Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1066: Prince Yu’s Plan

Due to both climate and productivity reasons, the armor rate of the army of the Angkor Dynasty of Chenla was not high.

Except for elite troops, generally only officers wore armor.

Most of their armor is made of leather, mainly rhino skin, shark skin, etc. Low-level armor only protects the chest and abdomen, while high-level armor has a complete body, sleeves and skirt.

Bows and arrows are also weapons equipped only by officers.

Most ordinary soldiers are equipped with shields, javelins and machetes.

The long-handled weapon is a curved-handle knife that can be used to stab, chop, cut, and cut, and is very useful against Southeast Asian armies that lack armor. It can also be used to cut through bushes and vines that block the way during the march.

Suryavarman II was still very cautious. He was always on guard against the Annan army's southward advance and left a full 6,000 garrison troops in Vijaya.

Han Jing, Zhu Kang's top general, only brought 3,000 Ming troops and 6,000 Annan soldiers this time. Even the civilians were forcibly recruited from Champa.

Another 10,000 Annan soldiers are heading south by land and are still on the march - their military discipline is very poor, and they are burning, killing and looting along the way.

When they arrived at the city of Vijaya, Han Jing forced the Champa laborers to carry soil to fill the trenches, and asked the craftsmen to build various siege weapons.

Large chariots and ladders were deployed on the battlefield, making the Zhenla defenders, who had few bows and arrows and very little armor, dizzy. The elite Ming army only needed to use siege equipment, muskets and crossbows to suppress the top of the city wall and easily capture the city wall.

It took seven or eight days to build the siege equipment and fill the moat, but the actual siege took only one day.

Immediately afterwards, Zhu Kang, in the name of Prince Yu of the Ming Dynasty, sent a letter to the princes of the local states of Champa, asking them to bring their troops immediately to drive away the invaders.

Many of the princes and nobles of the Champa states were looted by the Tu family, but some escaped or surrendered quickly.

The princes and nobles who fled or surrendered responded to the call of Prince Yu of the Ming Dynasty.

You take dozens of people, I will take hundreds of people, and we will gather carefully towards Vijaya City.

Half a month later, the strength of Zhu Kang's troops increased greatly, totaling: 3,000 elite Ming troops, more than 16,000 Annan soldiers, and more than 4,000 Champa princes' troops.

Not only did the Annan soldiers have extremely poor military discipline, the Champa princes were not much better. They even looted their own civilians - since it was not their own territory anyway.

Zhu Kang personally went to the army to take charge and issued a military order prohibiting looting: previous acts of looting would not be investigated, but would be severely punished in the future.

There are still people who don’t believe it!
"Bring it up!"

More than a hundred miles south of Vijaya City, Zhu Kang finally took real action and captured two guys who allowed their soldiers to loot the village.

One was Li Changlu, Marquis of Baoning in Annan, and the other was the son of the prince of the Champa state.

Of course, there were more than just these two people who disobeyed military orders. They were just set up as examples, and their identities were selected.

Li Changlu was tied up and brought before Zhu Kang. He screamed in Ming official language: "Your Highness, I am the first Annan general to follow you. I learned to speak Ming official language from the Han people. I am still the Marquis of Baoning in Annan. I just looted a village. Even if I disobeyed the military order, I am not guilty of death..."

"Gag his mouth!"

Zhu Kang shouted angrily:
"You have been corrupt and perverted the law in Annan. You often pretend to obey orders but actually disobey them. You have also repeatedly embezzled and withheld military pay. How many times have I warned you openly and secretly? If you hadn't joined us early, I would have put you to military punishment long ago."

"This time I asked you to lead the troops to march south by land. I reminded you to pay attention to military discipline before the expedition. You robbed all the way from the Annan border. I tolerated all these actions. After reiterating the military order, you still let your troops rob. Do you still respect me? Do you still respect military law?"

Li Changlu's mouth was blocked and he could only make grunting sounds.

He had already understood that Zhu Kang was deliberately using him as a scapegoat, firstly to establish his authority, and secondly to annex his troops.

As Li Changlu was dragged away to be beheaded, all his subordinates changed color.

Zhu Kang read out another string of names, all of whom were Li Changlu's confidants, and all of them were executed for disobeying military orders.

If it was just killing people, Li Changlu's troops would be destroyed, and a large number of them would surely flee, and those who did not flee would also have their morale drop to the bottom.

Zhu Kang continued, "Ruan Zuobin has always been brave and good at fighting, and his troops have strict military discipline. He will temporarily replace Li Changlu. The positions of the other generals who were executed will be replaced by adjutants. After the battle, the merits will be rewarded, and those who fought bravely and strictly abided by military orders will all be transferred to full military positions."

"From generals to soldiers, you should keep the looted property. I will not pursue the matter any further. But if you disobey military orders, your previous crimes will be punished as well!"

The heralds immediately spread these orders to the entire army.

"Long live, long live!"

Soon, shouts of "Long live" were heard one after another, and morale was restored at once.

As long as the soldiers under Li Changlu were still alive, they could keep the looted property, and some of them were even promoted.

As for the son of the Champa prince, Zhu Kang executed him after just a scolding.

That night, the prince whose son was killed fled with his troops in anger and fear. Zhu Kang had been on guard, and those troops were stopped not far from the camp, and all were killed on the spot without leaving any alive. Their weapons and property were rewarded to other princes.

Through this series of operations, Zhu Kang finally gained complete control of the army, and the poor military discipline also improved.

The army continued to march southward, and along the way, local princes and nobles came with their troops to surrender.

