In the winter of the third year of Zhengyuan in the Ming Dynasty, the Ming army, led by Tang Feng, the Duke of Anguo, sent 200,000 troops to attack the Jin Kingdom in the north. In this battle, not only completely defeated the Jin people, but also destroyed the country and moved its people to the Central Plains. Everyone in the court was shocked for a moment. This was a great victory that the Ming Dynasty had never had before since Taizu and Chengzu, which made those who heard about this and those who heard about it were inexplicable, and Tang Feng's name also reached its peak.

Many officials in the court had already made plans at this time. Once Duke An wanted to take the opportunity to become independent, they would inevitably surrender to Tang Feng one-sidedly, because the current military power was in the hands of Tang Feng, and with the previous killing, everyone naturally did not dare to use their lives to make unnecessary persistence.[]

But beyond everyone's expectations, after returning to the capital, Tang Feng was very honest and did not act like despise the king. Everything was done according to the court's etiquette, and he did not appear in the court for a few days. This made everyone at a loss and didn't know how to speak and do things. However, since Tang Feng did not have the intention to usurp the throne, the adults were happy and were still dealing with affairs in the court, as if they were not as good as before.

In the past two days, Tang Feng had a good rest at home. Although he didn't have to go to the battlefield to fight with the Jin army in person, this period of time in the Jin Kingdom really made him feel tired. He had to adjust the relationship between the various armies every day, comfort the disabled soldiers from time to time, and also care about logistics. Tang Feng was not idle there. Now that he finally returned home, he didn't want to pay attention to anything, just wanted to rest for a few days to restore his energy.

After two days of rest, Tang Feng's spirit recovered and began to pay attention to the affairs in the court. From the Jinyiwei's mouth, he soon knew the previous reactions of the officials in the court, and he just laughed it off. Although he did not want to usurp the throne, he was not afraid that the emperor would know about it, because now the entire Ming Dynasty is under his control, and even the emperor and the queen mother could not do anything to him. Now he has to consider how to reward the soldiers of the three armies well, so as to stimulate everyone's enthusiasm and prepare for facing greater enemies in the future.

On this day, just as Tang Feng was pestered by the brothers Keqing and Keman to tell him the story of attacking the Jin Kingdom, officials from the Honglu Temple came to visit. At this time, Tang Feng was talking about the army coming to the city of Shenyang. Before the war between the two sides had begun, the two brothers listened with relish, but saw someone disturbing him, so they had to stop talking: "Okay, let's talk to you about what happened next until the evening." Then he stood up.

"Dad..." The two brothers called out in dissatisfaction, but were stopped by their mothers with their eyes. Both wives were people who understood the big things and knew that Tang Feng was no longer the idle prince from a few years ago. He could spend all day with his children, and he had important things to deal with. So after stopping the two children, the two girls took them to the backyard.

"Mr. Wei, I wonder what you are here today?" After a few greetings, Tang Feng went straight to the point.

"Duke, this time, the monarchs of several small countries sent envoys to meet our heavenly dynasty and paid tribute to some local specialties. The officials did not dare to make decisions without authorization, so they came to say hello to the duke." Wei Jianru, an official who looked very kind and knew at a glance that he was a diplomatic official, replied with a smile. In the past few days, their Honglu Temple has gained great face. Many small countries around the Ming Dynasty sent envoys to Beijing because of this great victory. Naturally, the emperor could not meet these people, so they dealt with them. This was a big face. Since the grand event of the dynasty of all countries in the Yongle year, this was the first time that so many countries had arrived in the Ming Dynasty.

"Oh? But what countries are there?" Tang Feng asked with interest.

"There are Korea, Japan, Ryukyu..." He reported a long list of names of neighboring countries, and his face was even red.

Tang Feng was a little confused after hearing this. He still didn't know much about the names of some countries in this era, and he couldn't figure out which country they were in later generations. However, since they were all small countries around, they didn't have to take them too seriously, so he nodded and said, "You and the Ministry of Rites will handle these things. My Ming Dynasty is a country of etiquette, so some etiquettes should follow the original rules. By the way, what tributes did they bring?"

Lord Wei immediately reported dozens of tributes brought by foreign envoys, and he was very proud when he reported them. But in Tang Feng's ears, he couldn't help but frown. Those were the most ordinary specialties and were not worth much money at all. Of course, this has always been the case for tribute. The Ming Dynasty was rich all over the world, so naturally he would not care about these things.

But Tang Feng didn't think so. We are a country of etiquette, but we cannot become the suckers of others' extortion. So he frowned and asked, "What are the things that my court gave them back?"

"This... the officials and others have not made a decision yet. However, in addition to gold, silver and other objects, there should be some porcelain, jade and silk. These are specialties of our Ming Dynasty, and they should also be used to show our power."

