The Forbidden City has been newly decorated, and countless Han generals and personal guards in new clothes and armor appeared everywhere in the palace, which was extremely lively.

Today's Forbidden City is particularly dazzling and dazzling. The Ming Dynasty has not been so solemn and solemn since Taizu.

Teams of eunuchs walked in groups, whispering, and the civil and military officials also waited outside the Meridian Gate for a long time.

The envoys from all countries have also arrived. With the sound of cannons, the palace gates opened wide, and civil and military officials and envoys of the vassal states entered one after another. The team of snakes passed through the Jinshui Bridge and arrived directly at Fengtian Hall.

Outside Fengtian Hall, there are everywhere in the imperial guards with swords, one post at three steps and one whistle at five steps.

In Fengtian Hall, Zhu Di's crown was in the crown. After waiting for a long time, the red crown garment made him particularly eye-catching. All the ministers entered the hall and shouted long live, so they all bowed to the ground.

"Long live my emperor."

Zhu Di smiled and said, "There are no need to be too polite."

So a eunuch came out and shouted: "Publicly meet with envoys from all countries."

"Publican...the envoys from all countries meet..."

“Present…”

The voices were passed down like batons. Then, the envoys of the forty-three kingdoms entered the hall together.

The eunuch raised his voice: "Envoys from all countries salute."

Most of the envoys were in a regular manner and fell to the ground and said, "I'm sure I'll bow to the Emperor of Ming Dynasty..."

Suddenly... everyone was stunned.

The eunuch who kneeled three times and kowtowed nine times should be yelled out, but the problem is that the eunuch widened his eyes and didn't know what to do.

The civil and military officials were also surprised for a moment, and they were originally standing solemnly. Then they began to get uproar, and everyone was talking about it, a little at a loss.

Even Zhu Di's face, which was not as happy and angry as he looked down, was pulled down and his tiger's body moved slightly.

In everyone's surprise, Hu Lu, the envoy of the Great Food, did not give a great ceremony, but bowed and hugged his hands. Although he was also called "Sheng" and "Da Ming Emperor, he did not kneel down.

Refusing to kneel down...

Many people's faces turned pale, and the worst one was Prince Zhu Gaochi.

Zhu Gaochi was not stupid at all. He was responsible for the reception of this envoy of the Great Food. In order to express his favorable treatment of the envoy on behalf of his father, he went to Honglu Temple to express his condolences. The ministers were naturally very smart and submitted memorials one after another. He said that His Highness the Crown Prince treated the envoys with preferential treatment. He wanted to praise His Highness the Crown Prince high, showing that the Crown Prince knew his father's intentions. In order to fulfill his filial piety, he ran to the Honglu Temple every few days.

If it is Zhu Di's face to come to the court, and this treating envoys is Zhu Gaochi's political achievements.

The key to the problem is that at this critical moment, I thought I would not make any mistakes, but it still made a mistake.

And there was a big mistake.

Hu Lu stood sternly, standing taller than a crowd, although his attitude was very respectful, but he just did not kneel down.

It is no wonder that the palace was in an uproar, and everyone whispered in a low voice with their own thoughts.

This big gift was already planned. For this reason, Honglu Temple and the gift also sent officials to inform the envoys from various countries about the steps for performing their rituals. They were doing their best, but they were afraid that some envoys would not know the rules and make some jokes.

But... Isn't this a joke? The king and his ministers have been looking forward to it for so long, and they are time-consuming and laborious, but they are waiting for it.

Although this is just a form, in a sense, form is the most important. It represents the surrender of all countries to the Ming Dynasty, the gratitude of all countries to the Ming Dynasty, the majesty of the Ming Dynasty, and the dignity of the emperor.

As a result...smashed.

The eunuch who was singing the ceremony had his eyes floating around and looked around. He was obviously panicked and didn't know how to proceed next. However, at this time, Zhu Gaochi, who was flushed in his eyes, could not bear it anymore. He could not pretend to be stupid at this time, let alone the Han King Zhu Gaoxu was smiling at him at this time. Needless to say, people were waiting for his joke.

Zhu Gaochi was completely panicked, so he stood out of duty and couldn't help but shout: "Why don't the envoy of the Great Food? Why do you look down on the emperor?"

Hu Lu seemed calm and relaxed, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty the Emperor of Ming Dynasty, Your Highness the Crown Prince, if you don't worship me, you will have your own reasons."

At this moment, everyone was even more stunned. The reason was here, but if anyone was reasoning to you, everyone asked you to come, just to wait for you to surrender. You are better, come to the Golden Palace to reason.

But people insisted on reasoning, and this was the court of a country of etiquette. Although the king and his ministers were quite indignant, Zhu Di smiled instead. Of course, he knew that every word and action today would be recorded in history, and there was no need for him to be furious.

Zhu Di said lightly: "Oh, I want to listen, but you say it's okay."

