When Yang Zaixing led 6,000 new troops and passed through Yongzhou (Nanning), he happened to meet Xia Dajun coming from Guizhou.
Together with Chen Keda, the magistrate of Yongzhou, and Wu Kui, the general judge, the four of them held a meeting.
Xia Dajun first said: "I was ordered to pacify the barbarians in the southwest, and I just came from Ziqi Kingdom and Temo Road. The puppet master of Ziqi did not want to be removed from the country, but only wanted to accept the Ming Dynasty's canonization and become a vassal state. The chiefs of Temo Road were all
Express your loyalty to the Ming Dynasty, but you may be half-hearted."
Temo Road is a Jisi Road established in the Song Dynasty. It is nominally on the same level as Yongzhou, but it has always been managed by the magistrate of Yongzhou.
Chen Keda, the magistrate of the state, introduced the situation and said: "The barbarians in Te Mo Dao have always surrendered on the surface. Only by sending troops to fight twice and beating them painfully can they be truly loyal to the Ming Dynasty."
Yang Zaixing asked: "How many natives and caves are there in Yongzhou?"
Wu Kui, the general judge, replied: "There are more than 80,000 Tuding and Dongding, and most of them have sincerely surrendered. If there is a war, we can invite war."
"So many?" Yang Zaixing asked in surprise.
Chen Keda smiled and explained: "Thanks to corn and sweet potatoes. The agricultural officials brought corn and sweet potato seeds and taught the people of all ethnic groups how to farm. The grain output in many mountainous areas increased sharply. The leaders and people of all ethnic groups were all grateful to the emperor. For Yongzhou
I am more willing to obey the government’s orders.”
In Yongzhou, ethnic minorities are scattered all over.
After Nong Zhigao's rebellion, the Northern Song Dynasty court revised the conscription system here. During Wang Anshi's reform period, he even ordered Yongzhou to establish the Baojia system, and all people of all ethnic groups had to implement the Baojia system.
Establishing Baojia and recruiting soldiers as soldiers means further control of ethnic minority tribes.
Those tribal chiefs must have concealed the truth, but they did not dare to openly confront the court, so they chose to report some and hide some.
Until the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the number of Tuding and Dongding in Yongzhou remained within 50,000, and the government could mobilize them as soldiers at any time.
However, less than ten years after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the number of foreigners registered in Yongzhou nearly doubled.
This is mainly due to the promotion of corn and sweet potatoes, which has effectively benefited ethnic minority tribes. Their territory is full of mountainous areas, which is very suitable for planting corn and sweet potatoes, and the Ming Dynasty even sent agricultural officers to provide guidance.
Wu Kui said: "With more than 80,000 men, we definitely cannot recruit them all, otherwise all the tribes will rebel. Recruiting 10,000 men as soldiers and another 10,000 men as civilian husbands is already the limit of Yongzhou. There are also three garrison troops in Yongzhou.
Thousands, we can also temporarily recruit thousands of Han soldiers and twenty to thirty thousand civilians."
Yang Zaixing nodded and said: "That's enough. The temporarily recruited Han soldiers and native soldiers are not expected to go out of the city to fight. They can just defend the captured city. I have been ordered to organize and train the new army, which will take a year."
"Within one year, I can guarantee that there will be no major chaos in Yongzhou." Chen Ke said firmly.
Yang Zaixing said: "This is the best."
Chen Keda is a capable minister and official, but he comes from the Chen family of Xianyou.
In his family, two corrupt officials were arrested last time, one of whom was his brother.
After Chen Keda was dismissed from office, he was pardoned by the emperor and demoted to a poor place like Yongzhou. In his heart, he was somewhat resentful of the imperial court, but he wanted to be promoted through meritorious service and wash away his stains, and the best way was to open up new territories.
Way!
Yongzhou is so special.
To the northwest is the newly independent Ziqi Kingdom, to the west is the disobedient Temo Road, and to the southwest is a long border with the Li Dynasty of Vietnam.
Chen Keda asked: "What does the imperial court think of the Annan border?"
Yang Zaixing said: "Don't pay attention to Annan for the time being. Your Majesty's intention is to destroy Ziqi State first, conquer Temo Road, and then attack Dali from southern Sichuan, Xiangxi and Guangxi. After destroying Dali, deal with Annan."
