Chapter 355: The Country Perishes, the Shanhe Are Also Gone

Zhu Zhu Yijun always remembered his duty as an Emperor, which was also the fundamental reason for sitting on this golden toilet that was not free at all. As a monarch, opening up more living space for the Ming people and letting more people live—this was his responsibility and the fundamental source of his power.

Responsibility and power are like the two sides of a silver coin.

Blood flows on the border to become a sea of water; the Martial Emperor's intention to open the border has not yet ceased.

"Minister Wan, will conferring a royal title on Antonio cause problems in ritual law?" Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at Wan Wan Shihe. This had to be asked clearly. If there were problems in ritual law, then he had to find a way to make some modifications to the ritual law.

"Your Majesty, this is not a problem." Wan Wan Shihe said very clearly: "Tang Gaozong Li Zhi once conferred the title of Persian King on Peroz III, and also as the Governor of the Persian Protectorate. After that, the emperors of the former Tang were all Kings of Kings and Lords of Wan Guo."

The last Persian prince, Peroz III, fled to the Great Tang. At that time, the conflicts between the Great Tang and the Arab Empire in the Western Regions were increasing day by day. Based on various considerations, Li Zhi conferred on him the title of Persian King, and later the Tang emperors added a title: King of Kings, or, Lord of Wan Guo.

Wan Wan Shihe was not talking nonsense. He whispered a few words to a small eunuch, and after a while, the small eunuch brought a book. After opening the book, Zhu Zhu Yijun saw the historical record of what Wan Wan Shihe said.

In the first year of Zongzhang (668), in the summer, on the fourth month, on the *bingchen* day, a comet appeared on the horizon. The ministers all submitted memorials saying: "The star is in the northeast, this is a sign that Goguryeo will perish." Li Zhi said: "The people of Goguryeo are my people. Since I am the Lord of Wan Guo, how can I push the blame onto a small barbarian state!"

After that, Li Zhi destroyed Goguryeo, which had already been beaten to the point of breathing its last by Li Li Shimin.

The King of Kings of the Persian prince Peroz III was a title fought out by Alexander of Macedon, and finally given to Li Zhi by the Persian prince. Li Zhi did establish the Persian Protectorate, but the 12,000-*li* land was really too far, and the Great Tang could not reach it.

The Ming inherited the Tang system. The first version of the Ming Law was almost completely copied from the Tang Law, and was only gradually modified to become the current Ming Law.

Regardless of whose inheritance law it is, the Ming also obtained the title of Lord of Wan Guo.

"Antonio's current situation is extremely similar to Peroz III's back then, the only difference being that Antonio is further away." Wan Wan Shihe said with great emotion. Peroz III's existence was clearly visible, and even his descendants could be verified.

The advantage of a long history is here. Flipping through history books, one can always find similar cases. Li Zhi did hope to help Peroz III restore his country, but it was really too far. Antonio was also a prince drifting outside, and if the Portuguese King died, the Portuguese throne would fall to Philip II, which would also be equivalent to the country perishing.

"Peroz III still has descendants in the Great Tang, such as the late Tang poet Li Xun, who is a descendant of Peroz III. From the fact that Li Xun did not serve other surnames, it can be inferred that Peroz III should have been given the surname Li and settled in Zizhou, Sichuan." Wan Wan Shihe said with great emotion.

With a long history and detailed records, and multi-party corroboration, this matter was recognized.

Wan Wan Shihe said quite affirmatively: "Your Majesty, the Ming inherits the Tang system. Even without the Lord of Wan Guo, during the Yongle years, the Ming conferred titles on many barbarian kings outside the passes. If the base scholars still want to say something, then it must be mentioned that in the ninth year of Yongle, the eighth month, the Wen Emperor conferred the title of King of Ceylon on Yebannaina. In the third year of Tianshun, the Prince of Ceylon, Shilibajiaolara, had an audience with the Yingzong Emperor, and later the Prince died of a cold on his way back to the country. As a result, a coup occurred in the Kingdom of Ceylon, and the Prince of Ceylon had to stay in Quanzhou, changing his surname to Shi, and still has descendants to this day."