"No, I don't think this is appropriate!" Tang Feng shook his head lightly: "Now they are here to pay tribute to me, the Ming Dynasty, how can we give them such a generous reward? In this way, the gift will be decided by my country's Duke."

"Yes, the subordinates obey the Duke's orders." Although he felt strange in his heart, Wei Jianru still nodded obediently. Now Duke An of the Ming Dynasty is the biggest, so he wants to interfere in this small matter. It is naturally difficult for a small official from the Honglu Temple to object.

"I will tell you what I sent back. By the way, are there anything else?"

"In addition, I heard that the Mongols also sent envoys to Beijing, but the people have not arrived yet. They had sent troops to attack our Datong before, and they were still hostile to our Ming Dynasty. The officials and others dared not make decisions without authorization, so they also wanted to ask what the Duke should do."

"Oh? Have the Mongols finally seen the situation clearly? Since they are willing to lower their heads, we should not care too much about the previous conflicts, and we should also treat them according to etiquette. However, when arranging their residences, they should be slightly lower than the envoys of other countries so that they can know the attitude of my Ming Dynasty. Also, we should send people to pay attention to these people. After all, they are savages outside the border, and it is easy to cause trouble in the capital, and it will take some more trouble."

"If the subordinates receive the order, the subordinates will definitely do what the Duke ordered." Wei Jianru hurriedly stood up and responded.

After sending this person away, Tang Feng had an idea in his mind. Although the Ming army showed its power this time and destroyed the Jin Kingdom, it made the small countries around him respect and fear, but he still knew the temperament of those small countries. Once China became stronger, they would come to take advantage of it. Once China became weak, they took advantage of the situation and took advantage of the situation. This time, they came to get some benefits. He wanted to give them a conspicuous reminder to see the great military power of the Ming Dynasty, so that they could really conquer them.

Thinking of this, he began to think about what to give back to these poor relatives who were here to fight Qiufeng. They wanted to take away real money and silver from themselves, and they didn't even think about it. What should we use to block their mouths? This thing should not only represent the civilization of China, but also be worthless.

Suddenly, Tang Feng's eyes fell on a book on the table. It was the "Analects of Confucius" that his two sons recited before listening to his story. Isn't this the most representative thing of my Chinese civilization? Although these small countries around us do not lack these, we do not lack any fans and knives for them to pay tribute. In this way, the gifts of both sides will be balanced.

Then, Tang Feng had another idea, why not conduct a military exercise when meeting those foreign envoys? This can promote the power of our Ming Dynasty, and secondly, this can also be regarded as a reward for the soldiers who made great contributions to the Jin Kingdom. During the military exercise, the emperor passed on the reward, which also played a great role in improving the morale of the army.

He did what he thought of, and Tang Feng immediately left home and headed towards the palace. He always had to say hello to the emperor.

The Empress Dowager naturally would not have any objection to Tang Feng's proposal. This is a very favorable thing for both Yuguo and Yu army. If she had to say something inappropriate, it would make Tang Feng's prestige more powerful. But at this time, would she dare to object to Tang Feng's words?

So soon, the court issued an order to place the matter of receiving foreign envoys and rewarding the three armies of the Jin Kingdom. In this way, the Ministry of Rites was busy, which was a major event since the Zhengyuan Dynasty. No matter from any aspect, they had to do the things in a grand manner.

A few days later, the Mongolian envoy also arrived. After learning that the Ming army defeated the Jin army and drove them out of Liaodong, the Mongolians had already developed fear and retreat. Because they knew that they could not compete with the Ming court based on their own side, so even if they did not know about the Ming army's march into the Jin Kingdom later, they would soon retreat from the Datong side. Unexpectedly, shortly afterwards, news of the destruction of the Jin Kingdom came, which really scared people from various Mongolian tribes.

They were the Ming Kingdom attacking with the Jin people. If the Ming court had a grudge against this, they might have used troops to them at any time. With the lessons of the Jin Kingdom, how could they dare to be enemies with the Ming army? So after some discussion, the Mongols sent envoys to seek peace and pilgrimage, hoping that the Ming Kingdom would give up hatred. In order to show their sincerity and let the Ming Kingdom accept it, the envoys they sent this time were from the Korqin tribe, because this tribe had the closest relationship with the Ming court.

After arriving in Beijing, these Mongolians were very honest, fearing that they would cause trouble here and bring disaster to their relatives on the grassland. The envoys from other small countries did not dare to be presumptuous. The Ming Dynasty is no longer something they can easily provoke. However, there are always exceptions in everything, and on the eve of the celebration, something happened.

Due to some rules, the envoys from various countries knew what the Ming Dynasty’s gift was before. This time, the Ming Dynasty was so stingy that it only gave them some books of the Four Books and Five Classics, which surprised a lot of foreign envoys who thought they could get a lot of benefits. Some people began to feel dissatisfied, and even thought that the Ming Dynasty was not as strong as it was seen on the surface, otherwise how could it only give them these worthless things?

