Mixed with salted fish in Hongwudang

Chapter 640 Manuel is willing to be your faithful servant!

Without competition, there would be no pressure, so Zhu Yunxi was reluctant to kill his biggest competitor for Boyi IX.

Zhu Yunxi sent away Boyi IX, and summoned Patriarch Matthew the next day. He boasted about Boyi IX again and let Patriarch Matthew choose.

Relatively speaking, Patriarch Matthew was more aware of current affairs and was not as insistent as Boyi IX. He readily agreed to Zhu Yunxi's request and was willing to serve him.

Zhu Yunxi was also very generous. He immediately rewarded him with a luxurious set of pastoral uniforms and a pure gold scepter.

The two happily signed a series of treaties. For example, after the Ming army entered the Byzantine Empire, Patriarch Matthew would cooperate with the propaganda to get the local lords to give up resistance.

This was Zhu Yunxi's true purpose of traveling thousands of miles to Kangju City and summoning the heads of the two major churches in the East and West.

Although he himself disdained religion, he never underestimated its power.

If he had the assistance of the two major Holy Sees in the East and West, the difficulty of conquering the West would be greatly reduced.

On the contrary, if the two major Holy Sees strongly oppose it and continue to advocate the threat of the Ming Dynasty, then even if the Ming Dynasty finally takes over the entire West, it will pay a very high price.

This is a situation Zhu Yunxi doesn't want to see.

As for how to deal with the two popes after taking the West, that will be discussed at that time.

You can keep it, or you can...

Patriarch Matthew basically agreed with Zhu Yunxi's proposal. In his view, the Western world did need a strong Holy See, and the establishment of a powerful Holy See must be backed by a powerful empire.

But the last request he made made Zhu Yunxi a little embarrassed.

"Dear His Majesty the Ming Emperor, I agree to all your requests, with only one small condition. Please consider it seriously."

"Speak!"

"As the Shepherd of the East, I have been protected by the Byzantine Empire for generations. His Majesty, the contemporary Emperor of the Byzantine Empire, treats me even more favorably."

"If conditions permit, I hope that your Majesty can preserve the Byzantine royal family and give them a fiefdom so that they can live a comfortable life."

"This is..."

Byzantium is of extraordinary significance to the West. Although Byzantium has declined now, and the Byzantine emperor's orders cannot even leave Constantinople, Byzantium's influence in the entire West cannot be underestimated.

Therefore, Zhu Yunxi has always wanted to capture Constantinople, which is said to never fall, and uproot Byzantium, completely destroying the illusion of the Western world.

He even built the super cannon to attack Constantinople, waiting to be used when he conquered the Western world.

Now that Patriarch Matthew has put forward such a condition, how can we not embarrass him?
"I can agree to your request, but the Byzantine Emperor Manuel II must go to the Emperor and offer Constantinople."

"In this way, I can make him Marquis of Shunyi and let him and his descendants live a noble life for generations to come!"

Patriarch Matthew's face felt melancholy when he heard this, but he still nodded knowingly.

"My gracious Majesty, the conditions you have given are already very generous, but I am just afraid that Manuel II is unwilling to accept them."

Zhu Yunxi sneered when he heard the words.

"This is not something I consider. My goal is the entire Western world, not a declining empire."

"If you really want to protect him, then persuade him to surrender to my Ming Dynasty!"

"Okay, I'll do my best..."

After Zhu Yunxi finished his talks with Patriarch Matthew, he rested for two days before continuing to meet other people, and he met two people at once.

Manuel II and Murad, Crown Prince of the Ottoman Empire, met with Zhu Yunxi at the same time.

Although the two of them had known Zhu Yunxi's age for a long time, when they saw Zhu Yunxi stepping down from the emperor's throne for the first time, they were still shocked by the youth of this great emperor in front of them.

Zhu Yunxi knew what they were thinking when he saw their shocked expressions. In fact, this was what shocked every Westerner who saw him.

"Do you two distinguished guests think that I am too young?"

Manuel II nodded blankly after hearing this.

"It is indeed too young, a bit beyond my imagination..."

When Murad heard what Zhu Yunxi said, a hint of admiration appeared on his face.

"Your Majesty, you are the youngest and greatest emperor I have ever seen!"

"I have long wanted to visit you in the Ming Dynasty, and want to see how prosperous and wealthy the Ming Dynasty is under your governance."

Zhu Yunxi happily made the invitation after hearing this compliment.

"Okay!"

"I welcome Crown Prince Murad to visit the Ming Dynasty at any time. At that time, I will send someone to accompany you to visit various places in the Ming Dynasty so that you can truly appreciate the wonders described in Marco Polo's travels, hahaha!"

"Does Your Majesty also read Marco Polo's Travels?"

"I've read some, but I just read them as a book to relieve my boredom."

