Chapter 339 Audience with the Emperor of the Celestial Empire

After the emperor's order came down, the envoys of the three countries were asked to go to Nanjing for an audience.

Mason, who had been in Ningbo for some time, took part of the fleet north to Zhoushan, then stopped the ship and changed to other means of transportation to Nanjing. Along the way, there were good accommodation conditions and food. His men's eyes lit up when they tasted different food. They had never eaten such delicious food. If others hadn't stopped them, they would have eaten to death.

Eating rich and exquisite dishes and drinking tea brewed with exquisite tea sets was simply the enjoyment of the top European nobles. This opened the eyes of the country bumpkins in the delegation who had never seen these.

Even some ordinary members of the delegation and their entourage did something that made Mason speechless, that is, they secretly hid the cups, plates, and bowls that had been used to drink tea or eat delicious food when the reception staff were not paying attention, and planned to take them back to exchange for money.

Mason was already angry, which would make others think that he abused his men. But fortunately, no one else said anything.

In order to be able to communicate with the locals, Mason began to learn the language of the Ming Dynasty when he was in Temasek. So far, he has been successful.

It took almost six days from Ningbo to Nanjing, and the delegation finally arrived in Nanjing.

This super-populated city shocked Mason even more. Only a wealthy country can build such a magnificent city, and the Ming Dynasty is like this.

The person responsible for welcoming Mason and his team was the Honglu Temple, which was a special agency responsible for welcoming guests. In order to show respect, Zhu Di forced the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites to come to greet them, and when Mason saw them, he also said that he was a special envoy from the Roman Empire to meet His Majesty the Emperor.

In the Fengtian Hall, Zhu Di had been preparing for a long time, just waiting for the other party to come. But he didn't expect that some ministers had to sing against the emperor on this day.

A dozen ministers first congratulated Zhu Di, and then took off their official robes, revealing the imperial Ming ancestral precepts they wrote inside.

"Your Majesty, please abide by the ancestral precepts and stop going to the West!"

If you come here at other times, I won't say anything, but now is a happy day. Are you asking for trouble?

Zhu Di's face darkened, but he didn't want to make it too embarrassing. But the ministers still made them lose face, so he couldn't be blamed.

"Your Majesty, the foreign envoys have arrived."

Zhu Di said immediately.

"Call them in.

And those ministers who had just fought desperately put on their clothes and stood aside. They didn't want to lose face in front of foreigners.

When Mason entered the Nanjing Palace, he was even more shocked by this magnificent and gorgeous palace. He couldn't imagine that there was such a great palace complex in the world. The magnificence, solemnity, and solemnity of the palace... Anyone who came here couldn't help but feel fear from the bottom of their hearts.

Walking on the imperial road in the palace, the knowledgeable Mason didn't even dare to breathe, and he was looking forward to and awe of meeting the emperor of the empire.

After entering the Fengtian Hall, Mason saw the throne in front of him at a glance. On the throne sat a man in an imperial robe. Because he was too far away, he could not see Zhu Di's face clearly, but Zhu Di sitting on the throne had an extraordinary demeanor, giving people an invisible majesty and pressure.

There were dozens of Ming officials on both sides of the throne, including ministers of various ministries, chief officers and generals of the Five Military Governors' Offices, etc. They were all important parts of the Ming center. Although Mason did not know any of them, it did not prevent him from guessing about it.

"Mason, the special envoy of the Roman Empire, came to meet the emperor of the Celestial Empire on the order of the emperor of the Roman Empire, and had a letter, please preview it, Your Majesty. ”

Mason was about to collapse when learning Chinese. Those words were more difficult than theirs. He was a little worried that he would make a fool of himself, but it seemed that he was okay at the moment.

Some people also did some research on this person. As for the Roman Empire, some people thought it was the Qin Dynasty recorded in the Han Dynasty documents, while others thought it was Fulin recorded in the Tang Dynasty books. The directions were consistent, but there were still some arguments. Who was right in the argument? (Actually, both were right)

"Your Excellency has come from afar and has worked hard on the way."

Zhu Di began to express his condolences. He was also curious about this foreigner. As for the letter the other party mentioned, it had been translated and would be handed over soon. Looking at the minister next to him, the energy that he had just been fighting for was gone. It seemed that he was also a face-saving person.

In addition to Mason, envoys from Malacca and Srivijaya came to request the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to confer him a title. Zhu Di was happy and announced the title of king on the spot, and gave him seals and other items, allowing him to pay tribute.

And Mason also brought up his gift to the Ming Dynasty. , Chen Zuyi and other pirate leaders were already scared out of their wits. Zhu Di had no good face for this evil pirate and directly ordered him to be executed by slow slicing.

For the merits of the special envoy, Zhu Di ordered Chen Zuyi's reward of 500,000 taels of silver to be awarded to the other party, after all, it was the pirates they eliminated.

"Your Majesty, the Roman Empire has always wanted to trade with your country. For this reason, I was sent to explore the eastern sea route three years ago, but when I arrived in Malacca, I heard that the Celestial Empire had issued a sea ban order, which made me a little confused."

Zhu Di was also a little uncomfortable when he heard that the sea ban order had spread so far. He explained: "Your Excellency doesn't know that pirates and bandits have been rampant in recent years. The previous emperor issued a sea ban order to avoid pirates. Now that the pirates have been eliminated, I believe that navigation will be possible soon."

Zhu Di's words shocked some ministers. This is to abolish the sea ban order, which is against the ancestral precepts and is a great rebellion.

After letting Mason and others leave, the ministers jumped out again, saying that if the sea ban was abolished, they would be killed first.

"Today is a happy day, why do you have to do this? Go home."

After that, Zhu Di left, leaving the ministers looking at each other in bewilderment. They still felt that they were right, as long as they put pressure on the emperor, one day, the emperor would understand their painstaking efforts.

This time, Mason brought Zhu Di pepper, spices, corals, pearls, sapphires and other gifts, which stunned the eunuchs around him. Unexpectedly, there were so many treasures overseas, and Zhu Di was a little stunned, but he still maintained the majesty of the emperor. So after the court, he asked someone to invite Mason, and he planned to treat him to a meal.

As for the men Mason brought, a few of them saw that the girls on the Qinhuai River were good-looking, so they took their own and exchanged money to consume, and some smart brains secretly sold some spices and gems in the market and made a lot of money. This city brought them too much shock, and they had to take a good look.