Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Qian Chen was indeed a fan of officials. He could not speak or walk well, yet he even came to attend the imperial meeting.

Sitting on the chair now, my whole head is a little crooked, and my mouth also looks a little crooked.

Li Hanzhang said: "This is the third petition from King Yu this year. I really don't dare to say too much, but the time is indeed ripe to annex Annan and restore Jiaozhi."

Huan Guo said: "In the recent imperial examination, Annan selected three scholars to come to Luoyang to participate in the examination of the Ministry of Rites. Although they all failed, they were all left to study in Taixue. After this matter was reported back to Annan, the scholars there were extremely The excitement is exciting. If the imperial court annexes Annan, it can select some central ministers and local officials from Annan and transfer them to Han areas to serve as local assistant officials, subordinate officials and Hanlin officials. In this way, the Annan civil servants can be divided and the political resistance to the annexation of Annan can be reduced. "

"In addition to bringing his own soldiers, King Yu can also take some of Annan's main forces southward," Zhang Bor suggested. "After capturing the city, leave Annan's main forces there and take over the families of the soldiers. In this way, the army and land in Annan were freed up to accommodate the garrison transferred to Annan by the court. "

Wei Liangchen said: "After a few years, when the situation in Annan stabilizes and the imperial court has a basis for governance there, it will lure the snake out of its hole by spreading people into acres and ruthlessly kill a group of dissatisfied people."

Hearing everyone speaking, Qian Chen couldn't speak and could only express his opinions by writing.

But his writing speed also slowed down, and the words he wrote were not beautiful.

For a moment, Qian Chen was disheartened.

He put away the writing paper without leaving a trace and wrote four words again: I invite you to become an official.

Call the eunuch to take it and place it in front of Ju Ming.

Ju Ming wrote and replied: You can rest at home for a while, and you will recover.

After Qian Chen read it, he was deeply moved. Officials still care about and protect him.

He decided to rest for another month. If he still had difficulty speaking and writing smoothly, he would really have to make up his mind to retire due to illness.

At the end of the meeting, Ju Ming made a decision:

"The King of Yu asked for immigration to Lingnan, but the landless farmers in Guangdong gave priority to replenishing the wild lands of Guangxi. Fujian has always had less land and more people. According to reports from officials at all levels in Fujian, the Buddhist temples there are showing signs of resurgence, and many of them have no land. The young man started to become a monk again."

"I order the officials of all prefectures and counties in Fujian Province to strictly abide by the quota of temples determined by the imperial court. We will strictly investigate the temples built illegally by the private sector, as well as the monks in government-designated temples who impose undue ultimatums. We will order those illegal monks to return to secular life and force them to immigrate to occupy the city!"

Zhu Kang, King Yu of the Ming Dynasty and regent of Annan, could not wait to conquer the city and become independent, and also requested the Ming court to grant some Han immigrants.

Because now is the perfect time to capture Champa.

Just last year, the armies of the Angkor Dynasty in Chenla captured the capital of Champa in one fell swoop and killed the whole family of the king of Champa.

Moreover, this time is different from before.

Chenla's army did not grab a handful and flee, nor did they set up a puppet king. They are continuing to attack Bintonglong and want to annex the entire territory of Champa, regardless of the warning of their overlord, Daming.

Not only does Champa have Brahmanism as its state religion, its political system is also similar to that of India, with many states within states (principal states).

The one who is now rising to resist the invasion of Chenla is King Bintonglong (the prince of the prince) Jaya Harivarman I of Champa.

If the Ming Dynasty did not take action, according to the normal historical development trajectory, Jaya Harivarman I would have needed two more years to defeat Chenla's army and proclaim himself king, establishing a Bintonglong dynasty (of Champa State).

Moreover, his descendants also led an army to counterattack into the capital of Chenla, killed the king of Chenla and looted wantonly.

At this moment, the Zhenla army and the Champa army have been fighting fiercely for more than half a year. As long as Zhu Kang leads his troops there, the final decision can be made.

…

The chief civil servant who originally assisted Zhu Kang in Annan has returned to Han to serve in Han Dynasty.

The civil servant assisting Zhu Kang today is named Xiang Ziyi, who is also a convicted official.

