Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 919 0914 [The Future of Five Hundred Ruthless People]

When the two armies were fighting, envoys from various countries hid on the ship in advance.

There was a loud noise from the cannon, and the messengers were horrified.

When the battle was over, the Seljuk scholar Anwari came to Yingxuan with an interpreter and asked, "Great general, what was that noise just now?"

Ying Xuan said: "A weapon. A national treasure that cannot be passed on to others."

Anwari asked again: "Is it the iron cylinder that was unloaded a few days ago?"

Yingxuan stopped talking.

Anvari was disappointed and returned to the cabin in a huff.

He had just taken a few steps when another Zhu Luo envoy came over to interrogate him, but still failed to get anything out of him.

Finally, envoys from various countries communicated privately, discussing and speculating on how Ming Dynasty’s weapons actually worked.

As we chatted, we ended up talking about mysticism.

Envoys from several states believed that firearms were bestowed by gods!

Some messengers also believed that the firearm was some kind of catapult.

A few days later, Parakalama, who had fled back to his original territory, resigned from the throne and asked to submit to the new king. He also asked if his family was safe, asked the Ming army to release his relatives, and said he was willing to offer a large amount of treasure.

"This man is considered a hero on the island," Yu Yunwen said, "We have few soldiers. Even if we can break into his territory, it will be difficult to search the mountains and seas to capture him."

Cheng Yu said: "Since he is willing to give up the throne and offer treasures, we can accept it."

Hu Quan said: "The Victory Royal City is too far from the sea. After the Ceylon prince ascends the throne, it is best to move the royal city to the port so that it will be easier for us to control in the future. Puttalam Port will be left to him as the royal city, and we will occupy Mantai Port in the north."

"That's a wonderful idea." Cheng Yu affirmed.

Yu Yunwen said: "Ceylon is a feudal island, and we can appoint more princes. We can also set up five great Kasyapas, scattered all over the island, and let the monks recommend eminent monks to serve as them, and grant more land to the temples where Kasyapas are located."

Several civil servants looked at each other and smiled.

The leader of the monks in Ceylon at that time was called "Mahakasyapa".

Five great Kasyapas were enthroned at once and distributed in various locations on the island, and land was also granted to the temples of the great Kasyapas.

Add to that the aristocratic feudal system, can this island still be unified?

Once a decision is made, take action immediately.

Zhu Xiaozhong, along with the prince who had already succeeded to the throne, forcibly relocated half of the population of Victory Royal City to Putalum Port.

From now on, the royal city of Ceylon will be on the seashore, making it convenient for the Ming army to dispatch troops at any time.

Zhu Xiaozhong discussed with the civil officials for a while, then found Xia Yuqing and said, "You must be feeling quite resentful for leaving you here, right?"

Xia Yuqing said unhappily: "I dare not."

Zhu Xiaozhong said: "Your wives and children will be sent here next year. At Mantai Port, you can take all the captured enemy soldiers there to build a castle. I will ask His Majesty to grant you the dozens of miles of land around the castle. By then, you will all be landlords. Besides, the islanders are good at farming, so you can easily recruit tenants."

Xia Yuqing licked his lips and said nothing.

Zhu Xiaozhong said again: "I will petition your Majesty to exile a few criminal officials here so that they can teach your descendants to read. Descendants who are willing to take the imperial examination and have talent can register as residents of Guangdong and take the imperial examination."

Xia Yuqing finally smiled.

Zhu Xiaozhong continued, "When your descendants have more, maybe you can expand the army and take down nearby cities. Your descendants can also become local lords on the island!"

"The court allows it?" Xia Yuqing asked in surprise.

Zhu Xiaozhong lowered his voice and said, "Before we set out to sea, His Majesty wrote me a secret letter. We can do whatever we want west of the Strait of Srivijaya (Strait of Malacca). If the troops left behind have the strength, they can even establish a country overseas. But there are two prerequisites..."

"What's the prerequisite?" Xia Yuqing asked.

Zhu Xiaozhong said: "First, the country must be governed by Confucianism, with a little Buddhism and Taoism at best. Second, the official language must be Chinese. Don't let the princes, nobles, officials and generals all speak foreign languages!"

"I understand." Xia Yuqing said.

Zhu Xiaozhong asked: "Do you really understand?"

Xia Yuqing said: "This is the intention of Zhou Gong's enfeoffment. Jiang Taigong was enfeoffed in Qi, where all the people were Dongyi, and they eventually became Chinese. Your Majesty's move is to convert the barbarians into Chinese. I will promote culture and education on this island and turn all the islanders into Chinese!"

Zhu Xiaozhong was quite surprised: "You know a lot."

Xia Yuqing smiled and said, "Before I was exiled to Shamen Island, I also read books by sages."

Zhu Xiaozhong said: "Your number is still too small. Occupying Mantai Port and the surrounding dozens of miles is already the limit. Although it is possible to forcibly capture other cities, what's the use? You still have to let the locals serve as officials to collect taxes, and you also have to recruit locals as soldiers to guard the city. Your Majesty does not approve of this situation. Do you know what you should do?"

Xia Yuqing thought carefully and said, "First, we must firmly guard this port and ensure the smooth flow of goods to Ming Dynasty."

