foreign envoys who had made friends on the ship couldn't help but whisper after seeing it: "Look over there, is it rare for officials of the Ming Dynasty to eat such delicious food?"
Another retorted: "The ones who are so bold and bold must be the generals, and the ones who eat politely are the civil servants."
The warriors felt that it was boring, so they all gathered around the envoy to amuse themselves, comparing their drawings and nodding from time to time, not sure if they really understood what he was saying.
Xu Dachao asked the palace maid for a few handkerchiefs, packed the meat in front of him and stuffed it into his sleeve robe, and found an opportunity to stuff it to Zhang Guanglie. He was unwilling to accept it, but he accepted it after all, and prepared to go out after leaving the palace. To colleagues.
Chang Yuchun walked up to Xu Da with a wine bottle and said with a smile: "Zhang Guanglie is not a person who abandons public service for personal reasons. Not to mention a little food, even a gold mountain will hardly sway his heart. His memorial to impeach you still needs to be Up."
"I just pity the young and old of those families. They can't even eat a few mouthfuls of meat during the holidays. As for the memorial, in our position, impeachment without a censor is the most scary thing."
After having a few drinks, the two got down to business. Xu Da said: "Since overseas is really as vast and rich as His Highness said, we shouldn't miss it. There is another way out for the children of each family."
"That's what I mean here too. The king of Jin and the king of Chu will become a vassal. Once the local military power is handed over, all the money will be cut off. We can't fight for the rest of our lives. Our children and grandchildren will have to fall into the situation of these censors."
"What do the two Wu brothers say?"
"It's all up to His Highness."
"Then what does Your Highness mean?"
"His Highness means that it is okay, but it must be done according to the rules, and taxes must be paid according to the rules, without any deviation."
………
In the side hall of the Jinshen Hall, Duke Hai, who had just eaten half full, bowed respectfully to the Queen. Queen Ma had come to replenish the dishes. She asked the maid behind her to put down a few dishes she had cooked by herself and said: "It's been a few years since I left." , I feel really haggard.”
Wu Liang hurriedly said: "It's just my duty as a minister, Lady Lao has forgotten it."
Zhu Biao said: "The whale waves are touching the sky, the vastness is boundless, the clouds and sails are high, and the stars are galloping day and night. This kind of hard work is beyond my duty."
Wu Liang was not a man who was good at words, but he just said: "A man of this nature, who has never given up his position, has been able to serve the dragon, and be granted the title of wife, shadow and son, and the glory of his ancestral temple. He should have gone to the mountains of swords and seas of fire to repay the favor, but now the waves and waves are not enough." Word."
Empress Ma didn't say anything more and led the people away so that they could eat in peace.
Zhu Yuanzhang was now very interested in overseas affairs and asked many questions, which Wu Liang answered one by one.
For example, the Khmer people like celadon dishes and bowls and silk damasks, and they exchange them with gold. The Javanese people like celadon, musk, gold-plated ornaments, silk, and burnt beads, and they exchange them with copper coins.
Ceylon was particularly fond of musk, silk, colored silk, celadon, copper coins, and camphor, and they exchanged them for precious stones and pearls.
King Zufar was very fond of silk and porcelain, and was willing to exchange frankincense, dried blood, aloe vera, myrrh, benzoin, styrax oil, wood beetle, etc. for them.
He also talked about some things that he had not brought back, such as a kind of smelly fruit called Gan'eryan, which has sharp thorns on its skin and five or six petals that will split when it is ripe, resembling the smell of rotten beef. There are fourteen or five pieces of large chestnut crispy white meat inside.
After Lao Zhu was satisfied, Zhu Biao asked: "The civilian and merchant ships that went with the fleet suffered a lot of losses. How did the merchants make profits? Do they have any complaints?"
"The losses were not much. In addition to natural disasters and illnesses, only a dozen people were killed by the barbarians due to misunderstandings caused by the inability to communicate and trade. After communicating with the local leaders, the general led his people and said that killing people must pay off debts and so on. revenge."
"As for the profit of the caravan, I don't know much about it, but I expect that the rare items they brought back overseas can be sold at a high price. Moreover, when trading with the barbarians, they also exchanged a lot of gold and silver for silk, porcelain, etc."
Zhu Biao did not ask what the businessmen had to complain about. Since they had already made profits, there should be no complaints. Otherwise, they were greedy and wanted to scare the monkeys.
………
Three months after the fleet returned, ships and merchants gathered at the Moon Harbor of Zhangzhou in the south of the Yangtze River. It was said to be the pearl of the bright moon, the stone of the crow and falcon, the fragrance of Shennan dragon speed, the wonder of Linshi Kongcui, and the dew of plum blossoms. The beauty of treasures, corals, Yao Kun, etc. are all returned to the ship.
But the best-selling ones are peppers. The lower quality ones cost ten taels of silver per catty, and the good ones can be sold for twenty or thirty taels per catty. Ordinary people don’t dare to ask the price after smelling the smell. , but some people buy it.
In a street teahouse, Jiang Yuan, the leader of the Huizhou merchants, drank tea in an old manner. It looked like he was struggling just to swallow it. But it was puzzling that such an old man survived another winter without dying.
A middle-aged man laughed and said: "A hundred pounds of pepper from the Sumatra Kingdom is only sold for two or three taels of silver. The price of pepper from the Sanfoqi Kingdom is also about the same. But as long as it can be shipped to our Central Plains, it will be a hundred times a thousand times more." profit."
Another person fiddled with the abacus beads, making a crackling sound, and continued: "The profits are not so high anymore. The court's business tax is set too high, especially the tax on sea trade business. Hey, if it were at a higher point, We would rather quit."
The middle-aged man said to Jiang Yuan: "Old man, if the court's taxes are paid truthfully, we won't be able to share much money. The brothers below will get three melons and two dates for working at sea. I'm afraid there will be trouble. Now, can you discuss it with the master above?"
Jiang Yuan sneered and said, "If you eat less and leave out more scraps, the people below will survive."
"Look what you said. Since ancient times, the shopkeepers have taken the big heads, and the clerks below have taken the small heads. You can't break the rules, otherwise the shopkeepers will all run away, and our Huizhou merchants will have to disperse."
"Tell me, who did you hook up with again?"
The man went up and read a few names in a low voice. After hearing this, Jiang Yuan shook his head: "The Ministry of Household Affairs is keeping a close watch. These adults cannot cover the sky."
"We fought hard to destroy the ship and people, and used various methods to get the few things His Highness asked for. It was originally said to be a good thing that benefited the country and the people. His Highness said, if it succeeds, I am willing to use it to Treat each other as nobles of the country.”
……………
(End of chapter)