However, although they were dissatisfied, they did not dare to express it in Beijing. After all, this place was a place for Ming people. But on that night, after several envoys from small countries gathered together to drink some wine, someone said something crazy. The first one was Li Zhenggui, the envoy of Ryukyu. After drinking a lot of wine, he sneered: "What kind of country in the Celestial Empire is not as rewarded as the officials on our small island. He actually used these books to fool us. Do we really think we are easy to bully?"

The others drank a lot at this time, and after hearing what he said, he also said, "What are you talking about? The Ming Dynasty has always liked to treat us with courtesy, but this time it is so rude. It must be because of the financial situation of their country. It seems that after I return to Japan, it is time to give my opinion to our General." This is naturally the messenger of Japan.

Another person dressed similarly to the Ming Dynasty officials also nodded and said, "We North Korea have always been a small China, but we are also disgusted with what they do. Alas, it seems that the Ming Dynasty is indeed incomparable to the past. Are we wrong to come here this time?"

Several people talked and laughed, completely forgetting their environment. Although they were in the private room of this restaurant, the sound insulation effect was not very good, and what they said soon reached the ears of a group of drinkers next door.

This is also a private room with about ten big and thick men sitting in it. They were the young soldiers who made great contributions to the Jin Dynasty with Tang Feng. The leader was Wu Sangui. Because they knew that they would be rewarded in front of the emperor and the officials tomorrow, the brothers were very happy and came to this famous restaurant in the capital to celebrate. But unexpectedly, there was no one next door saying a few words, saying that the Ming Dynasty was not the case, which made these young people feel a little helpless.

One of them suddenly slapped the wine bowl in his hand on the table, then raised his voice and shouted: "What kind of dog dares to fart here? Why don't you get out of here?" When the others heard him say this, they also responded and cursed: "What kind of thing, you can only drink yellow soup here and talk nonsense, and you are not afraid of the wind blowing your tongue!"

The envoys over there did not expect that their words would come to others' ears, and the other party immediately attacked, and immediately felt a little uncomfortable on their faces. Although they knew that there were many people with backgrounds in the capital, they thought of their identity and the concessions in the past of the Ming court in such matters. In addition, they all drank a little, and they couldn't help but retort: ​​"Whoever hides his head and tail and only dares to fart there, but dares to come out and see him."

Seeing that the other party actually returned the words, the soldiers couldn't help it. They were all brave and powerful, and they were all military generals and had no civil servants. When they heard the other party challenge, they stood up without saying a word and rushed straight to the private room next door.

"Who are you? How dare you say such a big talk in my Beijing city!" Wu Sangui was quite steady. Seeing that these people were not dressed like those of them, he asked coldly.

"Hmph, who are you? We talk about ourselves, what does it matter to you?" The Japanese messenger Jiumu was the most irritable and replied immediately.

"Brother Wu, what are you talking about? Since these guys don't take our Ming Dynasty seriously, let them know the majesty of our Ming Dynasty!" As he spoke, one of them rushed to the people one step, raised his hand and lifted the table in the middle. The wine, food and other items on it fell to them all. Several messengers hurriedly dodged, but they were still spilled a lot, which was very embarrassed.

"Baga!" When Jiumu saw the other party taking action, he was furious and scolded, and pulled out his long sword with him. As a warrior, he always wore knives. Several other messengers also shouted and cursed and picked up their weapons. They were self-reliant and did not take the young people in front of him seriously.

As soon as they saw that they actually showed their weapons, the young generals narrowed their eyes. "Damn, you still dare to explode the thorns in front of me. I think you are impatient!" One of them sneered and pulled out the steel knife on his waist. Seeing this, the others took out their weapons one after another, shouted loudly, and killed several messengers.

The two sides met and the winner was decided. All of these young people survived on the battlefield and were good at fighting, while those messengers were just three-legged cats. In a few seconds, they were kicked to the ground and were even on their necks with swords on their necks.

It was not until this time that the drunkenness of these people turned into cold sweats and disappeared. The faces of several people turned pale. The North Korean envoy said tremblingly: "Big... Everyone has something to say, don't hurt people. We are here to pay tribute to your Ming Kingdom."

"Are you foreign envoys?" Several young men looked at each other and felt a little panicked. The other party represented their country. Now that they had taken action against them, would it cause unnecessary trouble?

Wu Sangui was the first to come back to his senses, and winked at the few people. Then everyone put away their knives and turned around and went out. They did not report their identities, and they probably might not be able to find out these people. Anyway, they also had their anger, so let's stop when they were about to do so.

Seeing them leaving, several messengers slowly stood up, but each of them was covered in broken soup and wine, which was so embarrassing.
Chapter completed!