Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1193 Epilogue : Great Changes in the World
Luoyang, Imperial Palace.

The little emperor was staring at his homework in a daze. When he heard footsteps behind him, he quickly lay down on the table to do his homework.

Tao Jinfeng took a quick look and realized that the little emperor was slacking off again, so she patted him gently on the head.

The little emperor smiled awkwardly, turned his head and looked back, only to find that his mother was not there. He then felt completely relieved and concentrated on solving the math problems.

Outside the house, Empress Dowager Ye was taking a walk with Zhu Tangxi.

"What has Young Master Xie been doing lately?" asked Empress Dowager Ye.

Zhu Tangxi said: "Three cement kilns were built in the south of the city. The structure of each one is slightly different. All I do is burn cement and collect test data. I also asked him to borrow a microscope, saying that he wanted to observe the microstructure of the cement. I haven't burned cement in the past two days, but I am rebuilding the cement kiln. I will continue the test after the reconstruction is completed."

Empress Dowager Ye smiled and said, "It seems that he was right not to pursue a career in government, but to devote himself to the experiment."

Zhu Tangxi said helplessly: "Since the cement burning experiment began, except for the time when he asked me to borrow a microscope, he has never come to my house again. Alas, he is such a heartless person."

"Hahaha!"

Queen Mother Ye smiled even more happily: "This is a real man who gets things done. If he runs to your house to play all day, will you still respect him in the long run?"

"So I'm the only one who can go see him. I've been to the southern suburbs twice these days, both times using the excuse of visiting the Longmen Grottoes. I can't go there again in the short term, otherwise I'll be laughed at." Zhu Tangxi obviously has a very good relationship with the empress dowager, and they can even be said to be besties who can talk about anything.

The two of them walked around outside and gradually strolled back to the Qinzheng Hall.

The little emperor was doing his homework in the side hall, Tao Jinfeng was helping to sort out memorials in the main hall. There was also a group of Zhongshu Sheren busy at work, only the Jiudi Lang was relatively leisurely.

The attendant only recorded a few sentences today, which were nothing more than what books the little emperor read, what homework he wrote, and how he interacted with several teachers.

Empress Dowager Ye sat down and began to review the memorials.

She is the regent queen mother, issuing imperial decrees on behalf of the little emperor!

Of course, out of respect for the cabinet, Empress Dowager Ye never rejected the cabinet's opinions. At most, she would add one or two suggestions of her own on certain issues and take them back for further discussion by the cabinet.

The attendant finally picked up his pen again to record the Empress Dowager's handling of government affairs.

As for the fact that the Empress Dowager was reviewing memorials while chatting with her bestie, the attendant would not write about these things. He also turned a deaf ear to the content of the conversation.

"Bring the globe!" Empress Dowager Ye suddenly shouted.

A secretary immediately came forward holding a globe.

Empress Dowager Ye stared at the globe carefully for a while, and said to Zhu Tangxi: "The Governor-General of India sent troops to destroy the Kalinga Kingdom, and the Governor-General's direct jurisdiction almost doubled."

When the attendant heard the empress dowager talking about serious matters, he immediately pricked up his ears and picked up his pen, ready to take notes at any time.

Zhu Tangxi looked at the globe and said with a smile: "It's time to change the relevant maps."

The Kalinga Kingdom was located in the northeastern coastal area of ​​the South Asian subcontinent, and owned half of the later Indian state of Orissa and a quarter of West Bengal.

The Kalinga Kingdom had already appeared when China was still in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

During the Maurya Dynasty, two successive monarchs were defeated in Kalinga. Eventually, the country was annexed by Ashoka, but Ashoka himself suffered heavy losses and then began to promote Buddhism to consolidate his rule.

When Zhu Ming first established the Ming Dynasty, there were only a few scattered states left in Kalinga. One of these states grew stronger through trade with the Ming Dynasty, and then expanded militarily to re-establish the Kalinga Kingdom.

For decades, Kalinga has been a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, and the two sides have enjoyed harmonious relations with each other.

They bought all kinds of goods from Daming and sold agricultural products to Daming merchants. There were abundant rice, sorghum, corn and jute, all of which Daming liked.

Since the Ming Dynasty can continue to suck the blood of Kalinga through the trade scissors gap, it will not resort to force unless necessary.

This time we were forced to send troops!

The old king of Kalinga died and his sons fought for the throne.

The one who succeeded in seizing the throne killed all his other brothers. However, all the killed princes had married into the princely states, and some princely states in Kalinga were ready to make a move.

In order to improve his prestige and consolidate his throne, the new king actually wanted to infringe upon the Ming Dynasty to divert internal conflicts.