He did not use you, but used you. He obviously had completely disgusted with this great man. The big ship made Zhu Di a little uncomfortable. In addition, the storm and rumors caused by the big ship made Zhu Di even more angry. Later, he joined forces with envoys from various countries to report a joint memorial, which was actually interfering in the Ming Dynasty's management of the Maritime Bureau. What was involved was the Ming Dynasty's policy of banning the maritime state.

Zhu Di originally had high hopes for this envoy of the Great Food, but who knew that what he got was this result. Zhu Di smiled at this time and laughed in anger.

Hu Lu said seriously: "Dashi has actually been involved with the Celestial Empire. As early as the Tang Dynasty, my Dashi prophet MU Hanmode encouraged his disciples with scriptures and said, "In order to pursue knowledge, even if it is far away in China, we should go." Therefore, since the second year of Yonghui of Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty, Dashi sent envoys to communicate with the Tang Dynasty. In the following hundred years, a total of thirty-nine envoys were sent. At that time, not only sent envoys to each other, but even the commercial trade activities between the Ming Dynasty and Dashi were very prosperous. A large number of our Dashi merchants came to Chang'an, Luoyang, Yangzhou, Guangzhou, Quanzhou and other places to settle down in the Celestial Empire, married and had children, and the relationship was so close that it was a good story."

Hu Lu continued slowly and slowly, "And there is another allusion in the process of getting along with each other. My envoy from Dashi came to pay tribute to the Emperor of Tang, but he refused to perform the Central Plains ceremony. The Emperor of Tang was furious and asked, "Why don't you worship the foreign countries? My envoy from Dashi replied: The country of Dashi is different from other countries. Dashi custom only worships prophets, not kings. Therefore, even though the emperor of Zhongdi was surrounded by all directions, he was the king of the kings, and he dared not worship. When the Emperor of Tang heard this, he not only did not angry, but also said that since this was the case, Xu Qing's family was like this. At this point, he issued an edict that any envoys in Dashi caravan would not worship him. I admired the kindness of the Emperor of Tang, so I still remember it in my heart."

"It is not rude to not worship today. It is actually due to customs. I dare not disobey the prophet's teachings. I also ask Your Majesty to forgive me."

This sentence made people stunned. Even Emperor Tang came out, which clearly slapped the Ming Dynasty in the face.

Then again, no one knows whether such things are true or false. After all, these are small things for the Celestial Empire and may not be recorded in history, and the cannibals may have remembered them. At that time, the Tang Dynasty was indeed widely used to embrace all rivers and was relatively open-minded. Even if it was distorted, it would not be completely fake.

But the problem is that this is the Yongle Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Yongle invited everyone to come, just to make you look good. As a result, you brought the Tang Dynasty out and praised the enlightenment of the Tang Dynasty. If even Zhu Di followed it, people would not say hello to you, but would only praise the Tang Dynasty. But if this person was not sure and he refused to kneel down, what would he think?

Hu Lu's face was as calm as water at this time, obviously he came prepared. In fact, before that, officials from the Ministry of Rites came to teach him etiquette, and he learned as usual. Since he refused to say hello, he should have said hello before so that the court could be prepared. However, Hu Lu did not say hello, and there was only one reason, that is, he wanted to embarrass the court at all.

Hu Lu's mood is easy to understand. He lived in Quanzhou for some time and was actually half a Han Chinese, and he was extremely familiar with the customs and customs of the Ming Dynasty. How could such a person not know the plan of the Ming Dynasty? He knew better in his heart that the most important thing for the Ming Dynasty was face. Even if he was "rude", according to the custom of not killing the two armies in battle, he would not have any harm to kill him. However, he would be expelled by the Ming Dynasty just because he did not worship him. This is obviously not a high possibility.

He thought through the psychology of these monarchs and ministers. They wanted shame, and those who wanted shame would definitely not drive themselves away just because they didn't worship him. If this was spread, I'm afraid that everyone in the world would laugh at the court for being unscrupulous. As for the various vassal states, they would inevitably have doubts about the so-called kindness promoted by the Ming Dynasty.

Since he can't kill or drive away, but he refuses to submit and insists on not worshipping, what can he do?

The Ming Dynasty court has made so much preparations for today, and it has taken great pains to do it. What is related to the issue of legality today? What is the face of all nations coming to pay tribute to the civil and military achievements of Emperor Yongle with this face.

So the problem arises, how will the Ming Dynasty court solve it?

In fact, Hu Lu has given the monarch and ministers a chance to go down the stage. Back then, the Tang Dynasty accepted all rivers and traded with Dashi very well. Hu Lu previously wrote a letter to relax the control of Dashi merchants, but the palace kept the memorials and refused to approve them. If at this time, no one of these monarchs and ministers would be willing to give preferential treatment to Dashi merchants, then kneeling down and giving these monarchs and ministers face would be fine.

This... is Hu Lu's real purpose. The rewards brought by tribute cannot satisfy his desires. What he wants is a long-term meal ticket. Only by giving this meal ticket can you have face. Otherwise, no one can think of having a step to go.

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Chapter completed!