I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 53 The King of Chu's Envoy

Zhu Houxuan had thought about meeting Mrs. Chen in person, but it was very unwise for him to meet a businessman of unknown origin.

That's why he wanted to win over Mrs. Chen through Liu Hao.

It is too inconvenient to be without freedom. I cannot personally inspect many things on site, and I don't know what the two factories outside the city look like, Zhu Houxuan thought secretly in his heart.

This made him feel more urgent to forge the Damascus as soon as possible. Of course, he also had other options, such as making a telescope and offering it as a tribute, but the idea of ​​making a telescope had been written about so many times.

Now the forging of Damascus is still stuck on materials.

He had tried to make elixirs in his mansion 10 times, but failed every time.

Zhu Houxuan was not discouraged by repeated failures because he had already seen the dawn of victory. The molten steel in the furnaces would not lie, indicating that the temperature had reached the standard. The problem now was how to better remove impurities in the molten steel and improve the performance of the steel.

He also knew that no matter how anxious he was, the alchemy furnace could only produce one furnace every three days, and he no longer cared about how much it cost.

So he still exercised every day according to his plan and taught craftsmen and orphans.

After several months of scientific exercise, his body has become much stronger and he has developed muscles.

Just when Zhu Houxuan was about to start his day's work, an unexpected visitor disrupted his plans for the day.

Chengyun Hall.

The chief officials of the three departments of the royal palace have all arrived.

The three departments of the royal palace are the Chief Secretary's Department, the Guard Command Department, and the Chengfeng Department, which correspond to the civil officials, military officials, and eunuchs in the royal palace official system respectively.

Zhu Houxuan sat on the throne on the golden platform in the hall and said to Yu Chun, "You must be the envoy of the King of Chu!"

Yu Chunlai leaned forward to receive the order, nodded to the young eunuch at the door of the hall, and the message began to be passed on.

After a while, a middle-aged eunuch entered the hall.

"Chu Mansion's Secretary Guan Tong pays his respects to His Royal Highness the Prince of Jing!" The middle-aged eunuch paid his respects with great ceremony.

Then there is a unified conversation about greeting each other's health.

"Your Highness the King of Chu is an elder of the royal family. I wonder why you sent an envoy here today?" asked Shi Changshi.

The King of Chu has a high seniority in the royal family. The Jing vassal state belongs to a branch of the Yan vassal state. The Yan vassal state has been passed down for 6 generations since the founding of the country, while the Chu vassal state has only been passed down to the third generation a hundred years after the founding of the country. According to seniority, Zhu Houxuan should call the current King of Chu great-grandfather.

"This is the prince's handwriting. Please have a look, Your Highness Prince Jing." Guan Tong took out a letter.

Shi Changshi took the letter with both hands, but did not give it to Zhu Houxuan. Instead, he looked at Zhan Changshi, Zhao Zhihuishi and Yu Chunlai.

After the three of them nodded to Shi Changshi, Shi Changshi actually opened the envelope and after a careful inspection, he started to check the letter inside.

After Shi Changshi finished reading, his expression became surprised, and then he handed the letter to Zhan Changshi. After Zhan Changshi finished reading it, he passed it on to the next person, and he waited until all four of them had finished reading it.

They discussed in a low voice for a while before handing the letter to Zhu Houxuan.

Zhu Houxuan kept smiling in this suffocating atmosphere, and Guan Tong also looked as if he was used to it.

This was part of the Ming Dynasty's vassal restrictions. Without the emperor's permission, kings from different clans could not meet each other (it was okay for kings from the same clan to meet each other).

If there was anything, an envoy would be sent, and the officials in charge of each department in the royal palace had to be present when the prince talked with the envoy.

Private interactions among the feudal domains were strictly prohibited.

Zhu Houxuan picked up the letter and read it, and found that some lyrics of the new play had already been transmitted to Wuchang City, which aroused great interest among the kings of the Chu vassal state. However, they had never been able to get a glimpse of the full picture, so this situation happened today.

