Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 939 0934 [Knead at will]

Two-year-old Li Tianzuo lay on the king's throne, watching the ministers quarreling with curiosity.

There was a chair next to it, which was the seat of Regent Zhu Kang.

Annan Taifu Su Xiancheng has been reinstated and is now opposing Zhu Kang's rule:
"Your Highness Prince Yu is a prince of the Ming Dynasty, and Annan is a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. According to the Ming Dynasty's nobility system, the rank of the King of Annan is lower than that of the Ming Dynasty's prince, and his actual title is equivalent to that of a county prince of the Ming Dynasty..."

"Your Highness Prince Yu, as a prince of the Ming Dynasty, stayed in Annan as the regent, which is equivalent to lowering his title by two ranks. If he did not lower his title and held two thrones, how would the civil and military officials of Annan follow him? When the ministers meet His Highness Prince Yu, should they greet him with the courtesy of a prince of the Ming Dynasty or with the courtesy of the regent of Annan?"

"When Prince Yu was regent, was his title higher or lower than that of the King of Annan? If it was higher, how would the King of Annan deal with himself? If it was lower, wouldn't that lower the dignity of the Ming Dynasty?"

"This is against etiquette. I think Your Highness Prince Yu should not stay in Annan as regent!"

After the speech, Chen Kai translated it into Chinese.

Both civil and military officials of Annan thought it made sense, but they did not dare to agree with it in person.

Li Yangzhen, the Prince of Annan, stepped out and said, "I also think that His Royal Highness Prince Yu should not stay in Annan. How can a prince of the Ming Dynasty be the regent of a vassal state? His title has been reduced by two ranks out of thin air."

Li Yangzhen expressed his opinion and civil officials immediately followed up.

An imperial censor named Guo Ying stepped forward and said, "I think what Prince Zhiming and Grand Tutor Su said is absolutely right."

After listening to the translation, Zhu Kang glanced at the ministers and asked, "Is there anyone who objects?"

No one spoke.

Du Yingwu had killed more than a dozen truly upright ministers. Those who were still alive could tolerate even a coup d'etat traitor, so how could they not tolerate a Ming prince?
Zhu Kang looked at Xie Hong and said, "Mr. Xie, please speak."

Xie Hong did not reason with Su Xiancheng, but asked, "Taifu Su, who gave you the title of Taifu?"

Su Xiancheng gritted his teeth and answered, "The traitor Du Yingwu."

Xie Hong asked again: "Why did he promote you to be the Grand Tutor?"

Su Xiancheng explained: "Du the traitor usurped power and promoted many people to win over the ministers, not just me."

Xie Hong asked: "Grand Master, Grand Tutor, and Grand Protector are all powerful positions in Annan. Currently, there is no Grand Master, and Grand Tutor Su is the head of the civil officials. Why did the thief Du let you be the head of the civil officials? Are you in collusion with him?"

"There is absolutely no connection!" Su Xiancheng quickly defended.

Xie Hong asked again: "The loyal ministers of Annan secretly discussed how to eliminate the bandits. I heard that you were also present at the time. Why were all the loyal ministers who participated in the secret meeting killed by the bandits Du, and only Su Taifu survived?"

Su Xiancheng said: "I am the emperor's teacher and the head of the civil service. The Du thief dare not harm me rashly."

Xie Hong sneered: "Du the thief has killed even the son-in-law, is he afraid of killing you, a civil official?"

Su Xiancheng said: "Although I didn't die, I was placed under house arrest."

Xie Hong said: "I'm afraid that putting you under house arrest is also a cover-up to conceal your betrayal of the loyal ministers!"

"You are slandering me!" Su Xiancheng was furious.

Xie Hong questioned: "How come the loyal ministers secretly planned to get rid of the thieves, but Du the thief found out and sent troops to kill all the loyal ministers? You are the only one who participated in the secret plan and survived. Who else could it be if not you who reported it? You traitor, you appear to be righteous on the surface, but you sell out your friends for fame in secret!"

As soon as these words were spoken, all the civil and military officials looked at Su Xiancheng, and many of them began to doubt.

Su Xiancheng had no way to defend himself, and could only scream, "I swear to God, I have never betrayed anyone!"

Zhu Kang said: "Take him away and interrogate him thoroughly to see if he is a remnant of the bandits."

