Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 864 0859 [The wise and foolish Emperor of Dai Viet]

The publication of "History of the Song Dynasty" did not cause any waves for Shengdou Xiaomin.

However, the local wealthy people were very active and went to the yamen one after another to request copies for collection. As long as they can copy a copy, their descendants will be more informed and knowledgeable about history.

The imperial court only printed 500 sets, so it was difficult for the public to buy them directly!

And there are too many words, a total of 457 million words. Few booksellers are willing to print this stuff. Even if movable type printing technology has been improved, typesetting and proofreading is still a big project - the printing cost is too high, and the sales volume is not as good as imperial examinations and popular books.

In every state government office, there are copycats every day.

You copy this volume and I copy that volume without disturbing each other.

If a volume is copied and bound, the newly released manuscript will soon be borrowed for copying.

Guangzhou.

Yang Zaixing took a group of officers to Hunan to observe Bai Qi's military training.

With the support of the auxiliary civil servants, he canonized his father as the Supreme Emperor. After his biological father passed away, he revised the rituals for the former king and his biological father.

The secrets of cultivating white waxworms were mastered and promoted by agricultural officials, causing the price of candles to fall year by year.

Li Yanghuan is the nephew of the previous king. He succeeded to the throne at the age of thirteen and has just turned eighteen this year.

One of the fleets sailed to Annan and was enthusiastically received upon arrival. In addition to traditional silk products, there are also new products such as clocks, bamboo paper, velvet, insect wax, and glass mirrors.

The remaining recruits are all children of miners and farmers, mainly from Fujian, Jiangxi, and Guangdong. These three provinces are more mountainous and have less land but more people. The food and salary provided by the field army are enough to induce them to leave their homes.

An inland ship transported the newly purchased goods directly to the Annan Palace.

Winter and spring are relatively cool, leaving plenty of time for the new army to adapt to the water, soil and climate of Guangxi.

Bamboo paper is constantly being improved, and different processes have been developed in different provinces according to local conditions. The production cost of this thing is lower, and it is also loved by neighboring countries.

The glass mirror court also issued many edicts to remind people that this thing was poisonous, but the rich still couldn't put it down.

The export of Zhangrong is prohibited, but it is inevitable that some people will smuggle it. Once shipped abroad, the price will skyrocket. As long as one or two are smuggled out, the profit will be huge.

Annan Emperor Li Yanghuan said excitedly.

The clock has been miniaturized to half the height of a person and has gradually been mastered by craftsmen from all over the world. In the past two years, it has even begun to be sold overseas.

"Bring it to me quickly!"

Puyi in the Song Dynasty and Daliyi in the Ming Dynasty actually belong to the same way of playing.

After almost mastering the improved Yuanyang Formation, he also seconded an officer from Bai Qi and went to Guangzhou to receive new soldiers from the southern provinces.

After a brief training in Guangzhou, and when doctors, clerks and other support staff arrived, Yang Zaixing led the new army to the border of Guangxi.

When Yang Zaixing set out, many sea ships also left the port in batches.

"Your Majesty, I bought Zhangrong!" Uncle Du Yingwu said as if he was offering a treasure.

At the end of autumn, people began to arrive one after another.

There are a total of 6000 recruits, 2381 of whom are orphans, all raised by official charities.

These new soldiers are recruited by the provincial command departments, and they also require the cooperation of local civilian officials.

Through the Vietnamese version of the Grand Ceremony, Li Yanghuan successfully took control of the court and gathered power from military generals and nobles.

Several auxiliary ministers were also very helpful, allowing many landless farmers to get their land back, and also disbanded some troops to return to their hometowns to farm, which brought some relief to the militaristic Dai Viet court.

Of course, these measures also provoked rebellions, but fortunately they were all successfully quelled.

Last autumn, Champa and Chenla, who were fighting each other's wits, suddenly joined forces to take advantage of the civil strife in Annan to send troops. Li Yanghuan sent Yang Ying'er to lead his army to resist, and Annan finally won the self-defense war.

