Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1065 [Zhu Kang wants to establish his own country]

Qian Chen was indeed an official-obsessed person. He could hardly speak or walk properly, yet he still came to attend the imperial meeting.

At this moment, sitting on the chair, his whole head was a little tilted and his mouth also seemed a little crooked.

Li Hanzhang said: "This is the third request from Prince Yu this year. I dare not say too much, but the time is ripe to annex Annan and restore Jiaozhi."

Hu Anguo said: "In the most recent imperial examination, Annan selected three scholars to come to Luoyang to participate in the Ministry of Rites examination. Although all of them failed, they were all retained by the Imperial College to study. After the news of this incident was reported back to Annan, the scholars there were extremely excited. If the court annexed Annan, it could select some of Annan's central ministers and local officials and transfer them to Han areas to serve as local assistant officials, subordinate officials, and Hanlin officials. In this way, it would be possible to divide and disintegrate Annan's civil servants and reduce the political resistance to annexing Annan."

"In addition to his personal soldiers, Prince Yu can also take some of Annan's main forces south," Zhang Tong suggested. "After taking Champa, leave Annan's main forces there and take the soldiers' families with them. In this way, Annan's troops and land will be freed up to accommodate the garrison troops transferred to Annan by the court."

Wei Liangchen said: "After a few years when the situation in Annan is stable and the imperial court has a foundation for governance there, we can lure out the snakes with the tax rate per acre and kill a group of dissatisfied people."

Hearing everyone speaking, Qian Chen, who was not able to speak clearly, could only pick up a pen and write to express his opinions.

But his writing speed also became slower, and the words he wrote were not beautiful.

For a moment, Qian Chen felt disheartened.

He put away the paper without leaving a trace and wrote four words again: I would like to retire.

He called the eunuch to take it and put it in front of Zhu Ming.

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

After reading it, Qian Chen was moved. He felt that the government still cared about him.

He decided to rest for another month. If he still couldn't speak fluently and write properly, he would really have to make up his mind to retire due to his illness.

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

"The Prince of Yu requested that Lingnan be allowed to immigrate, but the landless peasants of Guangdong should be given priority to fill the wild land of Guangxi. Fujian has always had a large population and limited land. According to reports from officials at all levels in Fujian, the Buddhist temples there are showing signs of revival, and many young and strong people without land have started to become monks again."

"Order all officials in Fujian Province to strictly follow the temple quota set by the court. Strictly investigate the temples built illegally by the people, as well as the monks without ordination certificates in the government-appointed temples, and order those illegal monks to return to secular life and force them to immigrate to Champa!"

Zhu Kang, Prince of Yu of the Ming Dynasty and Regent of Annan, was eager to conquer Champa and establish his own regime, and he also requested the Ming court to allow some Han immigrants.

Because now is a good time to capture Champa.

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

Moreover, this time is different from before.

The Zhenla army did not just rob and leave, nor did they establish a puppet king. They continued to attack Bintonglong and wanted to annex the entire territory of Champa, ignoring the warnings of the suzerain Ming Dynasty.

Not only did Champa have Brahmanism as its state religion, its political system was also similar to that of India, with many kingdoms within kingdoms (princely states).

The one who now rose up to resist the invasion of Cambodia was the Champa's King Bimbisara (Prince of the local state) Jayaharavarman I.

If the Ming Dynasty had not taken action, according to the normal historical development trajectory, Jayaharvard I would have needed another two years to repel the Chenla army and establish himself as king, thus establishing the (Champa) Bintonglong Dynasty.

Moreover, his descendants led the army to counterattack the capital of Zhenla, killed the king of Zhenla and looted extensively.

At this moment, the Zhenla army and the Champa army had been fighting for more than half a year. As long as Zhu Kang led his troops over, the outcome would be settled.

……

The chief civil servant who had assisted Zhu Kang in Annan had returned to the Han area to take up a post after having made meritorious contributions in his crimes.

The civil servant assisting Zhu Kang now is Xiang Zizhen, who is also a convicted official.

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

"Mr. Xiang, the court has finally responded," Zhu Kang happily called Xiang Zizhen to discuss matters, "The emperor has allowed me to lead the army south to capture Champa and establish a vassal state. As long as Mr. Xiang can do a good job of logistics and keep an eye on Annan to prevent any trouble, he can become the first left governor of Jiaozhi Province."

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

"Haha, congratulations." Zhu Kang was in a good mood.

Xiang Zizhen asked: "What other arrangements does the court have for changing Annan Kingdom into Jiaozhi Province?"

Today, telegraph antennas only extend as far south as Guangzhou.

