Zhu Ying really didn't know much about the Angkor Dynasty.

Even because of the language difference, the two sides did not communicate much.

In the official name of the Ming Dynasty, it was called Zhenla.

The Angkor Dynasty is the name given by the Khmer people themselves, which has a similar meaning to the Ming Dynasty. In Southeast Asia, it is also called the Khmer Empire. After all, the main ethnic group is the Khmer.

Diplomatic affairs were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites, so the Minister of Rites Ren Hengtai was called over.

Although Ren Hengtai has a bit of a stubborn personality, he is not lacking in knowledge. Often, such stubborn people tend to have some talent in studying.

When Ren Hengtai heard that it was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who summoned him, his heart sank immediately.

"It's been almost two years. I hope His Royal Highness the Crown Prince won't come to trouble me because of that incident."

Two years ago in the Fengtian Hall, Zhu Ying proposed a reform of the imperial examination system, and Ren Hengtai, as the Minister of Rites, was the first to stand up and sing against it.

There was nothing wrong with normal debates in the imperial court, but the subsequent great success of the imperial examination system showed that the reform was effective.

Zhu Ying didn't remember it, but Ren Hengtai always kept it in his heart.

This is because they are worried that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will take revenge on them later.

"I, Ren Hengtai, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

As soon as Ren Hengtai saw Zhu Ying, he knelt down and kowtowed.

Zhu Ying was puzzled by this and asked, "Minister Ren, have you committed any crime?"

Generally speaking, kowtow is only required at large gatherings like the morning court. On ordinary days, when the emperor and his subjects meet, they only need to bow. There is no requirement to kowtow at all times.

Kowtow when meeting someone is a custom that only emerged during the Qing Dynasty.

"Your Majesty...Your Majesty is guilty." Cold sweat suddenly broke out on Ren Hengtai's forehead. It turned out that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince asked him to come here to settle the score.

Zhu Ying asked curiously, "What crime have you committed? Tell me about it."

Ren Hengtai thought about it for a while, not knowing what the Crown Prince had caught on him, so he said tentatively: "I shouldn't have secretly slept while on duty and neglected my duties."

What's the big deal about taking a nap at work? This is normal.

Few people can make it through the day after getting up so early in the morning to attend the morning court session.

"Is there anything else besides this?" Zhu Ying asked again.

He had already realized that Ren Hengtai had misunderstood, so he started to tease him.

Ren Hengtai's back was soaked, and he gritted his teeth and said, "I shouldn't have secretly gone to Qiushui Tower a few days ago. Your Highness, please punish me."

Qiu Shui is not a brothel, but its nature is similar to that of a whorehouse.

Zhu Yuanzhang once issued an order that any Ming official who was found soliciting prostitution would be punished.

Now this ban is basically in name only, but it has not been cancelled legally, so if it is really pursued, the person can be punished.

"Anything else?" Zhu Ying asked.

This made Ren Hengtai anxious. Sweat was already dripping down his chin. He was in a panic, trying hard to think about what he had done wrong.

In fact, as the Left Vice Minister of Rites, his power was basically equivalent to that of the Minister of Rites in the absence of a Minister of Rites.

Ren Hengtai is usually a clean and conscientious person.

I really couldn't think of how to answer this question at the moment.

"Okay, I won't tease you anymore. I asked you to come here this time to ask you about some things about Zhenla. As the Minister of Rites, you should be most familiar with these."

Zhu Ying said with a smile, and asked the eunuch Guo Zhong to move a chair over.

Judging from Ren Hengtai’s condition, he might not be able to stand steadily.

Hearing this, Ren Hengtai suddenly felt like crying but had no tears. At the same time, his mind relaxed, but he almost fell down when he stood up.

Zhu Ying's simple words meant the difference between life and death to Ren Hengtai.

The power of a king is so terrifying. For example, some incompetent kings in history could be executed for even the most important officials in the court for a small matter.

As the saying goes, serving the king is like serving a tiger. This is the truth.

After taking a breath, Ren Hengtai did not dare to delay and quickly reported: "Zhenla established diplomatic relations with our Ming Dynasty in the sixth year of Hongwu. The King of Zhenla, Huerna, sent an envoy, Naiyijilang, to offer gifts."

"After that, tribute was paid every three to five years, in the ninth year of Hongwu... in the fourteenth year of Hongwu... in the nineteenth year of Hongwu..."

"The current envoy of Zhenla is Amona, who arrived in the capital of the Ming Dynasty in May this year and is expected to return to Zhenla by sea after September."