"It's unfair, I didn't betray them..." Su Xiancheng was dragged away by two Ming soldiers. When he reached the palace gate, he was still shouting, "This is a false accusation, a frame-up..."

Xie Hong looked at Li Yangzhen again: "You are the prince of Annan, the cousin of the late King of Annan. The king was murdered, why didn't you avenge your master? Why didn't you avenge your brother? Even when the Ming soldiers followed the orders of Queen Mother Du to come to Annan to uphold justice, you hid at home and refused to cooperate?"

Li Yangzhen knelt down with a plop and kowtowed to Zhu Kang frantically: "My king is wrong! The Du thief is so powerful, my king dare not act rashly, and plans to lie low and take his time."

Xie Hong said: "Now that Annan is in a state of uncertainty with a young ruler, and you, the prince, are too cowardly, if Your Highness Prince Yu does not stay in Annan as regent, I am afraid that Annan will be invaded by Champa and enter Thang Long Prefecture sooner or later!"

Li Yangzhen immediately understood what he meant, and kowtowed while crying, saying, "Your Highness Prince Yu, please stay in Annan. If Your Highness Prince Yu is not here, Annan may be overthrown and the people may be displaced. Annan can do without anyone, but it cannot do without Your Highness Prince Yu..."

This guy cried and begged Zhu Kang to remain as regent, but all the ministers looked at him with contempt.

Zhu Kang nodded in approval: "As expected of you, you are the King of Wisdom. Your title is very appropriate. You are indeed very wise and understand how to govern a country better than many people."

Li Yangzhen kowtowed repeatedly: "Your Highness Prince Yu is too kind. I am not good at governing a country. Everything in Annan depends on Your Highness."

The Imperial Censor Guo Ying angrily scolded: "You are such a treacherous villain, how cowardly and spineless are you?"

Li Yangzhen was so angry after being scolded that he pointed at Guo Ying and said, "Your Highness, this man is also a remnant of the Du thief. He should be thrown into prison and interrogated!"

Guo Ying sneered: "Who doesn't know that I have always been against the thief Du? Saying that I am the remnant of the thief Du is ridiculous!"

Li Yangzhen asked, "Since you are against the traitor Du, why didn't you join the conspiracy to eliminate the traitor? Even Su Xiancheng went to the secret meeting, why weren't you there?"

"They sent someone to inform me, but I was sick at home that day." Guo Ying defended. Li Yangzhen sarcastically said, "I'm afraid you were not sick at home, but secretly informed Du the thief? You usually oppose Du the thief, but I guess you are just acting. Otherwise, you have impeached him many times, why didn't Du the thief dismiss you?"

Guo Ying said angrily: "My Guo family has always had a clean family tradition, how could we allow you to throw dirty water on us?"

Li Yangzhen looked at Zhu Kang and said, "Your Highness, this man must be a remnant of the Du thief."

Zhu Kang nodded and said, "Then take them all to the prison for interrogation."

After the soldiers dragged the roaring Guo Ying away, Zhu Kang looked at the ministers again and said, "There is a saying in the Ming Dynasty that a forced melon is not sweet. If you all don't want me to stay, I will lead my troops to leave Annan another day."

The surrendered general Long Kan knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Your Highness cannot leave. The traitor Shen Li pretended to be a member of the royal family and has already captured Taiyuan Prefecture. He has elite soldiers borrowed from Dali, and many barbarian tribes in the northwest are helping him. He is also recruiting soldiers in Taiyuan Prefecture. Now the Annan army is demoralized. If Your Highness leaves, who will go to defeat the traitor Shen?"

The civil officials then remembered that there was still a traitor who had not been eliminated, and they really could not let the Ming army leave immediately.

Thinking of the fate of Su Xiancheng and Guo Ying, the Annan officials knelt down one after another and said, "I ask His Royal Highness Prince Yu to be the regent!"

Xie Hong bowed and said, "Your Highness, it is difficult to disobey the public opinion. Please condescend to stay."

Zhu Kang sighed in confusion, "But what Su Xiancheng said makes sense. I am a prince of the Ming Dynasty, and my title is higher than that of the King of Annan. If I stay here, I am afraid it will be against etiquette."

Eunuch Du Yi was also able to attend the court meeting. He said according to the script: "Your Highness can marry the Queen Mother Li, so that you can become the father of the king. It is just right for you to be the regent as the father of the king."