He was exiled to the border of Hunan and Guizhou together with Song Huizong. He was reinstated because he completed the population replenishment task ahead of schedule. Although he was not reinstated, he still became the prefect.

"Mr. Xiang, the court has finally responded," Zhu Kang happily called Xiang Ziqian to discuss the matter. "The officials have allowed me to lead the army south and capture the city to establish a feudal vassal state. But Mr. Xiang only needs to do a good job in logistics and then follow up. If there is no trouble in Annan, he can become the first left-wing envoy of Cochin Province."

Xiang Ziyi was overjoyed when he heard this: "Congratulations, Your Highness!"

"Haha, we are happy together." Zhu Kang was in a happy mood.

Xiang Ziyi asked: "If Annan Kingdom is to be changed to Jiaozhi Province, what other arrangements does the court have?"

Today's telegraph antennas are only laid as far south as Guangzhou.

Zhu Kang took out a telegram from Guangzhou and said: "The chief envoy on the left is naturally Mr. Xiang, and the chief envoy on the right is selected from the ministers of Annan. The officials of the three divisions of Cochin Province are all arranged in this way. The chief officers of each division are selected by the imperial court, and the adjutants of each division are selected by the imperial court. Then he was the minister of Annan. The same goes for the officials of the prefectures and counties below, who tried their best to make a smooth transition during the annexation of Annan. Some Annan officials who did not get their posts were sent to Han Dynasty to serve as Hanlin officials, local assistant officials and subordinate officials."

Xiang Ziyi smiled and nodded: "The imperial court has arranged it this way. If another army is sent to station, the annexation of Annan will be a certainty."

"As soon as the rainy season is over and the weather cools down, the imperial court will mobilize troops," Zhu Kang said. "After that, there will be officials selected by the imperial court. When a large army goes out for an expedition, it should be well-known. The imperial court has already condemned the envoys and reprimanded Chenla. I am here If he keeps his troops stationary, the King of Chenla will definitely become more arrogant. I will immediately lead the army to prepare food and fodder after the rainy season, and I will have to rely on Mr. Xiang."

Xiang Zizhen bowed and said, "It is my duty!"

…

Suryavarman II, the king of the Angkor Dynasty of Zhenla, was in Vijaya, the capital of Champa (located in the southern part of Binh Dinh Province, Vietnam) at this time.

Building Angkor Wat was just one of the king's achievements.

When he was alive, Angkor Wat was his palace. When he died, Angkor Wat was his mausoleum.

This man was originally just a royal noble, and had nothing to do with the right to inherit the throne.

He took advantage of the civil war in Zhenla to raise an army and establish himself. After unifying the country, he continued to launch foreign wars to consolidate his power and enhance his prestige.

He went to fight all the neighboring countries in all directions, expanding the territory of the Zhenla Dynasty to an unprecedentedly wide area.

Facing the Ming envoys who came by boat, Suryavarman II defended himself by saying, "Champa has repeatedly invaded our territory. This time, I sent troops just to take revenge."

The envoy was furious: "Nonsense! The Champa king who was killed by you last year rebelled at the beginning of his reign. It was difficult for him to suppress the rebellion at home, so how could he have time to invade neighboring countries? On the contrary, you have been warned by the court many times in recent years, but you have insisted on your own way and ignored the emperor's orders. Now you have killed the whole family of the Champa king and occupied Champa and refused to leave. What do you want to do?"

Suryavarman II knelt down in panic: "Angel, calm down, the little king will withdraw his troops soon. But the soldiers on the front line need to be appeased, please wait patiently."

The Ming envoys had no time to wait slowly. They stayed in Vijaya for only one month and left with Suryavarman II's bribe.

The envoys of the suzerain country accepted bribes, which made Suryavarman II more fearless.

He had conquered the Thais and the Mons to the west, and made them his vassal states. His southern territory bordered directly on Srivijaya before its demise.

He also reached a non-aggression agreement with the Kingdom of Jinchi in the north. Jinchi was busy invading and encroaching on the Kingdom of Dali, and had not gone south to harass Zhenla for two or three years.

Under Zhu Kang's rule, Annan had been busy with internal affairs and disarmament, and had not fought with Zhenla again.