Wan Wan Shihe presided over the compilation of the *Records of Overseas Barbarian Countries*, so he knew these things very well. His Majesty looking for the ancestors' established laws, Wan Wan Shihe was really not talking nonsense, and there were even descendants who could corroborate it.

In terms of ritual law, Wan Wan Shihe had read too many books, and the base scholars were no match for Wan Wan Shihe at all. As long as Wan Wan Shihe could find conclusive evidence that it was the law of the former kings, then Wan Wan Shihe could bring out Mencius to smash these base scholars who wanted to restore the past.

Mencius said: "If our monarch cannot do it, it is called a thief."

That is to say, the way of the former kings, which our monarch cannot practice, makes one a rebellious minister and a thief. The Emperor Chengzu Wen Emperor did it, and now His Majesty cannot do it? Those who say so are rebellious ministers and thieves.

These base scholars cannot expel Mencius from the sequence of the Confucian Sage and Teacher.

"What happened to Ceylon later?" Zhu Zhu Yijun asked with great curiosity. The Ming court ministers were also looking at Wan Wan Shihe, full of interest. Listening to stories is probably another common problem of human beings besides liking to watch the fun.

Wan Wan Shihe thought for a moment, then shook his sleeves, took out a thick notebook, flipped through it, and said: "In the third year of Tianshun, the one who launched the coup was the King of Ceylon's nephew, Balolada. Later, Balolada traveled thousands of miles to send people to assassinate the Prince of Ceylon once. Fortunately, the Quanzhou Prefecture Southern Yamen caught this group of assassins, and the Prince of Ceylon was settled at the foot of Chen Qingyuan Mountain."

"In the sixteenth year of During Zhengde, Colombo was captured by the Red-Haired Barbarians, and the Kingdom of Ceylon perished. In the thirty-sixth year of Emperor Jiajing, the stubborn resistors of Ceylon were besieged and killed by the Red-Haired Barbarians in Kotte. The Red-Haired Barbarians' expansion on Ceylon Island never stopped."

After the sixteenth year of During Zhengde, the story of Ceylon could actually be summarized in one sentence: The country perishes, and the mountains and rivers are also gone.

The country perishes and the mountains and rivers are also gone—the Ming had experienced it. The Hu Yuan moved south and unified the Central Plains. For a hundred years, the mountains and rivers were gone.

Wan Wan Shihe closed the notebook in his hand and said with a heavy expression: "Your Majesty, barbarians are wolf-hearted and dog-lunged, fearing power but not cherishing virtue. If we cannot hold the ten-thousand-mile sea pond, the enemy can harass the Ming territory from any point on the long coastline."

"The Strait of Ma Liujia must be taken. No matter what, it cannot be in the hands of the Western barbarians. Similarly, conferring a royal title on Antonio will stir up the water in the West! This is a rare opportunity. For the Great Tang, the Persian Protectorate was dispensable, but for the Ming, the enemy of civilization has already appeared, and we must guard against it."

"Your Majesty, if a person has no long-term worries, there will be immediate worries. People are like this, and so is the country."

"What Minister Wan said is very good." Zhu Zhu Yijun listened to Wan Wan Shihe's story. Wan Wan Shihe, as the Minister of Personnel, rarely managed the affairs of the Ministry of Personnel. Zhang Zhang Juzheng concurrently held the Ministry of Personnel and promoted the "Kao Cheng Law." Wan Wan Shihe mainly handled the affairs of the Ministry of Rites on weekdays. Ma Ma Ziqiang was very strong, but when facing Wan Wan Shihe, he seemed a bit inadequate.

Wan Wan Shihe's support for the Ming Emperor's policy in the ten-thousand-mile sea pond, support for His Majesty's persistence in recovering the Strait of Ma Liujia, and support for His Majesty's conferring of Antonio were all based on his own judgment. He was indeed a "wall-side grass" 【opportunist】, and his posture was extremely flexible, but there was still a bone of a Ming court minister in his bones. His support was absolutely not without reason, and it was not blind obedience.

