Yang Xuan quickly told the story about the envoys from the Kingdom of Occupy.
"Your Highness, I have ordered the city guards to send the envoy to the Huitong Pavilion."
"I was worried that the officials of the Huitong Pavilion might not cooperate, so I lent the token given by His Highness to the city guards."
Yang Xuan also explained why the token was not on him.
After listening to Yang Xuan's words, Zhu Biao's face became solemn.
"Let's go and see if it's true or false." Zhu Biao said.
Foreign envoys came to pay homage, which was a major diplomatic matter. Zhu Biao had to see it with his own eyes and confirm the identity of the envoy before reporting it to Lao Zhu.
Not long after, Zhu Biao followed Yang Xuan to the Huitong Pavilion and personally received the envoys of the Champa Kingdom.
The envoy was also excited when he learned that the visitor was the Prince of Ming Dynasty.
Then he showed Zhu Biao his identity certificate.
After confirming that they were genuine envoys, Zhu Biao expressed his apology on behalf of Ming Dynasty.
Then arrangements were made for the officials in the consulate to entertain the envoy well.
And Yang Xuan also took back the token given to him by Zhu Biao at this time.
After making arrangements for the envoys, Zhu Biao took Yang Xuan directly to the palace to find Lao Zhu.
Wuying Palace.
"Father!"
"His Majesty!"
Zhu Biao and Yang Xuan saluted.
"What's the matter?" Seeing Zhu Biao's face looking a little serious, Lao Zhu asked.
"Father, when the city guards were inspecting the Confucius Temple, they found several foreigners from Southeast Asia and were going to bring them to the guard station for interrogation. Unexpectedly, these people were envoys from the Kingdom of Champa."
"Yang Xuan was there at that time," Zhu Biao said.
"Your Majesty, when I heard that they were going to pay homage to His Majesty the Ming Emperor, I felt something was wrong, so I asked the city guards to find a room directly in the Confucius Temple to question them."
"I didn't expect that they were actually envoys sent by the monarch of Champa to pay homage to His Majesty the Ming Emperor."
Yang Xuan explained when he saw Lao Zhu looking at him.
"Why didn't we know that the envoy from the Champa Kingdom was coming to court?" Lao Zhu frowned slightly and asked in confusion.
"I'm afraid the Ministry of Rites was negligent." Zhu Biao said.
"The three envoys of the Champa Kingdom, the chief and deputy envoys, have been here for a month, but no one has taken care of them. They had to stay at the Yuyi Lane Inn."
"Also, they regard Guangming Hall of Confucius Temple as the Ming Dynasty Palace."
"I want to go in and see you, Father."
Hearing Zhu Biao's words, Lao Zhu looked a little ugly.
"We are not Clay Bodhisattva, so what are we doing sitting in the Hall of Light!"
"They thought the Guangming Palace was majestic and more beautiful than the Champa Palace, so they thought it was where the Emperor of Heaven lived." Zhu Biao explained.
"What happened?" Lao Zhu was very angry.
"The envoy from the Champa Kingdom has come to court from thousands of miles away, and he is our Ming Dynasty's state guest."
"There have long been rules in the imperial court. As soon as envoys from foreign countries set foot on the Ming Dynasty's land, they must enjoy the courtesy of the prince."
"How can they be ignored and asked?"
"No one reported it to us. The Ministry of Rites is just a bastard."
"Father, don't worry. As soon as I learned the news, I went to express my condolences to the envoy and expressed my apology."
"Now, the envoys of the Champa Kingdom have been arranged in the Huitong Pavilion." Zhu Biao said.
"Biao'er, this matter was handled well." Lao Zhu was very satisfied with Zhu Biao's handling of the matter.
"Back to my father, this matter is not due to my son."
"After Yang Xuan discovered the envoy, he ordered the city guards to send the envoy to the Huitong Pavilion, and then came to find him."
Zhu Biao said that he now helps Yang Xuan get credit whenever he gets the chance.
"Oh?" Lao Zhu looked at Yang Xuan when he heard this.
"Your Majesty, I didn't think about anything else at the time. I only thought about how to properly handle this matter."
"When envoys from foreign countries come to court, we, the Ming Dynasty, should treat them with courtesy."
