Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 931 0926 [Xi Liao’s Request]

Zhu Ming was basically satisfied with this prince.

Although he was not a genius, he was still quite smart. If he was born in the common people and received a good education from childhood, he would have a certain chance of passing the imperial examination.

This evaluation is already very high. It is not easy to pass the imperial examination.

Although he seems to be weak in character, he is actually very strong-willed. This can be seen from the fact that when he came back from hunting, he practiced riding and archery in private without anyone forcing him.

I also like to learn and ask questions about things I don’t understand. I also have my own thoughts and understandings.

In another two years, Zhu Ming planned to send the prince to Wangchuan Valley and let him learn dialectical materialism from Dean Zhu.

"Your Majesty, Liang Tongzheng urgently requests an audience."

"Let him in."

Zhu Ming had planned to promote Liang Yi, who was in charge of the Tongzhengyuan, to the cabinet and then replace him with someone else.

This person has no reputation among the people, and even most ordinary people don't know that there is such a person. But he is absolutely important in the court. Since the Zhu family father and son occupied Hanzhong, Liang Yi has been responsible for the transmission and issuance of government orders.

Let’s put it this way, if Liang Yi ignored the consequences, he could have taken on the entire Ming cabinet on his own.

Zhu Ming put down his brush and asked, "What's the emergency?"

Liang Yi said: "The family of the Duke of Gan came to the capital to ask the court to grant him a posthumous title."

Zhu Ming was surprised and asked, "Duke Gan died?"

Liang Yi replied, "He died of illness a month and a half ago. His will was to donate the Zhang family's largest copper mine to the imperial court to set up a mint."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Ming remained silent.

The Zhang family was also somewhat traumatized by the previous land measurement and clan separation in Jiangxi. Before his death, Zhang Gen actually donated the copper mine to the court.

This is forcing Zhu Ming to express his stance. If his funeral affairs are not properly arranged, many ministers will feel disappointed.

After thinking carefully for a while, Zhu Ming finally said, "Order the Ministry of Rites to bestow the posthumous title of Wen Zheng. The funeral will be the same as that of a prince. His eldest son will inherit the title and his title will be reduced by one level according to the rules. However, his fief will be increased by 300 households, and the number of households in the fief will remain unchanged. Select a woman of the right age from the Zhang family to be the legal wife of the third prince Zhu Xiang. The crown prince will escort the queen back to her hometown to pay her respects, and he will be fully responsible for all matters related to the burial."

"Yes!" Liang Yi accepted the order and left.

Zhu Ming no longer handled government affairs and went straight back to the harem to find Zhang Jinping and personally inform her of her father's death.

Zhang Jinping was stunned at first, then slowly sat down.

There was no sign of sadness, but he was a little dazed, and even the smile he had when he saw Zhu Ming had not yet faded.

Zhu Ming took her hand and said, "You should go home and have a look too. Let Yang'er go back with you."

"Okay." The smile on Zhang Jinping's face turned bitter.

That night, Zhang Jinping thought about his father's life. Countless memories of the past came flooding back, and he finally burst into silent tears.

Zhu Ming held her in his arms and patted her back gently.

Last year, Zheng Pangzi and Zheng Yuanyi's father died, and Zhu Ming asked them to go home to attend the funeral. However, Zheng Pangzi's grandfather was alive and well, and he could still drink and eat meat at the age of over 80.

Mrs. Yan is still alive, but she is blind and deaf, and her life is inconvenient.

Zhu Ming began to recall the past, his previous life and this life, it seemed like a dream.

A few days later, Crown Prince Zhu Yang, accompanied by officials and guards, escorted his mother to Jiangxi for the funeral.

……

During the hottest summer, there was a severe drought in the south and Poyang Lake was almost dry.

The northern provinces, which had been suffering from a continuous spring drought, were hit by heavy rains one after another, and some counties even experienced floods.

Disasters are happening in the north and south in turn. The climate is really weird.

From the central government to local governments, everyone is busy with disaster relief. This year is one of the worst disasters since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

There was no shortage of strange opinions among the people, complaining that the court's policies were problematic.

