Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1067 Chapter 1062 [Southern Yu Country! 】

Since you have decided to submit to the Prince of the Ming Dynasty and also want to obtain a piece of land, you should try your best to demonstrate your loyalty and value.

At Lin Deyuan's suggestion, Jayaharavarman changed his name to a Chinese one.

"阇" is usually pronounced as dū.

But if it is related to Buddhism or Brahmanism, it must be pronounced as shé.

Therefore, he changed his surname to She and his name to She Yehe.

Zhu Kang was greatly impressed by this and praised Sheyahe's loyalty many times in front of the Champa princes.

As a result, the Champa princes changed their names and surnames one after another.

Anyway, changing the name doesn't cost money, just ask Zhu Kang to give it to you. The Han names are only used to deal with Han people, and they can do whatever they want in private, just to make the prince of the Ming Dynasty happy.

After resting for two days in Bintonglong, Zhu Kang announced his decision to attack Zhenla.

Sheyehe took out a simple map and said, "If Your Highness wants to conquer Chenla, don't fight with them in the forest. Start from here and capture towns along the way, and march all the way to their royal city, Angkor, to force the Chenla army to come to the decisive battle. Otherwise, they will fight in the forests and mountains until the hot rainy season comes."

Zhu Kang pointed to the Mekong Delta and said, "Aren't we going to attack here?"

She Yehe shook his head and said, "There are forests and swamps everywhere, with only many indigenous villages and no decent towns. If we send troops, we should go around the mountains further north."

The Mekong Delta was developed step by step from the upper reaches.

It was probably around the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty that towns gradually began to appear, and trade ports were developed after Zheng He's voyages to the West.

The large-scale agricultural development of the Mekong Delta is the result of the efforts of Vietnamese and Chinese immigrants.

First, the Nguyen Dynasty of Vietnam settled immigrants there and turned the relatively easy-to-reclaim land into farmland. Then the Qing army moved south, and the Ming Dynasty survivors fled overseas, turning the difficult-to-reclaim swamps and mangroves into fertile fields.

"How long will it take for the rainy season in Zhenla to arrive?" Zhu Kang asked.

Sheyehe said: "Three to four months. It's hot and humid, and the soldiers will easily get sick."

Zhu Kang nodded: "Then we must make a quick decision."

Sheyehe said: "I am willing to lead the army as the vanguard and clear the way!"

Zhu Kang was afraid of wasting time, so he said, "I'll give you another thousand elite soldiers."

Of course it was not "give", but a thousand Ming troops cooperated as the vanguard.

Sheyehe led his troops to set out the next day, and Zhu Kang led a large army to follow.

Two days after entering the border of Zhenla, Sheyehe occupied a small town and asked Zhu Kang to send troops to garrison there and transfer some subsequent food and fodder.

A merchant named Song Shunming often went to Zhenla to trade, and he always followed Zhu Kang.

When they arrived at the town to set up camp, Song Shunming accompanied them and said:

"The powerful and wealthy in Zhenla like to capture or buy wild people as slaves. Wild people actually have land, know how to farm, and have to pay taxes. But they are not allowed to enter the city, or even approach the edge of the city."

"A strong and young savage can be sold for dozens of pieces of cloth. But outsiders cannot capture him casually. They must obtain permission from the local nobles. They call their master Ba Tuo and their mistress Mi Ba, which actually means parents. Savages can marry on their own, but they are not allowed to have sex with rich people."

"If a Han Chinese guest in a wealthy family in Zhenla could not help sleeping with the maid, the master would not sit with the Han Chinese. If a servant ran away, he would be caught and tied up like a dog..."

This sea merchant named Song Shunming actually had only a vague knowledge of Zhenla.

The "savages" he referred to were actually the "untouchables" of Zhenla. After all, the state religion here was Brahmanism.

There are also two types of pariahs in Zhenla. One type is civilized and can understand the official language, and only these people can be slaves. The other type is the savages from the mountain tribes, who cannot even understand the official language, and their status is lower than that of ordinary pariahs.

Song Shunming continued:
"Many merchants from the Qing dynasty claimed that the people of Zhenla had too dark skin, but this was actually a false rumor."

