Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 934 0929 [Prince Yu Enters Annan]

When Prince Yu Zhu Kang went to Annan to serve as regent, he naturally had to bring a team of civil and military officials with him.

The head of the civil servants was Xie Hong, who passed the imperial examination in the same year as Zhu Ming.

His younger brother Xie Ze was once the immediate superior of Song Huizong at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty.

The teacher of the Xie brothers was Zhang Tingjian, who once served as Cai Jing's staff. Later, because he was unwilling to follow Cai Jing's lead, he was labeled as a member of the Yuanyou Party and sent to Guangxi, where he accepted the Xie brothers as his students.

The head of the military officers was Han Jing, who was also a famous general of the Southern Song Dynasty.

In history, he recruited soldiers to serve the king. When the Jin soldiers searched the mountains and seas, he defeated the Jin army that went to the countryside to plunder many times. He also followed Yue Fei to attack the great bandit Cao Cheng, led 3,000 soldiers to chase Cao Cheng to a desperate place, and Cao Cheng had no choice but to surrender to Han Shizhong. Then he was ordered to rebuild the Cuifeng Army, completely quell the chaos in Fujian and Guangdong, and actively resume production after the war. Unfortunately, he was dismissed from office by Qin Hui, and the people of Lingnan built a temple to worship him.

The Crushing Front Army created by Han Jing was the top elite force in the Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi regions at that time. They had strict military discipline and dared to fight to the death.

But before they could fight the Jin soldiers, the army lost its morale due to Han Jing's dismissal, and they were lost in history books. Until the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, more than a hundred remnants of the Cuifeng Army held on to Chaozhou, making Chaozhou the last city to fall in the Southern Song Dynasty. After the general Ma Fa organized the people to evacuate, his family committed suicide.

Han Jing in this time and space also has an equally exciting growth experience.

He first recruited soldiers in Shanxi to support the king, and planned to go to Beijing to eradicate the "Zhu thieves".

As a result, he got the news of the alliance between Song and Jin, and was so angry that he stayed in Shanxi to fight guerrilla warfare with the Jin soldiers. He was then incorporated into the second-line troops under Zhang Guangdao. When the army was expanded, Han Jing was transferred to Hebei as a garrison officer and had been leading troops in the second-line troops under Yue Fei. He graduated from the military academy two years ago and was promoted to the third general (head of the third regiment) of the Hunan garrison.

Although this man's archery and horsemanship skills were far inferior to Yang Zaixing's, he had outstanding talents in training soldiers and governing the people.

"Are you going to Annan with Senior Han?" Zhu Kang was overjoyed.

Since the establishment of the military academy in the Ming Dynasty, Han Jing has been recognized as the best student and a tough guy who scored full marks in all subjects.

Han Jing bowed and said, "Greetings to His Royal Highness Prince Yu."

Zhu Kang said: "Senior is stationed in Xiangnan, I have long wanted to visit him."

Han Jing said, "I have received a transfer order this time to follow His Highness to Guangxi. I will extract 300 soldiers from General Yang Zaixing as the base, and expand it into a new army of 3,000 people to rush to Annan."

Zhu Kang asked: "Recruit new soldiers locally to expand the team?"

"We are not recruiting new soldiers, but retired veterans from Guangdong and Guangxi. They can go into battle after one month of training," Han Jing explained.

For others, being transferred to Annan was tantamount to exile.

But Han Jing was very happy. He dreamed of making great achievements, but he had always been in the second-line troops, and there were very few opportunities for him to make achievements. He was not a direct descendant of anyone, and he had no war to fight in Hunan.

Although he is heading to Annan now, he can, on the one hand, fight in the war and make merit, and on the other hand, become a direct general of Prince Yu.

Zhu Kang pulled Han Jing aside and whispered, "The only student with full marks in all subjects in the Daming Military Academy was transferred to southern Hunan two years ago. Many people were puzzled. It turned out that His Majesty had already planned to let Senior Han familiarize himself with the terrain and climate in the south and follow me to govern Annan!"

Han Jing had only recently figured it out, and he praised sincerely, "Your Majesty is very far-sighted, truly a great ruler!"