Ma Ma Ziqiang was also one of those listening to the story. After hearing the story of Ceylon, his heart was filled with mixed feelings. Will the Ming be like Ceylon in the future?

No, absolutely not!

"Then the matter of conferring the title of Portuguese King on Antonio will be decided for the time being." Zhu Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and made a phased decision. Antonio's special envoy Marcus was sighing, but it still depended on how the talk with the Ministry of Rites went.

Antonio only had the support of the commoners. Those Western wealthy households and nobles would not support Antonio. Therefore, the colonial territories belonging to Portugal, the major Viceroy's Offices, would not support Antonio either. So Antonio offering the legal system of the Strait of Ma Liujia had no concerns at all, because it didn't belong to him in the first place.

Who is Antonio like? Like Shi Jingtang, the careerist who offered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun to the Khitan and sought to conquer the world by borrowing from the Northern Barbarians. For his own status, Antonio sold out the legal system of the Strait of Ma Liujia.

"The cub sells the grandfather's fields without feeling heartache. Antonio said he would sell it, so he sold it?" Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at Antonio's memorial and said with wonder.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng thought for a moment and said: "Antonio is a smart person. Antonio, who has defeated the ocean, storms, sea beasts, and natives, is also a brave person. The Ming's ambition for the ten-thousand-mile sea pond is known to all. The Strait of Ma Liujia is so close to the Ming and so far from the Red-Haired Barbarians' homeland. It is a place destined to be lost. Antonio taking it out to exchange for some benefits is reasonable."

The smart, brave, and protective Antonio, after climbing onto the Ming's thigh, finally had the qualifications to protect the commoners who looked forward to his protection.

The Ming didn't do less of this kind of thing. Those barbarians were not living on the grassland, plateau, or ten thousand mountains voluntarily. Ask for monthly tickets, Awoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(End of chapter)

Wan Wan Shihe, "Everything is harmonious."

"Brother, should I stop attending the court discussions from now on?" Zhu Zhu Yiliu asked in a low voice. He had always felt that he was a bastard who did whatever he wanted. After the Emperor began holding court, he discovered that he was actually as pure as a white lotus flower. He would get angry with anyone who said he was bad!

Zhu Zhu Yijun shook his head and looked at Zhu Zhu Yiliu, saying with great certainty: "I know you are unwilling, but you must be there. Before my son is born, before my son grows up, you are the Crown Prince. I can allow you to be a bit mischievous, but there are some things that, as a prince in the capital, you must learn. It doesn't matter if you don't do them, but you cannot fail to see them clearly."

Zhu Zhu Yiliu failed to struggle and stopped trying. He was that kind of person; if he couldn't resist, he would enjoy it. He looked at the backs of the court officials, shivered, and said blankly: "Fine, these ministers are truly rotten to the core."

"Why do I feel like you're scolding me? Being sarcastic and pointing at the mulberry to curse the locust tree, are you!" Zhu Zhu Yijun slammed the table. Little Prince Lu, how dare you mock the Emperor of the Great Ming!

If the ministers are rotten to the core, to what extent is he, the Emperor, rotten?!

Seeing this, Zhu Zhu Yiliu darted out, stood behind a pillar, and shouted loudly: "Brother! Imperial Brother! Your Majesty! Absolutely not! I absolutely did not mean that Brother is a jackal of the same tribe as them!"

"You've learned your idioms well!" Zhu Zhu Yijun stood up, looked at Zhu Zhu Yiliu, pondered for a moment, and said: "Today, extra training! Don't you like practicing martial arts? I'll practice with you!"

Zhu Zhu Yiliu still felt that behind the pillar was not safe. He took two steps back and ran out in a flash, shouting loudly as he ran: "Brother, brother, have mercy! I'm not Luo Luo Sigong! Brother! Mother! Big Brother is bullying me again! Mother! Save me!"

Zhu Zhu Yiliu ran to the Cining Palace to fetch reinforcements, but he was still dragged to the martial arts room by Zhu Zhu Yijun and given a good workout.

