Chapter 194 Don’t ask for it
"Korea is a vassal state of my Ming Dynasty. If you want my new Ming Dynasty banknotes as a return gift, my emperor has already agreed. I will not refuse to give them to you. However, you cannot decide how much to give!"
Zhu Chong's words immediately triggered a strong backlash from the envoys present. The Korean envoy even stood up suddenly and asked, "Your Highness, what do you mean by intending to return the gift?"
Zhu Chong slowly picked up the teacup and imitated Zhao Mao, blowing away the floating tea leaves in the cup while speaking with a faint smile.
"It's simple. Didn't I just tell you that the gifts you brought are worth only about two thousand strings of cash at most? I'll be generous and give you two thousand five hundred strings of cash. Conventionally, the return gift is three times the price, so that's seven thousand five hundred strings of cash!"
"I will round it up to eight thousand strings of cash, but these eight thousand strings of cash are in old Treasure Banknotes. After all, the new Treasure Banknotes have not yet been officially issued, and the price of the new Treasure Banknotes of our Ming Dynasty on the market is very high."
"So if you insist on having new Treasure Notes as a return gift, I can only exchange them for the current market price, which is one string of new Treasure Notes for eight strings of old Treasure Notes. So, I can give you one thousand strings of new Treasure Notes right now, to take back with you as a return gift."
Upon hearing this, the envoys from the vassal states present looked at each other in disbelief. The Minister of Rites Zhao Mao, who was listening and drinking tea at the side, choked on the tea he had just put in his mouth and started coughing continuously.
Outrageous, too outrageous, extremely outrageous!
"Your Highness the Prince of Qin is truly bullying our Kingdom of Goryeo!" The Goryeo envoy flew into a rage. "Is such behavior still worthy of the Celestial Empire? This is such cunning and plundering. I demand an audience with His Majesty, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, to judge the matter..."
Faced with the Goryeo envoy's clamoring that was both fierce and weak, Zhu Chong sneered and did not take it seriously at all.
You still want to meet Lao Zhu? Dream on. Besides, if Lao Zhu knows about this, it would be strange for him to meet you!
Zhu Chong wanted the right to act at his own convenience from Zhu Yuanzhang in order to guard against the Goryeo envoys. Therefore, even if the Goryeo envoys brought the complaint to Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Chong would still behave in the same way and give the same explanation.
"What? Threatening me?" Zhu Chong slowly stood up and stared at the Korean envoy. "Do you think I don't know what you're planning? Taking money from the Ming court to make huge profits and weaken the Ming Dynasty? Do you really think the people of the Ming Dynasty are blind?"
The Goryeo envoy was stared at by Zhu Chong and his true intentions were revealed, which immediately dampened his morale.
He did have this idea in mind. When he learned that one string of new treasure notes could be exchanged for ten taels of silver, he was so anxious that he jumped up and down, and wrote a letter to Zhu Yuanzhang, hoping to use new treasure notes as a return gift.
Zhu Yuanzhang did not take the Goryeo envoy's plan seriously, but Zhu Chong saw through it at a glance. Seeing Zhu Chong's unyielding look, the Goryeo envoy knew that he would not get any good result with Zhu Chong.
But it must be said that the Goryeo envoy was really stubborn. "Your Highness, Prince Qin, this matter cannot be generalized. His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming has just issued an edict. From now on, your Great Ming court will only recognize the face value of the new treasure notes. You will not recognize any treasure notes exchanged on the market."
"You're using this to offset the return gift to our ruler. With such behavior, aren't you afraid of being criticized and reported to the Imperial Censor?"
Hearing that the Goryeo envoy dared to threaten him, Zhu Chong laughed even more happily, while Zhao Mao on the side broke out in a cold sweat.
Usually when it comes to diplomatic affairs involving vassal states, if there is any mistake, the censors will swarm in like cats smelling fish and make a harsh report, not to mention someone like Zhu Chong, who is suspected of provoking discord between the vassal states and the Ming Dynasty.
However, Zhu Chong's behavior taught Zhao Mao another lesson.
"It's the Censor's job to report me. Whether the Emperor considers me rebellious is up to His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Who do you think you are? Haven't you figured out the situation yet?"
"How the return gift is formulated is now up to me. If you want treasure notes, I can give them to you. But if you want new treasure notes, I will give you the price I have set. Don't ask for them if you dare!"
"You..." The Goryeo envoy's mentality completely collapsed. He never expected that Zhu Chong would directly break off relations with him.
If this were in Goryeo, the Goryeo envoy would have engaged in battle with Zhu Chong long ago, but this was the Ming Dynasty, and he had absolutely no way to deal with Zhu Chong. In the end, he could only snort heavily and leave in anger.
As soon as the Goryeo envoys left, envoys from other vassal states also left. Zhu Chong's first meeting with the envoys from the vassal states ended in a bad mood.
Seeing the other person's departing back, Zhu Chong yawned and turned back to look at Zhao Mao deeply.
Zhao Mao felt his whole body crawling with fear when Zhu Chong looked at him. He smiled awkwardly until Zhu Chong left on his own, and then he breathed a sigh of relief. It was only then that the Minister of Rites discovered that the back of his clothes was soaked with cold sweat.
The next day, as Zhu Chong had expected, the Goryeo envoys, together with envoys from several other vassal states, wrote a letter requesting a meeting with Zhu Yuanzhang.
The result was just as Zhu Chong had expected. He refused to see them at all and only arranged for the eunuch to tell them to find Zhu Chong.
After receiving the message from Zhu Yuanzhang, the envoys from the vassal states were all dumbfounded. No one expected that Zhu Yuanzhang would be as shameless as Zhu Chong!
"His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty actually went back on his word. It's simply..." The Goryeo envoy was full of anger in front of several envoys.
However, when he said this, the envoys from other countries all moved away from him.
They are courting death by speaking ill of the Ming Emperor behind his back. They just want to live longer!
Besides, the reason why this group of people are standing together now is because they have common interests. Now that it doesn’t work with Old Zhu, of course they have to find a way to turn around and curry favor with Zhu Chong.
The Goryeo envoy had a quarrel with Zhu Chong last time and parted ways on bad terms, but the envoys from other vassal states did not fall out with Zhu Chong. Now that they want to curry favor with Zhu Chong, they naturally have to do it thoroughly and must draw a clear line with the Goryeo envoy.
When the Goryeo envoy saw this, he knew what these people were thinking and almost bit his teeth.
"In that case, the return gift this time will depend on His Majesty the King of Qin." The Annan envoy cautiously asked the envoys from other vassal states.
After all, Zhu Chong did not say absolutely last time, and he still gave them three times the amount in return. If it really doesn't work out this time, he won't take the treasure notes this time. He can just follow the usual practice and exchange the items given back by the Ming Emperor on the market, and make less money in the end.
As for the new treasure notes of the Ming Dynasty, you can take as many as you can. Even though the exchange rate has fallen to 1:8 in the Ming Dynasty, the price will increase significantly when it reaches the homeland of these vassal states. You can still make money by bringing the new treasure notes back.
As a result, the alliance between the envoys of the vassal states collapsed...
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