Chapter 206 Tricky
Chapter 206: Trick
So Ye Xuan asked curiously about the geographical location of the other party's country. When he found out that the other party was from the central and southern part of Annan, he suddenly realized.

Then he exchanged a few polite words with Liu Fushun, "So it's you, Lord Liu. I'm so sorry!"

"I wonder why you came to my Ming Dynasty?"

When Ye Xuan asked about Liu Fushun, a strange expression mixed with embarrassment and anger appeared on his face.

After a moment, he bowed to Ye Xuan and said, "To be honest with you, Captain Ye, we are a delegation of more than a hundred people from the country of China. We are here to pay tribute to His Majesty the Emperor."

"Perhaps the great emperor looks down on our small country, Champa, and is unwilling to even meet us."

Upon hearing this, Ye Xuan became very curious, because as far as he knew, in Chinese history, vassal states have always been treated with great courtesy, and there was no such thing as arrogance and complacency.

What's more, the Ming Dynasty had just been founded. In order to win over the hearts of the people and demonstrate the Celestial Empire's status as the Celestial Empire, Zhu Yuanzhang had no reason to be so rude, no matter how small the other country was or how small its population was.

Although it was a bit strange, Ye Xuan didn't take it to heart. However, he was a little curious. Liu Fushun claimed that there were more than a hundred people in the delegation, but now there were only four of them around him.

"I wonder where the rest of Lord Liu's delegation is now?"

Liu Fushun felt even more embarrassed when he heard this. "To be honest, the original delegation had four or five hundred people. After coming to the Ming Dynasty, they saw the prosperity of the Celestial Empire and were unwilling to return to their homeland."

"More than a hundred guards were sent out, and the rest took their wages and left. Fortunately, they are all civilians, so if they want to leave, they can leave. I will not make things difficult for them."

Upon hearing this, Ye Xuan's curiosity immediately reached its peak. The other party was just a small country, but it sent such a large delegation, and it was in the early days of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang had no reason not to meet these people.

Secondly, what made Ye Xuan even more curious was why the other party sent such a large delegation. According to Liu Fushun, most of the people in the delegation were civilian laborers who escorted supplies. Why would a small delegation need so many civilian laborers?
When Ye Xuan asked the question in his mind, Liu Fushun's face was filled with anger instead of embarrassment. "Captain Ye, you don't know that in order to show respect to the great emperor, our king almost emptied the national treasury to offer tribute to the great emperor."

After saying this, he looked depressed and murmured, "But even so, the great emperor still disdains us!"

As he spoke, he took out a tribute list, handed it to Ye Xuan and asked, "These are the tributes from our country. Maybe they are nothing to your country, but they are all that Champa has."

Ye Xuan took the list of offerings and was shocked by the large amount of wealth and rare treasures on the mattress.

Needless to say, there are gold and silver, but there are also considerable quantities of treasures such as overnight pearls, thousand-year-old corals, rhinoceros horns, ivory, etc.

In the context that most tributary states paid tribute only to fleece the Ming Dynasty, the huge amount of tribute from Champa was enough to show the other party's sincerity.

This made Ye Xuan even more confused.

There was no reason for Zhu Yuanzhang not to summon and commend such an envoy who came to pay tribute with sincerity!

Moreover, almost all Chinese dynasties in history claimed to be a country of etiquette. Even if the other party came empty-handed and just expressed the willingness to submit, in order to show the magnanimity of the Celestial Empire, they would learn from it and reward them with a large amount of wealth.

It is really rare to see someone accepting offerings but not even seeing them, as is the case now.

Ye Xuan felt that there was something fishy going on, and he had a good first impression of Liu Fushun, so he bowed to Liu Fushun and said, "If Sir Liu is not in a hurry to return home, you can stay in the capital for a few days. Maybe the emperor will meet him in a few days when he has time because he is busy with government affairs." However, Liu Fushun waved his hand and said, "I originally thought so, but an envoy came last night and asked us to return to our homeland immediately!"

At this point, Liu Fushun became even more angry, "Is it because they are worried that people from our small country don't know etiquette and will cause trouble in the capital?"

After hearing this, Ye Xuan was almost certain that there was definitely something wrong with this matter!

Even if Zhu Yuanzhang did not have time to meet these envoys, it was true that he did not value their property, but he would not be so anxious to drive them away.

It is said that guests should be treated well. At least they should be allowed to stay in Yingtian Prefecture for a few days. No matter what, there is no reason to rush to drive them away.

"The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty would never treat guests in this way," Ye Xuan said solemnly, cupping his hands towards Liu Fushun. "Please be patient, Sir Liu. Stay in Yingtian Prefecture for a few days. I will go to the palace to see His Majesty immediately!"

Liu Fushun was shocked when he heard this. Although he didn't know what kind of existence the Jinyiwei was in the Ming Dynasty, he knew from the conversation that the other party was only a fifth-rank official.

Even in Champa, this rating does not qualify one to enter the palace to meet the emperor at any time. However, Ye Xuan asked to enter the palace immediately, which shocked Liu Fushun and made him suspect that Ye Xuan was some kind of royal relative.

Subconsciously, his attitude towards Ye Xuan changed. He was no longer as casual as he was at the beginning, and his tone became serious: "In this case, I will trouble Captain Ye. My colleagues and I will wait for good news at the Youfu Inn in the city!"

If Liu Fushun had the opportunity to meet Zhu Yuanzhang, he would undoubtedly be very willing to do so. After all, the king of Champa emptied his family fortune to pay tribute to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and he also had political considerations. He hoped to get Zhu Yuanzhang's protection to secure his position as king.

If he came here with a full load and returned empty-handed, he would probably be in trouble when he returned to the country. Now that Ye Xuan, a captain of the Jinyiwei, has come forward, he might as well stay for a few more days.

Before leaving, Ye Xuan carefully inquired about the details of Liu Fushun's visit to Beijing, including who he was in contact with, who the tribute was handed over to, etc.

When Ye Xuan learned that Liu Fushun was personally received by Wang Guangyang, the right prime minister of the Secretariat, and that the tribute was not counted by the Ministry of Rites but was received by Wang Guangyang personally, he became more certain that there was a huge trick involved.

The group returned from outside the city. After parting at the city gate, Ye Xuan took Wang Feihu and Song Zhenshan and immediately rushed to the imperial city.

After showing his badge, Ye Xuan went straight into the Wuying Hall alone.

…………

In the Wuying Palace, Yun Qi stepped forward with a strange look on his face and reported: "Your Majesty, the captain of the Jinyiwei, Ye Xuan requests to see you."

"Oh, this kid actually came to see me on his own initiative. Is this the sun rising from the west?" Zhu Yuanzhang put down the memorial in his hand and said in surprise.

"Yes, I find it very strange too!" Yunqi chuckled.

"Go and see what this kid wants." Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand.

(End of this chapter)