The galleons arrived at the port on schedule. It did not become a "black swan" event for the Great Ming's imperial authority, did not trigger a chain reaction, and did not cause the Great Ming Emperor's credibility to collapse directly. On one hand, Wan Wan Shihe's cleanup was indeed effective, forcibly washing the Emperor's interference into a great good deed. On the other hand, the Great Ming Emperor's credibility was indeed very solid.

Those who were going to jump into the river had already done so. As for the new shipping ticket business, His Majesty was indeed still leading everyone to get rich together.

The envoy sent by Philip II this time was named Diego de Madrín. He himself had no outstanding achievements, but his father was the famous Hou Jue of Santa Cruz, Álvaro de Bazán.

Álvaro, Spain's strongest naval commander, was the "father of soldiers."

That Don Juan, with his long list of titles, who stood before the Summer Palace gate, seemed extremely inferior in front of Álvaro. The Hou Jue of Santa Cruz was the number one figure in the construction of the Spanish army, the Regional Commander of the Spanish army, and the Grand General of Spain, roughly equivalent to the Great Ming's Qi Qi Jiguang.

Philip II sent Diego de here with a very clear purpose: to ensure that he could obtain the Great Ming's five-masted ocean-crossing ships at any cost. To ensure that Diego could reach the Great Ming smoothly, Philip II even sent an envoy to negotiate with Antonio, allowing Antonio's first mate to accompany him.

Marcus, after all, was not Antonio. Although he had tried his best, the fleet still lost two five-masted ocean-crossing ships during the long voyage. If they had been Western galleons, they probably would have been lost without a trace.

This was not because Marcus, the first mate, lacked sailing experience after serving as Antonio's first mate for so many years, but because the fleet's Regional Commander, Diego, was somewhat tyrannical. Diego was the captain of the fleet, but he had no sailing experience and still liked to command, leading the fleet to mistakenly enter a storm during the voyage across the Atlantic.

After that terrifying storm, Diego surrendered command of the fleet, and the Western galleons finally arrived safely in the Great Ming.

Diego's father was a Spanish hero, but Diego himself seemed extremely mediocre.

Marcus had already grown accustomed to the speed and turbulence of the hydrofoil sailing ships, but this was Diego's first time on one. When he arrived at Tianjin Tanggu, Tianjin, and stepped off the gangway, Diego collapsed onto it; he was "land-sick."

This was not a shameful thing. Chen Lin, as a Great Ming naval commander, also got land-sick the first time he traveled from Songjiang Prefecture to Tianjin. Li Li Yougong, as the representative of the little eunuchs in the Emperor's sparring group, had an extremely stable stance, but he also got land-sick when he traveled to Manila on a hydrofoil sailing ship.

But it was rare to see someone as sick as Diego.

Marcus was also a bit dizzy, but he could still stand firmly. He looked at Diego and said helplessly: "Diego, we are about to have an audience with the Great Ming Emperor. I hope you can put down your family's pride. This is the Great Ming, not the West. The mission your king entrusted to you is to bring back the five-masted ocean-crossing ships. If you anger His Majesty, I'm afraid you won't be able to return alive."

"I am the son of Álvaro!" Diego stood up unsteadily and looked at Marcus with extreme dissatisfaction.

"That is honor in the West. Here, it is a place where even the Lord cannot penetrate." Marcus was genuinely reminding him out of kindness. The Great Ming had even executed the Portuguese envoys Huo Zhe Huozhe Yasan and Tomé Pires. The Great Ming had many, many rules. Failing to observe etiquette during an audience with the Emperor is a path to death.

But Diego was too proud. His father's achievements were so great that Diego could look down on people in the West with his nostrils. Even those princes had to treat Diego with respect. Diego had never realized that those achievements were his father's, not his own.

Diego finally stood firm, still unconvinced, and said: "I have brought a large amount of silver. Just as the wanderer Antonio said, the Great Ming Emperor is greedy and stingy."