Hearing this, Chen Keda and Wu Kui were instantly in high spirits.
They are all officials implicated in corruption cases and were demoted to this position. The emperor now wants to expand externally. As the first and second leaders of Yongzhou, they will definitely achieve success as long as they cooperate well.
…
Just when Yang Zaixing and his new army were about to set off to continue their westward journey, a speedboat came quickly from Zuojiang River.
Yang Zaixing and Xia Dajun were both retained by people sent by Chen Keda.
"What happened?" Xia Dajun was already preparing to return to Beijing to resume his duties, and was invited back to the state government at the dock outside the city.
Chen Keda explained: "The leader of Annan sent someone to contact him. He hopes to surrender to the Ming Dynasty and ask for the title of king. The tribute gift list has been sent, and the envoy will arrive next month."
When King Annan paid tribute or requested a title, he first contacted the magistrate of Yongzhou, and then the Yongzhou officials reported it to the court.
Xia Dajun said: "This is a major diplomatic matter and must be reported truthfully."
But Chen Keda wanted to make more contributions: "Once the imperial court canonizes King Annan, it will be difficult for Guangyuan to get it back. That was the hometown of Nong Zhigao and his son. Not only does it protrude from the mountains in the north of Jiaozhi, but it is also rich in gold. Whether it is
Finance, taxation, and military affairs are all of great benefit to Annan. Even if the court wants to enthrone King Annan, the boundaries should be redrawn so that the court can conquer Guangyuan."
Quang Yuan Chau, also called Thuan Chau, is the northeastern protrusion of Cao Bang Province in Vietnam.
This was originally the territory of the Northern Song Dynasty. Because it was rich in gold, it was repeatedly invaded by the Annan Kingdom. The local tribes asked the Song Dynasty for protection, but the Song Dynasty had no time to control these tribes. In desperation, the various tribes in Guangyuan Prefecture could only surrender to the Northern Song Dynasty while crying.
He gritted his teeth and paid tribute to Annan.
Nong Zhigao's father started a rebellion that year because he lost his official position in the Song Dynasty for no apparent reason. When he returned to Guangyuan Prefecture, he was skinned and exploited by the Annan Kingdom.
You can’t rely on either side, so you might as well build your own country.
Later, the Northern Song Dynasty defeated Annan and fought all the way to the capital, Thang Long. They were forced to withdraw their troops due to too many non-combat casualties.
Then, in order to quell the border troubles, Guangyuan Prefecture was given to Annan!
Annan was not satisfied with picking up Guangyuan Prefecture for nothing, and repeatedly had border disputes with the Northern Song Dynasty. The Northern Song Dynasty chose to settle the dispute and gave Annan Erdong, six counties and eight passes.
Several people discussed it, and Xia Dajun expressed his position: "When I return to Beijing to resume my duties, I will advise your majesty to take back the lost lands of the former Song Dynasty, and not to canonize King Annan too hastily."
Chen Keda raised his hands and said, "I'll leave this to your Excellency."
Chen Keda turned around and bowed to Yang Zaixing: "The small country of Annan claims to be a small China in the south of the world, but its barbarian spirit will not change. Once the Ming Dynasty refuses to grant the title, they will definitely invade the border until the court agrees to grant the title. There may be border troubles next year, but
The scale is definitely not big, so General please be ready to bring troops over at any time."
"Just use Annan to train the new army!" Yang Zaixing immediately agreed.
…
Going to China as an envoy to request canonization was a good job for Vietnamese officials.
Du Yingwu, the uncle of the state, was deeply favored and successfully became the official envoy.
They did not wait for a reply from the Yongzhou government and set off with the tribute.
The tributes were quite rich, including one unicorn, two elephants, twenty kilograms of agarwood, two ebony sticks, fifteen pairs of ivory, and several gems...
The guard general of Menzhou (Zhennanguan) sent someone to ask for instructions from Yongzhou, and Chen Keda had no choice but to order the guard general to let him go.
Du Yingwu came to the outside of Yongzhou City and found that he could not enter the city. He immediately said angrily: "We are here to pay tribute and ask for a title. You, a magistrate, dare to treat us harshly. Aren't you afraid of provoking a border conflict between the two countries?"
When Chen Keda heard this, he immediately faced north and raised his hands: "I am serving the Ming Dynasty. Annan's envoy is so arrogant that he threatens the Yongzhou prefect to send troops to invade the border area!"
