"Since this Temple of the Net includes Emperor Yang, then it surely has nothing to do with Chongba."
Empress Ma made a simple and reasonable inference, then ceased to concern herself with it. Instead, she gazed at the painting upon the light screen titled Record of River Opening and praised it.
"This painting is truly excellent."
Zhu Yuanzhang said nothing. Yet as he looked at the vividly depicted laboring commoners upon the paper, another thought arose within him.
"Next month is the New Year. Why not summon the Second and Third back to celebrate together?"
"And afterward… find a skilled painter and have our family reunion rendered into a single painting."
"In years to come, if the sons all depart the capital to guard Great Ming's realm, I in the capital will at least have something to remember."
This idea was not without cause. Hearing earlier the young narrator speak of misfortunes he himself was unwilling to endure, the Son of Heaven had suddenly awakened.
He had taken for granted that his sons would also possess the vigor to handle state affairs.
He had also taken for granted the present harmony of his household and the health of his wife.
At once Empress Ma was moved, though she hesitated slightly.
"But Xi'an and Taiyuan may be burdened with affairs of government…"
The Son of Heaven waved a great hand.
"The Hu Yuan shrink in the north in constant dread. Xi'an and Taiyuan are not vital choke points. What could they be busy with?"
"With fast horses along the river, they can reach Yingtian Prefecture in ten or so days. They will arrive in time for the New Year's Eve banquet. After the Lantern Festival, they may return."
Since he had spoken thus, Empress Ma happily agreed.
Later generations say she died suddenly. Her husband says he will change her fate. Such words stirred little within her own heart.
In childhood her family declined. In youth she learned the righteousness of rebel armies. Upon reaching maturity she pledged herself to the man she loved. She followed him campaigning north and south, and at last presided over all under heaven.
What she had lived and gained left no regret.
If there was anything she could not set down, it was the husband beside her, a hero who would still be counted among the foremost across centuries.
She did not know whether the destined misfortune could be avoided. But to accompany husband and sons well in the present must surely be correct.
Zhu Biao thought less of such matters. The intelligent crown prince merely observed the praise the light screen lavished upon the laboring commoners and faintly sensed that later generations likely did not wholly approve of certain actions of his father.
[Lightscreen]
[The Beijing–Hangzhou Grand Canal indeed further promoted the prosperity of Jiangnan. This fame of splendor spread through maritime trade onto sea routes, and in an objective sense ultimately facilitated the publication of The Travels of Marco Polo.
Generally speaking, most historians regard the publication of The Travels of Marco Polo around the year 1300 as a nodal event marking Europe's formal recognition of China.
From the travel account, it may be inferred that Marco Polo was born around 1254, at the end of the reign of Emperor Lizong of Song. Around 1275 he arrived in China with his father and uncle. Approximately sixteen years later, when Kublai's daughter Kokejin was to travel to the Ilkhanate for marriage, the fleet carried Marco Polo along and returned him to Venice.
Yet only a few years after his return, he met misfortune in the fighting between Venice and Genoa. He was captured and thrown into prison.
Prison life was dull. The sole amusement was prisoners recounting past experiences to entertain one another. Marco Polo's narration drew high praise from an Italian merchant sharing his cell, Rustichello, who believed the story would succeed and make great profit.
Thus, encouraged by Rustichello, Marco Polo dictated and Rustichello wrote. The travel account, covering the customs of regions across the Middle East, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and more than a dozen lands, was completed.
Though many countries and regions were mentioned, China undeniably occupied the most important portion. Of the four books, two focused upon China and Kublai, comprising half the entire work.
Yet all the above rests upon inferences drawn from the travel account itself. Whether Marco Polo truly reached China remains an unresolved case to this day.
On one hand, his descriptions of certain Chinese matters were extremely detailed, such as currency, salt production, taxation, and judicial systems.
His chapters on Suzhou and Hangzhou spared no praise for the scenery of West Lake, detailing pavilions and terraces, urban operations, trade processes, and famous sites. He even recorded how many bridges and squares Hangzhou possessed. In these respects his records surpass even the History of Yuan in detail.
On the other hand, he devoted considerable space to describing how much Kublai favored him, granting money, office, and servants. By reason, a Semu so favored should have left record in official histories. Yet neither the History of Yuan nor contemporary unofficial writings ever mention a Marco Polo so cherished by the emperor.
Most unreasonable is that he claimed to have lived in China for sixteen years, yet left not a single word on tea culture, chopsticks, Daoism, Chinese characters, the education system, footbinding, or even the Great Wall, which had stood upon the land for more than a millennium.
Thus in a previous episode we discussed one theory. Some scholars believe Marco Polo may have only undertaken a long maritime voyage, and that his accounts of China were heard from Yuan sailors. For natives, everyday customs indeed need no introduction.
Yet in retrospect, whether Marco Polo personally reached China is not the essential matter. What is essential is that The Travels of Marco Polo exerted an influence that can be called epochal.
About twenty years after its publication, another Italian merchant who journeyed east, Odoric, likewise published his own travel account.
The common feature of the two works was their lavish praise of China's prosperity, nearly rendering it a mythic land. Some Europeans half believed, half doubted. Others yearned toward it. In the end, the relay baton of seeking wealthy China passed, as expected, into the hands of Portugal.
Portugal still preserves two copies of The Travels of Marco Polo purchased in 1428 by a Portuguese prince during his visit to Venice. This suffices to show its guiding role in Portuguese navigation.
More concretely, other Portuguese records remain.
In 1502 Portugal produced the first map marking the equator and the tropics. Upon it was clearly noted the wealth of regions reached after passing through the Strait of Malacca, with conjecture that most treasures originated in China.
In 1504 the King of Portugal wrote to the Catholic Monarch, stating that the Portuguese fleet had successfully discovered the wealthy East where "a bottle," meaning porcelain, was worth a hundred in gold.
In 1508 the Portuguese king issued a lengthy command to fleet commanders, ordering them to ascertain all circumstances concerning the "people of Qin," including fleet scale, number of cannon, religious faith, whether they were heretics, and more.
Thereafter, in 1510, Portugal seized Goa in India by force, declared it Portuguese territory, and established a trading station called the "Fortress of the Chinese."
The following year the Portuguese fleet occupied the Strait of Malacca. The Far Eastern sea route was completely opened.
From that year onward, Portuguese sailed east in unceasing streams. Over the next fifty years, detailed works describing the East were successively published. These became the best supplements to The Travels of Marco Polo. The Great Ming Empire gradually shed its veil of mystery in Portuguese eyes.
Reading these works, after acting at will in the South China Sea, the Portuguese formed an initial Western impression of the Ming Empire.
Wealthy. Weak. Unprepared.
And thus the formal collision between East and West was set in motion.]