Although this eunuch is loyal and righteous, he is not a fool.

He was afraid that if Zhu Kang left Annan, Queen Mother Li would sooner or later come after him for his betrayal. Zhu Kang had to be kept so that someone could suppress Queen Mother Li.

Therefore, when Xie Hong found Du Yi and asked him to cooperate at the court meeting, Du Yi agreed without much thought.

Although the ministers thought it was outrageous, they all shouted in unison: "Your Highness Prince Yu, please stay and be the regent of the father of the King of Annan!"

As for the fact that Zhu Guoxiang married Empress Dowager Du and Zhu Kang married Empress Dowager Du's daughter-in-law, no one dared to bring up this unethical issue of seniority.

Zhu Kang said with emotion: "You have all been so kind to keep me here. For the sake of the people of Annan, I can only temporarily serve as regent for a few years."

Suddenly, Zhu Kang said in embarrassment: "I brought many officials and soldiers with me. They are all my subordinates and guards. Now that I stay, how will they cope with it?"

The Annan civil and military officials stopped talking.

They were forced to retain Zhu Kang as regent, but were unwilling to allow the entourage brought by Zhu Kang to take away official positions.

Zhu Kang looked at Xie Hong.

Xie Hong shook his head slightly.

Zhu Kang said: "Dismiss the court!"

Half a month later, Shen Li led the rebels downstream, successively captured the prefectures along the way, and was approaching the city of Tiande Prefecture.

Tiande Prefecture City is only separated from the place where Zhu Kang and Du Yingwu had their decisive battle by a river.

It is less than a hundred miles away from the capital, Thang Long Prefecture!
Historically, the first time Du Yingwu sent troops to fight against Shen Li, they were defeated by the rebels. The second time, Du Yingwu personally led the army and defeated Shen Li, forcing him to flee. Finally, he fled to the Southern Song Dynasty and was captured by officials in Yongzhou.

At the suggestion of Xie Hong, Zhu Kang deliberately did not dispatch Ming soldiers and sent King Zhiming of Annan to lead the army to fight the bandits.

Even Du Yingwu didn't dare to oppose King Zhiming Li Yangzhen. What could happen if such a coward led the troops?
The two armies fought a decisive battle outside Tiande Prefecture. Li Yangzhen was defeated and fled, crossing the river with only a few thousand remaining soldiers. He defended Beijiang Road City and dared not to come out again.

Shen Li took advantage of the situation to capture Tiande City, and upgraded his self-proclaimed title from "King Ping" to "Emperor Ping", and actually ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor in Tiande City.

The officials of Annan were horrified.

Tiande Prefecture is one of the richest places in the whole of Annan. The farmland there is extremely fertile, and even the royal family has fiefdoms there.

Officials kept asking Zhu Kang to send troops, but Zhu Kang said that the Ming soldiers did not have Annan identity, so it was inconvenient to send them out to fight.

After more than ten days of repeated negotiations, the nobles and officials of Annan finally gave in and agreed to let the civil and military officials brought by Zhu Kang serve as officials in Annan.

Zhu Kang then announced the reform:

"The Annan system is neither fish nor fowl. There are three ministers with real power in charge of the government, and there are six ministries, but there is no Zhongshu Menxia Province. It is neither Han nor Tang nor Song. If it is passed on to the Ming Dynasty, it will only be laughed at."

"From now on, the three highest officials will be replaced by honorary titles, and the Ming Dynasty's cabinet system will be adopted. Xie Hong will be the prime minister of the cabinet... Han Jing will be the privy envoy and the minister of war..."

“Since it is a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, Annan can no longer be called Dai Viet, and the King of Annan can no longer be called the Emperor of Dai Viet. All the palace records, court and public related inscriptions and official documents with the word Dai Viet must be corrected!”

This set of reforms angered many Annan civil servants.

But he also took the opportunity to win over many civil servants!
The officials who first expressed their support for the reform were all promoted. The military commanders who first joined Zhu Kang were also promoted, and Zhu Kang even married them.

There were even two sons of civil servants who were recommended to study at the Imperial College of the Ming Dynasty. As long as their grades were not too bad and they learned Chinese, they had a great chance of staying in the Ming Dynasty and becoming officials.

The fact that his son was an official in the Ming Dynasty was enough for the Annan minister to brag about.

(End of this chapter)