Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1085 [Guizhou Province Established]

From western Hunan to eastern Guizhou, in places with slightly more convenient transportation, the proportion of Han people has actually far exceeded that of the Northern Song Dynasty.

This was not only because the Ming Dynasty continued to exile criminals, but also because Zhong Xiang's rebellion in Hunan had a great impact.

Those big families in Hunan who were able to run fast flocked to western Hunan and eastern Guizhou with their families. The rapid expansion of the Sizhou Tian family was mainly due to the recruitment of Hunan refugees.

Similarly, the Bozhou Yang family became powerful because they took the opportunity to recruit Sichuan refugees. They reaped a wave of benefits at the end of the Southern Song Dynasty and at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty. Even the Bozhou Yang family's jurisdiction gained a quota for Juren in the Southern Song Dynasty, and Bozhou, Zunyi and other places successively produced several Jinshi.

If Zhenyuan County, where Zhao Ji was at that time, were to be replaced by another time and space, Gong Suran, the first female painter of the Southern Song Dynasty, would probably be living here.

The whole family fled here all the way from Hebei!
There are no Han refugees further away, and even if they flee, they will not escape to a place full of barbarians.

To the west of Zhenyuan County is Jiangzhou (Kaili), where the Wu chieftain was quite cooperative and took the initiative to provide the Ming army with space for military and grain stations.

Therefore, the pioneer Ye Tie did not target him, but chose to kill the disobedient Jiang chieftain, and sent troops to directly occupy Jianzhou (Majiang County) to resettle the military and civilians.

Further west is the city called Houzhou (Guiding).

The chief of Houzhou also had the surname Luo. He was annexed by the Shuidong Song family during the Southern Song Dynasty, but he still lives a relatively comfortable life today.

Ye Tie led his army to Houzhou. No matter what task was assigned, Chief Luo handled it seriously because he still had to rely on the court to resist the Song family.

"If we settle 1,500 soldiers and civilians here, would Chief Luo be willing to accept them?" Ye Tie asked directly.

"Yes, of course I am," Chief Luo bowed and asked, "I wonder how the court will arrange it?"

Ye Tie said according to the policy:

"The name of Houzhou will not be changed, only the Jiemizhou will be changed to Banjimi. The court will assign a commander to come here to manage the Han army and civilians. You will serve as the governor of Houzhou, managing the local natives. You are not allowed to use troops without authorization. If there is a war, you must follow orders to recruit local soldiers and obey the orders of the Han commander."

"Also, give up the land near the state capital to the Han soldiers and civilians who migrated here to cultivate it."

"We will not ask for your land for nothing. The court will give you oxen, farm tools and seeds, and teach you how to use the tools and how to grow corn and sweet potatoes."

The Luo chieftain immediately agreed: "I will obey the court!"

Although he lost some rights, as long as the Han military and civilians moved here, the Song family of Shuidong would not dare to expand here.

In comparison, the method Ye Tie just mentioned is much more civilized than the Song family's grabbing of territory.

Moreover, the so-called commander mentioned by Ye Tie was not a formal position. Most of the immigrants under his jurisdiction were ordinary people who usually worked as militiamen while farming.

Similar to the Qianhu Tuntian in Guizhou during the Ming Dynasty.

When Zhu Yuanzhang and his son Zhu Di took over Guizhou, they settled military farms in key locations and set up large and small thousand-household and hundred-household garrisons.

Over the next few hundred years, they expanded outward with the military farming outposts as their center. As the Han people continued to multiply, the nearby barbarians also gradually became assimilated into Chinese culture.

Even the governor of Guizhou during the reign of Zhu Houzhao had to endure the bullying of the chieftains.

At that time, the two major chieftains, the An and Song families, were located one in the west of Guiyang and the other in the east of Guiyang. Not far from the city, there were barbarians everywhere.

The current An family's territory is larger than that during the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang, and they call themselves the "Luo Family Ghost Kingdom".

Its territory extends to Bijie in the west, Zunyi in the east, Xuyong in the north, and Liupanshui in the south.

After being beaten by the Ming army more than ten years ago, Sichuan continued to expand its immigration to the south. Today, the core areas of Xuyong and Gulin have been occupied by Han immigrants.

The remaining branch of the Bozhou Yang clan also took the opportunity to expand its territory westwards, and seized the later Zunyi city and its western suburbs from the Luo clan's ghost country.

