With the first batch of mountain barbarians going down the mountain, there will be the second and third batches. Their experience will soon spread in Lianzhou. Everyone knows that the Marquis of Lianzhou will fulfill their words. Not only will they give the land they promised, but they will also take care of them. Therefore, more and more barbarians going down the mountain are also increasing.
In just half a month, the number of people going down the mountain exceeded 100,000. All of these people were resettled with seven counties including Lang Son and Wen Shan. Now the counties actually controlled by Lianzhou are no longer the three, but there are as many as ten, which is enough to accommodate these mountain barbarians. However, the five counties in Annan Kingdom have not yet recognized them, and the court needs to plan a clearance to achieve it.[]
At the same time, the barbarians sent someone who was quite interested in Liu Chengfeng - Mr. Zhao.
Mr. Zhao followed the order of King Jingjiang and went to search for the barbarians overnight, giving them benefits, and trying to sow discord. These barbarians were not fools, and there must be some doubts. After all, when a rebellion occurs, the court will definitely suppress them. The lives of their own tribe members will die. Therefore, the barbarians quarreled over this matter. However, later, Anman's notice was released, and another barbarian went down the mountain and received excellent hospitality. The barbarians did not hesitate to tie Mr. Zhao and sent it directly to Liu Chengfeng.
The resettlement work is in full swing, and household registration must be sorted out again. In the past, the barbarians did not include household registration. On the one hand, the government was troublesome, and on the other hand, the barbarians refused to cooperate. Now, taking advantage of this opportunity to divide the land, the government will naturally act. It was just that the staff was not enough and had to recruit people everywhere. In just one month, the population of the ten counties of Lianzhou soared to more than 200,000. Some of these were refugees from other places, and some were barbarians who went down the mountain. If the Yue people in the seven counties of Wenshan were included, I am afraid that this number would increase to 400,000.
The construction of the Hou Mansion gradually became more and more beautiful. There were many shops rising up around the Hou Mansion. The near the Hou Mansion gradually became lively. In fact, the entire Lianzhou has changed its appearance now, especially after the barbarians completely surrendered, a large number of Lianzhou people began to return home from all over the country, and some merchants also seized the opportunity and began to appear.
Afterwards, Liu Chengfeng met the Annan envoy. The Annan envoy Li Yang was very respectful and was almost obedient to Liu Chengfeng. In order to reach peace talks, he almost agreed to all the conditions of Liu Chengfeng. Liu Chengfeng's conditions were actually simple. He ceded the five counties of Annan and was justified in the jurisdiction of Lianzhou Prefecture. This article was useless even if Li Yang wanted to oppose it. Just like Wenshan and Hefu, these five counties had been actually occupied by the Ming army, and the Vietnamese army could not withdraw their origins to take them back. Now all their energy is devoted to the Nanzhang Kingdom. It would be better to simply agree to Liu Chengfeng's conditions and temporarily compromise.
The peace talks were concluded quickly, and Li Yang immediately went back to report his life.
In Beijing, when Liu Chengfeng's memorial was handed over, and then another good news came, the entire capital was shocked.
This man surnamed Liu is really not a calm person. At the beginning, Liu Chengfeng wrote a letter saying that he would "teach a lesson" Annan. Many people were still waiting to see jokes. This guy should hit a wall. He didn't know the world all day long. Relying on the favor of the emperor, he caused trouble everywhere. Annan is no better than others. He doesn't care about the emperor's face. He should deal with you and how he deals with you.
Some people also think that Liu Chengfeng is too determined to act alone. Even if he has a secret order, he cannot attack Annan without authorization. It is not that Annan is a vassal state, but that Annan has strong troops. Liu Chengfeng, a marquis of Lianzhou, went to war against Vietnam without authorization, and in the end he must have the court come to wipe his butt.
However, when the good news came, those who were watching the joke were stunned. At this time, they had to admire Liu Chengfeng a little. This guy, seven thousand people, actually went deep into the border and beat the Annan people to the point of falling. He thought that Liu Chengfeng was boasting, but the governor of Guangxi also came up to write a memorial to confirm the matter. This time, the court and the country were even more uproar. This person was really impressive.
On the day the memorial was handed over, Li Dongyang was ordered to enter the palace. Although Li Dongyang entered the cabinet, he had always served as the Minister of Rites. Zhu Youzhang always attached great importance to the candidates of the six ministries. He was suffering from the fact that there was no suitable candidate for the Ministry of Rites, so he gave up and simply let Li Dongyang take the stage. Anyway, Li Dongyang was the youngest in the cabinet, and his body was still strong, so he was busy.
This time, Zhu Youzhang did not meet Li Dongyang in Zhengxin Hall, but chose Wuying Hall. Wuying Hall seemed very empty. Zhu Youzhang sat alone behind the desk, buried his head and reviewed something. When Li Dongyang came in, he immediately cheered up and said directly: "The letter of Annan Kingdom has been handed over. Have Li Aiqing read it?"
The letter of nationality from Annan was indeed handed over, but it was not a provocation to seek punishment, but apology respectfully in an unprecedented manner. After telling his crimes, he also requested the cedes of the five counties and transferred them to Lianzhou.