He took advantage of the hatred of the Ming Dynasty among various classes and sects in the country (the Kalinga Kingdom was particularly severely drained of blood), sent troops to coastal ports, drove out and killed Ming merchants, confiscated Han people's property, and destroyed Buddhist and Taoist temples.

The Ming Dynasty's Governor-General of India's territory was right next to them. The Governor-General was stunned when he received the news and couldn't understand why the other party dared to do this!

The governor did not even ask for reinforcements, but only deployed his own navy and army, and in less than a month, he destroyed Kalinga...

It is very easy to destroy a country, but it is difficult to rule it.

Although the princes of Kalinga were eager to pledge their allegiance, it was difficult for the governor to collect taxes directly, so he could only ask them to pay a certain amount of tribute every year, and there was no telling when they would launch another anti-Ming movement.

So the Governor-General of India petitioned the court to increase the number of garrisons or allow him to recruit natives as soldiers. He also requested to increase Han immigration and bring a few key areas under the actual control of the Ming Dynasty.

Rice is produced in abundance there, and the people of the Ming Dynasty must have loved it very much!
In this way, the direct jurisdiction of Ming Dynasty in India was opened up. As shown in the following figure:

Empress Dowager Ye and the cabinet ministers didn't care what the indigenous people there thought, nor did they care why they were hostile to Ming merchants.

Anyway, they should be severely punished for killing Ming people and destroying Buddhist and Taoist temples, and they deserve to have their country destroyed!
Moreover, it has always been the overseas granary of the Ming Dynasty. Immigrating some people there can not only consolidate control, but also ease the internal conflicts of the Ming Dynasty.

The improvement of industrial production efficiency has first affected the small peasant economy in the Ming Dynasty. Every year, bankrupt farmers flock to the cities, and big problems will easily arise if there is no continuous outward migration.

Today, small peasant economy still exists in the vast rural areas of Ming Dynasty.

Especially in those backward areas, women still weave cloth by themselves, and do not sell it, but just wear it themselves.

Empress Dowager Ye responded to the cabinet's opinion with just one word: OK.

...The central dignitaries of the Ming Dynasty only knew that something big had happened in India, but had not yet received any news from further west.

This year is an eventful one!
The Zengid dynasty, which inherited the Seljuk legacy, fell apart due to the war with Dayuan. After years of civil war, they finally reunited in recent years, and then they fought with Dayuan again.

In the Battle of Khorasan, the Kingdom of Dayuan suffered heavy losses, and the Zengid Dynasty collapsed directly.

The Ayyubids took the opportunity to move north and take over the entire Syrian region. The lords of other regions of the Zengid dynasty pledged allegiance to the Ayyubids.

Although this allegiance was formal, the Ayyubid dynasty officially became a vast empire, with its territory covering Egypt, the Arabian Peninsula, extending to Somalia in the south, and half of Persia in the east.

At the same time, due to the collapse of its suzerain and ally (the Zengid Dynasty), the Sultanate of Rum was defeated by the Byzantines.

Byzantium is strong again!
The Byzantine Empire and the Ayyubid Dynasty have been allied for decades, and both countries have absorbed the most technology from the Ming Dynasty. Now, they are two powerful countries.

Moreover, their alliance will not break in the short term.

Byzantium needed to resist invasions from European countries, while the Ayyubid Dynasty bordered Dayuan (Zhu's fiefdom). They each faced enemies from the east and west, and at most there would be some border frictions in the future.

Also, just three months ago.

The Holy Roman Emperor passed away!
Although the civil war has not yet broken out, it is already brewing - in fact, the Kingdom of Sicily has already achieved de facto independence.

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In view of the poor political system of the Holy Roman Empire, two consecutive generations of Holy Roman Emperors carried out reforms in the newly annexed Kingdom of Sicily, hoping to turn it into the base of the Holy Roman Emperors.

Today, the Kingdom of Sicily has become the only centralized monarchy in Europe, and its territory includes the entire Italian region except the Papal States.

But the King of Sicily at that time was the illegitimate son of the old Emperor of Holy Rai.

It was difficult for him to compete for the throne, and he had centralized power, so why should he continue to follow the Holy Roman Empire? He stopped paying all the tributes and continued to support his brother (the new Holy Roman Emperor) only in name.

The Pope also took the opportunity to win over the King of Sicily and instigated Sicily to become independent from the Holy Roman Empire.

……

The city of Chang'an (Marrakech) in northwest Africa.

Yang Wenhu, King of the Han Dynasty, is meeting with a Byzantine envoy.

"You can actually speak Chinese?" Yang Wenhu looked at the man with interest.