"The upper class in Zhenla have very white skin, while the lower class have tanned skin due to hard work. There are also scholars here, but I don't know what books they read. They tie a white rope around their necks, just like the clothes of Ming Dynasty scholars to distinguish their status."

"When girls in Zhenla are around ten years old, they have to invite monks to help them lose their virginity. This is called 'Zhentan'. In April every year, girls who don't have 'Zhentan' have to report to the government, and monks will come to deflower them. The family also has to prepare gifts, otherwise the monks will be very angry."

"I heard that a girl's virginity is not broken by sexual intercourse, but by a monk poking her with his fingers..."

Zhu Kang found this more outrageous, and asked, "Is this all you care about in Zhenla?"

Song Shunming smiled awkwardly.

Zhu Kang asked again: "How are the people of Zhenla doing?"

Song Shunming said: "Zhenla, like Champa, believed in Brahmanism and divided people into different classes. If the father was a craftsman, the son could only be a craftsman. If the father was a soldier, the son could only be a soldier. They were used to it and didn't know how to resist. Some even begged for generations. However, as more and more people believed in Buddhism, Buddhists didn't care much about these things."

Zhu Kang nodded: "It seems that Buddhism is better."

Song Shunming said: "Buddhism is becoming more and more powerful in Zhenla. More than half of the temples built in recent years are Buddhist temples. Not only do the monks of the two religions often fight, but their followers also kill each other. When fighting, dozens or hundreds of people are killed or injured."

"Report!"

"Our vanguard was ambushed, and suffered hundreds of casualties, while defeating thousands of enemy troops. We beheaded more than 400 people and captured more than 200."

"How many Ming soldiers were killed or wounded?"

"One person was seriously injured, sixteen were slightly injured, and there were no casualties."

"I understand. Reward Sheyeha with a precious sword and thirty pieces of fine silk to commend him for his bravery and fearlessness!"

Zhu Kang became more and more satisfied with She Yehe. Although he was an ambitious person, he would be good as long as he could be used smoothly.

Of course, the fact that they were able to kill and defeat thousands of enemy troops even after being ambushed must have been due to the role played by the 1,000 Ming troops.

At this moment, Sheyehe kept looking back while walking on the road, looking at the 1,000 Ming troops who had joined forces to fight.

The fighting power is so terrifying!

Of course, an ambush is not as stupid as hiding on the roadside, as that would definitely be discovered by scouts exploring the way.

Thousands of Zhenla troops hid in the mountains and forests more than ten miles away, and only sent a few soldiers to observe secretly. After the Ming army passed by, they came out from the mountains and forests - it was called an ambush, but in fact it was more like a surprise attack.

Faced with the surprise attack, Sheyehe's army fought back hastily, and one unit even collapsed on the spot.

However, the 1,000 Ming troops remained calm and composed. They instantly changed from a marching state to a battle formation, and even counterattacked to defeat the Zhenla army.

This battle took place yesterday, but the more Sheyehe thought about it, the more horrified he felt.

Such a Ming army is invincible. From now on, we must be obedient and never anger His Royal Highness Prince Yu.

With the help of a thousand Ming troops, Sheyeha fought more bravely and advanced to the east of Viyatopura City for dozens of miles before stopping.

This was once the capital of the Funan Kingdom, located on the banks of the Mekong River, 100 miles southeast of the later Phnom Penh city area.

……

Suryavarman II was in the city and was looking at the messenger with a gloomy face.

The envoy knelt on the ground and said, "I met Prince Yu of the Ming Dynasty two hundred miles north of Bintonglong. He refused to talk to me and only arrested me and imprisoned me. Seven days ago, he finally summoned me. He said a lot... a lot of unpleasant things..."

Suryavarman II asked, "What will it take for him to withdraw his troops?"

The envoy said: "First, your majesty should send an envoy to Luoyang to apologize, and the envoy who apologizes must be a member of the royal family; second, cede the Borei Nok region to Champa, and from now on, the prince of the Ming Dynasty, Prince Yu, will be the king of Champa."

Borenoko, also translated as Priango, means "forest of the kingdom".

That is the later Ho Chi Minh City and its surrounding areas.

It is covered with swamps and forests, with only a few uncivilized tribal villages.