A civil servant arrived by boat: "Your Highness, Mr. Xie is ready and can leave for the south at any time. Officials, doctors, interpreters... are all in place."

"Thank you for your talent, sir," Zhu Kang asked, "May I know your name?"

The civil servant said quickly, "I don't deserve your title. I am Qin Xin, and my hometown is Guizhou. I once listened to your majesty's lectures and followed your majesty to the capital. When I was in Hanzhong, I was appointed as a county magistrate. A few years ago, I was promoted to a doctor in the Ministry of Revenue."

Zhu Kang was thoughtful and basically understood what was going on.

Qin Xin, a loyal and meritorious official, was thrown to Annan. He must have committed some crime. The emperor, thinking of their old friendship, suppressed the case and sent him far away to Annan to redeem himself.

There is also Xie Hong, the chief civil servant assigned to Zhu Kang, who has been promoted to the position of Right Provincial Governor. I am afraid he has also committed a crime, but it is not particularly serious, so it is a pity that he was sent to Annan.

Bai Qi brought his wife and children to see him off in person, while Zhu Kang led his civil and military entourage and headed straight for Guangxi.

Yang Zaixing had been waiting in Yongzhou for a long time. He pointed at the five hundred soldiers and said, "These are all unmarried men. Your Highness, Prince Yu, please treat them well."

"I will never let you down!" Zhu Kang said with a bow.

Zhu Kang's idol is his father, and he imitates his father's words and deeds. Sometimes his acting skills seem poor, but they are not offensive, and he is quite respectful to others.

……

The commanders-in-chief of Guangdong and Guangxi had already received orders from the Ministry of War and began recruiting retired veterans in various counties and prefectures.

Don’t talk about resettlement and career change. This was not popular in ancient times.

Take the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, for example. The Western Army recruited good family men to fight. Theoretically, the settlement allowance was 10 guan per person. After the war, they were sent back home. At most, they were given some food. The military pay and settlement allowance were not enough. How could there be any settlement after retirement? They all returned to their hometowns to farm.

The Ming Dynasty paid sufficient military pay. Anyone who dared to withhold food and pay would lose his head!

Just for this reason, soldiers have no complaints. Every year when the army is recruited, many farm children sign up enthusiastically, not only to receive salary, but also to learn skills and gain experience in the army.

After retiring from the army, he returned home to farm.

There were also many retired soldiers who were quick-witted and went to the government to apply for jobs as runners or policemen, or to guard the homes of wealthy families, or even to be guards for caravans.

Especially for veterans in border areas, many caravans are going to transport goods abroad and they like to recruit veterans. They will also prepare weapons and armor for veterans. In border provinces, in addition to firearms, civilians are allowed to own leather armor and crossbows, as long as they are not iron armor, bed crossbows, or divine arm bows. This is the case in the northern border, and the southern provinces are no less so.

Veterans from Hunan, Sichuan, and Guangxi often escorted merchant caravans to the barbarian territories.

Veterans from coastal provinces like to work for sea merchants. They are not sailors, but merchant ship guards.

In this era, there are no escort agencies, and merchants have to rely on recruiting people themselves!

After the imperial edict came down, retired soldiers from Guangdong and Guangxi signed up one after another, but unfortunately only those under 2500 were recruited. Moreover, there were only places, and there were not many places allocated to each prefecture and county, and they had to compete in martial arts to be selected.

500 elite Guangxi field soldiers and 2500 retired veterans, these are Zhu Kang's direct troops.

The training in Yongzhou lasted for two months, and the main purpose was to get the officers and soldiers to get acquainted with each other. There was no need to start from scratch in terms of military formations and martial arts.

They landed in Yong'an City (Halong City, Vietnam) by boat. It was winter, the climate was not hot, and the rainy season had passed.

Chen Kai, an Annan official who went to Luoyang to file a complaint, ran outside the city and shouted, "The traitor Du Yingwu has murdered the king and the crown prince, deposed the queen, usurped power, defiled the palace, and killed loyal officials. Now Queen Mother Du is furious and has invited the heavenly soldiers from the Ming Dynasty to eradicate the traitors. Do you still want to resist stubbornly?"

