The Struggle of the Reborn Prince

After dealing with the matter at hand, Zhao Qi embarked on the road of worshiping the ancestors and tombs. This time he left Beijing, he asked to keep everything simple. Only one brigade of the Guards and the Inner Guards were guarding, and the officials accompanying the sacrifice were greatly reduced.

But he brought Yuwen Xuzhong, who had just returned to China, to show his favor.

A large group of people lined up the ceremonial guards and rushed to Gongxian’s ancestral tomb along the road, but they couldn’t walk much every day. When they passed by Zhengzhou, Zhao Qi suddenly thought that he would not go to the city to avoid disturbing the people. He wanted to make do with the inn outside the city for one night, and the emperor ordered him to speak.

Someone rushed to prepare quickly, but he didn't expect that it would be difficult to settle in after waiting for a long time. He was naturally very puzzled that even if the inn was full, he had been driven out for so long. Moreover, it was not until the end of the year when officials were transferred.

The inn should be the most free time.

"Jianxi, why haven't you prepared for such a long time? Go and see what happened!" Zhao Qi was a little impatient and asked Jianxi to go and see the situation.

"Your Majesty, the inn is full of envoys from all over the country who came to pay tribute. They are moving, but they have a lot of luggage, so it has been delayed!" Not long after, I asked when I saw Xi, I understood and came back to report.

"Well, which country's envoy is it?" Zhao Qi asked.

"Your Majesty, it is said that he is the tribute envoy of Khotan and Xizhou!" Jianxi replied.

"No, Khotan has no vassal relationship with our country. The envoy of Xizhou is not mediating Gaochang in the capital, why did another one come out?" Zhao Zhen got out of the car and looked around, and saw some people dressed in the foreign tribe dragging men from afar

With a girl and a child in it, the luggage was as if it were a blessing. It took some time to organize it in a hurry. At first, he felt a little apologized, but thought about it carefully.

Then I suddenly realized something was wrong.

"Your Majesty. I don't know this little one!" Jianxi shook her head and said.

"Come to Mr. Zhang, I will ask him!" Zhao Qi wanted to understand the matter. The ancestor worship was the main supervisor of the Ministry of Rites, so of course they had to send someone. Diplomacy matters were also the affairs of the Ministry of Rites, so Zhang should know the details.

"Your Majesty, Mr. Zhang is comforting the inn. It's not too late to ask if you make arrangements later!" Jianxi was worried that the emperor would cause trouble again, so he stopped him and said.

"Okay!" Zhao Qi thought for a while, but his question was even better. A few foreign officials would not let the minister of a great country comfort him!

After dinner that night, Zhao Qi summoned the Minister of Rites Hu Anguo and Zhang Suo to his house for a question. After asking, he realized that he had lived in the palace in the past years. The inns in the city were also vacant.

The tribute envoys who came to Beijing were bombed to live in the inn outside the city. Unexpectedly, the emperor suddenly decided to live outside the city this year, which caused dissatisfaction among the tribute envoys who moved their homes twice, and was delayed.

Time has come.

Next, I answered questions about the envoys of Khotan and Xizhou. The so-called envoys that Zhao Jie saw were indeed somewhat inconsistent with their names, but they also had an edict from the king, which could also be regarded as envoys and their identities.

Between the messenger and the merchant, Zhao Qiong laughed at the sight of him. The reason why Da Song turned a blind eye to him was to let them do business and take huge rewards was to let them appear in

At the New Year's Day ceremony, the emperor and the world performed a drama of "all nations come to court" for the emperor. To put it bluntly, it was a special actor invited by public funds...

The word "all nations come to pay tribute" appeared very early. The first so-called "all nations come to pay tribute" was believed to have occurred during the reign of Dayu. According to historical records, Dayu ordered all countries in the world to go to the Tushan League.

That is to say, "The meeting of Tushan, the princes inherited the prosperity of Tang and Yu. They also held jade and silk to have thousands of countries." What really brought it from legend to reality should be the Han Dynasty, with the Han management of the Western Regions and the conquest of the Huns.

The adventures of Ban Chao, Gan Ying and others made a group of countries outside the Kyushu really appear in the Han Dynasty to pay tribute, and the tribute system was truly established.

The Han monarchs discovered that in fact, the empires they ruled could not be the whole world as explained in the classics such as "Shangshu" and "Book of Songs". However, based on the consideration of real political strategies, vassal states are the key to maintaining the stability of the empire's borders.

They are the top priority of the empire's "all nations come to pay tribute"; as for those tribute countries, like the Qin, Anxi, Tianzhu, etc., they are so far away that they do not know whether they really exist. The so-called tribute is just a coincidence in two time and space.

Just a date, you don’t have to worry about it. But as a means of whitewashing peace, "all nations come to the court" naturally means that the more countries you come to, the better.

From then on, the Chinese Empire began a journey of constantly discovering the tribute country. Every foreigner who was willing to meet the emperor and offer gifts to his country was considered a "tributor". The gifts they offered, whether for the purpose of

Well, for the sake of convenience of doing business, they are all considered 'tributes', and the country they came from naturally became respectful vassals of the Supreme Kingdom of the Celestial Empire, but the country that gloriously became vassals knew nothing about it.

