He Zhenwu's idea was not concerned about Marin. After 100 of his subordinates were lined up, Marin began to arrange for the sailors to carefully lift the nine Galapagos tortoises they selected.

These 9 Galapagos turtles are among the 13 surviving turtles in the best health, and are naturally the most suitable for gifts. When these 9 turtles were lifted down, He Zhenwu's mouth was so open that he could swallow two eggs...

Lao He has lived for more than 40 years and has never seen such a huge turtle. He had received a task before and said he would pick up a black turtle. He didn't believe it, thinking that it was the barbarians who were trying to make a mysterious request for reward. As a result, the facts told him - this is really...

Not only He Zhenwu was stunned, but the Ming soldiers watching were also confused. Obviously, they were all shocked. Kong Tai, who was by Marin, looked at it and wanted to laugh. In fact, when he first saw a turtle in Keelung, he was not much better than these Ming soldiers.

Seeing that He Zhenwu and other soldiers of the Ming army Tianjin Guard were stunned, Ma Lin had to speak and remind him:

"General He, this is auspicious, why don't you take it?"

In ancient times, auspiciousness was very important. Having auspiciousness means that a court has face. If auspiciousness is neglected, it is not a good thing.

He Zhenwu received a reminder from Marin that Ruzui woke up from her dream and quickly arranged for someone to take over the Galapagos turtle. However, the soldiers who were arranged stopped and dared not step forward.

Why? The Galapagos turtle is huge, with hundreds of pounds, like a beast. Moreover, many turtles are carnivorous animals and bite people.

But the Galapagos turtle is actually a mild variety of fruits and vegetables, but these Ming soldiers don’t know. After all, the Galapagos turtle is there and is very intimidating. After Marin explained, the Ming soldiers came over to carry it tremblingly. Then, these Galapagos turtle were carried into a very clean room, which was better than the human beings.

Later, Malin reminded that these turtles do not eat meat, only eat fresh fruits, vegetables and tender grass. Of course, He Zhenwu gave him ten courage and did not dare to let these auspicious men, known as "black turtles", eat grass. Therefore, the Galapagos turtles eat all fresh fruits and vegetables bought from the market, and these turtles eat with relish. Fortunately, it is early summer now, and the vegetables are very rich. If it is winter, it is very difficult to get fresh vegetables. Ordinary people cannot eat them at all. Only some royal estates can grow vegetables in hot springs, and they will be eaten by fresh fruits and vegetables.

...

After arranging these turtle masters, He Zhenwu began to arrange food and accommodation for Malin and others. Because he was a foreign vassal lord, Malin's treatment was naturally not bad, so he lived in the best inn room at Dagukou Port. His 100 guards were also assigned to the room.

However, He Zhenwu did not dare to let the soldiers and sailors on the ship land. After all, these foreign soldiers seemed very elite, and if they went ashore, they would not be able to take responsibility.

Therefore, He Zhenwu finally decided to let the 900 guards and sailors stay on the boat. However, He Zhenwu ordered people to send food and water to the boat to supply the soldiers and sailors on the boat. As for whether to let those people off the boat, He Zhenwu told Marin that this would be awaiting instructions from the capital. Moreover, he also sent his subordinates to whip up and go to the capital to ask for instructions.

Dagukou is not far from the capital, only 340 miles away. He walked through the post station system and was able to arrive on the same day. On the day when Malin landed from Dagukou, He Zhenwu also sent someone to send a message to the capital and request instructions. After all, he was just an officer in the local garrison office. He didn't understand the matter of receiving envoys from foreign countries or even the king of the country.

Then, Ma Lin and his party temporarily settled in Dagukou, waiting for the response from the capital...

...

When the news reached the capital, it immediately caused an uproar in the court. Some conservative civil officials believed that the king of Beihai was not in line with the etiquette and should have landed at the ports that received foreign vassals such as Guangzhou, Fuzhou, and Ningbo.

