Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1100 [Duan Yu Enters Luoyang]

For Duan Yu, who had never even been to Kunming, traveling all the way north was a very novel experience.

The loss of a country no longer matters.

As long as I can save my life, what's the difference between being a monk in Dali and chanting sutras in Luoyang?
Duan Yu was already disgusted by what the Gao clan princes had done, and in his eyes, the Dali Kingdom was only in name.

However, Duan Yu was particularly upset by his son Duan Zhengxing's crying, and he couldn't help but scold him several times during the journey.

Facing his father's reprimand, Duan Zhengxing secretly complained: You have been the ruler for decades and have enjoyed everything, so it doesn't matter. I finally succeeded to the throne, but I haven't enjoyed it for long, and now I am going to be the ruler of a fallen country. Even if I stay in Dali as a puppet, it is better than running to Luoyang to live under someone else's roof.

After a difficult journey through Guizhou, Duan Yu turned into the Yangtze River and took a relaxing boat ride. He even enjoyed the beautiful scenery along the way.

Since he was extremely cooperative, the civil and military officials in charge of the escort did not make things difficult for him. They even accompanied Duan Yu to the deck every day to enjoy the scenery and explained some relevant historical stories.

Before winter came, Duan Yu arrived in Luoyang.

It did not cause any sensation. He was just a king who lost his country. The officials and people of the Ming Dynasty had seen many such cases.

……

Imperial city, Chuigong Hall.

The new Minister of Industry Hu Quan said: "Your Majesty, this is the tribute of Jiangxi, there are two kinds of discharged cloth, white discharged and color discharged. Color discharged cloth is very expensive, and the fine white discharged cloth is also very expensive, but ordinary white discharged cloth is very cheap."

Zhu Ming didn't know much about fabric printing and dyeing technology, so he asked with great interest, "Why is it so cheap?"

Hu Quan introduced: "The printing and dyeing speed is very fast, fewer workers are needed, and ordinary people can buy floral fabrics cheaply."

Ju Ming nodded in approval: "Excellent."

Hu Quan said: "This printing and dyeing technique was contributed by the Zhang family of Dexing."

"So he is a member of the Queen's clan," Zhu Ming said with a smile, "This method benefits the country and the people, and he should be rewarded."

In another time and space, the discharge dyeing method was invented in the Ming Dynasty.

It is to use a reducing agent to print patterns on colored fabrics. The reducing agent used initially was dilute sulfuric acid...

In the Tang Dynasty, dilute sulfuric acid could be prepared from gallstones, and Zhang from Dexing also used gallstones in his wet copper smelting. Although Zhang donated the gallstone mine to the imperial court for copper smelting and coin casting, he still kept a small part of it. It was easy to accidentally invent the discharge method by studying it all day.

There are three kinds of cloth patterns presented to Zhu Ming.

One is a colored cloth with colorful patterns. In addition to dilute sulfuric acid, other chemicals must have been used to dye the patterns and colors extremely gorgeous. Not only is the formula extremely difficult to prepare, but the technique is also difficult, and the price is almost as expensive as brocade.

One is the fine white-bloomed cloth, which has only blue and white patterns. It is also expensive, which has nothing to do with the formula, but mainly because of the valuable technique, and the yield is not high.

The last type is ordinary white-bloomed cloth, also in blue and white, which looks rough and cheap at first glance. However, it can be quickly printed and dyed in large quantities at low cost, allowing the lower-class people to wear cheap floral cloth.

Especially for little girls from poor families, who are at the age of loving beauty, making two sets of such printed clothes during the Chinese New Year is enough for them to look forward to the future happily.

Everyone loves beauty. Although floral fabrics are more expensive and cannot improve warmth, they can satisfy people’s spiritual needs.

Hu Quan took his leave and Duan Yu and his son were brought in.

"Your humble servant Duan Zhengyan (Duan Zhengxing) pays homage to His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming!" The two men knelt and kowtowed.

