Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 933 0928 [The Future of the Two Princes]

The fifth year of the Ming Dynasty's Restoration of China. The fourth year of the Western Liao Dynasty's Kangguo. 1137 AD.

Yelu Dashi established the Imperial Academy, selected children of aristocrats, and taught them Confucian knowledge.

The noble lords of the former Karakhanid Khanate were also required to send one of their descendants to study at the Imperial Academy. This did not provoke any resistance, as everyone thought it was just sending hostages, and they did not have to convert to another religion in the Imperial Academy.

Eminent monks from China served as their teachers.

In order to avoid resistance from students of different races, eminent monks had to wear Confucian caps and robes when teaching in the Imperial College and were not allowed to dress like monks.

At the same time, several Buddhist temples were built in the capital, Husiwoerduo.

War orphans from all over Central Asia, and even young slaves, were arranged to be ordained as disciples of eminent monks.

These orphans of different ethnic groups first learned Chinese and Chinese characters. In addition to practicing Buddhism and chanting sutras, they also had to learn some Confucian knowledge in the future. If they performed well, they could be recommended to study at the Imperial Academy and become officials in Western Liao when they grew up.

Yelu Dashi was very worried about this and hoped that the orphans would grow up quickly.

Because in the newly conquered Fergana Valley, several tribal rebellions had already occurred, simply due to sectarian disputes.

Although the two Karakhanid states of the East and West belonged to the same religion, the country was divided into two because of sectarian struggles. Now the officials appointed by Yelu Dashi suppressed the local sects in the Fergana Basin, forcing four tribes to rebel one after another.

We can only suppress it!

Then officials were replaced and local scholars were selected to serve as officials in order to appease the hearts of believers in the basin.

……

"The war in Mobei is over," Zhu Ming handed the military intelligence document to the eunuch, "The Kereyid tribe suffered a few minor defeats, and without the need for mediation by the Ming Dynasty, they took the initiative to compensate some livestock and reached a settlement with the Mongolian tribe."

Ma Kuo took the document from the eunuch and said, "This is very strange. How can we stop fighting so easily?"

Zhu Ming smiled and said, "The Merkit tribe went south to plunder. The Kerait and Mongolian tribes were busy fighting, and the pastures behind them were extremely empty. A large number of people and livestock were abducted. Now the two tribes have formed an alliance and are going to seek revenge on the Merkit tribe together. The fight between the two heroes in Mobei has turned into a three-way confrontation."

Ma Kuo said: "There are four major tribes of the Merkits, and they are attacking and plundering each other. How can they unite and move south?"

"After Yelu Dashi left, the four major Merkit tribes also unified," Zhu Ming said. "They suffered white disasters one after another. They first attacked each other for several years, and finally elected a great chieftain and ran off to plunder the more prosperous tribes in Mobei."

Ma Kuo lowered his head and read the document carefully, and finally smiled and said: "With three powers in a tripod, Mobei can fight for decades."

Zhu Ming still had some impression of the Merkit tribe.

After all, Temujin's wife was captured by the Merkits and given to Wang Khan to give birth to Jochi. Wang Khan himself was also captured by the Merkits and forced to help them pound rice.

This tribe is no weakling; they live in the area south of Lake Baikal and have expanded to the northern steppes of Mobei.

They were nomadic, as well as fishermen and hunters. They were skilled in using longbows and large arrows, and would even eat human flesh when food was scarce.

Zhu Ming said: "You are quite familiar with Xixia, so you can go there as an envoy."

Ma Kuo asked: "Is there any change in Xixia?"

Zhu Ming nodded and said, "The spy in the caravan sent back a message saying that the Xixia king is seriously ill and the imperial doctors are unable to cure him. They are searching for famous doctors among the people."

"If the king of Western Xia dies of illness, Xiao Heda's rebellion will not be far away." Ma Kuo was very sure.

The last time Xiao Heda almost rebelled was because of Ma Kuo’s conspiracy.

……

Li Qianshun of Western Xia had not died yet, but Li Yanghuan of Annan died first.

The death was very strange.

