Zhengde was in a good mood during this period. After finding Zhou Chong, his own younger brother, he finally completed his thoughts. Zhou Chong is not like him, and now he has a daughter. When he wrote a letter some time ago

He also told himself that his two wives were pregnant together, which made Zhengde and Empress Dowager Zhang overjoyed and thought to himself that it was time to have a boy now.

As long as his younger brother Zhou Chong has a boy, it is equivalent to having descendants. At least the inheritance of the throne is no longer a problem. This also makes a mountain that has been pressing on Zhengde's heart finally disappear, although it is for him to have no children.

He was a little concerned about it, but he would not collect young women who had given birth to children into the palace like before. He even felt that his previous thoughts were really ridiculous.

In addition to the royal private affairs, Zhengde was also very relieved about the affairs in the court, especially the corn and sweet potatoes that Zhou Chong gave him before. After a year of trial planting, these two crops were indeed amazing, among which the corn yield was

It is stable at about 500 kilograms, but the output of sweet potatoes is about 3,000 kilograms. Of course, if it is dried into dried sweet potatoes, the output will shrink significantly, but it can also exceed 1,000 kilograms. Such an amazing output shocked the entire court.

Without his supervision, Li Dongyang, Yang Ting and those people tried their best to promote these two crops, intending to leave a good reputation in history.

This year is the most critical year for the promotion of corn and sweet potatoes. After last year's breeding, the two crops can be promoted and planted on a large scale, and the name of corn and sweet potatoes has also begun to be spread from the capital. Many people know that the imperial court has it.

There are two types of grains with amazing output, so at the beginning of the year, many state prefectures wrote letters, hoping that the court could share some of the seeds of sweet potatoes and corn to themselves.

The cabinet was very cautious about the requirements of those states. After all, the growth of a crop is also restricted by the environment. Corn and sweet potatoes grow very well near the capital and produce very high yields, but it does not prove that the yield in other places is also

So the court finally decided to choose several prefectures with similar climate to those in the capital to promote planting on a large scale. As for other prefectures, they only sent a small amount of seeds and seedlings to let these prefectures try planting.

If it grows well, it will not be too late to promote it on a large scale next year.

Thinking of the beautiful prospects after the promotion of corn and sweet potatoes, Zhengde couldn't help laughing excitedly. He didn't like being an emperor very much, so he would like to push things in the court if he could. If he really couldn't push them over, he would let others help him deal with them.

, Liu Jin was the spokesperson he pushed to the court before. Unfortunately, Liu Jin was not good at it, and finally caused resentment from heaven and earth. He had to deal with Liu Jin. Originally, Zhengde wanted to find another spokesperson, but he was finding his own relative

Later, his younger brother also solved the problem of inheritance of the throne, which made Zhengde suddenly become motivated. He began to ask about the government from time to time. Although he was not as diligent as his father Xiaozong, he was much better than before.

However, although Zhengde is more diligent than before, his nature has not changed much. He still plays when he should play, and sometimes he doesn't even care about the government. Fortunately, Li Dongyang and others have long been used to Zhengde's temperament.

They seemed to them that the changes made His Majesty the Emperor have now made them very satisfied, and there is no need to be too harsh.

When Zhengde was in Shuangyu Port, he heard Zhou Chong talk about overseas things and the strange customs of European countries, especially the customs of Europeans that no men or women take a bath. Zhengde was even more curious. He wanted to

What would a person know what it would be like if he didn't take a bath since he was born? Unfortunately, the European craftsmen Zhou Chong found had learned to take a bath, so he never saw a European who didn't take a bath.

It was precisely because of this regret in his heart that when Zhengde heard that the Portuguese actually sent a mission to meet him, he immediately agreed without hesitation. Of course, he was not just to satisfy his curiosity, but also to him

When he was at Shuangyu Port, he heard Zhou Chong say that among the European countries now, although Portugal is small and has few people, its strength is the best among European countries, so he also wants to see this European power this time.

So when the officials of the Honglu Temple reported to him that the Portuguese mission had arrived in the capital, Zhengde was also very happy. In the afternoon, he summoned Da Gama and his group in the Leopard Room. Li Dongyang and the others knew that Zhengde summoned these envoys from the foreign countries only

I was curious that there would be no national affairs to discuss, so I didn't show up at all.

"Vasco Da Gama, a Portuguese envoy from a small overseas country, pays homage to His Majesty the Emperor of Ming Dynasty!" After Da Gama entered the main hall of the Leopard Room, he immediately led Magellan and others behind him to kneel down and bow. These rituals were all when entering the palace.

The officials of the Honglu Temple asked them to do what they had to do, otherwise they would not even be able to enter the Forbidden City.