"The real Ming Dynasty was far more prosperous and wealthy than what he wrote. In your Western terms, it was a paradise flowing with milk and honey."

Murad was like a little fanboy, his eyes full of admiration, and he kept asking Zhu Yunxi about the rumors he had heard from various channels.

"I dare to ask Your Majesty, does the Ming Dynasty really have a car that can run without animal power or human power?"

"Have!"

"You are talking about a train. This thing is no longer a rarity in the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty is currently building a large railway across the east and west. Then you can also appreciate the elegance of the train!"

Murad clapped his hands happily.

"Long live Your Majesty!"

"If Your Majesty builds in our Ottoman area, I, Osman, will definitely cooperate with us!"

Manuel II looked at the silly kid next to him and felt sad in his heart.

Doesn’t this guy know what building roads means?

The Ming Dynasty built a road right in front of his house, which meant that the Ming Dynasty’s army could continuously reach his Ottoman Empire through this railway!

Manuel looked at Murad, who was unaware, and moved aside involuntarily, for fear that the stupid boy's stupidity would infect him.

Murad didn't realize it, and still chased after Zhu Yunxi asking questions.

"Your Majesty, I heard that your super workshop can produce 100 million bows and arrows every day?"

Zhu Yunxi nodded when he heard the words.

"Almost, but we have stopped manufacturing bows and arrows now because the cost of this thing is too high, the price-performance ratio is too low, and it is very troublesome to transport."

"Oh?"

"Are you going all out to produce muskets?"

"Yes!"

"Muskets will be the main force on the battlefield in the future. Cold weapons such as swords, bows and arrows are destined to be eliminated by firearms!"

Murad slapped his thigh excitedly after hearing this.

"exactly!"

"I think so too, and I have persuaded my father more than once to give up cold weapons and make every effort to build a powerful firearms force like the Ming Dynasty."

"But my father always doesn't listen and still produces those useless things..."

When Zhu Yunxi heard this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.

"Crown Prince Murad, your father cannot be entirely blamed for this."

"The conditions for producing firearms are very high and are not something that a backward agricultural and animal husbandry country can possess."

"At least semi-industrialization must be achieved." "At this point, the Ming Dynasty is at the forefront of the world, so the Ming Dynasty was able to destroy the two countries in a devastating manner, and it defeated the Timurid Empire without any temper."

"If it wasn't for my fear that the land I've won is too large and I don't have enough management talents, I could even go directly to the west coast, across the sea from England."

"This……"

Both Manuel II and Murad were silent when they heard this. Although they wanted to refute this arrogant young man very much, neither of them could find the right words.

Because although this young emperor spoke arrogantly, his national power and army were worthy of his arrogance.

His Majesty Timur counterattacked three times in a row, but the Ming Dynasty effortlessly fought them back.

It can be seen that the Ming Dynasty is not incapable of continuing to advance westward. It may be that as the young emperor in front of him said, he was afraid that he would not have enough talents to rule more territories, so he was forced to stop his westward expansion. .

However, this is also what worries Manuel II and Murad the most.

The Mongol Empire was very strong at that time, but it was only strong in fighting wars immediately, and its ability to govern local areas was very weak.

Therefore, in less than a hundred years, the influence exerted by the Mongol Empire on the West in the past gradually disappeared.

In comparison, the idea of ​​His Majesty the Ming Emperor in front of him was even more terrifying.He not only wants to recreate the glory of the Mongol Empire, but also wants to make up for the shortcomings of local governance on the basis of the Mongol Empire and rule the Western world for a long time!

But in this case, where should Byzantium and the Ottoman Empire go?
Manuel II, who had been silent until now, finally spoke.

"May I ask His Majesty the Ming Emperor, if your great cause of westward expansion is achieved, how will you deal with my Byzantine Empire?"

Zhu Yunxi said without hesitation.

"Go to the Emperor!"

"Honor me as your Lord and accept my canonization!"

"It can preserve the ancestral temple, preserve the status of the nobility, and preserve the people."

"This……"

Manuel II fell silent again after hearing this. What Patriarch Matthew said was pretty much the same.

"Your Majesty, is there no other choice, such as preserving Constantinople and making Constantinople my fief?"

Zhu Yunxi could only smile helplessly when he heard this.

"Your Majesty Manuel, you can go back and try to see if my Ming Dynasty's cannon can blast through the walls of Constantinople!"

Manuel's face instantly turned pale when he heard this, and he heard the undoubted firmness in Zhu Yunxi's words.

After listening to the conversation between the two, Murad finally began to worry about the future of the Ottoman Empire.

"I dare to ask His Majesty the Ming Emperor, if you defeat His Majesty Timur, will you attack our Ottoman Empire next?"

Zhu Yunxi nodded honestly.