Zhu Kang took out the telegram from Guangzhou and said, "The left governor will naturally be Mr. Xiang, and the right governor will be selected from the ministers of Annan. The three officials of Jiaozhi Province will be arranged in the same way. The chief officials of each department will be selected by the court, and the deputy officials of each department will be the ministers of Annan. The same goes for the officials of the prefectures and counties below, and we will try our best to make the transition smooth when annexing Annan. Some Annan officials who did not get positions will be sent to the Han area to serve as Hanlin officials, local assistant officials, and subordinate officials."

Xiang Zizhen smiled and nodded: "With this arrangement by the court, if we send another army to station there, then annexing Annan will be a sure thing."

"Once the rainy season is over and the weather is cool, the court will dispatch troops," Zhu Kang said, "followed by officials selected by the court. The army should have a legitimate reason to go to war, and the court has already sent envoys to rebuke Zhenla. If I keep my troops here, the king of Zhenla will surely become more arrogant. I will lead the army to attack immediately after the rainy season is over. As for the preparation of food and fodder, I still have to rely on Mr. Xiang."

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

……

Suryavarman II, the king of the Angkor Dynasty of Chenla, 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 aristocrat, and had no right to inherit the throne. He took advantage of the civil war in Zhenla to raise an army and establish his own country. After unifying the country, he continued to launch foreign wars to consolidate his power and enhance his prestige.

He conquered all the neighboring countries in all directions and expanded the territory of the Zhenla Dynasty to an unprecedented scale.

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

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

Suryavarman II knelt down in panic and said, "Angel, calm down. I will withdraw my troops soon. But the soldiers on the front line need to be comforted. Please be patient, angel."

The Ming envoy had no time to wait, so he stayed in Vijaya for only one month before leaving with the bribe from Suryavarman II.

The envoys of the suzerain state accepted bribes, which made Suryavarman II even more confident.

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

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

Under Zhu Kang's rule, Annan was busy with internal affairs and disarmament, and also did not fight with Zhenla again.

All these things gave Suryavarman II an illusion: he was invincible throughout Southeast Asia, and the Ming Dynasty was too busy with wars in the Western Regions and Southeast Asia to care about him.

However, we still have to respect the Ming Dynasty.

Suryavarman II called the secretary and said, "Inform all the generals that as soon as the rainy season is over, you should attack the city with all your strength and make sure to capture Bintonglong!"

Bintonglongcheng is also called Virapura, and its port is located at Cape Badalan.

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

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

That one city!

As long as he captures Bintonglong, he will be able to annex the entire Champa Kingdom. This time, he must withstand the pressure and achieve complete success.

In winter, the rainy season is over and the dry season comes.

Suryavarman II personally went to the front line of Bintonglong and launched one siege after another.

King Jayaharivavarman I of Bintonglong was no pushover either. He had sufficient funds through trade with the Ming Dynasty, and his own land was fertile and there was no shortage of food. Over the years, he had been building weapons and reorganizing military equipment, and he did not back down 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 river water was also introduced. Behind each trench was a rampart seven or eight meters high, on top of which were built watchtowers, war sheds, arrow towers, etc.

Batches of Champa laborers who were carrying soil to fill the trenches for the Zhenla army were shot to death.

At the critical moment, the Bin Tonglong defenders even rowed boats to take the initiative to attack, rushing to the other side of the trench and defeating the enemy troops and civilians.

After more than a month of attack, the Zhenla army only broke through the first line of defense and 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 captured, many sea merchants and navy went south to join King Bintonglong, greatly increasing the strength of the navy of this local prince.

Another day of fighting ended, and the Zhenla army suffered heavy casualties 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 to conquer.

His troops outnumbered the defenders by several times, yet he had no way to deal with the enemy.

The Bintonglong garrison has Han people to help and give advice!

Jayaharvard I was ambitious. He made friends with Chinese merchants through trade and warmly entertained anyone he met who was capable. Historically, his son even learned horse riding and archery from the Han people and actually established a cavalry unit in Southeast Asia.

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

This prince of the Champa state actually spoke the Fujian dialect and used very flowery words and sentences.

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

Jayaharvard I promised: "Once I defeat the Chenla army, I will declare myself the king of Champa and send envoys to Luoyang to request the title. At that time, all merchant ships under the name of Brother Lin will be given preferential treatment when trading in Champa. Not only will I continue to reduce the port tax, but I will also give priority to trading with Brother Lin when buying and selling goods."

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

There was feasting and rejoicing inside the city, but morale was low outside the city.

Suryavarman II, the King of Cambodia, was planning his attack for tomorrow when a guard came with a messenger and reported: "Annan has sent out troops, coming by boat from the sea, and is attacking Vijaya fiercely!"

Vijaya was not only the capital of Champa, but also an important place for the Zhenla army to store military supplies at that time.

Zhu Kang mobilized merchant ships from all over Annan, and even some Chinese merchant ships that were going to Annan to do business, and directly transported troops and food southward from the sea, directly attacking the heart of the Zhenla army.

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

(End of this chapter)