met free Chapter 612 You old man, can't you even be a human being anymore?!
Chapter 612 You old man, can't you even be a human being anymore?!
In February of the fifth year of the Hongwu reign (1386), an envoy from Annam came to the court, presented a memorial, and offered an elephant as tribute.
Unfortunately, Zeng Lu, the chief clerk of the Ministry of Rites' Bureau of Foreign Affairs, discovered that the name of the emperor on the memorial was Chen Shuming, but when he checked the previous memorials, the name on them was Chen Rixuan.
This discovery nearly scared the officials in the Ministry of Rites to death.
Can the rulers of vassal states be changed at will?
Strictly speaking, all the vassal kings who were included in the tributary system were the retainers of Emperor Zhu.
Based on this premise, apart from uncontrollable factors such as life, death, illness, and death, the investiture of these vassal states' rulers, the selection and confirmation of their successors, the selection and appointment of their domestic prime ministers, and even the fact that these rulers wanted to change their names, all required the consent of Emperor Zhu.
So, you wrote "Chen Rixuan" on your previous memorial, but now you write "Chen Shuming" on your current memorial. What are you trying to do?
Play a "spot the difference" game with Emperor Zhu and test his eyesight to see if he can spot your unauthorized name change.
Or perhaps the weather cleared up and the rain stopped, and the King of Annam felt he was in charge again, so he wanted to challenge the authority of Emperor Zhu?
The problem is, it's fine if you're looking for death, but don't you dare drag me into this, you bastard!
Then, Zeng Lu found the Annamite envoy Nguyen Nhu Lam and demanded that Nguyen Nhu Lam give the Ming Dynasty an explanation.
Give the Ming Dynasty an explanation?
Ruan Rulin dared not take on such a great responsibility.
After all, the job belongs to Annam, but your life is your own.
Then, Ruan Rulin recounted the entire process of the name change, from beginning to end, as if pouring beans from a bamboo tube.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the then-King of Annam, Trần Nhật Huật, immediately sent people to the Ming Dynasty to request investiture.
The sooner they kneel, the sooner they will be officially appointed.
The sooner Annam is officially recognized, the more time it can use the name of the Ming Dynasty to bully other neighboring countries.
By the time other neighboring countries also received investiture from the Ming Dynasty, Annam had already secured its own dominance.
Even if the Ming Dynasty were to offer a thousand pieces of gold to buy a horse's bones, it wouldn't make the underling who led the kneeling spit out the flesh, would it?
Unfortunately, Trần Nhồi died not long after surrendering, and the throne passed to his nephew Trần Nhồi.
Chen Rixuan's brain is always in a state of flux, sometimes sharp and sometimes dull.
On the one hand, Chen Rixuan firmly implemented Chen Rihui's original strategy. While Goryeo was still wavering between the Ming Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty, Annam firmly clung to the Ming Dynasty.
On the other hand, with the increase in tribute trade with the Ming Dynasty, and having indeed made a lot of money through the Dengzhou border market in recent years, Chen Rizhen suddenly wanted to change his surname back to Yang.
This move greatly displeased the Tran dynasty royal family.
After a period of turmoil, Trần Nhồi's brother Trần Thị Minh (Trần Nhồi's uncle) was elected king by the Trần dynasty royal family, while Trần Nhồi and his son Trần Lưu were beaten to death and buried in Trần Mụn.
Ruan Rulin recounted everything in detail.
The officials of the Ministry of Rites were nearly scared to death.
That's it!
The Annamite king, appointed by Emperor Zhu, was beaten to death with sticks.
Is this some kind of attack on Chen Rixuan?
No!
This is a slap in the face to Emperor Zhu!
The Zhu Emperor alone was already dangerous enough, but now there's also Yang the Epilepsy who has seizures from time to time.
The father-in-law and son-in-law got together...
Qian Yongren, the Minister of Rites, immediately wrote a memorial detailing the cause and effect of the matter.
Then, Zhu Biao sent someone to deliver this memorial to Ningyang County.
Yang Shaofeng returned the memorial to Emperor Zhu, as if wearing a mask of pain, and said through gritted teeth, "Logically speaking, the things these monkeys in Annam have done are enough to destroy their country."
"But that place, Monkey, is extremely polluted and difficult to march in."
"Moreover, the Ming Dynasty still needs to launch a northern expedition against the Yuan Dynasty."
"so……"
Yang Shaofeng gritted his teeth, steeled his resolve, and said, "I believe we should reject their tribute and expel their envoy."
The labor trade in the monkey country is certainly very lucrative.
Du Shunqin, the envoy from the Monkey family in Dengzhou Prefecture, was also very sensible, especially in dealing with issues such as Commissioner Yang Misi, where he was very proactive.
But it's useless.
No matter how many laborers Du Shunqin can bring, and no matter how many benefits Du Shunqin gives to Commissioner Yang Misi, this time the monkey must be taught a good lesson.
With the Ming Dynasty temporarily unable to deploy troops directly, severing tribute naturally became the only and best option.
Under the tributary system, the Ming Dynasty had a responsibility to protect Annam.
If other countries attack Annam, the Ming Dynasty would have to mediate among the tributary states that were also part of the tributary system.
If it was a vassal state outside the tributary system, the Ming Dynasty would directly mobilize troops to quell the matter and stand up for Annam.
This is why the surrounding vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, knowing full well that the tributary system was a trap, especially the pricing power, were still eager to join it.
Once tribute was cut off, it would mean that the Ming Dynasty would no longer recognize Annam as a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, and naturally would no longer assume the responsibility of protecting it.
In this situation, the Ming Dynasty would not need to intervene to mediate if any of the neighboring countries such as Champa, Siam, or Burma sent troops to attack Annam.
Unfortunately, Annam was not exactly a docile country in Southeast Asia, and it had its share of conflicts with vassal states such as Champa, Siam, and Burma.
While suppressing his heartache, Yang Shaofeng said, "After rejecting their tribute and destroying their envoys, I'm sure Champa and other countries will seize the opportunity to teach these arrogant monkeys a lesson."
"Once the Grand General's Office has freed up its resources, we will burn their ancestral temples, destroy their contributions, and exterminate their descendants."
Just as Yang Shaofeng was heartbroken to the point of being unable to breathe, Emperor Zhu was greatly surprised.
I originally thought this bastard would try to scam a group of monkey workers first.
I never expected that this bastard would actually want to completely wipe out the monkey.
Yes, he truly is worthy of being Zhu Chongba's son-in-law.
Emperor Zhu chuckled and asked, "What about the monkeys' laborers? Their food? Their mineral resources?"
Ok?
You old man, can't you even be a human being anymore?!
Are you deliberately trying to stab me in the heart with every single cut?
Yang Shaofeng said through gritted teeth, "It is precisely for the sake of the monkeys' food, mineral resources, and laborers that we should refuse their tribute and expel their envoys."
“If we don’t teach the monkey a lesson this time, there’s no guarantee that other vassal states won’t follow suit in the future.”
By then, who will still treat the Ming Dynasty like their own father?
If the surrounding vassal states don't support the Ming Dynasty, where will the Ming Dynasty get cheap grain, minerals, and laborers?
Emperor Zhu nodded with a smile and said, "In that case, the monkey envoy, especially the issues at the border market, will be left to you to handle."
After a slight pause, Emperor Zhu added, "If a monkey were to impersonate a Korean merchant, what would you do? Would you be able to tell the difference?"
Yang Shaofeng's eyes widened immediately.