This court meeting was held in Fengtian Hall, which is the Hall of Supreme Harmony in later generations, also known as the Golden Palace among the people. Generally speaking, the Golden Palace is not easily opened. Only during the main dynasty meeting, the Winter Solstice and the Birthday Festival (the emperor's birthday), the emperor's ascension to the throne, the wedding, the expedition ceremony, and the New Year (the meeting on the first and fifteenth day of each month) will it be held in the Golden Palace.
Usually, during morning courts, the ministers worked very hard. Because the general morning courts were not held in the main hall, but were held at Fengtian Gate (Taihe Gate), also known as "Imperial Gate to the Government". The emperor was better, and sat on the dragon throne in the corridor below the door to listen to the Government. The ministers stood in the open space outside Fengtian Gate, and had to kneel on the stone floor in the yard for comments. If it was spring, summer and autumn, it would be fine, but in winter, the cold wind would be frozen to death.
Just in time, June 15th is the first day of the morning and night, and the Ming court simply took the opportunity to hold a ceremony in the Golden Palace to meet Malin, a foreign monarch.
Before stepping into the Golden Palace, Marin felt a little nervous. After all, the situation was a bit big. But Marin secretly cheered himself up:
"Don't be afraid, I'm here to act in costume dramas, I'm here to act in costume dramas...Ma Da fools me, come on..."
Under the guidance of the Ministry of Rites officials, Malin, holding the scepter, lowered his head seriously and stood carefully at a certain distance from the emperor. Then, Malin knelt down in the middle of the hall, first holding the scepter in both hands, performing five bows and bows. Then, he held the scepter in one hand with his right hand, letting go of his left hand, and performing three bows...
While kowtowing, Malin followed the prompts of the Ministry of Rites officials and said loudly:
"I, Ma Lin, the king of Beihai Kingdom, the land of Taixi, kowtow to His Majesty the Emperor! Long live the emperor!" After kowtowing, Ma Lin did not look up immediately, but continued to lie down, waiting for Zhengde's instructions.
"You are the Lord of the North Sea Kingdom of Thailand? Just flatten your body, raise your head and let me see!" Emperor Zhengde, who was only 18 years old, said with interest on the dragon throne of the Golden Palace.
"Thank you, Lord, Longyou!" Marin replied according to the routine.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, ministers knelt down and replied. It was indeed a kindness to be expressed by the emperor to be exempted from kneeling and replying by the feudal etiquette system.
In fact, the reason why Emperor Zhengde asked Marin to stand up and even asked him to look up was just curious to see what Marin looked like. If he was kneeling, how could he see clearly?
When Marin raised her head and her chest, everyone was surprised...
After all, Malin was a big man with a height of about 1.8 meters. In the ancient Ming Dynasty, he was definitely tall. Although northerners were tall, there were definitely not many people who could reach 1.8 meters in this era, only a few people who could reach 1.7 meters in this era. And southerners who were more than 1.7 meters in this era could be considered big man.
Coincidentally, the civil servants in the Ming Dynasty were mostly among the south. After all, the southern culture was prosperous and talented people were more likely to be produced than in the north. Of course, this is not to say that southerners are smarter than in the north. But because there are many paddy fields in the south and crops are ripe at least a year. Therefore, southerners generally have better economic conditions and high enrollment rates. There are more scholars, so there are naturally more talents. However, in the north, it is difficult to cultivate dry land, and it is difficult to achieve two ripening a year, and droughts often occur, so they are naturally poor. Studying is very expensive. Northerners are poor, so there are naturally fewer scholars and fewer talented people. Therefore, in the Ming Dynasty, southerners with low figures had the advantage and were the main force of civil servants in the court. If Zhu Yuanzhang had not forcibly stipulated that Jinshi was admitted according to the proportion of "South Six North Four", it would probably be very few northerners who were officials in the court.