The current situation is that the remaining Luo's ghost kingdom is too wild and barbaric, and the Ming court, Song family, and Yang family are unable to capture it. The barbarians of Luo's ghost kingdom cannot be defeated either, so the territories of each party tend to be stable, and those barbarians are forced to accept the imperial court's canonization.

Zhu Ming adopted the same method he had used in Lizhou and appointed three "Grand Ghost Lords" in one go, and also appointed more than a dozen "Great Ghost Lords" and dozens of "Ghost Lords".

Although this obvious strategy of sowing discord and division failed to cause the barbarians to fight among themselves, it actually split the Luo family's ghost country.

In this expedition to Dali, the ghost lords of all sizes whose territories were in Jinsha, Qianxi and Zhijin responded to the court's call and came with their troops.

"I'm here to see you, Master General!"

The big and small ghost kings prostrated themselves before Lin Chong and bowed respectfully.

Being so obedient is the result of being beaten!

Lin Chong pointed at the civil servant next to him and introduced him: "This is Zhong Yu, the Left Governor of Guizhou. The court is going to set up a province in Guizhou, and you will all be under the jurisdiction of Guizhou. The title of Ghost Lord will remain, and you will still govern your territory, but you will also formally set up vassal states and counties. From now on, when you come to Luoyang to pay tribute to the emperor, or meet with Han officials, your identities will be prefects or county magistrates."

After the guide translated, the ghost masters didn't understand and stood there in confusion.

Seeing this, the guide explained: "Everything remains unchanged, but you must address yourself as a Han official to others, and don't mention the Ghost Lord all the time."

The ghost masters finally figured it out and expressed their acceptance.

It's just a change of name anyway.

Zhong Yu, the Left Governor of Guizhou, said: "The name of Juzhou was changed to Guizhou long ago. Now Guizhou has become a province, and this place is renamed Guiyang. Where is Song Wanming?"

Song Wanming, the head of the Shuidong Song clan, stepped forward quickly and said, "I am here."

During the Southern Song Dynasty, this man was appointed by Emperor Xiaozong of Song as the chief governor of the Jinglüe Anfushi because of his meritorious service in quelling the rebellion of various barbarians and his growing power. His jurisdiction (in name) not only included the entire province of Guizhou, but also part of southern Sichuan and western Hunan.

Zhong Yu took out the imperial edict and the appointment documents: "The court appoints you as the right governor of Guizhou, in charge of the natives under your own jurisdiction, and also in charge of the various ethnic tribes in Guizhou Province. However, you are not allowed to gather troops without authorization. In terms of recruiting soldiers for war, you must obey the command of the commander-in-chief in peacetime and the Guizhou general in wartime."

Song Wanming was overjoyed and knelt down in front of the imperial edict: "Your Majesty, I thank you for your grace!" The Song family has a high degree of sinicization.

Although most of the barbarians under their rule could not even speak Chinese, the Song family's children had been educated since childhood and even recognized their Han ancestors.

The other local chiefs present all showed expressions of envy and jealousy.

No matter how jealous they were, no one dared to fight because the Song family was too powerful.

In comparison, the Yang family of Bozhou is nothing.

Zhong Yu also said to the other chiefs: "If the Song family handles the disputes among the tribes unfairly, you can come to the Left Governor... that is, me. Come to me and appeal, and I will handle it impartially."

The chiefs then breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhong Yu continued, "Song Wanming, now that you are the Right Governor, shouldn't you use some of the land you hold to resettle the immigrants?"

This is a political deal.

The imperial court was unable to absorb Guizhou, which was full of barbarians, so it chose to cooperate with the Song family.

The Song family not only had to surrender some of their territory, but also had their military power restricted. When the proportion of Han people increased in the future and many barbarians were naturalized, the court had various reasons to change the natives to the Han people.

This is how the Shuidong Song family declined in another time and space.

In the early Ming Dynasty, they actually controlled one-sixth of Guizhou's land. By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the territory they actually controlled had shrunk by more than half. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, although the Song family was still called Tusi, they were actually no different from Han gentry.

Next, Zhong Yu announced the official positions of other chieftains, including the Yang family of Bozhou, who had lost Bozhou.