"But now no one is paying attention. What does this make the envoy think?"
"If the envoy returns to the country and tells this matter, then Ming Dynasty will be disgraced and sent abroad."
"Therefore, in order to maintain the dignity of the Ming Dynasty, I have no choice but to make my own decisions and arrange the envoys in the Huitong Pavilion."
"After all, since ancient times, diplomacy has been nothing trivial."
Yang Xuan said slowly.
It can be seen that Lao Zhu's face is a little ugly at the moment, and he is even more dissatisfied with the Ministry of Rites.
"That's a good thing."
"Yang Xuan, you did a good job." Lao Zhu took the opportunity to praise him without mentioning a reward.
Of course, he would keep these in mind and make up for it later.
"I just did what I should do as a minister of the Ming Dynasty." Yang Xuan said modestly.
"Haha, if all the ministers of our Ming Dynasty were like you, then we wouldn't have to worry so much." Lao Zhu was very satisfied with Yang Xuan's attitude.
Don't be arrogant or impetuous, so that you can be entrusted with important responsibilities in the future.
"Okay, you are solely responsible for the envoy's affairs, and Yang Xuan will assist you."
"My son, I obey!"
"I obey the decree!"
After the two left, Lao Zhu's face darkened.
He sat motionless on the dragon throne, thinking about how to use this incident to make trouble and bring down Hu Weiyong.
…
The next day.
Fengtian Palace, early morning.
"Long live your majesty!"
"Flat body!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
After all the officials saluted, Lao Zhu first handled some small things to warm up.
Only then did we get to the point.
The first thing is to bring out the matter of the envoys of the Champa State and question the Ministry of Rites.
Liang Kaidi, the Minister of Rites, immediately stood up to explain.
"His Majesty!"
"The Ministry of Rites has already reported to the Zhongshu Province about the envoy from the Champa Kingdom coming to court."
"I thought the Ministry of Education had assigned a ministry to receive him."
Upon hearing that the Minister of Rites put the responsibility on Zhongshu Sheng, Hu Weiyong immediately began to refute.
"The Zhongshu Ministry of Education has never received your report on this matter."
"Your Majesty, I have a memorial to prove it!"
"When Prime Minister Hu was in power, he issued strict orders on matters such as sending envoys from overseas countries to come to court and do business, and overseas monks going to the Ming Dynasty to learn scriptures and worship Buddha."
"The Ministry of Rites is not allowed to go beyond the Zhongshu Province and report directly to His Majesty!"
"Otherwise, it's a violation of the law!"
"Otherwise, I would have reported this matter directly to His Majesty."
The Minister of Rites immediately said to Lao Zhu.
Lao Zhu didn't say a word and quietly watched the two people's performance.
"His Majesty."
"Zhongshu Province inherits the authority of the Emperor above, and governs ministries, academies, provinces, and governments below. This is the charter decreed by His Majesty."
"If the Central Publishing House cannot coordinate the work from top to bottom and coordinate the work, wouldn't it be a dereliction of duty on the part of the Central Publishing House?"
What Hu Weiyong said is reasonable and well-founded.
The Minister of Rites suddenly became anxious and said quickly:
"Your Majesty!"
"The Ministry of Rites did report this matter to the Ministry of Education, but it has not been approved by the Ministry of Education for a long time."
"I am indeed innocent in this matter!"
The Minister of Rites kowtowed to Lao Zhu and was so anxious that he almost cried.
In terms of power and status, he could not compare to Hu Weiyong. If Lao Zhu listened to Hu Weiyong and blamed him for this matter, then he would be finished.
So it’s okay for him not to be in a hurry!
"Your Majesty, it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Rites to receive envoys from overseas. If the Ministry of Rites has indeed reported this matter, then even if it has not received approval from the Ministry of Education, it should send someone to urge it."
"And find out when the Champa envoy arrived and when he entered Beijing, and report back in writing."
"This is the minimum duty of a minister!"
Hu Weiyong glanced at the Minister of Rites and continued:
"Why do you let the envoys stay in an inn? This is the Ministry of Rites dereliction of duty!"
Lao Zhu, who was sitting on the dragon throne, saw them shirking responsibilities to each other and immediately shouted angrily:
"enough!"
…