But even though Zhu Yuanzhang took special care, the imperial examination results of the northerners were not ideal. Although 40% of the Jinshi were northerners, there were very few northerners ranked in the top three. Most of the top scorers, second-place winners, and Tanhua were southerners. Among them, the most were from Zhili, Zhejiang Province, and Jiang Yixi and three provinces.
Although there are 300 Jinshis per subject, only the top-ranked Jinshis have a greater chance of staying in the court. As for those with the bottom-ranked ones, most of them are transferred to local magistrates. Therefore, most of the ministers in the court are mainly scholars in the south. Of course, the average height is not high.
Emperor Zhengde was more than 1.7 meters tall, so he was not short in the Ming Dynasty. However, compared with Marin, who was 1.8 meters tall, he was still much shorter.
The young Zhengde Emperor looked at Marin curiously and murmured:
"Yellow hair and blue eyes, fair skin, it's indeed a typical image of a Tessian ghost..."
At this time, there was no noise in the Golden Palace. In order to see clearly, Emperor Zhengde asked Marin to step forward a few steps. Therefore, Marin heard Emperor Zhengde's words.
A few black lines suddenly appeared on Marin's head - the foreigner is just a foreigner, why do you have the word "ghost"? It's really rude...
...
Then, Emperor Zhengde Zhu Hou, who seemed to remember something, asked curiously:
"Master Ma, I think you are a genuine Taixifan ghost. Why do you speak so well in your official language? And, there is also a northern accent..."
Malin spoke authentic Mandarin in later generations, but the Mandarin in the Ming Dynasty had a southern accent. After all, the first capital of the Ming Dynasty was Nanjing, which belonged to the Jiangnan region.
Later, because the Qing Dynasty entered the pass with a big mouth, the Mandarin in the capital was closer to the northern accent. Therefore, in the Ming Dynasty, Malin's Mandarin was very close to the northerners in Yanzhao and spoke Mandarin with the flavor of hometown.
...
"This..." Marin thought for a while and began to "memorize the lines"...
These "lines" are all replies that Marin had long thought of, and are purely fiction...
So Marin held her breath and started pretending to be... Ah, she started to reply...
"When you go back to your Majesty, I have a teacher named Einstein. In his early years, I traveled all over the world and came to Guangdong on the southern coast of the Ming Dynasty. There, he learned from my master, Taoist Master Chongxu. Not only did he learn all his skills, but he also learned the northern official language of my master. Then, he taught me... It is said that my master, Taoist Master Chongxu, whose ancestral home is in the land of Yanzhao in the north, and naturally spoke in a northern accent... "
"So that's it..." Emperor Zhengde nodded. Marin's explanation was very reasonable. Moreover, Zhu Houzhao was still very young and could easily trust others at this time...
...
"So, Lord Ma, you call yourself the Lord of the Beihai Kingdom. What is the radius of the Beihai Kingdom, how many people are there, and what strength are there?"
Malin held his breath again and continued to use the trick of deception:
"When you go back to your Majesty, the Beihai Kingdom is about the same area as the South Korea of ​​the "Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period", and is equivalent to the area of ​​Zhejiang Province of the Ming Dynasty. As for the population, it is less than 2 million... Also, the Beihai Kingdom has about 60,000 troops..."
"What? The population of less than 2 million actually has an army of 60,000? This is too powerful, right?" The ministers in the court immediately discussed.
The Ming Empire had a population of nearly 100 million, and its army was only about 900,000 in the Zhengde Dynasty. In other words, the proportion of the army and population of the Ming Empire was only about one percent. In the Beihai Kingdom, the number of troops accounted for more than three percent of the total population. Its proportion was more than three times that of the Ming Dynasty. In the eyes of the Ming Dynasty literati who "respected harmony as the most", they were indeed a little militant...
...
Emperor Zhengde was influenced by his ministers and felt that the size of the Beihai Kingdom's army was too large. Faced with Zhengde's inquiry, Marin, who had good acting skills, complained with a bitter face:
Chapter completed!