Zhu Ming issued another order, telling the prince not to rush back to Luoyang to report after burying his grandfather. He could stay in Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Huainan to inspect the disaster situation, but not to interfere in disaster relief affairs, but to carefully observe the operations of local officials.

At the same time, he asked the inspectors of the southern provinces to copy their recent work reports and hand them over to the prince.

In the blink of an eye, it is already autumn.

Yue Fei and Han Shizhong sent messages one after another: The war has started in Mobei!

Since the Ming Dynasty controlled the southern grasslands and set up two protectorates, and the Wanggu tribe in the northern foothills of Yinshan Mountain was very loyal to the Ming Dynasty, the northern tribes did not dare to invade the south for the time being. After experiencing a severe drought in the grasslands this year, the Kerey tribe brazenly launched a war against the Mongolian tribe.

Zhu Ming immediately sent an envoy to order the two tribes to resolve the dispute peacefully.

Then he ordered Yue Fei and Han Shizhong to wait and see for the time being. He would send troops to help one side recover its territory after a series of defeats, that is, he would help the loser and would never allow the Mobei grassland to be unified.

At the time of the Battle of Mobei, the Western Liao envoys arrived in Luoyang. When Zhu Ming first received the news, he was somewhat surprised. He did not expect Yelu Dashi to take the initiative to repair it.

Zhu Ming did not meet him immediately, but asked the Honglu Temple to sound out the situation first.

Soon, the Western Liao envoys explained their intentions: they offered thirty fine horses and intended to establish a brotherly relationship with the Ming Dynasty. Merchants from the Ming Dynasty could travel freely in the Western Liao territory as long as they had official documents. In addition, the Western Liao Dynasty wanted to take a batch of Buddhist scriptures, Confucian scriptures, eminent monks and Confucian scholars.

Ma Kuo, who had been transferred to the Privy Council, was called in by Zhu Ming for questioning: "Have you ever dealt with this Western Liao envoy Xiao Chala Abu before?"

Ma Kuo said: "When Emperor Tianzuo was still alive, this man was the co-director of the Liao Privy Council. He and another general, Xiao Wulila, were known as Yelu Dashi's right-hand men. His leading a team to visit the Ming Dynasty fully demonstrated Yelu Dashi's sincerity."

"Is Buddhism popular in Gaochang?" Zhu Ming asked.

Ma Kuo replied: "When I was on a diplomatic mission to the northern desert, I once passed through the Gaochang Uighurs. The Buddhists were the most numerous there, followed by the Nestorians. Then came the Manichaeans, Zoroastrians, Taoists, and Shamanists."

Zhu Ming was extremely shocked: "Gaochang is actually the Nestorian Church ranked second?"

Ma Kuo nodded and said, "That's right. The chieftains and nobles of the Kereyid tribe that fought against the Mongols in the northern desert and the Wanggu tribe in the northern foothills of the Yin Mountains were all Nestorians."

Zhu Ming: “…”

Zhu Ming really didn't understand this situation.

Historically, the biological mothers of Mongke, Kublai Khan and others were Nestorians from the Kerey tribe. After she died of illness, Kublai Khan personally ordered that a sacrifice be held at the Cross Temple in Ganzhou.

After Zhu Ming's detailed inquiries, Ma Kuo answered them seriously and quickly dispelled the emperor's doubts.

It is true that Nestorianism is a branch of Christianity, but it is definitely a heresy in Europe.

The idea of ​​this sect is to separate the divinity and humanity of Jesus. It is very secularized and has lost its exclusivity. The Han people even call Nestorianism Persianism.

Especially in Turpan, where Buddhists and Nestorians were the most numerous, intermarriage between the two religions had become a normal occurrence. Monks and priests also interacted with each other in a friendly manner, and even absorbed each other's doctrines... Zhu Ming could hardly imagine that scene.

On the contrary, it was Manichaeism that was most exclusive among the Gaochang Uighurs.

Manichaeism was an extremely tight organization and once became the state religion of the Gaochang Uighurs, with a large number of believers in upper society.

At this time, Turpan was simply a melting pot of religions.