The King of Chu sent an envoy to report this matter and requested Zhu Houxuan to send a troupe of actors to the Chu vassal state to perform for a period of time.

To be honest, I was a little confused when I saw Zhu Houxuan. After he was enthroned as King of Jing, his first communication with other vassal states was because of this.

"I hope His Royal Highness the King of Jing will agree to my king's request." Guan Tong had been observing Zhu Houxuan, and said hurriedly after seeing Zhu Houxuan put down the letter. To be honest, the relationship between the Chu and Jing vassals was really ordinary. Under the vassal ban policy, they were the kind of relatives who had not visited each other for decades.

In fact, it was also because the Jing Clan had such a bad reputation that even though the two vassals were very close, the Chu Clan really didn't like to have any dealings with the Jing Clan.

However, a few decades later, the biggest scandal of the Ming royal family would occur in the Chu vassal state (the Crown Prince Yingyao of Chu killed his father), which pushed the scandal of the Jing vassal state to second place, but that is a story for later.

All this was broken because of a new play?

To be honest, Zhu Houxuan was really caught off guard.

If you ask Zhu Houxuan whether he wants to have a good relationship with the Chu clan, he will definitely answer that he wants to in his dreams.

Where is the fief of Chu?
Wuchang City! This is the most prosperous place in Huguang, a thoroughfare connecting nine provinces.

If we can establish good relations with Chu Fan, then the protectionism in Wuchang City will be easily solved. Chu Fan is a powerful dragon that has been entrenched in Wuchang City for more than a hundred years!
Isn’t this channel already there?

"Since my elders have requested me, I naturally dare not refuse. I will ask Dianle to prepare something and then follow your Excellency to Wuchang City!" Zhu Houxuan said, suppressing his inner joy.

"Thank you, Your Highness the King of Jing!" Guan Tong paid his respects once again.

"Then your Excellency can just rest in your mansion for two days." Zhu Houxuan nodded slightly.

"As ordered!"

Guan Tong was soon taken away to rest.

Zhu Houxuan became excited. He didn't expect that the previous idle move would become a powerful weapon in his hand to break the ice.

If the relationship with the Chu vassal is established, can this method be used in other royal palaces?

The answer is yes. Nowadays, all the princes in the world are indulged in pleasure. They have money and free time, so it is impossible for them to refuse new plays.

Moreover, the locations of these royal palaces are all prosperous cities. With the fiefdoms of these princes as nodes, a sales channel covering most of the Ming Dynasty was formed.

How could Zhu Houxuan not be excited about such a grand prospect?

But he was not planning to send Qin Yuelan out. Qin Yuelan was his treasure now, and the music of "Legend of White Snake" still depended on her.

Moreover, Liu Hao's incident also sounded a wake-up call for him. The qualities of other princes were uneven. If Qin Yuelan was forced to stay there, Zhu Houxuan would really have no choice.

Fortunately, when rehearsing, "Journey to the West: The Women Kingdom" was divided into two roles, A and B, which are the A and B roles in modern dramas. Every character has an A role and a B role. If the A role has problems and cannot perform, the B role will take over.

Although the roles are divided into A and B, the intensity of their rehearsals is the same.

So the team he was going to send out was composed of the second-tier players.

Thinking of this, he decided to expand the scale of Dianyueso and make it the most shining business card of the Prince of Jing's Mansion.

At the same time, I am also considering whether to release the "Legend of White Snake" which has been postponed for a long time.

Just as Zhu Houxuan was thinking quickly, Shi Changshi under the golden stage coughed.

"Are you guys still here? Now that the matter here is over, let's all go!" Zhu Houxuan said, waving his hand.

"I have something else to report!" Shi Changshi did not move.

"Shi Changshi, please speak!"

"Your Majesty, you should consider building a mausoleum!"

"???"

(End of this chapter)