Chapter 154: Going Out for a Walk?

How could these mortals possibly know what I am thinking?

Never mind whether it is useful or not; in any case, if other countries have it, my Huaxia must have it too.

Let's just get it first, whether it's useful or not.

Since the envoy from Brunei had set a good precedent for this kind of thing, the envoy from Chenla nodded and agreed without much hesitation.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu smiled and nodded, saying to the envoy from Chenla, "Please, take a seat."

At this point, even the dimmest person could see that something was not quite right.

It was obvious that Zhu Gaoxu was treating people differently based on what they brought.

He said with his mouth that the gifts were not important, but his actions were very honest.

Whoever had the better gift was allowed to sit.

At this, the group of envoys became somewhat annoyed.

Wang Ren, standing to the side, sneered inwardly at this scene.

And we're only at this stage?

Who knows, if things go south in a moment, they might even draw blades.

As someone who considered himself to understand Zhu Gaoxu very well, Wang Ren had already cursed Zhu Gaoxu's ancestors for eighteen generations in his heart, but on the surface, he remained as obedient as an old dog.

Zhu Gaoxu did not care what Wang Ren was thinking; he had no time to deal with him right now.

As for the other envoys, Zhu Gaoxu treated them all the same—he would deal with them all together in a moment!

Thinking this, Zhu Gaoxu continued to look at the gift list in his hand.

When he saw Siam, Zhu Gaoxu suddenly frowned.

This was the Thailand of later generations; Zhu Gaoxu did not know about other things, but he knew that Thailand had gold, and its national strength was not small either.

Zhu Gaoxu did not know what the situation was now, but since he had seen it, he kept it in his heart.

He would ask about it later, and if they were easy to bully, he would definitely send troops to snatch some.

Thinking this, Zhu Gaoxu ignored the envoy from Siam and looked at the next one, the envoy from Annam.

Without even needing to look, Zhu Gaoxu ordered directly, "Grant a seat, someone prepare tea."

Annam had previously belonged to his own people before rebelling and becoming independent, but they were all one family in the end.

In later generations, this had always been a regret for Zhu Gaoxu.

My vast Huaxia, it is all mine!

Now that there was a chance to make up for this regret, Zhu Gaoxu was ready to take action immediately.

The Annam of this time was no longer the powerful empire of the Song Dynasty.

And Great Ming was not as weak and easy to bully as the Southern Song.

Most importantly, the hearts of the people in Annam were currently leaning toward Great Ming, which was something Zhu Gaoxu valued.

In Zhu Gaoxu's view, no matter what country this or that was, in the end, it all had to be the territory of my Great Ming.

Zhu Gaoxu would not dare to guarantee other places, but as for Annam, he never considered them outsiders.

As for what the other party thought, it didn't matter; if I, your father, pull cannons up to your front door, what else could you possibly think?

Annam would be Jiaozhi in a few years, and it wouldn't be long before Zhu Di reconquered it.

Zhu Gaoxu did not intend to let his old man do the work; since he had encountered this matter, he would handle it himself within a year or two!

The reason why Zhu Gaoxu valued Annam so much was that its geographical location was extremely special.

If Great Ming wanted to increase its connection with the sea, reconquering Annam was essential.

Reconquering Annam could strengthen the military presence of the Ming Dynasty on the Indochinese Peninsula.

After Zheng He went to the Western Oceans in the future, they could echo each other with the Zheng He fleet, consolidating the Western Ocean tribute system from both land and sea.

Annam was located at the junction of the Great Ming continent and the Indochinese Peninsula; it could serve as a springboard for the Ming Dynasty to manage the Western Oceans, and its geographical location was extremely important!

So, when Zhu Gaoxu saw the envoy from Annam, he was drooling—no, he was so pleased that he couldn't even wait, so how could he let them stand there?

The envoy from Annam was somewhat flattered to see that Zhu Gaoxu's attitude toward him was so good.

Just then, the envoy from the Kingdom of Zhongshan, who was standing to the side, said with slight anger, "Your Highness is being a bit hypocritical. You say you don't care about the gifts, so why do you treat us differently, letting these people sit while we stand!"

Hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu looked up at the person who spoke.

He did not answer immediately; Zhu Gaoxu slowly scanned the other envoys. Although the envoys from other countries did not speak, their expressions said it all.

They were also feeling angry inside.

As Zhu Gaoxu remained silent, the atmosphere in the large tent suddenly became somewhat oppressive.

Seeing this, Li Hao was suddenly startled, thinking to himself, "This is bad!"

If it was said that Zhu Gaoxu was wrong to say it was his territory back at the Post Station, then here in the Military Camp, Zhu Gaoxu was absolutely right to say it was his territory!

Meanwhile, Wang Ren covered his mouth and watched the show from the side.

Just when the two of them thought Zhu Gaoxu was going to stir up trouble again, he, the one being questioned, picked up his teacup once more.

Ignoring the envoy who asked the question, Zhu Gaoxu did not speak.

This made the envoy standing there very embarrassed. Just as he was blushing and about to ask again, Mao Xiang suddenly walked in.

Mao Xiang looked straight ahead and strode forward, treating the group of envoys in the tent as if they were nothing, and went straight to Zhu Gaoxu to salute, saying, "Reporting to the Prince, the soldiers are all ready."

Hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu finally reacted.

Nodding, Zhu Gaoxu said to the envoy from the Kingdom of Zhongshan who had just spoken, "Since this foreign envoy has questions, why don't you all come out for a walk with me?"