The eighteen-year-old young emperor Li Yanghuan completed the suppression of domestic rebels and won the victory in foreign wars.

It also developed agriculture through disarmament and actively developed foreign trade, improving the country's financial situation.

They even improved the treatment of slaves, banned tattooing on slaves, etc.

With monopolized power, the country is at peace.

So, is it time for the emperor to enjoy it?

The answer is yes.

Li Yanghuan likes women, auspiciousness, and Buddhism.

In order to celebrate last year's victory in the foreign war, Li Yanghuan immediately granted amnesty to the whole country. Then they began to select concubines on a large scale, conferred titles on those who offered auspicious gifts, sent people to find immortals to collect medicine and refine elixirs, and also carried out large-scale construction projects to build Buddhist temples.

"Your Majesty, please take a look." Du Yingwu bent down and pointed at the Zhangrong carried by the two eunuchs.

Li Yanghuan watched and caressed it for a while and praised: "This is truly a gift from heaven. My uncle is really reliable in his work."

Du Yingwu said: "The Ming Dynasty did not allow Zhangrong to go to sea. I spent a lot of money to allow the Ming Dynasty maritime merchants to take the risk."

"Reward!"

Li Yanghuan continued to caress the Zhangrong and said to the eunuch beside him: "Use these two pieces of Zhangrong to sew a dragon robe for me."

Du Yingwu pointed to the clock that was half a man tall and said: "Your Majesty, this is a pendulum clock. Legend has it that the immortal gave it to the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and the emperor of the Ming Dynasty passed on the skills to the craftsmen."

Li Yanghuan asked: "How to confirm the time?" Du Yingwu started the operation himself and introduced the hour hand and scale in detail.

Today, Kaifeng and Luoyang four-sided clocks already have minute hands. However, due to their exquisite design, more than 80% of clocks sold in the private sector only have hour hands.

The one in front of me only has the hour hand.

Li Yanghuan sat there blankly, staring at it for more than half an hour, then nodded and praised: "The hour hand is indeed moving, this thing is so ingenious."

While the uncle and nephew were playing, the eunuch came running to report: "Your Majesty, the Grand Tutor wants to see you."

Li Yanghuan frowned: "Why is he here again? Let him wait!"

Li Yanghuan still respects this chief minister. But in the past two years, he has become impatient. He always feels that the other party is relying on his old age and that he will be discouraged from doing anything.

Just say that you raise auspicious animals and search for elixirs. Isn't this normal?

Grand Master Zhang actually took Zhao Ji, the foolish king of the Song Dynasty, as an example, saying that those who did these things were the kings of the subjugated country.

He is obviously cursing himself!

Li Yanghuan summoned several favored ministers, let the maids perform songs and dances, and took his uncle to feast and have fun together.

Until evening, the eunuch came again and reported: "Your Majesty, the grand master has been waiting for a long time."

Li Yanghuan said in surprise: "He hasn't left yet?"

"Keep waiting," the eunuch replied.

Li Yanghuan was helpless and said: "Let him come over."

The chief assistant minister was named Li Boyu. In order to draw a clear line between him and the Li Dynasty, he changed his name to Zhang Boyu five years ago.

Zhang Boyu knelt down tremblingly: "Old minister, I pay homage to Your Majesty!"

Although Li Yanghuan has embarked on the road of being a coward, he is very smart and capable. He smiled and said: "Master, there is no need to be polite. Please give the master a seat as soon as possible!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Zhang Boyu was helped by the eunuch to sit down.

Li Yanghuan asked: "I wonder if the Grand Master has anything important to do?"

Zhang Boyu said: "The Ming Kingdom has long replaced the Song Kingdom as the orthodoxy of the Central Plains. Recently, news has come that the Jin Kingdom in the north has been destroyed, and the Ming Dynasty has lost all the territory of the old Liao Dynasty. Your Majesty, it is time for Vietnam to surrender to the Ming Kingdom. "

Li Yanghuan said: "We, Vietnam, dominate the southern part of the world. Now that we are at peace both internally and externally, are we still afraid that the Ming Dynasty will fail?"

