The mountains collapsed, and the world was vegetarian. Emperor Zhengde died on March 14 in the fifteenth year of Yuji, and the temple name was Wuzong. Three days after the day of the funeral of the Ministry of Rites, all entertainment, marriage and other festive activities are prohibited. 100 officials stopped for 100 days, and soldiers and civilians stopped for 1 month.

At noon on the day of the funeral of the Ministry of Rites, the cabinet and the Empress Dowager Zhang came forward to issue the edict of the Son of Heaven to welcome the son of Xingxian Wang, that is, Zhu Houxi, the cousin of the Son of Heaven, to inherit the throne. In fact, just five days before the death of the Son of Heaven, the cabinet had already drafted a holy decree and sent it to the Xingwang Mansion in Luzhou, Huguang'an, in the form of an expedited 800 li, so that Zhu Houxi, the son of the Xingwang Dynasty, would inherit the title of Xingwang on the same day and shorten the period of filial piety to his father.

Obviously, letting Zhu Houxi, the son of King Xing, continue to be on the throne, it is the result of joint discussions between the cabinet ministers and the Empress Dowager Zhang, and it is unknown whether he has received the approval of the Son of Heaven when he is dying.

During the dropout period, Guozijian also temporarily suspended classes, and it was a sensitive period before the new emperor ascended the throne, so it was better to go out less if it was okay, so Xu Jin stayed at home honestly all day long. However, the tree wanted to be quiet and the wind did not stop, and on the morning after the funeral of the Ministry of Rites, Xu Jin received a notice that he, the new branch of the Huiyuan, would report to the Ministry of Rites immediately.

Xu Jin couldn't help but wonder, after the emperor's death, which round was to get his little new Kegongshi to participate? I don't know what kind of nerves those officials in the Ministry of Rites have. But what is certain is that it will definitely not be a bad thing, otherwise it will be the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division, or the Shuntian Mansion will directly come to arrest people.

Xu Jin freshened up and dressed neatly and hurried out to the Ministry of Rites, the security of the capital was still tight, and patrolling soldiers could be seen on the street from time to time, but the shops on both sides of the street also opened their doors to do business. For the common people in Beijing, the sky and the earth are big, the food is the biggest, there is no income if you don't work for a day, there is no food, and the emperor will naturally have a new emperor on the throne, which has little to do with them, and life is still the same!

"Hey, lad, that ...... Chest, please cow step! ”

Xu Jin had just gotten off the carriage and was about to walk into the official compound where the sixth ministry was located, when he suddenly heard a half-baked Daming Chinese coming from behind him, and couldn't help but stop and turn around.

I saw a tall guy standing not far behind him, with red hair and blue eyes, deep eyes and high nose, dressed in exotic clothes, and he was actually a red-haired Westerner. This man was followed by several retinues, two of whom looked like black charcoal, and only two rows of teeth were white on the top and bottom of their bodies, like apes that had not yet evolved. The people passing by all around stopped and stood in the distance and pointed, stunned that no one dared to approach.

Xu Jin couldn't help but wonder: "You are Franco? ”

The red-haired and blue-eyed Caucasian foreigner was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly stepped forward and said: "That's right, it is indeed a Buddha wolf chicken man below, and the name of the lower one is Pires, may I ask Your Excellency how to call it a tiger!" ”

Xu Jin replied, "My name is Xu Jin!" ”

Pires said with an exaggerated expression: "Oh, shoot the sky and shoot the earth, Your Excellency Xu Jin, you are such a polite gentleman, you have finally found a great Ming man who does not treat us as monsters!" ”

Xu Jin was really sorry for this half-baked Chinese, so he asked in English: "Your Excellency Pires, are you Portuguese or Spanish, what are you doing in my Daming capital?" ”

Xu Jin was a successful businessman in his last life, often flying around the world, and he had no problem communicating with foreigners in fluent English.

"Oh, cake seller, what did I hear, my God, in the far east, I heard the English language, God, I am not dreaming!" Pires' eyes widened, his hands covered his face, and his mouth was wide open enough to fit his fists in.

Xu Jin smiled and said, "Your Excellency Pires, you haven't answered my question yet!" ”

Pires stretched out his hand and shook Xu Jin solemnly, and said happily: "Your Excellency Xu Jin, hello, my name is Pires. Karl, Portuguese, this time I have come to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty, can you introduce me to the Emperor of your country? ”

Xu Jin frowned secretly, in his memory, the Portuguese did come to China in the middle of the Ming Dynasty for the purpose of trade, but they were rejected by the Ming Dynasty, and later simply used the strong ones to occupy some places along the coast as strongholds, and later gained a firm foothold in Macao, on the coast of Guangdong.

Xu Jin said lightly: "I'm sorry, Your Excellency Pires, I don't have the authority to introduce the emperor for you. Moreover, the emperor of his country just died some time ago, and the new emperor has not yet ascended the throne! ”

Pires said disappointedly: "Oh, I'm sorry to hear this unfortunate news, didn't the emperor of your country be fine in Jinling last year?" How suddenly it's gone! ”

Xu Jin's heart moved, and he asked, "Your Excellency Pires, how did you find out?" ”

Pires shrugged his shoulders and said, "Last year in Jinling, I begged to see the emperor of your country, but he didn't receive me and kidnapped my interpreter...... Oh sorry forgive me for the misnomerization, but it is true! ”

Xu Jin couldn't help but laugh a little, and hurriedly asked what was going on!