All these things gave Suryavarman II an illusion: he had fought all over Southeast Asia and was invincible, and the Ming Dynasty was busy with wars in the Western Regions and Southeast Asia and could not care about him.

However, the Ming Dynasty still had to respect him.

Suryavarman II called the secretary: "Send an order to the generals of each department, once the rainy season is over, immediately attack the city with all your strength, and you must take down Bintonglong!"

Bintonglong City is also called Virapura, and its port is located at the corner of Badalan.

Suryavarman II was very depressed. He captured the capital of Champa, but he could not take down a single city.

King Bintonglong and his army were like crazy. They refused to surrender and dragged the army of Zhenla into the rainy season, causing serious casualties.

Just that one city!

As long as he captured Bintonglong, he could annex the entire Champa Kingdom. This time, he had to withstand the pressure to achieve complete success.

In winter, the rainy season was over and the dry season came.

Suryavarman II personally went to the front line of Bintonglong and launched siege operations again and again.

King Jayaharivarman I of Bintonglong was not a vegetarian. He had sufficient funds through trade with the Ming Dynasty, and he also had fertile land and no shortage of food. Over the years, he has been building armor and reorganizing military equipment. He did not flinch in the face of the Zhenla army.

Several defensive fortifications were built outside the city.

Each trench was six meters deep and more than ten meters wide, and it also led to river water. Behind the trenches, there were fortifications seven or eight meters high, on which were built watchtowers, war sheds, arrow towers, etc.

The Champa civilians who carried soil to fill the trenches for the Zhenla army were shot to death one after another.

At the critical moment, the defenders of Bintonglong even rowed boats to take the initiative to attack and killed the enemy and civilians on the other side of the trench.

After more than a month of strong attacks, the Zhenla army only broke through the first line of defense, which was still far from the Bintonglong city wall. The defenders could transfer supplies through the port and did not worry about food shortages at all.

Moreover, the Bintonglong navy always controlled the river section from the port to the city-after the Champa capital was breached, many sea merchants and navy went south to join the King of Bintonglong, which greatly increased the navy strength of this prince of the local state.

Another day of fighting ended, and the Zhenla army suffered heavy losses and still failed to take the second line of defense.

Suryavarman II became more and more anxious. He had never seen such a difficult city.

His troops were several times larger than the defenders, but he had no way to deal with the enemy.

The defenders of Bintonglong had the help of the Han people!

Jayaharivarman I had always been ambitious. He made friends with Chinese merchants through trade and warmly entertained those who were capable. Historically, his son even learned riding and shooting from the Han people and actually established a cavalry unit in Southeast Asia.

At this moment, Jayaharivarman I was entertaining friends in the city and said to a merchant named Lin from Fujian: "I have been defending the city since last year. Thank you, Brother Lin, for your advice."

This prince of the Champa state actually spoke the Fujian dialect, and his words and sentences were very literary.

The merchant surnamed Lin said with a smile: "I am going out to sea to do business. I am grateful for the care of the king. Naturally, I should return the favor."

Jayayavarman I promised: "After defeating the Chenla army, I will establish myself as the king of Champa and send envoys to Luoyang to request the title. At that time, as long as the merchant ships under the name of Brother Lin come to Champa for trade, they will be treated preferentially. Not only will the port tax continue to be reduced, but Brother Lin will also be given priority in trading goods."

"I have no way to repay the king's kindness!" The merchant surnamed Lin was ecstatic.

The people in the city were feasting happily, while the morale outside the city was low.

King Suryavarman II of Chenla was planning the attack for tomorrow, when suddenly a guard came with a messenger to report in a panic: "Annan has sent troops, coming by sea, and is attacking Vijaya!"

Vijaya is not only the capital of Champa, but also an important place for the Chenla army to store military rations.

Zhu Kang mobilized merchant ships from all over Annan, and even some Chinese merchant ships that went to Annan for business. He directly transported troops and food south from the sea, and went straight to the heart of the Chenla army.

Suryavarman II was horrified: "The whole army retreats to rescue Vijaya. Also, send an envoy to contact the Annan officials and tell them that I will withdraw my troops in accordance with the order of the Ming Emperor!"