Chapter 648: Letter from the Son of Heaven at Sunrise to the Son of Heaven at Sunset
Chapter 648 Letter from the Son of Sunrise to the Son of Sunset
Li Shimin now has only two enemies left, Western Turks and Goguryeo. As for the others, they are not worthy to be his opponents, nor can they threaten him.
Whether it's the barbarians in the Southwest, the Liao in the south of the Lingnan, or the Champa barbarians in the south, he actually doesn't pay attention to them. The sky is high and the earth is far away. It is impossible for these mountain barbarians to be as threatening as the nomadic tribes on the grassland. To Datang.
Qin Lang can't say that Li Shimin's idea is wrong, he can only say that even Li Shimin is limited by the times. In fact, the nomadic tribes in the north are indeed the most threatening. Even the Goguryeo people in Liaodong, who are half farming and half fishing and hunting, are much more threatening.
"Envoys from Japan Inukami Mita, Soga Kuramaro, Monobe Renko, Tsushi Hinata, Pharmacist Eri, meet the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty!"
Li Shimin listened, and asked Qin Lang, the prime minister beside him, with a smile, "Is it that Japanese country that sent envoys to the Central Plains in the Sui Dynasty and wrote a letter saying that the sun rises and the sun is nowhere, and the sun is nowhere?"
"Your Majesty's knowledge is strong, and this Dongying is indeed the rude person back then. The words of the Japanese king angered Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, and he was denounced as a barbarian book rude, and he was never heard of again. Therefore, after that, the Great Sui Dynasty did not let Dongying send An envoy to the court. Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, this is the first time that the Dongying Kingdom has come to the court!"
"After more than 20 years, I came to Fuhai again, why did I come?" the emperor asked.
"The name is a tribute, but it is actually for trade, and I want to steal a teacher to learn art." Qin Lang said bluntly.
"Steal a teacher to learn art?"
"My Tang Dynasty is the best in the world, whether it is laws and regulations, or culture and art. Dongying is a small country, living on a small island, and there are no literary figures. Therefore, I want to come to my Central Plains to learn from teachers. As far as writing and language, poetry and songs, sage classics, and even Buddhist scriptures, Taoism, and utensil technology, I don’t want to steal it.”
Li Shimin was a little surprised by these words, but at the same time felt proud that the Tang Dynasty was so powerful that all the barbarians wanted to learn from it. This is a good thing and should be promoted.
"Your Majesty, there are some things that can be taught to the barbarians. For example, the Buddhist scriptures, the poems and songs, can be taught to them without reservation, but some things are the country's sharp weapon and should not be lightly shown. Institutions, regulations and laws, down to the military industry, manufacturing and agricultural production, these must not be lightly revealed, otherwise it will be breeding wolves (tigers).
Li Shimin smiled, but he didn't think it was so serious. For example, architectural design, what hidden dangers could there be? Teach them the architectural construction techniques of the Tang Dynasty, and spread the styles of palaces and houses of the Tang Dynasty to the barbarians. Wouldn't it be good?
"This Inugami Mita Suzuki's surname is Inugami? Is the name so strange?"
"Returning to Your Majesty, the surnames of the Japanese people are somewhat similar to those of Huaxia. In fact, the Japanese country and our Central Plains have had exchanges for a long time, as early as the Qin and Han Dynasties, so their names are basically similar to ours."
"Wa used to implement the eight-color surname system, including Zhenren, courtier, Sumi, Jicun, Taoist, Chen, Lian, Dao, etc. The four surnames were the most valuable in the past."
"Aristocratic bureaucrats have surnames and first names, while ordinary Japanese people only have first names and no surnames. For example, these envoys, Su Wo Cangmaro, surnamed Su Wo, are well-known official surnames in the Wa Kingdom. For example, besides Su Wo, there are Chunri, Surnames such as Pingqun, Gecheng, and Jushi are all high-ranking officials and nobles."