"Both Champa and Chenla have become vassals of the Ming Dynasty," Zhang Boyu said. "Last year, the two countries joined forces to attack. Although our Vietnamese heavenly soldiers were powerful, it took a lot of effort to defeat the two countries. What if? The Tianming Kingdom also takes action, bringing Champa and Zhenla with them to attack from three sides, but how will they resist it when the time comes?"

Of course, Li Yanghuan was not stupid. He immediately felt that the matter was a bit difficult and nodded subconsciously: "What the Grand Master said makes sense."

Zhang Boyu continued: "After surrendering to the Ming Dynasty, we will take the opportunity to wipe out the barbarian chiefs in the north!"

In the northern mountains of Vietnam, there were many semi-independent tribes at this time.

The Vietnamese Li Dynasty married princesses to tribal chiefs through marriage. While appeasing the incorporated tribes, they also allowed those tribes to serve as pioneers in the invasion of the Song Dynasty, constantly harassing the Chinese border from time to time.

But now, the Vietnamese monarchs and ministers want to get rid of those tribes!

This is because Vietnam's systems and ideas are changing rapidly.

In recent decades, Vietnam has been expanding wildly, and from time to time it has invaded neighboring countries. Whether it was invading Champa and Chenla, or sending 100,000 troops to attack the Northern Song Dynasty, it was all driven by its domestic political ecology.

The founder of the Li Dynasty in Vietnam was a merchant son. He became the front commander of the Li Dynasty by paying bribes and married a princess.

Taking advantage of the civil strife in the Li Dynasty, the prince was young and wore a yellow robe!

The Vietnamese Li Dynasty was not in the right position, and rebellions occurred one after another. While restructuring and taking back power, it is also necessary to win over civil and military officials and divert internal conflicts through external war.

Compulsory military service has been implemented across the country, and the army has reached the size of one soldier for every three people!

They also promoted the feudal manor system and granted titles and land to civil servants and military officers like crazy.

In order to pay heavy military expenses, and civil and military officials wanted to obtain more serfs, the Vietnamese court chose to actively invade foreign countries. Moreover, they often gained territory but did not use it, and only robbed property and people to return home.

Vietnam sent 100,000 troops to attack the Song Dynasty. Although they looted countless people at first, they soon suffered retaliation from the Northern Song Dynasty.

As a result, the influence of Vietnam's military conglomerate has dropped sharply.

Civil servants took the opportunity to ascend to power and began to adopt the imperial examination system. In recent years, they even relied on disarmament to improve finances.

Civilian politics has become relatively mature, and external aggression and expansion are unsustainable. Next, it is time to resolve domestic separatist forces. The chiefs in northern Vietnam who have married princesses for generations not only often travel north to harass China, but also often travel south to rob Vietnamese people. They are the primary targets for eradication by the civilian government!
Zhang Boyu said: "Only by surrendering to the Ming Dynasty can we get rid of the danger of being attacked on three sides. Moreover, eradicating the barbarian tribes in the mountains to the north is also a gesture of goodwill to the Ming Emperor. As long as we stabilize the Ming Dynasty, we can attack the city in the future. The Ming court will You can help each other.”

"That makes sense!"

Li Yanghuan was convinced: "Immediately select envoys and tributes and go to the Ming Dynasty to pay tribute and request canonization."

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Zhang Boyu finally breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid that the young monarch would act on his own initiative.

Although Vietnam, controlled by civilian officials, is no longer so aggressive, it is absolutely impossible to stop.

Because the feudal manor system had not changed, the feudal lords were eager for war. They no longer dare to provoke the northern powers. From now on, they can only attack Champa and Chenla, and continue to send troops to plunder goods and people.

(End of this chapter)