Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

The 11th Indian Prince's Great Ambition

Huangzhou Prefecture, Tongpan Hall.

The family gathered around the globe and carefully read the "Da Ming Xun Bao".

The news of the circumnavigation was finally published, and it was the front page headline.

Xie Yan did not express any opinion, because on this globe, the maps of Europe, Africa and America were seriously deformed.

When the Ming court drew the world map, the vast area from West Asia to Western Europe directly adopted the maps drawn by Arabs and Greeks.

They drew the Mediterranean Sea very large, resulting in the area of ​​the Mediterranean Sea being almost the same as the whole of Europe.

The British Isles became a flat teapot shape.

The Nordic region was reduced to only a little bit.

Western Europe and Northern Europe were too far away for the Ming Dynasty. It was impossible to send people there for accurate measurement, and there was no need for that for the time being.

The Ming Dynasty scholars who studied geography all knew that there was something wrong with this thing.

The maps were mainly drawn by Arabs. Not only was the European region seriously deformed, but Central Asia, South Asia and China were also drawn in a mess. Ming geographers can tell at a glance that it is fake.

However, for Ming, Africa and Europe can be ignored.

First, there is no political or military conflict.

Second, there is no market there. The combined consumption capacity of European countries is not even a fraction of the Indian and Middle Eastern markets.

Well, it cannot be called the Middle East now, that is the geographical concept of Europeans.

From the perspective of Ming, Central Asia is now called the "Western Regions", West Asia and Eastern Europe are called the "Near West", and Central Europe and Western Europe are called the "Western".

"Tianfang" is more like a political concept, including the desert religion countries in North Africa, which are all called Tianfang.

Later India, Bangladesh and Pakistan were all called "Indian countries" by Ming.

Xie Yan did not pay attention to places too far away, but mainly admired Ming and its surroundings. Every time he looked at the map, he felt particularly shocked.

The entire South Asian subcontinent has become unrecognizable because of the rise of Ming.

The Bengal Dynasty, which should have been established decades ago and converted to desert religion, has not appeared until now. The one who now rules the Bengal region is the Sina Dynasty (Hinduism) which should have been destroyed long ago.

This was of course the action of the Ming Dynasty!

The prince of the Sina Dynasty, with his family and dozens of followers, fled to the merchant ship of the Ming Dynasty's sea merchants and went all the way to Luoyang to borrow troops to restore the country.

The two sides did not bargain much and quickly reached a political deal.

The Ming Dynasty did not even use its own troops, but only mobilized the navy and army in Nanyang to defeat the desert religious army that invaded Sina.

In addition to the strong combat effectiveness of the Ming Dynasty itself, there is another very important reason, that is, the forced conversion of the invaders was unpopular.

Prince Sina led the Ming army back, and after three consecutive victories, local Hindu princes responded one after another. The rest of the matter has nothing to do with the Ming army, and Prince Sina can handle it himself.

In order to repay the Ming Dynasty for restoring the country, Prince Sina gave the port at the mouth of the Ganges River and a large area of ​​surrounding land to the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, the Sina Dynasty became a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.

In other parts of the South Asian subcontinent, the territories of the states were also shattered.

The extremely powerful Chola Dynasty at the time of Zhu Ming only had a small piece of territory left, facing Ceylon across the sea. In order to avoid being destroyed by its neighbors, the Chola Dynasty had long been a vassal of the Ming Dynasty.

The narrow coastal strip to the north of the Chola Dynasty had become a colony of the Ming Dynasty, and an "Indian Viceroy's Office" was established.

To the north of the Indian Viceroy's Office is the Kalinga Dynasty, which borders the Sina Dynasty in Bengal.

This strip of land is full of Hinduism, and most of the countries to the northwest are desert religion countries.

Among them, the Delhi Sultanate was once the most powerful.

However, after the younger brother of the King of Dayuan led his army to the Indus River Basin, the situation changed dramatically.

The maps and globes in Xie Yan's home were actually outdated.

Four years ago, the Tianzhu Kingdom (Confucianism + Buddhism + Hinduism) established by the descendants of the Zhu family in Dayuan had already conquered the city of Delhi, and the Delhi Sultanate was torn apart.

The Indian Kingdom took the opportunity to seize a large area in the upper reaches of the Ganges.

Currently, the Indian Kingdom is heading south to attack Rajput (Rajasthan), because it is a very important place for producing war horses.

…

Luoyang.

After the return of the circumnavigation team, another Indian delegation came, led by the Indian prince Zhu Boyu.

The Ming emperor and his ministers carefully looked at Zhu Boyu.

Yan Xide, the Minister of Rites, could not help but ask: "I heard that the royal family of Tianzhu has intermarried with local nobles for several generations. Is this rumor false?"

Zhu Boyu had some difficulty speaking Chinese: "The royal family of our country did intermarry with local nobles. The first generation had the appearance of Indian nobles. The second generation intermarried with the Han people and became more Han people. I am the third generation of intermarriage. Although my mother is a local noble, I look more like a Han Chinese."

Empress Dowager Ye asked Li Chang, the son-in-law: "Has the Zongzheng Temple continued the genealogy of Tianzhu?"

Li Chang bowed and said: "Reporting to the Queen Mother, it has been continued. This prince of Tianzhu is the sixth-generation grandson of Emperor Taizong. According to the seniority, he should be your Majesty's nephew."