"Flat body, give me a seat."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Zhu Ming looked at Duan Yu carefully and felt a little disappointed. He was just an ordinary old man.

"Come closer and take a look at the floral cloth I just got." Zhu Ming said with a smile.

The father and son stepped forward, and the eunuch brought the chair over.

Duan Yu looked at the colorful cloth and praised it, "I have never seen such cloth before. It must have been dyed in a special way. The Ming Dynasty is indeed the Celestial Empire!"

Zhu Ming shook his head and said, "These two exquisite ones are too expensive, and the production is not high. They are just to please a few rich people. I like this seemingly crude one the most. It can be produced in large quantities, and poor people can also afford it."

Duan Yu quickly changed the direction of his praise: "Your Majesty cares about the people, and the wise kings of ancient times were no more than this."

"Haha, I dare not compare myself to the wise kings of ancient times." Zhu Ming was very pleased.

Duan Zhengxing looked at the colorful cloth without moving his eyes away for a long time.

This thing is like a watercolor painting. It is nothing in the industrial age, but it was extremely rare in ancient times.

It can even be called a work of art, because even the maker cannot figure out the specific ingredients of the chemical formula, and it is almost impossible to replicate the exact same pattern and color. Therefore, each piece of cloth is unique, turning dyeing into a work of art.

"Do you like it?" Zhu Ming looked at Duan Zhengxing.

Duan Zhengxing quickly said, "I dare not."

Duan Yu was speechless. What was this silly son talking about?

Zhu Ming said, "Take it if you like it."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the reward!" Duan Zhengxing was overjoyed. Duan Yu: "..."

Zhu Ming asked, "I heard that you want to stay in Luoyang and become a monk?"

Duan Yu said: "I have always been a devout Buddhist and have no interest in fame and gain. Luoyang is a sacred place for Buddhists. It is my lifelong wish to stay in Luoyang and worship Buddha."

No wonder!
If the Gao clan princes had not been in a state of chaos, Duan Yu might not have abdicated and become a monk yet.

Zhu Ming nodded in approval: "It's a good thing to concentrate on worshipping Buddha. But Dali Esoteric Buddhism and Theravada Buddhism are not popular in Luoyang. You can switch to Zen Buddhism in the future."

Duan Yu quickly said, "I have heard about the mysteries of Zen Buddhism for a long time, but unfortunately I have never met a famous teacher."

Zhu Ming said: "You can go to Tianwang Temple in Luoyang to practice Buddhism and discuss Buddhist principles with the abbot of Tianwang Temple every day. When your Zen practice is advanced, I will give you a four-character Dharma name."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Duan Yu thanked him.

Zhu Ming looked at Duan Zhengxing again and said, "You can live in Kaifeng. I will grant you a house and 500 mu of good farmland. There is no vacant good farmland outside Kaifeng. You can convert the rent of 500 mu of good farmland into money and receive it every year. I will also grant you the title of Dali Gong and you can receive the title salary every month. Your wife will also receive an imperial decree."

Duan Zhengxing was overjoyed and quickly stepped back and knelt down, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for the reward!"

When he passed by Kaifeng, he thought it was very prosperous and it would be nice to be a rich man in Kaifeng for the rest of his life.

After chatting for a while, the father and son took their leave.

After leaving the palace, Duan Yu breathed a sigh of relief.

This ending doesn't seem bad.

As long as Emperor Zhu did not do anything tricky, it would be the same for him to be a monk anywhere. His son being a rich man in Kaifeng was no different from being a puppet in Dali, and there was no political risk from powerful officials.

Duan Yu could no longer take care of his other sons, so he had to leave everything to Emperor Zhu.

How to arrange?

Let's go to northern Hebei and Liaodong to farm, where the land is vast and the population is scarce!
Duan Yu warned, "When you go to Kaifeng, be careful with your words and actions, and don't say anything nonsense."