Speaking of the Forbidden City, Da Gama and the others have been amazed since they came in. They used to think that the Portuguese palace was already majestic enough, but they did not realize how ridiculous and ignorant they were when they saw the Forbidden City where the Emperor of Ming Dynasty lived.

His king just lives in a stone fortress, but the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty actually built a city in the capital. The Forbidden City, which covers such a vast area, was actually just the private residence of His Majesty the Emperor. If he had not seen it with his own eyes

I'm afraid I can't believe it anyway.

It was also because of the majestic Forbidden City and the various beautiful buildings in the palace that Da Gama and others felt very respectful of the Ming Emperor from the bottom of their hearts. After all, they had such a majestic palace.

People are probably the most powerful people in the world, so they dare not be disrespectful. It is precisely this awe that arises in their hearts that makes them not resist at all when they kneel down and bow. In their opinion,

The emperor of the Ming Dynasty should be the only person in the world who can be compared with God.

"Flat!" Although the cabinet was not there, Zhengde did not make any noise. He was wearing a dragon robe and had a solemn expression on his face, which added a bit of psychological pressure to Da Gama and the others.

After Da Gama and others stood up, Zhengde looked at the other party seriously. Although he wanted to come over and smell what the smell of Da Gama and others who never take a bath, this occasion was not suitable, so

I could only suppress my curiosity and said, "I already know that you have signed a treaty with my governor and promised to compensate the Ming Dynasty for two million taels of silver. This made me see your determination to admit your mistake, so I approved this one

In the future, you must abide by the laws of the Ming Dynasty and never cause any more troubles!”

Da Gama and others naturally nodded in response to Zhengde's lesson. They all knew that the young man in front of him was the ruler of the entire Ming Empire, and his power was greater than that of the European pope, so they dared not have any in their hearts.

disrespect.

After Zhengde pretended to scold him, he felt very bored. He began to inquire about the situation in Europe and how they traveled thousands of mountains and rivers to the Ming Dynasty?

Da Gama naturally knew all about Zhengde's problems. In order to show his erudition, he first explained the situation in Europe. As a result, Zhengde only had one impression after listening to it, that is, "chaos", European

The kinship between the countries is extremely complicated, and he can't figure it out for a while. Moreover, the wars between the countries are endless. Today you beat me and tomorrow I will beat you, and there will be no peace for a day. The reason why the Portuguese worked so hard to expand outward.

In addition to seeking overseas wealth, they actually want to open up their own living space. Even if Portugal in Europe perishes, they can still establish a country overseas.

Zhengde had been unable to understand this chaos in Europe for a long time, so he simply stopped thinking about it, but focused on the strange customs of Europe, such as not taking a bath, and Da Gama ended up not in the end

He told Zhengde very proudly that he had not taken a bath for ten years. Last time he was surrounded by water, he accidentally fell into the sea on the boat.

Hearing that the Portuguese ambassador had not taken a bath for ten years, this made the eunuchs and palace maids in the hall look at Da Gama with a little disgust and fear. Several eunuchs who were closer were retreating involuntarily.

Two steps.

Zhengde was also very curious. He stood up and walked to Da Gama. As a result, before he could get close to Da Gama, he was so hot that he was so angry that he was a pungent spice smell that he stopped moving forward. He really didn't have the courage to move forward again.

At the same time, I thought to myself that these Portuguese need spices so urgently. I guess if the whole of Europe had no spices, it would have become a cesspool.

In addition to the custom of not taking a bath in Europe, Zhengde also had little understanding of the special position of the European Pope. In his opinion, religion is only used to educate people. How can it interfere in secular power? Moreover, the Pope's power is so great that it is actually

It is impossible to imagine that the Ming Dynasty could directly appoint and remove a monarch, so Zhengde could not understand what kind of existence the Pope and the Church existed? However, this also reminded Zhengde and decided to step up the regulation of religion in the future to avoid

The Ming Dynasty also repeated the mistakes of Europe.

After understanding the situation in Europe, Zhengde asked Da Gama in detail about the path from Europe to the Ming Dynasty. He had heard Zhou Chong talk about these paths before, but Zhou Chong only learned from later books, and he also knew them.

Not very detailed, especially in terms of sea routes, Da Gama personally opened a route from Europe to the Indian Ocean, so when talking about the difficulties on this route, Zhengde was also very fascinated by listening to Da Gama's passing by the violent

When it was incomparable to the southern tip of Africa, I couldn't help but admire the courage of Da Gama and others.

In general, the first meeting between Zhengde and Da Gama and other Portuguese messengers was perfect. The Portuguese gained Zhengde's favor, and Zhengde also satisfied his curiosity. In the end, he even held a banquet in the palace to entertain Da Gama.
Chapter completed!