The prefect and the garrison commander stood on the city wall and looked at each other.

After Du Yingwu took control of the government, he promised many benefits to the civil officials and military officers. Except for those court officials and political enemies who were excluded, most of the civil officials and generals accepted the reality.

They do not support Du Yingwu's coming to power, but they will not stand up against it either.

But now the Ming army has arrived, and they are also under the banner of Empress Dowager Du. This is so legitimate that the civil and military officials of Yong'an Prefecture really have no intention of resisting.

A moment later, the city gate opened wide.

Zhu Kang did not show up in person, so he left this small matter to Xie Hong.

Xie Hong brought the Annan official Chen Kai with him, ordered the garrison commander to bring 200 soldiers with him, and asked the prefect to be responsible for raising food and fodder.

Then they headed towards the mouth of the Taiping River. The Annan navy, which had already been defeated by the Ming navy once, surrendered quickly and helped transport soldiers and food.

Following the Taiping River to Wu'an Prefecture, the city gate was also opened quickly.

……

Shenglong Prefecture was in chaos.

Du Yingwu recruited troops and sent envoys to seek peace.

He planned to cede territory in exchange for the Ming Dynasty's withdrawal of troops.

If reconciliation is really impossible, then let's fight.

If they were defeated, they would take the remnants of their army to the Ailao Mountains, taking the two-year-old king and his baby brother with them.

In a mansion in the city, ministers including Wu Dai, Yang Siming, and Su Xiancheng were having a secret meeting.

Wu Dai said, "Your Majesty is a man of foresight. When you offered your mother to marry the Queen Mother, you anticipated that there would be traitors causing chaos. Now that Queen Mother Du has invited the heavenly soldiers from the Ming Dynasty, it is time for us to make every effort. You should make them aware of the righteousness and persuade the imperial guards to rebel, to prevent Du Yingwu from jumping off the wall and murdering all of Your Majesty's descendants!"

"After the traitor Du usurped power, he generously rewarded the soldiers of the six armies and promoted many of his trusted aides within the army," Yang Siming said. "If we rashly instigate a rebellion against the imperial guards, I'm afraid it will backfire."

Su Xiancheng is a mature and prudent man. "It would be best if the war could be won without bloodshed. I will go and test the Tu thief's attitude and persuade him to hand over the government and appoint the third prince (baby) as the king. This will also give an explanation to Queen Mother Tu and the Ming Dynasty, and perhaps persuade the Ming Dynasty to withdraw its troops. The entry of foreign troops, even if they are invited by Queen Mother Tu, will do more harm than good to Dai Viet."

Yang Siming asked, "Are you afraid that the Ming army will come and you won't leave?"

Su Xiancheng said: "Even if the Ming army leaves, the people along the way will be robbed countless times."

Everyone agreed.

The last time Yang Zaixing withdrew his troops, he emptied Thang Long Prefecture. The barbarian soldiers from Guangxi and the defeated soldiers from Annan looted several counties and prefectures and have not yet recovered.

Wu Dai said: "We still have to prepare for both situations..."

At this moment, there was a sudden commotion outside, and the faces of the ministers who were plotting changed drastically.

"The traitor Wu Dai has colluded with foreign troops and caused chaos in Dai Viet. He deserves death!"

A group of Annan imperial guards rushed in, killing anyone they saw and robbing any property they found. Only young women survived.

Several ministers were so frightened that they climbed over the wall to escape, but were captured and killed by the imperial guards inside and outside the wall.

Wu Dai stood in the courtyard and shouted angrily: "Even if you don't remember the kindness of the late emperor, can you resist the Ming army? For the sake of public and private interests, you'd better put down your weapons... Ugh!"

An arrow shot and hit Wu Dai in the chest, and he fell to the ground in pain.

The general of the imperial guards sneered: "What favor did the late emperor do to us? He disbanded the army, reduced military pay, and made military officers bow down to the civil officials. He also provoked the Ming army and abducted the people of Thang Long Prefecture. My father-in-law's family was abducted to Guangxi... All killed!"

A rain of arrows was fired, and the ministers were shot like hedgehogs.

(End of this chapter)