sovbooks Chapter 55 All Nations Pay Tribute, Economic Nuclear Bomb!
Chapter 55 All Nations Pay Tribute, Economic Nuclear Bomb!
On this day of family reunion, Zhu Houzhao sat in the Wenyuan Pavilion, but did not know where to go.
Zhu Houzhao's father's relatives were scattered throughout the Ming Dynasty, each ruling as a vassal king.
His mother's relatives had already been executed on his own orders.
The higher you climb, the lonelier you become.
Zhu Houzhao thought for a moment and then ordered, "Gu Dayong, pass on the order that I will host a banquet at Kunning Palace tonight."
"All the concubines and imperial concubines in the palace, come."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
When the concubines in the harem received this news, they were naturally extremely excited.
Even though it was still early, they couldn't wait to get ready, hoping that Zhu Houzhao would give them a second glance at the banquet that evening.
That evening, at the banquet, Zhu Houzhao looked around at the beautiful women around him and finally felt a bit more lively.
"Consort Kang, how are your injuries?"
Zhu Houzhao looked at Xia Tianxin sitting next to him and only then remembered to ask about her injuries.
"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I'm fine now."
Zhu Houzhao nodded and then spoke a few more words to Liu Ningwei.
Li Xianran sat among a group of concubines, her gaze occasionally drifting towards Zhu Houzhao, but Zhu Houzhao had completely forgotten her.
Soon, Emperor Xianzong's concubines also arrived at Kunning Palace.
The emperors of the Ming Dynasty all died young, but the concubines in the harem lived longer than anyone else.
From the Chenghua to the Hongzhi and then to the Zhengde reigns, there are still more than a dozen imperial concubines living in the palace.
After the imperial concubines entered Kunning Palace, they took their seats under the guidance of eunuchs and maids.
Judging from their clothing and appearance, their treatment in the palace declined sharply after Emperor Xianzong's death.
With a command from Zhu Houzhao, the banquet began.
The concubines toasted Zhu Houzhao one after another, and Zhu Houzhao accepted all of them.
The banquet lasted until midnight. Zhu Houzhao drank and made merry, watching the songs and dances of the courtesans from the Imperial Music Bureau, indulging in a rare moment of unbridled revelry.
After the banquet, Zhu Houzhao returned to the Qianqing Palace.
Before going to sleep, Liu Jin was the first to kneel before Zhu Houzhao and respectfully kowtow three times.
"This old servant, Liu Jin, greets Your Majesty for a New Year!"
"May Your Majesty enjoy boundless blessings, longevity, and eternal rule over the Ming Dynasty!"
"Very well, very well, a reward is due! I'll give you a red envelope containing one thousand taels of silver!"
Upon hearing this, Liu Jin was overjoyed and repeatedly kowtowed in gratitude, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you, Your Majesty!"
The next day.
The Ming Dynasty officially changed its reign title to Zhengde.
On the first day of the first month of the Zhengde reign, Zhu Houzhao first led his civil and military officials to offer sacrifices to Heaven, and then to their ancestors.
Zhu Houzhao then received the homage of civil and military officials in the Fengtian Hall.
Starting with the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet, then moving on to the Six Ministries, the Censorate, and the Five Military Commissions...
After everyone had finished kowtowing, it was already afternoon.
At this moment, Zhang Jun, the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, announced: "Envoys of all vassal states, enter the hall and kowtow to the Emperor of the Great Ming!"
The first person to enter the hall and pay homage to Zhu Houzhao was Liu Shan, the envoy from the Joseon Dynasty.
Liu Shan walked up to Zhu Houzhao, knelt down, and kowtowed repeatedly.
"Korea, a vassal state of the Great Ming Dynasty, congratulates His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming on his ascension to the throne! Long live His Majesty!"
"Korea pays tribute to the Celestial Empire with an annual tribute of 500,000 taels of silver, eight maids, one box of Korean ginseng, and two boxes of pearls!"
"Your Majesty, we humbly request that you grant us permission to form a marriage alliance!"
Unlike the Han Dynasty, which preferred to send princesses abroad for marriage alliances, the Ming emperors preferred to undertake this arduous task themselves.
