My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 889 The Ming Dynasty Mission (Part )

"Your Highness, the envoy sent by the Ming Dynasty is about to arrive in the capital. Do you want me to take someone to greet it?"

In Zhan Shi's mansion, Li Qi was reporting to Zhu Zhanhe about the Ming Dynasty mission.

In order to improve relations with the Han Dynasty, Empress Dowager Zhang took the initiative to send a mission to the Han Dynasty. Moreover, the standards of this mission were extremely high. The official envoy was the cabinet minister Hu Bi, who was also an acquaintance of Zhu Zhanhe. When Zhu Zhanhe was young, he She once had contact with Hu Hui, which was the main reason why Empress Dowager Zhang sent Hu Hui as an envoy.

"No need, Hu Xi is here on behalf of the Ming Dynasty this time. This is also the first formal diplomatic relationship between the two countries, so I will go to greet him in person. Please inform Yang Shangshu and others to accompany me!"

Zhu Zhanhe stood up and said that he had been paying attention to Hu Hui's trip and had long been prepared to welcome him in person.

"Yes, I will make arrangements now!"

Li Qi agreed and then withdrew.

Zhu Zhanhe walked back and forth in the palace several times, thinking about the Ming Dynasty mission.

Zhu Zhanhe welcomed Empress Dowager Zhang's proactive overture. After all, he did not want to have too much trouble with the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Zhanji had previously secretly targeted the Ming Dynasty, casting a shadow on the relationship between the two countries and even damaging it. economic interests of both countries.

It is definitely a great thing for Empress Dowager Zhang to bring order to the chaos now. Moreover, after establishing good relations with Ming Dynasty, the two countries cooperated in population, economy, politics, and even military. That is why Zhu Zhanhe attached so much importance to the army led by Hu Hui. Mission.

At the same time, Hu Hui and other Ming envoys were sitting in a carriage, looking at the surrounding environment with curiosity. Some young people could not hold their breath, looking left and right from time to time. There was no official response at all. Some grace.

Hu Xi scolded him a few times at first, but then he ignored it because after the train started moving, he himself felt that the things on the train were very novel.

"This is the legendary train. It really comes and goes like the wind. It can pull hundreds of people at a time. It can cover a distance of hundreds of miles and arrive in a few hours. It's simply amazing!"

A middle-aged official sitting opposite Hu Hu looked at the rapidly receding scenery outside the window and couldn't help but sigh with sincerity.

This middle-aged official's name was Wu Ce, and he was the Minister of Rites. This time he served as the deputy envoy of the mission, and he went on a mission to the Han Dynasty together with Hu Hui.

"Yes, I always mentioned this kind of train from newspapers or people who have been to Dahan. I have never been able to imagine what this kind of train looks like. It wasn't until I took the train myself that I realized that it is better than the legendary train. It’s even more magical!”

Hu Hui also praised at this time.

The group of them took a boat out to sea from Tianjin, and after arriving in Guangzhou, they took a steamship of the Han Dynasty. At that time, the ship that did not need a sail and could run very fast on the sea by burning coal had already greatly admired the people of the mission.

As a result, after arriving at the Han Dynasty's Beizheng Port, they got on this legendary steam car again. When the car started running, they were so scared that their whole bodies became stiff, for fear of being thrown off.

"Mr. Hu, I heard that the Ministry of Industry is working hard to imitate steam engines. Do you think we can successfully imitate them?"

Wu Ce suddenly looked around, then lowered his voice and asked Hu Hao. The rapid development of the Han Dynasty can of course be seen by the Ming Dynasty. After all, even if there are no official exchanges between the two countries, the people-to-people exchanges are still very close, so they all know the importance of steam engines.

As early as when Zhu Zhanji was still alive, he asked Jinyiwei to secretly recruit some craftsmen who knew steam engines, and then quietly brought them back to the Ming Dynasty with the intention of imitating steam engines. Many ministers had heard about this, but the specific progress was unclear.

"It's hard to say. The Ministry of Industry is keeping a tight lid on this matter, and the outside world doesn't know about it. However, if the imitation was successful, I'm afraid it would have been applied in some places long ago. If we haven't seen it now, it must not be going well."

Hu Xi shook his head and said.

Hu Hui is now the Minister of the Ministry of Hubu, but he was actually promoted from the Ministry of Rites. He once served as a minister and a minister. Wu Ce is his old subordinate. The two have a good personal relationship, so they have no scruples in speaking.

"Let me tell you, if you can't build it, then just buy it from the big man. After all, we are here with sincerity this time. Maybe we can convince His Highness the Crown Prince to agree to sell us a batch of steam engines."

Wu Ce whispered again.

This time they sent envoys to the Han Dynasty not only to connect the two sides, but also to cooperate in various aspects, such as military and economic. There is a lot of room for cooperation between the two sides.

Among these cooperations, Daming wanted to buy a batch of steam engines from Dahan. Although steam engines were important to the country and Dahan had never sold them to outsiders, there was a first time for everything, and Dahan and Daming came from the same source. , so Wu Ce feels that the possibility of purchasing a steam engine is still very high.

"It is not easy to convince His Highness the Crown Prince. I had contact with His Highness the Crown Prince before. Although he seemed easy-going, he was determined. He has always strictly controlled the steam engines within the Han Dynasty. I want to persuade him to agree to sell us steam engines. It’s absolutely unparalleled.”

Hu Hui is not very optimistic about the steam engine.

"It depends on people. Let's test the prince's attitude first. If his attitude relents, we will make a formal request. At most, we will have to pay a little more. There should still be hope."

Wu Ce smiled and said again.

While they were talking, suddenly I saw some big officials coming and asked if they wanted to visit the train?

Before Hu Hui nodded, all the other officials of the mission stood up excitedly. Now Hu Hui had no choice but to stand up, and then, under the guidance of the Han official, he came to the front of the car to visit.

Hu Hui was actually very curious. Although he knew that trains were driven by steam engines, he couldn't understand why a steam engine was so powerful that it could pull hundreds of people on the road and run out in one breath. Hundreds of miles without rest?

So when they came to the front of the car, Hu Xi and others looked around curiously. When they saw the huge boiler and the various complex pipes connected to the boiler, Hu Xi felt dizzy. No wonder the Ministry of Industry I can't imitate a steam engine, it looks too complicated.

Officials from the Han Dynasty were also explaining the structure of the train to the Ming Dynasty envoy. At this time, Hu Hui, Wu Ce and others realized that it was not the steam engine that made the train run immediately. It also involved more complex designs, such as Steamships were the first to appear in the Han Dynasty, and the train was actually designed successfully after many failures.

After learning the above, Hu Hui and Wu Ce also looked at each other, and their hearts were a little heavy. It seemed that they thought the steam engine was too simple. Even if the Ministry of Industry could imitate the steam engine, it would not be easy to make it practical. thing.

(End of this chapter)