When King Li Yanghuan was critically ill, his brother-in-law Du Yingwu joined forces with the Li family (concubines) to launch a coup d'état to isolate the inner and outer courts.

Immediately, the queen and the crown prince were deposed.

Du Yingwu supported the son of his old lover Li and made the two-year-old baby the new king.

Not only did he run the government smoothly, but he also often stayed overnight in the palace. The Queen Mother Li was very young, not even 20 years old!
Some aristocratic families took the opportunity to rebel, but were suppressed by Du Yingwu.

The remaining members fled to the Ming Dynasty and went to Luoyang to appeal for justice, demanding to see Mrs. Du.

Zhu Ming was delighted to see this happen and threw it to the Wangchuan Valley.

"Queen Mother, His Majesty is not dead from illness!"

This Annan noble named Chen Kai said: "Your Majesty just caught a cold, and the imperial doctors said that he was fine, but the palace spread the news that he was critically ill. The king's uncle also mobilized the imperial guards, controlled the eunuchs and guards in the palace, and did not allow any foreign ministers to see the king, saying that it was to let Your Majesty rest. Only one day later, Your Majesty suddenly passed away, and the queen and the crown prince were also deposed, and the son of the Li family was made the new king."

Mrs. Du was so angry that she was shaking all over: "How dare he do this!"

Chen Kai said, "He probably had this idea in mind a long time ago, but he didn't dare to act rashly when the Grand Tutor was still alive. The Grand Tutor had just passed away two months ago, and he couldn't wait to launch a coup. How could it be such a coincidence? In addition, Li became the Queen Mother, and he often stayed overnight in the Queen Mother's palace. Some people even suspected... suspected that the new king was his son."

Du sat in silence, not knowing how to react.

It was her son who was killed, but it was her younger brother who did it.

Zhu Guoxiang asked: "Is the deposed Prince of Annan safe now?"

Chen Kai said, "Being under house arrest in the palace is probably dangerous. Even if he is still alive now, he will die of illness in a few years." Zhu Guoxiang said to Du, "Don't worry too much. I will ask Du Yingwu to send the deposed prince of Annan to me."

Mrs. Du held Zhu Guoxiang's hand and cried, "Your Majesty, please make the decision for me!"

Zhu Guoxiang took his wife and children back to Luoyang to play, and went to discuss the matter with Zhu Ming in person.

"What are you going to do?" Zhu Guoxiang asked.

Zhu Ming said: "The Annan envoy is in Luoyang, requesting to enthrone the new Annan king. I have already rebuked Du Yingwu for the coup, but the envoy denied it, and is now being left alone in the Sifang Pavilion."

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Let them send the deposed crown prince here."

Zhu Ming smiled and said, "This is a good idea. Du Yingwu is definitely unwilling to hand over the deposed crown prince. Even if he wants to hand him over, he will poison him halfway, which will confirm the rumor that he is plotting to murder the king. To annex Annan, it is possible that there is no need to invade by force. Kang'er can directly take officials and troops to be the regent. When the time is right, it will be incorporated into the Ming Dynasty."

"And can't come in?" Zhu Guoxiang expressed his doubt.

Zhu Ming said: "First, let Kang'er marry a few daughters of the great families of Annan; second, allow Annan scholars to become officials in the imperial examinations of the Ming Dynasty; third, bloody suppression of the rebels. After the annexation, there must be a reform, and the great families of Annan cannot continue to practice the feudal manor system. At that time, the suppression of the rebellion will be carried out with a large-scale killing, and the vacated land will be used to immigrate the Han people."

Zhu Guoxiang was actually still thinking about his adopted grandson: "What should we do with the deposed crown prince of Annan?"

Zhu Ming said: "If Du Yingwu kills him, I can't do anything to help him. If he survives, take him to Wangchuan Valley and raise him as your own grandson."

This cheap grandson was never brought here after all.

How could Du Yingwu, a powerful official who staged a coup, hand over the eldest son of the deceased king to the Ming Dynasty?
He apparently agreed to release the prince, but sent the deposed prince to the border of the Ming Dynasty. Suddenly, he fell ill and died.