Yelu Dashi also wanted to introduce Confucianism, and he did so in history. When Qiu Chuji traveled to the Western Regions, he found that there were Confucian scholars in Central Asia, and the number of Confucian scholars was quite large. The Western Liao Dynasty made an indelible contribution to this.

……

In different historical books of the East and the West, Xiaochalabu has different names.

For example, Erbus, who led a large army to force Ajisi to surrender and made Khwarezm a vassal state of Western Liao, was actually the name of Xiaochara in Central Asia and West Asia.

Not only did he understand Chinese and recognize Chinese characters, but he also had some attainments in Confucianism.

After traveling all the way from Shaanxi to Luoyang, Xiao Chalaobu observed carefully and found that people lived and worked in peace and contentment in the Ming Dynasty. When he was about to return to report, he advised Yelu Dashi to completely give up the idea of ​​the Eastern Expedition and that it would be best to develop in Central Asia in the future.

After several days of contact with officials from the Honglu Temple, Xiao Chala Abu was finally received by the emperor.

"I, the minister of the Liao Dynasty, Xiao Chala Abu, pay my respects to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty and wish to extend my regards to His Majesty on behalf of the Emperor of the Liao Dynasty!" Xiao Chala Abu bowed properly, his accent was very standard northern Chinese.

Zhu Ming smiled and said, "Please also say hello to Dashi Lin Ya for me. Please take a seat."

Ma Kuo was sitting next to him and bowed, "Brother Xiao, long time no see."

Xiao Cha La A Bu returned the greeting with a bow, and said happily: "After several years of separation, it is really a great joy to meet an old friend today."

The two of them reminisced about the past, with Zhu Ming also making a few polite remarks from time to time.

After Xiao Chalaa drank a few glasses of wine, Zhu Ming asked, "I heard that Yelu Dashi founded the Western Liao Kingdom?"

"It was the Liao Kingdom that moved westward!" Xiao Chalaabu corrected.

Zhu Ming did not argue, but raised his glass with a smile: "A hero is a hero no matter where he is. I would like to offer a toast to Yelu Dashi from Luoyang."

"On behalf of my lord, I would like to thank Your Majesty for your kindness!" Xiao Cha La Abu was all smiles. He had a very good impression of Zhu Ming and felt that the Ming Emperor was a true hero.

After another drink, Zhu Ming asked, "I can understand asking for great monks and Buddhist scriptures. But why did Yelu Dashi ask for Confucian scholars and Confucian scriptures?"

Xiao Chala Abu had his own set of arguments, which were taught to him by Yelu Dashi: "Your Majesty, whether it is the Liao Dynasty or the Ming Dynasty, or even the Song Dynasty before, we all belong to the Yanhuang ethnic group. But the Western Regions are different. They are not of our ethnic group, so their hearts must be different. When the Emperor of the Liao Dynasty first occupied the Black Khanate, he still hoped that all ethnic groups and religions could coexist peacefully. But the sects there are really stubborn and must be educated with Confucian classics for a long time."

Zhu Ming suddenly understood why Yelu Dashi allowed Ming merchants to pass unimpeded.

This was to increase the number of Han people in Western Liao and attract more Han merchants to settle in Western Liao.

Xiao Chala Abu continued, "Your Majesty of our country intends to promote more Confucian scholars to be officials. He also wants Confucian scholars to educate the local people and let the people of the Western Regions read the books of sages."

Zhu Ming did not object to this, and even actively supported it.

Zhu Ming said: "I'm afraid serious Confucian scholars are unwilling to go to the Western Regions. But there are many eminent monks in the Ming Dynasty, and they are definitely willing to spread Buddhism. Many of these eminent monks also study Confucian classics, so they can take the books of sages to educate the foreign races."

"That's fine," Xiao Chala said unhappily, "The more monks who are proficient in Confucianism, the better. As long as they arrive in the Liao Dynasty, they will be treated with great favor. They will also select a group of orphans from other ethnic groups to stay with them as students. These orphans from other ethnic groups will be the beginning of education, and there will be more and more in the future."

(End of this chapter)