Emperor Yang of Sui even pushed this drama to the top and became a benchmark for all dynasties. According to historical records, Emperor Yang of Sui "Every year in the first month, all countries came to court, stayed until the fifteenth day, outside Duanmen, inside the Jianguomen, and continued

Bali, listed as a theater... The sound of gold and stone wine is heard dozens of miles away. There are more than 18,000 people playing strings and tubes. They are lined up to fire and candles in the world. The prosperity of hundreds of operas is extremely prosperous.

It is always the case every year." He created a dream world that the kings of later generations pursued and created a legend.

So from the beginning, "All nations come to the court" was a grand performance with a boastful nature. This drama was not only performed for foreign barbarians, but also for all subjects of the empire. It clearly told the people that they could

How happy it is to live in such a country that is admired and supported by all nations. The barbarian tribute envoys who came to pay tribute mean that the success of the Celestial Empire was not a self-proclaimer, but also recognized by all nations. It also conveys a clear message to the subjects of the Celestial Empire:

Apart from the Celestial Empire, there is nothing to be envied by other countries.

Of course, maintaining such a face-saving project is naturally huge. If it is only stipulated that the country has the obligation to pay tribute and the empire will enjoy its fruits, it will naturally be better. As a ritual, the Celestial Kingdom,

Of course, we cannot treat those vassal states that are inclined to become more popular. Stingy is obviously a loss of the dignity of the Celestial Empire. Only by exaggerating the wealth of the Celestial Empire can we attract batches of tribute envoys to come and pay tribute, so that "all nations come to the dynasty" can be performed year after year.

Go down.

Therefore, since the Han Dynasty, tribute was a huge expense in the empire. It was no problem to receive, give banquets, seals, crowns, gold and silver, and colored silk, and the gifts received were several times more than the tribute.

These gold, silk and silk belong to the tribute envoy brought back to the country and made a big profit. But even though he knew that he had become a "Kaizi" for the obvious myth of "all nations come to pay tribute", the empire was willing to pay any huge price.

Use endless luxury and amazing waste to show the empire's incredible face; use uncountable time, energy, wealth and life to enrich this myth and make it real.

In the Song Dynasty, of course, it was impossible to avoid the common people. It spared no effort to create a huge face project. In order to prove its legitimacy of obeying the will of heaven, it was also constantly "giving" to Liao and Xixia. When the annual tribute was monies, it attracted various countries with great trade.

The more the country's fortune was declining, the more it needed to bow to the Northern Dynasties, the more it needed the nations who came to the Dynasties to regain some of their self-esteem. Even though they were surrounded by the Jurchens during the Jingkang period, they still found a few in the capital and did not escape.

The foreigners who went there filled their storefronts to show that there were friendly countries supporting them.

The people of Khotan that Zhao Qi had just met were able to understand the veins of the Song Dynasty. They were the tribute state that understood the psychology of the Celestial Empire. They called the Emperor of Song Dynasty "the sunrise in the east and the great light shines in the four worlds, and the four worlds are connected to the masters.

"In the century of the founding of the Song Dynasty, the envoys of Khotan took as many as one or two years, and at least half a year, each trip took two years, but these long journeys were really gained

Very rich.

Every time I come to the capital, I am treated as a VIP and received by the government. There are officials at the post station along the way. The family eats and plays, and the business is naturally prosperous. If you encounter a robber, it is even more lucky because

The government will pay compensation at a price several times higher than the goods. In this way, the coming of thousands of countries to the dynasty is more like a transaction. The empire paid huge sums of money to buy back the confidence and dignity, and the tribute made the return gifts and money, and both sides were very happy.

After the Jurchens invaded the Central Plains, these tribute envoys did not say anything about help, and even without a word of moral support, they stopped coming and turned to the Jurchens, even though they earned countless money in the Song Dynasty.

Khotan is also included. Now that the Song Dynasty has recovered, they have resumed their 'tributary' and drove the camel to do business with his little sister...

Zhao Qi understood it, but he smiled bitterly in his heart. They were enjoying the drama of "all nations come to pay tribute, the four barbarians are waiting for their guests, the voices are widely accepted, and the world is grateful". When they fantasize about everything beautiful, they may have thought of a question.

:How great would it be if all this was true! But unfortunately, all this only exists in the illusion of the sky. In reality, there is only heartache. The warehouse has already expanded and the tribute envoys have transported the so-called "glory",

In fact, they are all old stocks that cannot be sold at all, but the Empire has paid an astonishing price for this!

Of course, Zhao Qiong was also one of the people who felt sorry for him. He ascended the throne when the country was destroyed. At first, all countries were afraid of the Jurchens' tyranny, and even Goryeo did not dare to come again, let alone those "trading tribute envoys", who have followed the Heavenly Kingdom in the past two years

It is booming, and more and more countries are coming to North Korea, but he knows the inside story, just like singing and dancing at a banquet, just to embellish the festive atmosphere and make everyone happy. Unexpectedly, this face-saving project is still

He has to pay such a great price, but he does not want to be another victim of this project... (To be continued...)