When Zhu Ming was preparing to establish Guizhou Province, he assigned Bozhou (Tongzi) to Sichuan and Zunyi to Guizhou.

Zunyi was called Zunyi Army in the Northern Song Dynasty. Later it was renamed Zunyi Prefecture, and the Yang family inherited the title of local governor there.

This so-called "hereditary" title exists only in reality and without name.

The same was true for other local chieftains. From the Northern Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, the hereditary system was not recognized, but official titles were indeed passed down from father to son.

If one day the conditions for reforming the natives are ripe, and those native chieftains happen to be caught committing crimes... hehe!
For the next half month, Lin Chong led his troops to stay in Guiyang and cooperated with Zhong Yu to resettle the military and civilians in Guizhou.

The regular army will leave a garrison in Guiyang.

Veterans and militiamen, along with the immigrants, were stationed in various strongholds to farm and reproduce.

The chiefs and their soldiers did not leave, but stayed in Guiyang waiting for Bai Qi. They wanted to follow them to attack Dali!
Ye Tie, the vanguard of the Eastern Army, soon arrived in Guiyang.

Lin Chong asked Ye Tie to stay and rest, and he sent a troop south to open up Anshun, Zhenning and Guanling areas.

It used to be the territory of Luodian Kingdom, but it had lost its name to the Ming army long ago, and the chiefs accepted the title bestowed by the Ming Dynasty.

However, the imperial court had no actual control over the area. This time, under the pretext of conquering Dali, it also had to resettle military and civilians in Guanling and other places.

When it comes to the expedition to Dali, the result is important, but the process is also important.

Wherever the army passed, it used its military power to resettle soldiers and civilians, and continuously increased the area under the actual control of the court.

Even the criminal officials who were exiled were all issued a set of armor, regardless of whether they had received training or not!
When Bai Qi led the eastern army to Guiyang, the general sent by Lin Chong to clear the way brought back good news: the barbarians in Zhenning were disobedient, the Ming army had already destroyed the villages everywhere, and the remaining barbarians fled into the mountains and were inconvenient to pursue.

"Meet the king!"

"Meet the Marshal!"

"Greetings to Your Highness!"

"..."

The chiefs of various tribes knelt in front of Bai Qi, shouting a variety of names.

Bai Qi carefully asked everyone's name and identity, appearing to be very friendly.

But some barbarians in western and southern Hunan knew that this prince must not be provoked, so they would destroy their villages and capture people to mine at any time.

There was a banquet that evening, and both civil and military officials were present.

The next day, Bai Qi convened a meeting of all the generals.

Lin Chong pointed at the map and said, "The remnants of the Luodian Kingdom are disobedient. Our vanguards have taken down several villages along the way. But that route is still very dangerous. We must leave troops capable of fighting to guard the food route, otherwise the remnants who have fled into the mountains may come out at any time."

Song Wanming volunteered: "My family has been fighting against the Luodian barbarians for generations, and even Guiyang was seized from them. If I lead the troops to guard the grain road, there will be no problems from Guiyang to the border of Dali!"

"Excellent," Bai Qi praised, "Guizhou's grain route will be handed over to General Song... well, to Governor Song."

Song Wanming knelt on one knee, clasped his fists and accepted the order: "The food and grass are lost, there is no need for you to deal with it, I will cut my own neck to apologize!"

Bai Qi pointed to Shicheng County of Dali on the map and said, "This city is strategically located and is the key to our army's attack on Shanchan (Kunming). The surrounding barbarians have repeatedly rebelled against Dali, and now they have established their own country. I'm afraid they won't obey us obediently. We must deal with a few tribes severely."

Song Wanming was very positive: "The barbarians there are in the same group as the remnants of the Luodian Kingdom. Their ancestors came from the same tribe."

Lin Chong's general Fan Ruwei said, "I heard that Shicheng County has become the capital of the barbarians. We can lead the main force and light troops to advance quickly. Don't worry about the tribes in the mountains. Go straight to Shicheng County to capture the barbarian chieftain and fake king. The barbarians usually farm and hunt in their own tribes. As long as we march quickly, we can prevent the barbarians from gathering a large army. The barbarians are not good at defending the city, so Shicheng County can be taken quickly."

Bai Qi's general Zheng Tong volunteered: "I will lead the elite troops to attack Shicheng directly!"

(End of this chapter)