At this point, Ren Hengtai paused for a moment and continued, "According to my understanding, the Zhenla delegation was accompanied by Sultana, the daughter of the Zhenla King Hurna, but this was not reported to the Ministry of Rites. This should be a private act."

Ren Hengtai carefully raised his head to take a look at His Royal Highness, and immediately continued, "This Sultana looks like an Obaro, tall and strong, not like a Zhenla person."

"So I specifically inquired about it and found out that it was born to the concubine of King Huer of Zhenla, Obalo. His appearance is extremely exotic. If Your Highness is interested, I will let him come to meet Your Highness."

A woman over 1.7 meters tall is eye-catching in the South, not to mention her blonde hair.

Sultana is very famous in the Celestial Temple and has many suitors.

However, Zhenla was also quite powerful in Southeast Asia, and ordinary people were not qualified to pursue a Zhenla princess.

Ren Hengtai wondered in his heart whether His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had got the news about Sultana from somewhere, so he summoned him to ask.

Of course he didn't know that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince did not return to the palace last night and had already slept with the Zhenla Princess Sultana, who would be canonized as a concubine in the future.

"Minister Ren knows something about the current situation in Zhenla. Tell us everything you know." Zhu Ying naturally didn't need to talk about Sultana.

In the absence of a Minister of Rites, the highest official in the Ming Dynasty that envoys from various countries could contact was Ren Hengtai, the Left Vice Minister of Rites.

As a hegemonic power, Ming Dynasty had to treat any country that came as a lower level as its own, so it was natural for Ming Dynasty to curry favor with Ren Hengtai.

Ren Hengtai has some knowledge of some interesting gossips from various countries.

Through Ren Hengtai's narration, I gradually became familiar with the country of Zhenla.

Zhenla was very powerful in the past and was a major power that could not be ignored in the entire Indochina Peninsula.

The Angkor Dynasty has a history of nearly 600 years since its establishment, making it a truly old kingdom.

At that time, the Central Plains dynasty was still in its heyday.

After six hundred years of history, the Kingdom of Zhenla is now showing signs of decline.

Especially in the past hundred years, due to constant wars with Siam and Champa, the country's national strength has been declining.

The elder brother that Sultana mentioned, that is, Canlepopiya, the eldest son of King Hurna of Zhenla, has reached the point where he needs the support of the general of Lancang Kingdom to inherit the throne.

After having a general understanding of the situation, Zhu Ying asked Ren Hengtai to leave.

Ren Hengtai's heart finally settled down.

This time he was really scared.

The Crown Prince's power is growing day by day, to the point where it is difficult to hear any opposing voices.

Even the most stubborn censors would keep silent when talking about His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

The censor system was created by Your Majesty, and their power also comes from Your Majesty's support. Now His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is obviously rather disgusted with the censor system and has no intention of following Your Majesty's intention to emphasize censors.

Every dynasty has its own ministers. Your Majesty is old, and the Crown Prince is young but strong. The Ming Dynasty will be led by the Crown Prince in the future. The censors are not fools, so they will naturally not go against him.

The official who banned speech had already seen the attitude of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince from the rumors and reports.

Originally, the reputation of the censors was similar to that of the Jinyiwei, and they did not have the support of the future emperor, so it was natural that they would gradually decline.

The censors who caused the disaster of censors in the history of the Ming Dynasty were completely eliminated just because of Zhu Ying's attitude.

This is Zhu Ying.

This would not have happened whether it was Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Di, or even if Crown Prince Zhu Biao were still alive.

Because they will be more willing to follow their ancestors' teachings.

Emperor Yongle Zhu Di violated his ancestral teachings and attacked Annan, but was severely reprimanded by the censors. In the end, he had no choice but to endure it.

Zhu Ying just doesn't like to pamper them.

…

Sultana was completely panicked at this point.

She asked around and found out that Amona was captured by the Jinyiwei.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard is the most powerful government agency in the Ming Dynasty, bar none.

Even the envoys from various countries did not want to deal with them. If they were targeted by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, even the ministers in the Ming court would be helpless, let alone the envoys from small countries like them.

No matter how anxious she was, Sultana had no other choice but to think of Zhu Ying.

In the Ming Dynasty, she seemed to know only one person of status, Zhu Ying.

Amona came to Wenxiang Pavilion to find him and was arrested by the Jinyiwei for causing trouble.

"Zhu Ying should be able to help, at least ask what the situation is."

Sultana felt a little regretful at this time.

Apart from knowing Zhu Ying's name, she didn't even know where he lived, let alone how to find him.

Finally, it was getting dark.

Song Zhong came to the Tianjie Temple Embassy in person.