However, Liu Jin said that the North Korean envoy did not go to these three ports when he came to the North. Moreover, the other party came to offer auspiciousness, and it was normal to have a special point. Then, Liu Jin's group of minions also supported Liu Jin's point of view. Some people actually said that the auspicious black turtle was more auspicious to land from Dagukou in the east. Because this represents the "purple qi coming from the east", which is most in line with the arrival of the black turtle.

This metaphor is very clever. Now, those aggressive censors cannot refute it. After all, the Confucian dynasty still value auspiciousness very much. Only with auspiciousness can we show the rationality of the existence of these ministers in the court.

So, the ministers discussed that the Ministry of Rites' Host and Guest Department sent a Junwailang (equivalent to the Deputy Director) to lead a team to Dagukou, Wei, Tianjin, to receive the king of the foreign country, Malin. At the same time, welcomed the Xiangrui Black Turtle back.

However, when it comes to rank Malin, the court officials held their own opinions and had disputes. According to convention, the status of the vassal states such as Korea, Japan, and Ryukyu were equivalent to that of the princes, while the Mongolian tribes were uncertain. But the actual situation was that the court recognized that their status was equivalent to that of the princes, but when they arrived at the Ming Dynasty, when they attended court or had a banquet, the princes stood or sat under the marquis of the Ming Dynasty (at the banquet).

This mainly shows the honor of the Ming Dynasty. Look, you, a foreign vassal king, have a status below the marquis of my marquis of the Ming Dynasty. But except for the lower ranking, their level is not low. For example, they do not need to salute the marquis of the Ming Dynasty, but only to salute the emperor, prince, and prince first. Moreover, they marquis the prince, and prince need to return two marquis. As for the county prince, prince, prince, and prince, they marquis, and prince, they marquis. Their rank is higher than that of the marquis, but the Ming Dynasty considers himself superior to that of the marquis, and the status of the marquis is no less than that of the monarch of the vassal state. Moreover, although the vassal kings and kings salute each other, they generally marquis are marquis.

...

Of course, this is not the point. The point is - how should Marin calculate the level...

If Marin calls himself king, then there is no need to talk about it. Just refer to the kingdoms such as Siam, Malacca and other kingdoms. But, Marin calls himself a grand duke, which made the Ming Dynasty's monarch and ministers a little stunned - What the hell is the grand duke? Is it a king?

This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! Logically speaking, the Grand Duke should belong to the Duke. But the problem is that the Beihai Kingdom is an independent country, not a superficial principality.

Then, a minister proposed - is it a monarch like the Dukes and Dukes in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period? Everyone nodded and agreed, but how should the independent Dukes and Dukes such as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period be classified in the Ming Dynasty today? Moreover, if you say he is a Duke, there is also the word "big" in front of it...

Finally, Liu Jin was also annoyed and said:

"Stop fighting. Since he himself calls himself a grand duke, then we should not give him the status of a king of a vassal state, and give him the level of a duke. Of course, when he is in court, he will be under the marquis! When he sees my duke, he must first bow!"

The ministers quickly called "good"...

Then, since the level has been set, the court ward needs to be set. Moreover, the court ward is generally rewarded by the Ming Dynasty. According to regulations, the Duke of the State wore a black gauze hat, a jade belt, and a garment was embroidered with a kilin (civil officials embroidered birds, military officials embroidered with beasts). The only problem is - Malindao...

Liu Jin also gave an opinion on this issue - when the Ministry of Rites dispatched the Minister of the Host and Guest Department to receive the reception, it was necessary to let Ma Lin and his entourage officials "get ritual for three days" to avoid making a fool of themselves when they officially went to court. The person responsible for teaching etiquette is naturally the Minister of the Host and Guest Department.

Liu Jin meant that during the three days of etiquette, the official was able to measure Malin's height, fatness and thinness, and then rushed back to the capital to report the data. Then, the Scarf and Hat Office, one of the eight bureaus in the inner court, drove the appropriate official uniforms and sent them before Malin set out to Beijing...

As for the nine black turtles, Liu Jin also attached great importance to them and ordered the Jinyiwei to send a team of Han generals to Dagukou to welcome the auspicious "black turtles" as soon as possible...
Chapter completed!