Empress Dowager Ye smiled and said to her son: "This is your nephew."

The little emperor stood up and bowed.

Zhu Boyu was so scared that he knelt down quickly: "I dare not accept your Majesty's gift!"

The little emperor nodded slightly, and Zhu Boyu kowtowed in return.

Deng Gongwu asked: "You want to be a vassal of the Ming Dynasty. Have you discussed it with Dayuan?"

Zhu Boyu replied: "We have sent people to discuss it."

The current situation is that Dayuan is a vassal of the Ming Dynasty, and Tianzhu is a vassal of Dayuan.

After destroying the Delhi Sultanate, Tianzhu thought that it was strong enough and wanted to abandon Dayuan and become a vassal of the Ming Dynasty. On the one hand, it can make itself a level up, and on the other hand, it can also break free from the shackles of Dayuan.

In order to please the ancestral country, Zhu Boyu even brought six girls.

Those girls are about the same age as the little emperor. They are white and beautiful. They are all daughters of the royal family and nobles of the Delhi Sultanate who were captured four years ago. And they also taught Chinese and Chinese characters in advance so that they can adapt to the Ming Dynasty.

This flattery hit the horse's leg directly.

Neither Queen Mother Ye nor Prime Minister Deng wanted the little emperor to be exposed to women too early.

Yan Xide, the Minister of Rites, said: "Dayuan has always been loyal and has not made any mistakes. As the ancestral country, it is not convenient for the Ming Dynasty to directly accept the vassal state of the vassal state."

Empress Dowager Ye exchanged glances with several ministers, and then decided: "You go back and come back after you have reached an agreement with Dayuan. You must not cheat, otherwise you will be severely punished!"

As the western barrier of the Ming Dynasty, Dayuan's strategic role is much greater than that of Tianzhu. There is no need for the two countries to be unhappy because of vassalage.

"My humble servant obeys your order."

Zhu Boyu was very disappointed.

It's still not strong enough, otherwise the Ming Dynasty would definitely agree.

When his ancestors founded the country in the Indus River Basin, they retained too few troops. When the territory of Ge Jining was digested, the generals who were enfeoffed had quickly become Brahmans, and the expanded army was all local soldiers.

When the war with the Delhi Sultanate was fought again, although Tianzhu was always able to win, it could not break the city of Delhi after many sieges. They bombarded the city with precious homemade gunpowder, and twice the walls were blown down. The defenders shouted the slogan of holy war and won the street fighting.

Not only did the Han generals become Brahmanized, but so did the soldiers they brought with them!

When the local army was expanded, the soldiers became officers one by one, and scattered all over the place and became landlords. They were particularly careful about their lives when fighting, and were no longer the Central Asian soldiers who fought bravely.

It was not until four years ago that the Indian Kingdom broke through the city of Delhi in one fell swoop, taking advantage of the death of the Delhi Sultan and the lack of prestige of the young Sultan.

It was a complete fight between chickens.

After leaving the palace, Zhu Boyu returned to Sifang Pavilion in Luoyang.

The more he thought about it, the more depressed he became. From then on, he was determined to expand his territory. One day he would get rid of Dayuan and become a vassal of the Ming Dynasty.

Yes, Zhu Boyu's ambition was very ambitious - to work hard to become a vassal of the Ming Dynasty!

He felt that his father's strategy was wrong. The Rajputs were full of deserts, and he could not rely solely on force to deal with the enemies there.

It can be solved through diplomatic means.

The nobles there are all outsiders, but they are hundreds of years older than them.

Since they are all outsiders, what irreconcilable contradictions are there?

After one or two victories, the two sides can sit down for peace talks and marriage. The prince of Tianzhu can marry a few daughters of the Rajput tribal chiefs. Then everyone will be his own people, and he can also gain the loyalty of the Rajput cavalry.

…

A few days before school started, Xie Yan said to his mother: "Mom, I want agate and top craftsmen."

Wang Yitong smiled and said: "Do you have a favorite woman? A gentleman is like jade, I will pick out a few jade pendants for you."

Xie Yan said: "Not for jewelry."

"Then what are you going to do?" Wang Yitong asked.

Xie Yan explained: "Make a high-precision balance. Today's experimental balances are not accurate enough to verify Taizu's periodic table."

Wang Yitong wondered: "Why is the balance made of agate?"

Xie Yan said: "It's hard to explain in a few words. Anyway, I need agate to make the parts of the balance. I also need a low-quality, corrosion-resistant metal for the weights."

In another time and space, aluminum sheets were used as weights, and agate was used to make the blade of the balance.

And now in the Ming Dynasty, it seems that no chemist has discovered aluminum.

Wang Yitong has always been skeptical about her son's research on chemistry, but she still agreed to help find craftsmen and agate.

At least, her son did not go to seek prostitution, nor did he run to cockfighting and running dogs.

Finally convincing his mother, Xie Yan began to look for materials to make a simple air damper.

As a civil engineer, it is normal for me to understand the principle of air dampers, right?

With air dampers, even if I can't find aluminum as weights, it will be enough.

Xie Yan looked at the "Ming Territory Map" in the study and muttered to himself, "Senior time traveler, please show up and bless me to make the agate balance successfully. Then I can give the dynasty you have built a little shock. Jade Emperor, Tathagata Buddha, Namo Amitabha. Amen!"