From the founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang to the reigns of the Taizong Emperor Zhu Di and the Xuanzong Emperor Zhu Zhanji, Korean princesses were present in the harems of the Ming emperors.
However, after the Ming Dynasty voluntarily reduced its military reach during the Xuande era, there are no records of Joseon presenting princesses to the Ming Dynasty since the Zhengtong era.
But now, with the annihilation of the main force of the Uriyangkhai by the Fearful General, Wang Shouren has swept through the Uriyangkhai stronghold, completely exterminating the Uriyangkhai clan.
North Korea, which borders the Uriyangkhai, finally remembered the terrifying military strength of its suzerain state.
Within three months, the Ming Dynasty had destroyed the Uriyangkhai.
If the Ming Dynasty decides to take action against Korea, even if Korea mobilizes the entire nation's resources, how long can it hold out?
Thus, in a panic, North Korea gritted its teeth and emptied its national treasury to scrape together 500,000 taels of silver as its annual tribute.
Furthermore, he took the initiative to bring up the matter of a marriage alliance, hoping to use it to once again strengthen relations with the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Houzhao was fairly satisfied with North Korea's attitude: "Approved."
The Korean envoy, Liu Shan, was extremely excited and kowtowed repeatedly in gratitude, saying, "Thank you so much, Your Majesty, for granting my request! Thank you so much, Your Majesty, for granting my request!"
After the Korean envoys, came the Annam envoys, who presented a tribute of 100,000 taels of silver.
Siam paid tribute of 250,000 taels of silver, Ryukyu paid tribute of 300,000 taels of silver, Tibet paid tribute of 50,000 taels of silver, and Tatars paid tribute of 150,000 taels of silver...
Upon hearing these numbers, Zhu Houzhao's face grew increasingly grim.
He didn't want to lose his temper on the first day of the Lunar New Year, but these vassal states of the Ming Dynasty were really going too far.
Fifty thousand taels, one hundred thousand taels, one hundred and fifty thousand taels—do you think this is how you treat beggars?
"That's enough, stop reading!"
Zhu Houzhao slammed his hand on the armrest of the dragon throne, his gaze sweeping across the faces of the envoys from the vassal states.
"You should stop sending those tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of taels of tribute silver in the future."
"Your tributary trade with the Ming Dynasty is hereby terminated immediately!"
"Zhang Jun, remember this: this time, only Korea, Siam, and Ryukyu are allowed to conduct tribute trade with the Ming Dynasty. Other countries are not allowed to sell even a single teacup to them."
"From then on, only countries that paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty with more than 300,000 taels of silver annually were allowed to engage in tribute trade with the Ming Dynasty."
"Merchants within the Great Ming Dynasty are prohibited from trading with vassal states that have not obtained trade permits."
"Those who disobey will be executed!"
Upon hearing Zhu Houzhao's words, the envoys from vassal states inside the Fengtian Hall were immediately shocked.
Tribute trade has always been one of their country's important sources of income.
It's not to say that the Ming Dynasty was a sucker, exchanging valuable silk, porcelain, and tea for local specialties from vassal states.
Every time a vassal state came to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty, it was because they were begging for alms.
The exchange of gifts was only a very small part of the tributary trade; the core of the tributary trade was still trade.
However, the vassal states were strictly limited by the Ming Dynasty in terms of what they could sell, what they could buy, at what prices, how much they could sell, and how much they could buy.
This resulted in vassal states being able to sell whatever was cheap in the Ming Dynasty and buy whatever was expensive.
Therefore, the Ming Dynasty made a fortune from every tributary trade.
Meanwhile, those vassal states could also make a fortune by shipping these exquisite goods from the Ming Dynasty out to sell.
These vassal states were not afraid that the Ming Dynasty would sell their goods at high prices, but rather that the Ming Dynasty would stop doing business with them.
Therefore, for the Ming Dynasty, the most powerful aspect of the tribute trade was not that it could make money, but that it could intimidate the surrounding vassal states.
The Ming Dynasty's tributary trade system was nothing short of an economic nuclear bomb in the 16th century.
Now, Zhu Houzhao has unleashed this economic nuclear bomb without warning.
How could this not shock and terrify the envoys of other vassal states?