It turned out that this Pires came from Manraka (Malacca), and arrived in Guangzhou by boat at the beginning of last year, because he did not understand the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty, the fleet fired three salutes when entering the mouth of the Pearl River, the purpose was to show friendship, but it was regarded as a provocation by the magistrate, and the ship was surrounded by troops on the spot, and it was not easy to explain clearly.

The local officials of Guangzhou Prefecture heard that Pires had come to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty, so they sent him to Guangxiao Temple to learn the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty, and at the same time wrote a letter to the imperial court. However, in the end, the imperial court did not summon Pires on the grounds that there was no tributary survey in the country of Franco, and ordered him to leave Guangzhou and return to China.

The so-called tributary survey is a kind of document issued by the Ming Dynasty to the tributary state, and when the tributary country comes to the Ming Dynasty to pay tribute, it must show the tributary survey, which allows tribute.

Why did the Ming Dynasty have a tributary survey of this thing?

It turned out that in order to highlight the demeanor of the Celestial Empire, the Ming Dynasty gave extremely generous gifts to the countries that came to pay tribute, and the value was often several times that of the tributary items. Therefore, the surrounding countries are eager to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty, as many as more than 100 at the peak, these countries come to the Ming Dynasty every year in the name of tribute, causing a very heavy burden to the Ming Dynasty. In order to avoid the occurrence of counterfeit tributaries, the Ming Dynasty issued a survey to the tributary state, and only by virtue of the survey could they come to pay tribute.

Pires did not see the Ming Emperor, so he was not willing to leave, so he bribed the eunuchs of the Guangzhou Prefecture and successfully obtained the approval to go to Beijing. On the way to Beijing, Pires heard that the Great Tomorrow happened to be in Jinling, so he rushed to Jinling and sent his own interpreter to ask for a meeting with the emperor.

Who knew that Zhu Houzhao, the son of heaven, was not interested in him, a tributary envoy of the Buddha Machine, but was very interested in the translator, and asked him to stay by his side to teach him to learn Portuguese. As a result, Pires was kept hanging until Emperor Zhengde returned to Beijing from Jinling, and Pires was not summoned.

However, this Pires was a persistent guy and continued to chase him to Beijing, hoping to meet the emperor of the Ming Dynasty and open the door to trade in this large eastern country.

However, unfortunately, when Pires arrived in the capital, Zhengde Zhu Houzhao had already died, and the city defense was under martial law, and it took a lot of effort to enter the city. Due to the problem of appearance, the people in the city regard them as monsters, and it is difficult to find someone to ask for directions, and at this time I happened to meet Xu Jin.

Xu Jin is a modern person who has traveled through time, and knows very well that the humiliating suffering of China in modern times is precisely caused by Yelang's arrogance and seclusion from the country. It is precisely because of the isolation of the country, self-contained, missed the industrial revolution, and was gradually abandoned by Western countries, and finally was blown open by the foreign powers with strong ships and cannons, and rubbed on the ground for nearly a hundred years, and the Chinese people were humiliated for hundreds of years.

Therefore, after listening to Pires's brief explanation, Xu Jin suggested: "Your Excellency Pires, I suggest that you contact Honglu Temple first and wait for the new monarch to ascend the throne, and then Honglu Temple should arrange for you to meet with Xinjun!" ”

Pires's eyes lit up when he heard this: "Where is Honglu Temple, can Your Excellency Xu Jin introduce me to it?" ”

Xu Jin was just about to go to the Ministry of Rites, and the Honglu Temple, which was specifically responsible for receiving foreign guests, happened to be nearby, so he nodded and said, "No problem, please come with me!" ”

"Oh, thank you so much!" Pires happily followed Xu Jin into the official office where the Sixth Department was located.

Xu Jin took Pires to the outside of the Honglu Temple, greeted the messenger guarding the door, and said: "Your Excellency Pires, someone has already gone in to report, and the officials of the Honglu Temple will come out to receive you later. ”

Pires rolled his eyes, this goods came to Daming and learned the trick of bribery, but he was a guy who was used to following the customs, seeing that Xu Jin could enter and leave the official office at will, he only thought that he was an official with status, so he took two small objects from the luggage he carried, and said with a smile: "Your Excellency Xu Jin, in order to express your gratitude, these two gadgets are given to you!" ”

Xu Jin was immediately happy, because what Pires took out was a glass mirror and a pocket watch, which was a rare thing in the Ming Dynasty.

"Thanks, Lord Pires, bye!" Xu Jin took it into his arms briskly, and then turned around and walked away. Take the glass mirror back to Xiaowan, that girl must like it very much, as for the pocket watch, it is convenient to see the time in the future.

Pires was slightly stunned, in his opinion, the people of the Ming Dynasty were all uninformed buns, and they could play with a very ordinary thing in the West for a long time, and they kept asking this and that. The Lord Xu Jin in front of him is very special, not only can he speak Britannica, but he doesn't even look at the mirror and pocket watch when he sees it, he just puts it away, and he doesn't ask what it is and what it is used for.

"It seems that the people of the Ming Dynasty are not all ignorant!" Pires shrugged, a little distressed by the pocket watch, which was worth a lot even in his country.