For Suryavarman II, the place could not provide much taxes or even many manpower, so he would not feel bad about ceding it.

But this will damage his prestige!

After much deliberation, Suryavarman II decided to fight a war.

His army was now stronger than ever before, with more than 200 war elephants alone, and a mountain cavalry unit. The armies of the various subordinate states and tribes had also been assembled one after another, and the 80,000-strong army was ready for a battle.

Moreover, the battle should be fought in the eastern suburbs of the city, and the enemy should not be allowed to capture Vyadatara, which is the secondary capital of Zhenla and the second largest city in Zhenla.

When Zhu Kang arrived with the main force, in front of him was an enemy camp stretching for more than ten miles.

The Zhenla army initially stayed in the camp and did not leave, trying to delay time until the rainy season.

Zhu Kang ordered General Han Jing to drag out the artillery and use artillery fire to flatten the enemy camp's fortifications, and then let the Annan and Champa armies attack.

Just when one camp was about to be breached, more than 30,000 Zhenla troops from nearby suddenly came to rescue.

The 3,000 Ming soldiers who had been waiting for a long time immediately led the remaining Annan troops to meet the enemy.

Destroy everything!

The Zhenla army had few bows and arrows, and only officers were equipped with bows and arrows, so their long-range firepower was almost negligible.

Moreover, their armor rate was not high, even the elite troops only had leather armor. Not to mention the Ming army's firearms, the bows and crossbows were enough to give the Zhenla army a hard time.

The Zhenla cavalry was also interesting, equipped with leather armor, machetes and curved long swords. In the eyes of the Ming soldiers, such cavalry units were just a group of horse bandits fighting with broadswords.

Due to the rugged terrain, the Ming army formed a modified version of the firearms mandarin duck formation.

A large number of Zhenla infantrymen armed with shields and javelins rushed forward in a disorderly manner due to the rugged terrain and the disorganized formation.

Flintlock rifles and bows were the first to fire, and Zhenla soldiers fell from time to time.

Before the Zhenla army entered the javelin range, the Ming army's small cannons also began firing.

As the battle went on, a vanguard of the Zhenla army was defeated without even being able to throw their javelins.

The Zhenla cavalry that went around to the flank were directly shot and defeated by the Ming army's light cavalry - these Zhenla cavalry did not even know how to shoot while riding, and they rushed forward holding long curved swords that were like Pudao.

"War elephants, war elephants!"

Seeing that the situation was not good, Suryavarman II directly sent in a hundred war elephants.

These war elephant troops were similar to those of Annan, with archers, spearmen, etc., but the elephants were not equipped with any armor and had not received any training to deal with firearms.

As the war elephants got closer, they became more and more anxious. They were frightened by the sound of muskets and cannons.

Suddenly, a war elephant raised its trunk and howled, then turned around and ran away.

The war elephants seemed to be able to communicate with each other, and other war elephants followed suit. The soldiers following behind the war elephants had no time to dodge and were trampled to death or injured by the war elephants.

Moreover, some war elephants even rushed towards the central army formation of Suryavarman II.

"The whole army rushes to kill!"

Seeing this, Han Jing gave an order and commanded the Ming and Annan troops to charge out.

Even Zhu Kang himself mounted his horse and led the cavalry troops to charge directly at the enemy's infantry formation.

The Zhenla troops collapsed one after another, especially the vassal forces that were called in to fight. They began to flee hundreds of steps away before they even engaged the Ming army.

The territory of Zhenla was 10 to 20 times that of Champa and Annan, but it had been fighting back and forth with Champa for a long time, and was repeatedly beaten by Annan and fled in panic. What kind of combat effectiveness could such an army have? It could only bully weaker countries and tribes.

The combat effectiveness of armies can really be compared.

The Ming army can easily defeat the Annan army.

The Annan army can defeat the combined forces of Zhenla and Champa!

The vassal armies of Zhenla could only fight when the wind was favorable, and they were still in the tribal era. Even if they had a country, it was a tribal federation. Once the situation was not good, the vassal leaders would flee quickly.

From Suryavarman II's perspective, the defeat was completely unexpected.