"Ms. Sultana, Mr. Zhu wants to see you."

The envoys from various countries had hardly ever dealt with the Jinyiwei, so naturally they did not know the pacification envoy Song Zhong.

When Sultana heard that it was Zhu Ying's people, she was of course happy to follow them.

The private room on the third floor of Ping An Restaurant.

When Sultana came over, Zhu Ying happened to be almost there too.

"Zhu Ying, do you know anyone in the Jinyiwei? All the envoys from our Angkor Dynasty have been captured by the Jinyiwei."

Sultana had no appetite at this time. When she saw Zhu Ying, she asked directly with hope in her tone.

Zhu Ying turned to look at Song Zhong and asked knowingly, "What's going on?"

Song Zhong certainly understood, and quickly bowed and said, "Sir, last night the Zhenla envoys brought a dozen guards to Wenxiang Pavilion to cause trouble, and the Jinyiwei patrol happened to pass by, so they arrested all of them and took them to the imperial prison."

Zhu Ying nodded and said lightly: "Since it's nothing serious, let's release the person."

Song Zhong bowed and said, "Yes, sir."

After answering, Song Zhong turned around and left to instruct his subordinates.

It is not Song Zhong's turn to personally step in to handle such a small matter as releasing someone.

"Are you so powerful?" Sultana's eyes lit up at this moment.

She also said last night that Zhu Ying was very powerful, but that power was completely different from the power today.

Zhu Ying picked up a piece of tender white fish meat and put it into Sultana's bowl and said, "This is a sea fish caught from your Zhenla. Try it and see if it tastes like this."

"Now that the matter has been resolved, let's have our meal first. We can't go hungry."

No matter how stupid Sultana was, she could guess that Zhu Ying's identity was definitely not simple.

"The Jinyiwei Yamen is directly under the jurisdiction of the Ming Emperor. No one, whether it is the royal family or the court ministers, can interfere. But you can directly ask the Jinyiwei Yamen to release the person."

"There are only two people in the Ming Dynasty who can order the Jinyiwei to act. Apart from the Ming Emperor, there is only the most famous Ming Taisun."

At this point, Sultana was stunned.

He stared at Zhu Ying blankly for a long while, and finally he started to make noises. He asked with a trembling voice, "Are you the grandson of the Ming Dynasty!!!"

Zhu Ying smiled and said, "You guessed it right. Here, I'll give you a piece of shark fin as a reward."

Sultana was so surprised at this time that she was so excited that she spoke in Khmer, saying a lot of gibberish.

She finally realized what was happening and quickly switched to Chinese, saying, "Oh my God, my man is actually the most honorable grandson of the Ming Dynasty and the future emperor of the Ming Dynasty."

Then he asked nervously, "Will you make me your concubine? If I become your concubine, I won't have to marry to Lancang, and I can stay in Ming Dynasty forever."

"Whether it's my father or my elder brother, they can no longer control me."

Zhu Ying said affirmatively, "Have you forgotten what I told you yesterday? You are my woman, so of course I must make you my concubine."

Then he added: "The child we give birth to will be the king of the future Angkor Dynasty."

Sultana asked curiously, "Are you going to attack Angkor?"

Zhu Ying shook his head and said, "You can't say that. I have already inquired about the situation of the Angkor Dynasty today. Now Angkor is no longer as strong as it was in the past, and the army has begun to become weak."

"Your father, King Huer, is in poor health and no longer has the ability to control the entire country, and your eldest brother, Canlie Popiya, is even less capable."

"Since you have become my concubine, I will naturally send a large army to Angkor to assist the Angkor royal family in its rule."

Zhu Ying spoke without any reservations, as he had long seen that Sultana did not have much affection for her father and elder brother.

I just spoke out my thoughts.

"Great, then we must hurry and give birth to a son. When our son grows up, he can inherit Angkor."

While they were talking, Sultana walked around the table and sat directly next to Zhu Ying, but she had no intention of sitting down. Instead, she squatted slightly.

"I'm hungry." Sultana looked straight at Zhu Ying and said.

Zhu Ying immediately turned to look at Guo Zhong who was serving him.

Guo Zhong immediately closed the door of the private room and ordered people to seal off the entire floor, strictly forbidding anyone to go upstairs.

Two incense sticks passed.

The door of the private room opened and Sultana licked her lips with satisfaction.

She was already hungry after a day of worrying, and after eating some Zhenla hometown dishes, she finally had a good meal.

Tonight Zhu Ying simply took her to Kunning Palace.

Sultana has not yet seen what the Ming Dynasty's palace looks like.