"As for the Monobe Lianzi, he came from the Monobe family, and the Monobe came from the Lian surname. sacrificial."
To put it bluntly, the eight surnames of real people and courtiers are actually somewhat similar to the eight surnames of ancient China, such as Ji, Jiang, Gui, Ying, Yao and so on.
The eight ancient surnames were divided into many surnames.
The so-called surnames such as the Suwo family are somewhat similar to the surnames of Gongsun and Uncle, while the Ministry of Things and Tushi are similar to the surnames of Situ and Sikong. The surnames of Gongsun and Uncle are derived from the grandsons or It's my uncle, and I took my identity as my surname after I established a new family.
Situ Sikong was originally an official position, so he took the official position as his surname. There are many cases like this.
The Japanese also followed this path.
As for the surnames of Matsushita, Inuyang, Ida, etc. of the Japanese people later, it is natural that the more and more people talk about it.
Li Shimin heard that the envoy who envoyed the soil division was originally a grave-digger in the country of Wa. He couldn't help but feel very unlucky.
"How many people are here from the Japanese mission?" Li Shimin asked with a frown.
"Returning to Your Majesty, the Japanese embassy landed at Yangzhou Port. There are more than 200 registered personnel on two ships. The officials of the mission are envoys, deputy envoys, judges and recorders. About half of the members of the mission are helmsmen and sailors. , there are not onmyojis, physicians, portraits, musicians, translators, historians, main gods, divination departments, shipbuilders, ship masters, shipwrights, carpenters, casters, blacksmiths, jade workers, etc. Monks and students studying abroad, and some archers who served as guards."
"After this group of people landed in Yangzhou, they took a canal boat all the way to Chang'an. For the time being, only the officials of the mission were allowed to enter Chang'an by the Political Hall. Not allowed to leave."
Li Shimin didn't really believe that the Japanese came to steal their teachers to learn art, but after hearing Qin Lang mention the large number of craftsmen in the Japanese mission like the name of the dish, he couldn't help believing it.
When they came to pay tribute to the court, they even brought historians, even onmyojis, not to mention so many craftsmen from all walks of life.
"Did the Japanese make any demands?"
"They hope to send overseas monks and students to stay in Chang'an to study Buddhist scriptures, and the advanced laws and regulations of the Tang Dynasty, as well as articles, rites, music, clothing and architecture, etc. They also hope that the Tang Dynasty can teach them advanced shipbuilding, architecture, farming, Papermaking, book printing, mining, smelting, coin casting and other technologies." Qin Lang said with a smile.
When Li Shimin heard this, he immediately became unhappy, "The Japanese are too greedy!"
"These Japanese, what tribute did they bring?"
"Silver and copper, and some gold, and two beautiful women. The gold, silver and copper are worth about one hundred and eighty guan, and there are also some dried fish and animal skins." Qin Lang smiled, and Li Shimin's face turned dark.
"It's really rude, these Japanese people will be handed over to you." Li Shimin said angrily, if it weren't for the Zhengdan Grand Court Meeting today, he must ask the guards to fork out these Japanese people who don't know how to be polite. After thinking for a while, the emperor said again, "Although these Japanese people are rude, they have come from a long way after all, and the sea is not easy with high winds and rough seas. Just a little lesson."
"I obey the order!" Qin Lang obeyed.
"Lessons belong to lessons, and the rewards that should be given must be given."
"I understand."
Don’t think that the Japanese envoy only sent such a small amount of things, but in fact, all the envoys still have a lot of gold and silver with them, and they all want to come to Chang’an to purchase private goods that they brought back.
However, Qin Lang didn't care about their little money. He was interested in the country of Wa, a large export market for maritime trade. Although the country of Wa was an island, it was rich in silver and copper. Scarce. The production technology of the Japanese country itself is backward, so the ships, silk, sugar, wine, medicinal materials and even books of the Tang Dynasty are very attractive to the Japanese people.
As long as this market can be opened up, the prospect is huge.
(end of this chapter)