Marcus's expression changed drastically. He drew his sword and pointed it at Diego, saying sternly: "You have insulted my monarch, and you have insulted the Great Ming Emperor. After completing the mission entrusted to me by my monarch, I will duel you under the witness of the Lord. I hope you will not flee."

"You have already invited death!"

"Wanderer" was Antonio's nickname in the West. Names can be wrong, but nicknames usually aren't. Antonio was indeed exiled by the King of Portugal, and he wandered the seas for over nine years. A monastery abbot who eventually embarked on a path of wandering.

Calling Antonio a "wanderer" in front of Marcus was an insult. Marcus chose the method of resolution: a duel.

The culture of dueling was very popular in the West, and avoiding it would be seen as cowardice.

"Ahem, well, I take back my words and apologize. The hydrofoil sailing ship is really very turbulent, making me unable to express my thoughts correctly. Please withdraw your sword." Diego slipped and almost fell. He immediately chose to back down.

Marcus was known in the West as the "Sword Saint" because Marcus's personal martial prowess was built on the hearts of countless challengers.

His sword could cut through armor and slice into the tomato inside.

The meaning of this sentence is that when facing Marcus, a person is as fragile as a tomato—one sword strike and they explode with juice.

A duel? If Marcus really came looking for him, Diego would only be "exploded with juice."

When the duel was initiated, he chose to apologize directly, so the duel could not be established. Marcus regretfully withdrew his sword, suddenly his eyes lit up, and he said: "Diego, I respect your father. I want to remind you that I am no match for those knights—that's right, the two hundred Embroidered Uniform Guards you saw. If you anger His Majesty, every one of them could chop me into meat paste. In that case, I wouldn't be able to protect you either, even with my monarch's orders."

"Are they... really that powerful?!" Diego was shocked and dumbfounded, saying: "You aren't just saying that to make me follow the rules, are you!"

Marcus breathed a sigh of relief. Diego's nostrils were pointed at the sky, but he had a near-crazy worship of personal martial prowess, even exceeding his faith in the Lord. He had found a way to make Diego respect His Majesty. He smiled and said: "Perhaps before you have an audience with His Majesty, you need to go to the Northern Tucheng to appreciate His Majesty's martial arts."

"Is His Majesty also very powerful?" Diego asked blankly.

Marcus said with great certainty: "Yes, His Majesty goes to the Northern Tucheng every day. It is a military camp, and entering is very cumbersome, but the Great Ming Emperor allows people to watch. When the time comes, you will see."

Marcus had great confidence in His Majesty's martial prowess. The "Number One Expert in the Youth Group" was not an empty title, even if His Majesty himself didn't quite recognize the title.

Zhu Zhu Yijun, of course, did not recognize the title. Once, on a whim, he wanted to spar with Li Li Chengliang's eldest son, Li Li Rusong. With just one strike of his saber, Li Li Rusong was defeated. Li Li Rusong was the current number one fierce general of the Capital Battalion.

Zhu Zhu Yijun, of course, had no "true energy" release, no internal strength, and certainly no "saber energy." Before the saber even touched Li Li Rusong, this fierce general let out a wail, his acting extremely clumsy.

Since then, Zhu Zhu Yijun had a very clear understanding of the gold content of his "Number One Expert in the Youth Group" title; I'm afraid the weight of the word "Emperor" accounted for 99.9%.

Diego was still very dizzy. He rested for three days before heading from Tianjin Tanggu, Tianjin, to the capital. However, he soon put the Ministry of Rites in a difficult position because Diego was full of arrogance and would absolutely not perform the "three kneelings and nine kowtows" ceremony for an audience. Even though Li Li Yashi was anxious, this arrogant fellow still refused to kneel.

Soon, through the operations of Li Li Yashi, Marcus, and Chen Chen Xuehui, Diego was arranged to go to the Northern Great Camp together. This was the old home of the Great Ming's Capital Battalion and the most dangerous yet safest place in the world.

