Zhu Jingyuan and Zhu Jianfeng, two uncles and nephews, received representatives from vassal states and imperial estates from all over the world in the Wenhua Hall of the Western Cape Palace.

The representatives came out one by one to introduce and greet each other, and this process took a long time.

Zhu Jingyuan simply responded with a few questions, arrangements and instructions. It was almost noon, so the banquet started directly.

The official banquets of the Ming Dynasty were the same as those before the Tang and Song Dynasties, with each person having a small table and a piece of food.

The center of the lobby is where the host sits, while the guests sit on both sides of the lobby. In the middle is where the singing and dancing performances take place.

If someone wants to speak to everyone or wish to congratulate someone else or the owner, he will go to the middle of the venue and let the dancers go away first.

Today's banquet was no exception. People from the vassal state and the imperial village ate and drank, and from time to time someone came out to toast Zhu Jingyuan.

Zhu Jingyuan didn't drink, so he responded with tea instead of wine and sipped a little, otherwise he would be filled with water.

The banquet lasted until three o'clock in the afternoon, after which the guests and hosts returned to their residences.

Zhu Jingyuan, who was still jetlagged and yawned, returned to his study and found that Shen Fu, the young minister of Honglu Temple, had also followed him in:

"Mr. Shen, what's the matter?"

Shen Fu slightly arched his hands and said:

"British Prime Minister William Pitt wants to meet with you alone. They have objections to the venue we have arranged for the meeting."

Zhu Jingyuan asked subconsciously:

"How is the venue arranged?"

Shen Fu said naturally:

"Normal negotiations are held in Wenhua Hall or Wuying Hall, and formal signing is held in Fengtian Hall.

"At that time, the two highnesses will be on top, the ministers of the Ming Dynasty and the vassal state, and the representatives of Huangzhuang will be on the left.

"Representatives of the Western and Western countries and representatives of their vassal states are on the right."

Zhu Jingyuan thought about that scene:

"Isn't this similar to the previous one, except that Uncle Jiu and I are sitting under Grandpa's seat.

"Then the Xiyi were placed in the position of ministers, and on the right side of the venue, with representatives of the Ming Dynasty on their left..."

Shen Fu smiled and nodded and said:

"Honglu Temple is indeed arranged in this way. It is originally intended to create the most comfortable environment for us.

"But obviously there are Western Yi people who understand the etiquette of our Ming Dynasty, know that this is the pattern of our previous dynasty, and also know that our Ming Dynasty respects the left.

"Therefore, the other party first insisted that the countries in Thailand and the West should not be placed in the position of vassals of the Ming Dynasty.

“Then the other party requested that the upper position should be vacant, the long negotiation table should be horizontally facing east and west, and representatives from both sides should sit on both sides of the long table.

"But this request is absolutely impossible, and it is impossible for His Highness to talk to them face to face.

"As a representative of the Ming Dynasty, once His Highness sits across from representatives of the Thai and Western countries, the other party may use this to promote that the identities of both parties are equal.

"I think that the other party may know that you are not weak yet, so they try to find a breakthrough from you.

"Our bottom line should be that although the upper position can be left vacant, the long table must still be placed in the north-south direction, and the representative of the Ming Dynasty must still be on the left side of the long table.

"And Your Highness must sit in the middle on the left side, and the opposite side of you should also be vacant. No Thai or Westerner is qualified to sit opposite you.

"But the bottom line cannot be revealed easily, and His Highness should not compromise easily. We can talk about this matter slowly."

In Zhu Jingyuan's previous life, this kind of request from the British was completely normal.

But the Ming Dynasty courtiers in this era would not be able to get used to this problem.

You, the representative of the Western and Eastern countries, want to be on an equal footing with the representatives of the Ming Dynasty?

This is absolutely impossible!

If the countries in Europe and the West insist on equality, the Ming Dynasty may even stop peace talks for this reason.

But the Thai people probably won't insist.

They knew in their hearts that they could not be on an equal footing with Ming Dynasty, they just wanted to compete.

What they want is this dispute process, otherwise they will not be able to explain it to the king and the public.