There were even princes and nobles who surrendered to Zhenla and brought cities, troops and food with them to join the army.

A prince named Sanghavarman also brought news about the Zhenla army: "When the King of Zhenla heard that the city of Vijaya had fallen, he did not continue to march north, but fled westward in panic." Zhu Kang continued to advance, and King Bintonglong led his army to meet him, and also called his Han friend, a sea merchant named Lin, to come along.

The two sides met warmly and seemed to be in great harmony.

At night, a sea merchant named Lin asked for an audience: "Lin Deyuan from Zhangzhou, I want to meet His Royal Highness Prince Yu!"

"Please sit down." Zhu Kang smiled.

Lin Deyuan bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Highness."

Zhu Kang casually asked about Lin Deyuan's business. After Lin Deyuan answered, he took the initiative to talk about Bin Tonglong's situation.

Both sides are testing.

Finally, Lin Deyuan could no longer bear it and asked, "May I ask Your Highness, the Zhenla troops have withdrawn. When will Your Highness return?"

Zhu Kang said righteously: "Zhenla has disobeyed the king's orders and has repeatedly invaded our brotherly country. Now they have killed the entire family of the Champa king and looted countless villages and cities. How can they be forgiven by withdrawing their troops? I will fight all the way to Angkor, the royal capital of Zhenla, and bring the king of Zhenla to Luoyang to apologize!"

Lin Deyuan asked again: "Not only was the Champa king killed, but there have been internal strife in Champa in recent years, and there are only a few royal relatives left. May I ask which successor king the court plans to enthrone?"

"Who do you think is the most suitable?" Zhu Kang asked with a smile.

Lin Deyuan said: "Bintong Longwang is a close relative of the Champa royal family and has royal blood. He was also a brave warrior and resisted the Chenla army for half a year. He also admired the Ming Dynasty and learned the Four Books and Six Classics and the Minnan dialect. If he could become the king of Champa, he would definitely be loyal to the court for generations to come."

Zhu Kang asked, "Are you here to be a lobbyist?"

Lin Deyuan said: "If Your Highness can say a few good words, Bintong Dragon King will definitely reward you handsomely!"

Zhu Kang said: "The court intends to annex Annan and set Annan as Jiaozhi Province. And I will establish a country in Champa and become a vassal king. What do you think of this?"

Lin Deyuan was shocked and didn't dare to answer for a moment.

Zhu Kang smiled and said, "If you pledge allegiance to me, there will definitely be benefits. You can think carefully about whether I can give you more benefits or the Bintong Dragon King can give you more benefits."

Lin Deyuan didn't think for long before he got up from his seat and knelt down: "I am willing to serve Your Highness as my master."

Zhu Kang said: "Go and try it out."

Lin Deyuan said: "Although Bintong Dragon King is a barbarian, he has great ambitions. If Your Highness wants to establish Champa, it is best to get rid of this man. There is no need to test him, he will definitely choose to submit to Your Highness, but only he knows what he does in private."

Zhu Kang said: "Since he is willing to surrender, there is no need to plot to eliminate him. After all, he resisted Zhenla and has a very high prestige in the hearts of the Champa people. How old is he?"

Lin Deyuan said: "In his early forties, he is in the prime of life."

"That's even better. I'm younger than him." Zhu Kang smiled.

Zhu Kang had no other choice. He only had 3,000 Ming troops, and the number of Han immigrants subsequently received from the imperial court was at most 10,000 or 20,000.

With such a small base, we must win over the local indigenous people.

The plan has already been made:

The Han army and immigrants were used as the core of the rule, and the Annan army and immigrants were moved in to check and balance the local nobles and people of Champa. Education was gradually promoted and power was centralized step by step.

If a prince like Bintong Dragon King dared to rebel openly, he would be directly wiped out. If he was willing to surrender, he would be kept for the time being and the Enfeoffment Order would be issued in the future. There was no need to use force to conquer him. Even if Bintong Dragon King was destroyed, Zhu Kang would not have enough strength to deal with him, and he would have to support other princes at that time.

After another conversation, Lin Deyuan went back to see Jayaharavarman I.

"What? The prince of the Ming Dynasty wants to stay in Champa to be the king?" Jayaharavarman exclaimed.

Lin Deyuan said: "There are only a few members of the Champa royal family left, and you are only a distant relative of the royal family. The prince of the Ming Dynasty is more likely to win the support of the people than you. At this time, we must not anger Prince Yu, otherwise Bin Tonglong will be in danger of extinction."

"How could I not know?" Jayaharavarman sighed.

The continuous infighting within the Champa royal family gave rise to Jayaharavarman's ambition. He had been quietly developing for twenty years, waiting for an opportunity to replace the previous emperor.

However, I didn't expect that the prince of the Ming Dynasty also set his sights on the throne of king.

Lin Deyuan continued, "His Royal Highness Prince Yu promised that as long as you support him to be king, he will give you some of the land further southwest."

"The land further southwest?" Jayaharavarman was stunned.

Lin Deyuan nodded: "Take it from Zhenla."

Jayahariba thought about it again and again, and said helplessly: "Okay, I support him to be the king of Champa."

Since he could no longer obtain the throne, he could just take whatever he could get. It would be nice to take a piece of territory from Zhenla.

The later Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, including the entire Mekong Delta, belonged to the territory of the Angkor Dynasty of Chenla at that time.

Zhu Kang wanted to take over a piece of that place, so he forced the Zhenla Dynasty to cede territory and seek peace.

On the one hand, it can expand one's territory, and on the other hand, it can enhance one's prestige.

(End of this chapter)