"You said it was the Northern Tucheng, where is the earth? Isn't this a brick city wall?" After entering the Northern Tucheng, the arrogance on Diego's body became thinner and thinner. The soldiers here were truly incomparably fierce. Fortunately, the Great Ming and Spain did not share a land border; otherwise, the Spanish Tercios, which were almost invincible in the West, would probably be ruthlessly pierced through.

Soon, Diego denied his own judgment. It wouldn't be ruthlessly pierced through, but "lined up and shot to death." This was a fierce army primarily using firearms. Their field artillery and chariot formations would completely shatter the Tercios.

When he arrived at the Wu Ying Tower in the Northern Tucheng, the arrogance on Diego's body disappeared completely. The Great Ming was wealthy and fierce.

If Diego had come to the Northern Tucheng seven years ago, he probably would have reached the same conclusion as Francisco: the Great Ming, though large, only needed twenty thousand men to conquer it. But the Great Ming Capital Battalion he saw now was truly fierce to the point of making Diego tremble with fear.

"Is the Great Ming Army definitely not the God's Guard in the human world?" Diego asked, feeling a bit uneasy when he was summoned to enter the Wu Ying Tower.

"They are Paladins, they are Templars," Li Li Yashi said with great certainty. He wrote this in his travelogue, and he truly believed it. He even criticized the Great Ming Emperor's greed and stinginess in his travelogue.

"His Majesty is here." Li Li Yashi and the others only watched from afar and did not step forward to pay their respects. Without being summoned, rashly paying respects was also a breach of etiquette. The busy Great Ming Emperor had not finished his daily inspection of the troops and had just returned from the drill ground, surrounded by the generals of the Capital Battalion.

They seemed to be arguing fiercely about something.

They were indeed arguing. Li Li Rusong believed that the Great Ming only needed to send an elite force of ten thousand men to completely conquer Liaodong, while Qi Qi Jiguang believed that at least five hundred thousand men were needed. Li Li Rusong even felt that Qi Qi Jiguang had lost the bravery of a warrior after becoming the Hou Jue of Qian'an. Five hundred thousand men? Are you kidding?!

Qi Qi Jiguang, on the other hand, was calm. He couldn't beat Li Li Rusong now, but in terms of strategy, Li Li Rusong was still a Li Li Chengliang away.

"Completely conquering" and "pacifying the bandit camps" were fundamentally different. The young Li Li Rusong's vision was still limited to the gains and losses of a single city or territory.

The argument had no conclusion because they weren't talking about the same thing at all. Zhu Zhu Yijun had recognized Qi Qi Jiguang's judgment from the beginning. Qi Qi Jiguang had never lost his bravery; his steadiness was because the Great Ming's national strength was recovering, and there was no need for military risks.

Zhu Zhu Yijun began sparring with Luo Luo Sigong. Luo Luo Sigong was not "respectful" (a pun on his name); the two ten-foot-long great spears separated after a brief contact, every move lethal.

Diego was dumbfounded, his mouth wide enough to fit a salted duck egg.

"In two more years, I'm afraid I won't be His Majesty's match either." Marcus's mouth twitched. This Luo Luo Sigong was truly ruthless in his strikes and had an extremely urgent desire to win.

Diego put himself in Luo Luo Sigong's perspective; he felt he could survive at most three moves before being pierced through.

After the sparring ended, Zhu Zhu Yijun removed his helmet, whispered a few words to Feng Bao, and then sat in a grand chair nearby. The accompanying imperial physicians began to take his pulse. After observing, listening, asking, and feeling, the imperial physicians indicated that the Dragon Body was healthy. It was a rule from the very beginning that imperial physicians followed His Majesty when he practiced martial arts.

Luo Luo Sigong's strikes were indeed ruthless, but His Majesty's iron armor had excellent defense.

Feng Bao brought the Grand Court of Ceremonial Minister Chen Chen Xuehui, Li Li Yashi, Marcus, and Diego before the Imperial Presence.

"Your subjects pay respects to Your Majesty. May Your Majesty be at peace." Chen Chen Xuehui and Marcus first paid their respects respectfully. Li Li Yashi never referred to himself as a subject, but paid respects as a Western envoy. Diego had not learned the etiquette and performed a clumsy salute. In the end, Diego knelt.