After Zhu Jingyuan thought about it for a while, he quickly came up with another idea:

"Then I will meet them tomorrow morning, but we can't just let the British come, let the official representatives of the Thai and Spanish countries come.

"Let the main representatives of our court also participate, and the representatives of the vassal states and Huangzhuang also select some representatives to participate.

“Let’s just hold it as an informal, small-scale meeting and discuss how everyone should sit.

"The scene will use the same layout we prepared, but we need to replace the upper chairs with four."

After hearing this, Shen Fu was a little confused:

"Four chairs for the top? Who are the other two for?"

Zhu Jingyuan smiled and said:

"To Rome."

Shen Fu immediately remembered the Roman destiny plan that Zhu Jingyuan had mentioned. It started directly before the negotiations.

The idea of ​​His Highness the Food King is really...very interesting...

Shen Fu could already imagine what would happen tomorrow, and couldn't help but smile and nod his head and said:

"I understand, I will make arrangements now."

Shen Fu left Zhu Jingyuan's residence, went out and ordered his men to prepare the venue and notify relevant personnel to participate.

At the same time, he personally informed Zhu Jianfeng, the highest ranking officer in Shen Fu.

After Zhu Jianfeng heard Zhu Jingyuan's plan conveyed by Shen Fu, he couldn't help but said with emotion:

"This kid... is indeed different. He is trying to respect the dead but actually belittle the living. Moreover, the other party has nothing to say..."

Zhu Jianfeng walked around his room twice, thought carefully for a while, turned to Shen Fu and said:

"It is better to prepare two chairs for the superior, but I will not sit on the superior because during the formal negotiations, I am not the representative of Ming Dynasty.

"I just need to sit first on the left, and put a chair opposite me. I want to see who will sit there..."

Of course Shen Fu understood that placing only two chairs for the superiors, leaving only one for Rome, would obviously be more effective than placing two chairs.

However, Shen Fu also realized that the Ninth Prince also had his own ideas.

Shen Fu asked Zhu Jianfeng what he wanted to do, but Zhu Jianfeng pretended to be mysterious and didn't say anything, but promised not to cause trouble to Honglu Temple.

Shen Fu thought in his heart that even if you cause trouble, it shouldn't be a big problem.

So he reluctantly agreed and went to inform Zhu Jingyuan again.

Zhu Jingyuan was a little puzzled after hearing this:

"What is my Uncle Ninth going to do? What is he going to do to the person sitting across from him?"

Shen Fu smiled bitterly and said:

"I don't know, but His Highness the Ninth Prince has always been pretending to be mysterious, saying that we will find out tomorrow."

Zhu Jingyuan was speechless. You, Zhu Jianfeng, are not a strategist, so you can't play tricks that cannot be revealed.

Zhu Jingyuan turned to look at his two staff:

"Gentlemen, what do you think my Uncle Ninth is thinking about?"

The two staff members thought about it for a while, and Niu Jian spoke first:

"Of course students don't know what His Highness Ninth Prince is thinking, but they can analyze it based on the situation.

"During the formal peace talks, His Highness the King of Food represented the Ming Dynasty.

"His Ninth Highness does not represent the Ming Dynasty court, but represents the Ming royal family.

"The people sitting opposite His Highness Ninth Prince can be regarded as family representatives corresponding to the Ming Dynasty royal family.

"There are certainly people who want this honor, but others may not allow it.

"Once a dispute breaks out, trouble will ensue."

Lin Zexu next to him smiled and added:

"Actually, this is similar to the Roman throne set up by His Highness.

"The princes of the Thai and Western countries would not allow people of the same kind to sit there.

"But if it is a court representative from the European and European countries, such as British Prime Minister Peter.

"It seems that if he sits there as prime minister, he can avoid this problem.

"I just don't know if His Highness Ninth Prince has a plan to deal with this situation."

Zhu Jingyuan nodded slowly after listening to the two people's analysis:

"Then let's wait and see what happens tomorrow. This kind of little plan is just a gimmick. It doesn't matter if it is solved..."
To be continued...