Li Dongyang sent this letter of nationality last night, and Li Dongyang could almost recite it. The reason why I was so impressed was that Annan Kingdom had never submitted a letter of nationality to the court in such a low tone. As the head of the Ministry of Rites, Li Dongyang had long been familiar with the routine of the Annan people. Their founding king started with rebellion and had been dealing with the Ming army for more than ten years. In the end, the Ming Dynasty had no choice but to make it the King of Yue. From the heart, these Annan people looked down on the Ming Dynasty a little bit. Although they entered the court to surrender, they were never very convinced. Therefore, the Ministry of Rites also had a headache with the Annan people. It was the first time that they submitted the letter of nationality so respectfully.
When Li Dongyang thought of the words in the book of the country, he couldn't help but smile and said, "Your Majesty, I've read it."
Zhu Youzhang threw down his pen, smiled and said, "What do you think of Li Aiqing?"
This is asking Li Dongyang whether this letter of nationality should be approved. Logically speaking, it would be a bit stupid to disagree if someone came to send the letter of nationality and ceded the land. However, what Zhu Youzhang considered was, of course, not the land of this city and a pool, especially the land of Annan. For him, it was simply barren land, and there was no difference between asking for it and not having it. Moreover, after agreeing, there would definitely be a certain negative impact. There were many vassal states in the Ming Dynasty. Now that the Ming army suddenly invaded Annan, the letter of nationality submitted by Annan was inevitably suspected of being forced in the eyes of others. This was not a good thing for the reputation of the Ming Dynasty, so Zhu Youzhang should not be cautious in his attitude towards this matter.
Li Dongyang obviously knew Zhu Youzhang's concerns, pondered for a moment, and then said, "Your Majesty, this letter of nationality is reasonable, there is nothing wrong with it. It's better to write it right."
"Oh?" Zhu Youzhang stared at Li Dongyang, knowing that Li Dongyang had something to say, so he just asked a question lightly and stopped talking.
Li Dongyang continued: "Annan Kingdom has never been very respectful to the Ming Dynasty. In fact, this matter is known to everyone in the world. However, the court has been tolerant and compromised, which has caused many people to beat their chests and fallen into it. After all, the Ming Dynasty is a country above the Celestial Empire. It is not wrong to show its kindness to the vassal states, but the vassal states are arrogant and repeatedly rushing to the vassal states. It is also impossible to teach a lesson occasionally. This time, the Marquis of Lianzhou entered Annan to teach the people of Annan. Now, the letter of national approval and the five counties in Annan were placed in the territory of our Ming Dynasty. This is also a lesson for them. Only in this way can the vassal states know the greatness."
"Secondly, the Nanzhang Kingdom is also a vassal state of our Ming Dynasty. In the past few years, the people of Yue repeatedly invaded Nanzhang and killed people. The Nanzhang Kingdom repeatedly sent envoys to ask the court to uphold justice for it. Although the court sent envoys to Annan to mediate, the King of Yue still insisted on his own actions. The Ming Dynasty court had already made Nanzhang and the surrounding countries feel disappointed. Now, taking the opportunity to hit Annan, it can also let the vassal states in the world know that the upper states of the Celestial Kingdom are not easy to bully. If someone disobeys the kingdom and insists on doing so, the Ming Dynasty will never sit idly by."
Zhu Youtang nodded repeatedly, feeling that Li Dongyang was right. The Annan Kingdom was the king and dominant in the south, which had already made many vassal states frightened. Although Liu Chengfeng's incident was a little impulsive, it really gave the Ming court some face.
To put it bluntly, it is actually that Annan is too annoying. Not only the Ming Dynasty dislikes him, but the other neighbors also have always had a grudge against him. Slapping Annan in the face was equivalent to giving Nanzhang and other countries a sweet date, which is not considered contrary to the Ming Dynasty's tribute policy.
Zhu Youzhang smiled slightly and said, "Then, Liu Chengfeng did the right thing. This guy was shocked me when he wrote a letter last time. He was still too young and was too careless about the consequences. But..." Zhu Youzhang smiled even more and continued, "But he has some ability. It would be better for me to win such a great victory with seven thousand people. Li Aiqing thought, what should I reward him?"
Li Dongyang's face tightened and he hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, you can't reward him."
"Oh? Why is this?" Zhu Youtui pressed his eyebrows.
Li Dongyang explained: "Have your Majesty discovered that no one in the government and the country seemed to have made any suggestions on Annan's affairs."
Zhu You nodded. When the news of the good news came, the court was surprisingly silent. No one celebrated or wrote a letter to impeach. This was very dissatisfied with the officials of the Hongzhi Dynasty. If it were anything else, even if it was a small matter, these people would have gone to the house to remove the tiles. Now the surprisingly consistent silence is indeed strange.
Li Dongyang smiled and explained, "Your Majesty, the reason for this is that Annan is so hated. In recent years, many ministers in this court have been angry with them. Other vassal states pay tribute once a year, they pay tribute three times, and even shamelessly ask for rewards. What's even more hateful is that they actually occupied the land of our Ming Dynasty and refused to return it. In fact, these civil and military officials have long since refused to say goodbye to Annan. However, after all, Annan is a vassal state of our Ming Dynasty. Liu Chengfeng sent troops to Annan, which is inconsistent. If the ministers celebrated each other, it will inevitably make people mistakenly think that the Ming Dynasty went back on its word and violated the saint's education. But if it is against it, the civil and military officials really can't object to anything. Everyone is happy, but they can only hold it in a tense way, otherwise it will be a loss of morality."