"Marcus, we meet again. I thought I would never see you again. Later, Marcus, tell me about Antonio's situation in the West," Zhu Zhu Yijun said, looking at Marcus with a full face of smiles.

"It is my honor to gaze upon Your Majesty again, respected Your Majesty," Marcus said quite sincerely.

"Marcus, Antonio is begging for my investiture to force the Papacy to recognize him, right?" Zhu Zhu Yijun said with a smile: "It's fine, just tell the truth. I don't mind; after all, I am in the Great Ming, tens of thousands of miles away."

Marcus said very respectfully: "May Your Majesty forgive me, but Prince Antonio is not seeking Your Majesty's investiture to gain the Papacy's recognition. In the West, there is a saying: 'The vassal of my vassal is not my vassal.' By comparison, Prince Antonio prefers the Great Ming's systems. Seeking Your Majesty's investiture is for the establishment of a system. Whether the Papacy grants investiture or not is not important to Prince Antonio."

"As an illegitimate son, and as a prince who pities the commoners, he is destined not to be accepted by the nobles of the West."

"Hmm?" Zhu Zhu Yijun was stunned. This captain, he hadn't come to the Great Ming in vain these past few years! The Great Ming's feudal imperial system and the West's feudal system were two completely different things—as different as a city gate tower and a hip joint, with fundamental differences.

Zhu Zhu Yijun said with a full face of smiles: "I previously concluded that Antonio would surely fail in his struggle for the throne. Now I take back those words. He knows his goods."

"As a captain, as a merchant, if one doesn't know their goods, they will go bankrupt. The Prince is an excellent captain and an excellent merchant. Under the radiance of Your Majesty's holy favor, he will surely become an excellent prince. This cannot be separated from Your Majesty's grace," Marcus spoke well for his monarch. Antonio might never be able to come to the Great Ming again in this life, so maintaining His Majesty's holy favor would be done by Marcus.

"Hmm, you may rise." Zhu Zhu Yijun waved his hand. Only Diego didn't understand Chinese. The others stood up; only Diego was still kneeling on the ground.

"Diego, is it? So you were the one who said at the pier that I was stingy and greedy?!" Zhu Zhu Yijun said this sentence in Latin, clear and articulate, scaring Diego into a shiver!

"I, I, I, this, this..." Diego and Marcus had always communicated in Latin. How did the Great Ming Emperor know he had spoken ill of the Emperor?!

Zhu Zhu Yijun slammed the table and stood up, saying sternly: "Didn't expect that, did you! The Embroidered Uniform Guard who went to pick you up speaks Latin and heard your wild words!"

"Luo Luo Sigong, give him a beating for me!" Zhu Zhu Yijun looked around. He didn't bully Diego. Your father is the God of War in the West, but you, Diego, are nothing. You don't work hard, and you dare to speak ill of the Great Ming Emperor on Great Ming soil. If I don't teach you a lesson, you won't know who is in charge on Great Ming soil.

"Your Majesty, Li Li Yashi also spoke ill of Your Majesty in his travelogue! I saw it with my own eyes!" Diego had seen Luo Luo Sigong's ferocity. Any one of the guards around His Majesty could chop him into meat paste today. If he could leave the door alive, it would be a miracle. He thought of a clever plan and dragged Li Li Yashi into it.

Li Li Yashi, standing to the side, almost had his eyeballs pop out! You're courting death, and you're dragging me down with you?!

"I've read it, I know. So you won't die, you'll just be beaten up!" Zhu Zhu Yijun was a very reasonable person. Since he hadn't killed Li Li Yashi for this, he would just give Diego a good beating. After all, he still had to do business with Philip II. When two armies are at war, they still don't behead the envoy.

Not beheading is fine, but beating is okay. Let's beat him a few more times.

Writing to this point, I suddenly remembered that after Rome fell, it was truly gone. Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang was truly fierce. Begging for monthly votes, awoo!!!!!!!!!!!

(End of chapter)