Seeing Chen Keda's tough attitude, Du Yingwu relented on the spot and obeyed the arrangements of the Yongzhou government.
This is now, Du Yingwu has not yet taken power, he is just a favorite minister and uncle of the state.
Historically, King Annan would die of illness in a few years. Du Yingwu climbed onto the bed of the Queen Mother (niece-in-law), controlled the three-year-old emperor, and became the actual controller of Annan. Only at that time did he scream
Where is Zhang Bahu?
Chen Keda warned: "I will send officials to lead you to Beijing, but don't cause trouble along the way. This is the Ming Dynasty, not a small barbarian country!"
The Annan mission set off, first going to Guangdong, then crossing Meiling to Jiangxi, taking a boat all the way north along the Gan River, turning into the Yangtze River and taking the canal.
By the time they arrived in Henan, it was already snowing and freezing, so they had to stop temporarily.
Kirin and elephants are not cold-tolerant, so the local government did not dare to neglect them and sent people to build shacks and light fires to keep warm.
As winter turns to spring, it is already the second year of the Ming Dynasty's rejuvenation of China.
Annan's envoy came to Luoyang with tributes. As soon as he handed over the gift list, he was scolded.
The official who received them was none other than Xia Dajun, who returned to Beijing last year.
Xia Dajun held the gift list in his hand, pointed at the rhinoceros and said: "You are so audacious that you deceived the former Song Dynasty, and you also dared to deceive the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. This is obviously a rhinoceros, why did you write it as Qilin when you reported it as a tribute?"
Du Yingwu said: "This is Qilin."
Xia Dajun said angrily: "Annan deceived the Emperor of Heaven, arrest them all!"
"This is really a unicorn!" Du Yingwu refused to change his story. Once he changed his story, he would be guilty of deceiving the emperor.
"Xianlin" is an unspoken rule between Annan and the Northern Song Dynasty, and both sides understand it tacitly.
Due to the unfair position of the Vietnamese Li Dynasty, the kings of all dynasties liked auspicious signs, and the yellow dragon, white elephant, and unicorn appeared particularly frequently.
Kirin represents the orthodoxy of destiny. Under normal circumstances, Annan will not be dedicated to China.
This time "Xianlin" is not only not deception, but also represents sincerity.
During the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, Annan offered a unicorn once.
At that time, someone recognized it as a rhinoceros, which caused the two countries to lose face. Originally, they were willing to fight or suffer, but after being exposed, they could not even agree on the same tone.
Therefore, there are discrepancies in the records of this matter in "Collection of Imperial Edicts of the Song Dynasty", "Xu Zi Zhi Tong Jian", "Meng Xi Bi Tan" and other books.
The "Collection of Imperial Edicts of the Song Dynasty" collects imperial edicts, which clearly states that Jiaozhi paid tribute to rhinos.
"Xu Zi Zhi Tong Jian" is vague, saying only that the imperial court's external propaganda is a strange beast.
"Mengxi Bi Tan" is purely hearsay, because Shen Kuo was not in the capital at the time, and said that the rhinoceros-like monster was covered with scales.
Xia Dajun shouted: "Bring some buckets of water!"
Several officials immediately brought water from the Luo River, poured it on the rhinoceros, and then wiped it with rags.
After rubbing it, the scales on the rhinoceros were wiped away...
Xia Dajun sneered: "You still say you are not deceiving the emperor? Arrest them all!"
Du Yingwu was confused on the spot. We said it was Qilin, and you can just admit it. This represents the vassal state of Annan, dedicating auspiciousness to the lord, and handing over the orthodoxy to the Ming Dynasty!
Why expose it in front of the people?
Seeing that the emperors and ministers of the Song Dynasty were very sensible, they wrote the edict in return with the name "rhinoceros" to show that they would not be deceived. At the same time, they promoted it as a unicorn among the people. When others exposed it, they also renamed it a strange beast, in order to show Song Renzong's status as a holy king in this world.
After the Song Dynasty completed the operation, both dignity and face were gained!
Is the Ming Emperor shameless? He actually refused offers of auspiciousness from foreign countries.
Du Yingwu was dragged to the prison cell of Dali Temple, still shouting along the way: "I want to see the emperor, I want to see the emperor, this is really auspicious Qilin..."