When the news of the deposed crown prince's death spread, some of the nobles who had been ostracized by Du Yingwu returned to their hometowns and started an uprising. At one time, three rebel armies appeared one after another.

They were all suppressed by Du Yingwu!
……

Zhu Kang is adapting to the climate in Hunan. He has been having a lot of fun with his uncle Bai Qi recently.

Bai Qi is bored to death.

Since Zhong Xiang was defeated, Bai Qi has been in charge of guarding Hunan.

Over the years, Manichaeism followers have long since returned to their faith. Who would rebel when they can have enough food to eat?
During this period, Bai Qi suppressed a riot among the Wuxi barbarians, and then led his troops to Guizhou to attack the Ziqi State.

In normal times, he trains, reads, travels, and holds literary gatherings.

Very relaxing and comfortable.

The female chieftain Cun Aguo from southern Sichuan had come to Beijing to pay tribute three times. Every time she passed by Dongting Lake, she would come to Bai Qi to reminisce about the past, and she gave birth to two sons and a daughter.

Bai Qi is not a scumbag, nor does he need to be one. He is willing to give Cun Aguo a legitimate status.

But Cun Aguo didn't want to get married.

She wants to stay in her tribe and make it stronger.

She is currently one of the five ghost lords in Henan (south of the Dadu River), and she plans to let her and Bai Qi's son succeed her as ghost lord.

Bai Qi could only try his best to help and asked the court to send some exiles over to teach knowledge and technology to the tribe.

"The harvest is good this year, and there are no floods or droughts." Bai Qi lay on Junshan Mountain and looked at the stars.

Beside him were not only his wife and children, but also Zhu Kang's principal wife and concubines.

Zhu Kang looked at the starry sky reflected in the lake and said, "I remembered my father's poem, 'After getting drunk, I didn't know the sky was in the water, and the boat was full of clear dreams pressing down on the starry sky.' Is this about Dongting Lake?"

Bai Qi laughed out loud: "This poem is very famous in Hunan. Many scholars and literati go boating on Dongting Lake just to experience the feeling of a boat full of sweet dreams and the stars."

"I heard that Dali is like spring all year round, so my uncle is a good place to go," Zhu Kang sighed, "but not Champa. It's very hot in the summer, even hotter than here in Hunan."

Bai Qi shouted, "There are mosquitoes. Why is there no smoke? Start fumigating!"

He asked his followers to smoke out mosquitoes and said helplessly, "We don't know when we will be able to conquer Dali."

Zhu Ming had long told Bai Qi that after the Dali Kingdom was destroyed, it would be changed to Yunnan Province. Bai Qi and his descendants guarded Yunnan for generations, and inherited the title of king and general of Yunnan.

It is not just about guarding Yunnan, but also about suppressing the rebellion of the surrounding barbarians.

Including Laos, Myanmar, and the barbarian tribes in southern and western Guizhou. Those who are not worry-free must have a prince resident in Yunnan, and this prince is both a royal family and not a royal family!

Only a member of the royal family could mobilize civil and military officials in Yunnan.

If you are not a member of the royal family, you don’t have to worry about the rebellion of the prince of Yunnan!
Bai Qi is just the right person. He is Zhu Guoxiang's stepson, so the throne will definitely not be his, but he has the status of a royal family member.

Zhu Kang said his ambition: "I will go to Champa to be the king, first educate the people and develop internal affairs. When I am in my thirties or forties, I will lead troops to expand the territory. My father said that as long as we don't attack Jiaozhi in the north, the rest of the territory will be mine."

"You are young, but you have great ambitions." Bai Qi praised.

Zhu Kang said: "I have already thought of a strategy for governing the country. Champa has fertile land and is a must-go place for sea merchants. I want to develop agriculture and commerce there. When there is enough food and money, I can raise more elite soldiers."

Bai Qi smiled.

In the darkness, a speedboat came over the lake: "Your Majesty has ordered Prince Yu to go to Guangxi..."

(End of this chapter)