His original plan was to use a camp to hold back the enemy, and after the enemy was stuck in a stalemate, he would lead the main force to attack from the side to rescue. But something went wrong, the camp fortifications were destroyed by artillery, and it didn't take long for the battle to show signs of being breached, so he had to lead the main force to attack in advance.

The following battle was even more ridiculous. The front army was defeated by firearms, and the cavalry on the side was defeated by bows and arrows. The war elephants sent out to save the situation were scared away by the sound of artillery fire, and they also trampled several friendly troops.

The leaders of those vassal states and tribes were so far away from the enemy that they all fled!
Suryavarman II fled back to the city surrounded by his personal soldiers. He felt dizzy as if he was walking on clouds. He was unprepared for the collapse of tens of thousands of troops.

After slapping himself hard, Suryavarman II finally calmed down and began to organize troops to defend the city.

Outside the city there were fleeing soldiers and corpses everywhere.

Many fleeing soldiers were chased to the moat and jumped into the river to escape. Although they were all good swimmers, there were too many soldiers jumping into the river, and under the pushing and shoving, many soldiers who could swim drowned.

Moreover, there is no barbican here, and the troops that escaped back to the city did not dare to open the gate to welcome friendly forces.

Countless defeated soldiers who escaped across the moat ran around the city walls but could not get in. They either risked fleeing far away from the city or knelt down and begged for mercy as prisoners.

"The defeated soldiers from the south have rushed into the city gate!"

"The enemy is rushing in too, run away!"

Suryavarman II was horrified and led the main force to open the north gate and fight to break out.

Zhu Kang was also in a state of panic.

Except for the 3,000 Ming troops that could still be controlled, the rest of the troops were all out of control.

This is the second largest city in Zhenla. The Annan and Champa armies are like crazy. They don't chase the fleeing enemies outside the city, but rush into the city to loot everywhere. Even the generals can't stop them, and there is no way to stop them, because the crazy looting army has lost its organization, and the messengers don't know where to send orders.

What else can I do?
The army burned, killed and looted for seven or eight hours before Zhu Kang finally gathered them together.

Summoning the generals of Annan and Champa, Zhu Kang said: "Hand over half of what each tribe has looted!"

The generals were overjoyed. His Royal Highness Prince Yu was so generous that he only handed over half of it.

Of course, Zhu Kang took more than half. When he found that he could not restrain the subordinate troops, he immediately sent Ming soldiers to occupy military warehouses and government treasuries - where the money and grain were the most abundant. The various tribes only looted nobles, temples, wealthy businessmen and civilians.

The next day, Suryavarman II sent an envoy to ask for peace, and proposed conditions that made Zhu Kang very satisfied.

After some bargaining, Zhu Kang agreed to withdraw his troops.

First, Chenla ceded Prey Nok (Ho Chi Minh City and surrounding areas) to Champa.

Second, compensate Zhu Kang with a certain amount of gold, silver, spices, gems, and furs. It is difficult to estimate due to price fluctuations, but the value is probably more than 100,000 taels of silver.

Third, compensate Zhu Kang with two thousand oxen.

Fourth, send an envoy with gifts to Luoyang to apologize.

Fifth, reduce the port tax for Ming merchants in various ports of Zhenla.

When the first batch of compensation arrived, Zhu Kang began to withdraw his troops and returned to the Champa capital of Vijaya to establish his own country.

He changed the Champa Kingdom into the Southern Yu Kingdom.

The capital city of Vijaya was changed to Champa.

The military and political system was changed to the cabinet and ministry system in accordance with the Ming Dynasty, but the local administrative divisions were only at the prefecture and county levels.

The Ming civil and military officials who followed him, as well as the Annan officers who stayed behind, were all awarded titles or official posts. The princes of the Champa states were also given titles and official posts.

But these are just for show.

Most of the Champa princes still control local power.

The system implemented by the Han soldiers was a direct copy of the Sui and Tang dynasties' military system!
There is plenty of land here, which can be distributed to the Han soldiers. If there is not enough land, we can go and expand the territory.

If the princes and nobles of the Champa local states do not obey the Enfeoffment Order in the future, Zhu Kang can lead his troops to suppress them and then obtain their land and distribute it to the Han soldiers.

(End of this chapter)