"The entire West is under my attack, and you, the Ottomans, are certainly no exception."

"This……"

Murad didn't expect the young emperor to be so honest, making no secret of his ambition.

Isn't he afraid of an alliance between Ottoman and Timur, or the entire Western world uniting against him?
Murad looked at the confident Zhu Yunxi and instantly realized that the reason why the young emperor in front of him dared to say this was because he did not take the entire Western world into consideration.

Perhaps in his eyes, the entire Western world has long been in his possession, it just depends on when he attacks.

Murad felt a heavy sense of powerlessness when he thought about this, because he found that the young emperor really had this confidence and ability.

Once he attacks the Western world, neither Timur nor his own Ottoman Empire seems to be a match for the Ming Dynasty, or in other words, they are not even qualified to be an opponent.

"Dear Your Majesty the Ming Emperor, if I, Osman, take the initiative to take the imperial title and accept your canonization, how much autonomy can we retain?"

Zhu Yunxi thought about it.

"You can be reduced to the rank of king, enjoy hereditary fiefdom, be allowed to retain an army of less than [-], and enjoy the right to appoint and remove domestic officials."

"what?"

"Can we keep this much?"

This sudden happiness made Murad feel like he was in a dream.

But this is also because of comparison. Compared with the Ming Dynasty's harshness towards Byzantium, Osman was really generous to them.

"Yes, you can exist as an independent kingdom."

"However, you must obey me and sign a trade agreement to allow Daming people to trade in your country, buy land and build factories, and protect their private property and personal safety."

"If you don't protect yourself well, I will personally send troops to protect you and punish you for your poor protection!"

Murad had no objections to these conditions, and was even a little excited when he heard that Daming was going to build a factory in their country.

"You don't need to ask my father about these things, I can promise your majesty."

"It's just that His Majesty asked for too little, which surprised me..."

"May I ask His Majesty the Ming Emperor, you will not interfere with our religion and force us to convert to other religions, right?"

Zhu Yunxi shook his head flatly and denied.

"Why do I care so much?"

"You believe whatever you like. Anyway, your gods will not come down to interfere with my affairs."

"To use a Western saying, God's things belong to God, and worldly things belong to the emperor."

"I only care about secular matters, and matters of faith are yours to choose."

"Your Majesty is wise..."

Murad gave Zhu Yunxi another rainbow fart and then retreated. He also sent the Ming Emperor's words back to the country as quickly as possible so that his father could prepare in advance.

After Murad left, Manuel II took great courage to speak again.

"Dear Your Majesty the Ming Emperor, you may not be very clear about my situation. I only have Constantinople left now. The other territories of Byzantium are in the hands of the major dukes and marquises. If you take back Constantinople, Fort, I will be homeless..."

"Therefore, I hope that His Majesty, the benevolent Ming Emperor, can choose a new place for me."

When Zhu Yunxi heard this, he hesitated slightly, and immediately ordered someone to bring up a world map.

When the map was slowly opened and revealed in front of Manuel II, the last stubbornness in Manuel II's heart immediately disappeared.

This map is too large and detailed. It contains not only Byzantium, which I am familiar with, but also France, England, the Kingdom of Norway, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Teutonic Knights, the Holy Roman Empire, etc.

When Manuel II looked at Byzantium where he was, and the surrounding area was almost completely occupied by the Ottoman Empire, his heart immediately cooled down.

Even without the Ming Empire, he would eventually be captured by the Ottomans.

Rather than surrendering to a foreign race full of cruelty and ambition, it is better to surrender to the young and elegant Eastern Emperor in front of you.

At the very least, he will not interfere with his beliefs, and he can still preserve his noble status!
The moment Manuel saw the map, he basically agreed with the conditions proposed by Zhu Yunxi.But when he saw the territory of the Ming Dynasty on the map, he was instantly dumbfounded.

Before this, he only knew that the Timurid Empire, the Kipchak Khanate, and the Ottoman Empire were very powerful.But seeing the Ming Dynasty's territories all over the world and the huge red area in the east, the last line of defense in his heart was broken.

This young emperor did not lie, he indeed has the strength to compete with the entire West!
Zhu Yunxi didn't know what Manuel II was thinking, but he just looked at the map seriously, thinking about how to place the poor last emperor.

It’s just that he looked at it for a long time without any clue, so in the end he couldn’t help but give Manuel a pen and asked him to draw a circle on the map.

"You choose it yourself. Paint it wherever you like. If there is a ready-made city there, I will give it to you directly. If not, I will order someone to build one for you!"

When Manuel II heard this, he felt himself falling into great happiness.

This happiness came so suddenly that Manuel II almost couldn't catch it!
"Dear His Majesty the Emperor, Manuel is willing to be your loyal servant!"

(End of this chapter)