"Father, there is no need to say more. I am not a fool." Duan Zhengxing said.

Although Duan Zhengxing had no political means, he was ultimately the winner of the "battle for the throne."

He still has some brains, but he has given up on them a long time ago, because if he doesn't, he will die faster!
The puppet king of Dali was in a more dangerous situation than the king of Goryeo.

The Goryeo king was at most placed under house arrest, and there has been no precedent of a powerful official killing the king and usurping the throne. However, the Dali king had been killed once, and the throne had been usurped twice by the Yang and Gao families!

By the way, the former King of Goryeo, Wang Gou, has died of illness in Kaifeng.

If a person dies of natural causes, his eldest son will inherit the title at a lower level.

This family is full of short-lived people, probably due to the influence of inbreeding. It is estimated that they will only be able to pass on to a few generations in a hundred years. Every time the title is demoted, the title will disappear quickly.

When we returned to Sifangguan, we suddenly saw a group of foreigners coming.

Duan Yu asked curiously, "Who are those people?"

The accompanying official said: "Western Liao envoys come to pay tribute and negotiate."

As the Ming was digesting and consolidating the newly occupied areas and was not in a hurry to attack the Ili River Valley, the tension between the two countries seemed to ease.

Western Liao continued to send envoys to the Anxi Protectorate to seek peace, and this year it simply sent an envoy directly to Luoyang.

Xiao Tabuyan tried to give up her sovereignty over the land north of the Tianshan Mountains (including the Naiman tribe) and regard the Ming Dynasty as her parent country in exchange for long-term peace between the two countries. She was even reluctant to cede the Ili River Valley.

Of course, it could also be a delaying tactic, trying to delay the Ming Dynasty from sending troops.

Because Western Liao is at war again!
Khwarezm, which was torn apart by the Seljuks, had been fighting a civil war. Ajisi, the troublemaker, could not win, so he asked the Western Liao Dynasty to send troops to help him and promised to pay a tribute of 40,000 gold coins every year, which was 10,000 more than the original tribute.

In view of the Seljuks' covetous intentions, although Xiao Tabuyan hated Ajis very much, he still suppressed his nausea and sent troops to help, in order to win over Khwarezm to fight against the Seljuks.

At the same time, Xiao Tabuyan also adopted a daughter as a princess and formed an alliance with the Gejining Dynasty through marriage - the Liao Kingdom had once formed an alliance with Gejining, and the royal families of the two countries were still relatives.

Now the situation in Central Asia has changed again. Western Liao, Ghetto and Khwarezm have formed an offensive and defensive alliance to jointly deal with the Seljuk Empire, which is on the brink of collapse.

The Ming Dynasty must be stabilized so that Western Liao can safely fight against the threat from the west.

In fact, the current confrontation between the four major forces of Western Liao, Seljuk, Ghetto and Khwarezm is purely a fight between weaklings. Each of them is constantly plagued by internal and external troubles, and will fall apart if they are not careful, but they have to bite the bullet and continue to fight.

It is very likely that while defeating the enemy, one's own internal conflicts will also completely explode...

Therefore, no one dared to take the initiative to attack with all their strength, and they only repeatedly clashed with small countries in the middle area. For example, Bukhara and Ghor in history would grow into regional hegemons in Central Asia in the future, but now they have become the center of the war and have been ravaged again and again.

"Go back and tell Xiao Tabuyan that if she doesn't cede Ili, there will be no discussion," Zhu Ming said in a tough tone. "If she is willing to cede Ili, the remaining details can be discussed. I accept the gifts you brought. You can take away the state gift given by the Ming Dynasty after the spring comes."

The Western Liao envoy seemed to want to say something but hesitated, and ultimately said nothing.

Because Western Liao had no bargaining capital, continuing negotiations would be tantamount to begging, which would only make the Ming Dynasty's rulers and ministers look down upon it even more.

Alas, I wish the late emperor (Yelü Dashi) were still alive!
(End of this chapter)