This envoy not only spoke Chinese, but also had a clear mix of Eastern and Western characteristics. He bowed and said, "My surname is Shen, my given name is Yan, and my courtesy name is Zimei. I am both an envoy from Rome and an envoy from Dayuan."

Yang Wenhu asked: "What is your purpose?"

Shen Yan said: "Your Majesty, please expand eastward until you reach the border with the Ayyubid Dynasty!"

Yang Wenhu laughed and said, "I would have to be crazy to provoke them."

Shen Yan asked back: "If Your Majesty doesn't provoke them, won't they come to kill us? The Ayyubid Dynasty has risen, and its strength is no less than that of the Seljuks back then. Their expansion to the east is blocked by the Dayuan Kingdom, and their expansion to the northwest is blocked by their ally the Roman Empire (Byzantine). In the end, they can only expand to the west. Your Majesty's Great Han Kingdom will sooner or later go to war with the Ayyubid Dynasty!"

This touched Yang Wenhu's heart. He asked, "We have to fight sooner or later. How sooner or later makes a difference. If I keep fighting eastward now, what benefit can Dayuan and Rome give me?"

"Trade," Shen Yan explained, "Dayuan first fought with the Zengid Dynasty, and now it is at odds with the Ayyubid Dynasty, and the trade between the East and the West has always been affected. Similarly, the Roman Empire was also blocked by the Ayyubid Dynasty. Therefore, the two countries decided to bypass the Ayyubid Dynasty and open up the trade route. Your Majesty's Han Kingdom has a strong navy, and it can also trade directly with the Roman Empire in the future."

The Kingdom of Dayuan already controlled the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea.

The Byzantine Empire also defeated the Sultanate of Rum and basically controlled all major ports on the southern coast of the Black Sea.

In addition, Georgia defeated Azerbaijan and Armenia.

The Kingdom of Dayuan is expanding its Caspian Fleet and preparing to fight across the Caspian Sea, attacking Shirvan (an Azerbaijan country that believes in Desert Religion) from the east and west together with the Kingdom of Georgia.

As long as the war is won, the trade route will be opened: Ming Dynasty - Dayuan - Georgia - Byzantium.

Yang Wenhu's Han Empire is now extremely rich because he controls the gold in West Africa!
Another hundred years later, the Mali Empire rose in West Africa and grew rapidly relying on gold.

How wealthy was the Mali Empire?
A group of black men from West Africa actually organized a 60,000-person pilgrimage team. Moreover, a large number of pilgrims held golden staffs, and the king directly distributed gold everywhere in the Middle East, causing the gold in the Middle East to depreciate for 20 years, which made the entire Middle East and Europe dumbfounded.

The Mali Empire had just been established at that time and was relatively weak, so Yang Wenhu sent just a thousand men to destroy it.

The King of Dayuan had a simple idea: to form a strategic alliance with Yang Wenhu's Han Kingdom and attack the rising Ayyubid Dynasty of Egypt from both the east and the west!
The reason why Byzantium joined in the fun was, firstly, to establish long-term trade with Dayuan, and secondly, to impress its ally, the Ayyubid Dynasty, and make the alliance between the two closer.

While Yang Wenhu was still considering, Shen Yan asked again, "Your Majesty, are you worried about religion?"

"Do you have any solution?" Yang Wenhu asked.

Shen Yan smiled and said, "The religious situation in Dayuan is more complicated than that of your Majesty's Great Han. I am a Nestorian who reads Confucian sage books, and I also dabble in desert religion, Buddhism, Taoism, Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism."

Yang Wenhu was stunned: "With so many religions, isn't Dayuan in chaos?"

Shen Yan said: "Of course it is very chaotic, and believers rebel from time to time. But by holding the knife handle and sorting out those doctrines, the situation can be maintained. Nestorianism originated from the Roman Orthodox Church (Eastern Orthodox Church), and has become secular enough after hundreds of years of spread. Perhaps, Your Majesty can learn from it. Once Your Majesty converts to Nestorianism, you can be on good terms with the Roman Empire (Byzantium). "

"Tell me in detail." Yang Wenhu was finally moved.

Religions can really be integrated, provided there is sufficient force.

India is a test bed for religious integration, where there are even Hindu sects that read desert religious scriptures…

The religious situation in Dayuan was equally crazy at this time. The Nestorianism that Shen Yan believed in had already absorbed the Three Pure Ones of Taoism.

Yang Wenhu discussed with Shen Yan for several days and nights and decided to build a country with Nestorianism as the main religion and desert religion as the auxiliary religion. His future sphere of influence will be West Africa, North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula (Spain + Portugal).

Of course, it now only occupies half of Spain's territory, only one-third of the North African coast, and the gold-rich areas in West Africa.

(End of this chapter)