"Second, to intimidate the king and nobles on the island so that they dare not raise troops to cause chaos, or at least dare not attack here." "Third, let the soldiers under your command marry and have children, so that the Chinese bloodline will increase. After all, we are all landlords, so we can afford to raise as many children as we want. If we can't afford to raise as many children as we want, we can just occupy more land."

"Five hundred soldiers marry several wives and concubines, each of them gives birth to five children, and in fifteen years there will be 2500 children. Moreover, we already have children, some of whom are already seven or eight years old. If we work harder, each of us can give birth to ten children, and when they grow up, there will be five thousand people!"

"I heard that the navy will be transferred here, and they can also have children. Even if the navy is replaced in a few years, we are willing to adopt the children they leave behind."

"These children must study, write Chinese characters, and speak Chinese. When they grow up, they will marry each other, and the males will join the army to fight, expand the territory, and continue to have children!"

Zhu Xiaozhong was stunned and finally said with emotion: "You know how to give birth to a child."

Xia Yuqing added: "The nobles on the island became scattered after being divided. Our Han descendants, however, will not fight among themselves. When there are too many of them, they will fight outside. Moreover, they have been intermarrying for generations, so everyone is a relative. One day, they will occupy the entire island!"

If that day really comes, who knows what kind of political system will be formed. It will probably become a clan politics on the island.

Of course, it is also possible that a hero will emerge and unify the entire island and establish a centralized king.

The climate of Ceylon was very good, and the agricultural foundation was good. These soldiers had no worries about food and clothing, and everyone took concubines in large numbers, and their descendants multiplied very quickly.

The main reason is that Zhu Ming is very open-minded and allows the territory west of the Malacca Strait to develop freely without any restrictions.

No matter how well the overseas territories are governed, they will sooner or later develop a sense of independence, and even if they are all replaced by Han Chinese, they will seek independence. The stricter the management of the motherland and the more they are exploited, the stronger the sense of independence of the overseas nationals will be.

Ceylon Island is too far away, Zhu Ming does not intend to manage it. It would be good if he could control it for fifty years.

It is possible to continue to extend the control time, but the management cost will increase greatly.

It is more convenient east of the Strait of Malacca, as the islands there are very close, and Zhu Ming plans to operate it for a long time.

Carrying the treasures obtained from Ceylon, the Ming fleet continued its journey eastward with envoys from various countries.

More than a hundred war horses were left behind, all of them sick and not yet fully recovered.

A few horse breeders were also left behind. If the war horses could recover, they would be used to train cavalry for Xia Yuqing.

Watching the fleet sailing away, Xia Yuqing gathered his soldiers and said, "Don't complain. We will all be prosperous in the future. The surrounding land of dozens of miles is all ours, and everyone can be a landlord. If any native is unwilling to hand over his land, we will capture him and build a castle for him! Also, select beautiful women from the local area, and have each of them become my concubines and give birth to many children!"

"Your Majesty said that if we have the ability, we can build a country on this island. If we can't build a country, our descendants can do so."

"Perhaps, some of them are the grandfathers of the king, and some of them are the ancestors of the prime minister."

"Do you want to be a big landlord?"

All the soldiers shouted: "Think!"

"Okay, from today on, you are already landlords," Xia Yuqing said, "Once the castle here is built, the court will send our wives and children here. After each of us divides up our land and recruits tenants to farm, we will be stable. The commercial taxes of this port do not need to be submitted to the court in the first year, and all will be distributed to the soldiers present!"

"In this first year, in addition to settling down, we must also familiarize ourselves with the surrounding geography. In the second year, we will find a suitable neighboring city and take it down under any pretext. By then, our territory will have doubled, and we can redistribute the land, so that everyone can be a wealthy landlord with many wives and concubines!"

These guys were all exiled criminals who had eaten human flesh. They were so excited by the promises that they had long forgotten the resentment of being isolated overseas.

They ordered the prisoners of war to build castles and demanded that the king and local lords send food.

No one dared to resist for the time being. After all, the Ming fleet had just left and no one knew when it would come back.

While the castle was being built, he selected those who were very obedient and appointed them as officials to help with the work.

After the castle was built, they rode their recovered horses to inspect the surrounding lands under their actual control.

Then, it was announced that all land within a radius of dozens of miles would be confiscated, and all the original landowners would become tenants!
Of course the landlords were unwilling to do so. Any resistance would be killed. Those who were lucky were captured and used to build roads and ports.

These five hundred ruthless people are not so easy to talk to.

The next step is to select a concubine. The family of the chosen daughter can be given two acres of private land, and will be protected as long as they pay taxes honestly.

The Sinhalese are a mixed race of black and white, with brown skin, and are descendants of the Caucasian and Negroid races.

Their skin color is darker than that of East Asians, but whiter than that of South Indians. In some cases, their skin color can even catch up with that of East Asians.

When the five hundred ruthless men select women, they mainly look at skin color; the whiter, the more they like them.

Before the arrival of the Governor of the Ming Dynasty, they were free to do whatever they wanted within the area of ​​dozens of miles, and they could divide up whatever commercial and agricultural taxes they could collect.

Xia Yuqing took five concubines at once. One of them had very fair skin and was said to be the descendant of an Arab merchant.

He led his troops to patrol the territory every day, one to train the cavalry, and the other to intimidate the natives.

This guy has been assassinated three times and now wears armor wherever he goes.

At every assassination site, long poles were erected with pickled human heads hung on them.

The heads fluttering in the wind demonstrate a certain authority.

(End of this chapter)