Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 976 0971 [Considering Merit, We Must Consider Human Relationships]

For military generals, the war to destroy a country is a feast where countless soldiers can be rewarded and promoted.

The same goes for civil servants!

Officials from Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces all made great contributions to the logistics. Some of them did not even need to return to Beijing, and upon receiving the promotion and transfer orders, they immediately rushed to the newly established Ningxia region to serve as officials.

The city walls that were damaged by artillery fire needed to be repaired by civil servants, and the filled-in moats also needed to be cleared.

Another reason for the successive droughts in Western Xia was the lack of water conservancy. Many irrigation canals were seriously silted up, and these also required civil officials to organize people to clear them.

The military rations shipped out for the war were not transported back after the war, and the captured rations were left in warehouses in various cities. This was to facilitate the civil officials to provide relief through work. Countless Xixia people had no surplus food, so it was just right to recruit them to carry out various engineering construction projects.

A large amount of supplies remained in Ningxia, and the newly appointed civil servants could use them at will.

It all depends on which guys can't help but reach out. Anyway, Zhu Ming sent the imperial censor to inspect. If someone just takes a little, it won't be found out, that's considered "normal loss", but if someone gets too fat, then it's no wonder that Emperor Zhu is too cruel.

……

Hanlin Academy.

An official walked into the Museum of Literature and History, clapped his hands and shouted, "The Xixia historical materials will soon be transported back to Luoyang. Anyone who knows Xixia characters should sign up. The court will soon compile the "Book of Xixia". Even those who don't know Xixia characters can sign up. Several Xixia officials will come to the Hanlin Academy to compile history."

After shouting twice, more than ten historians came out one after another.

With the large number of books brought back from overseas, the compilation of history books of Liao and Jin, and the editing of various official books, the Hanlin Academy was once again split and subdivided.

Zhu Ming even merged the Imperial Medical Clinic into it.

Today, the complete library systems of the Hanlin Academy are as follows: literature and history, astronomy (including geography), art, medicine, agronomy (including animal husbandry), and mathematics and physics (including mathematics, physics, chemistry, engineering, and mechanics).

The six major museum systems are further subdivided.

For example, the art gallery is divided into departments such as painting, music, and sculpture.

There are also overlaps, for example, an agronomist needs to learn astronomy and geography, and even water conservancy, while a geographer also needs to learn mathematics, physics and other knowledge.

The head of the Hanlin Academy was called "Hanlin Grand Secretary", and his official rank was the fourth rank.

The head of the six major academies is called "the director of the Hanlin Academy" and his official rank is the fifth rank.

The Hanlin officials who had a strong utilitarian mentality had long been sent out through various channels.

Most of those who stay nowadays are concentrating on academic studies, having no worries about food and drink and maintaining their status.

The Seljuk scholar Anwari is very busy now. He works as a consultant in the three museums of literature, history, astronomy, and medicine, helps translate relevant academic works, and holds the official rank of Hanlin, which is the sixth rank.

"Is there any happy event outside?" Anvari asked.

Zhao Shizun walked into the room and said, "Xixia was destroyed."

Anwari was surprised and asked, "I heard that Xixia had hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Was it destroyed so quickly?"

Zhao Shizun said with a smile: "My Great Ming has sent out more than 600,000 troops. Is there any country in the world that can stop us?"

Anvari was amazed.

Although the Seljuks were known as the overlord of the West, if they dragged their vassal states into the war, they would have to deploy at most 200,000 troops at a time.

How can it be justified to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars at will?

Anwari not only learned Chinese and Chinese characters, but also started reading Chinese history books last year. If he did not understand something, he could ask for advice in the Hanlin Academy.

As for Zhao Shizun, he was a member of the royal family of the former Song Dynasty.

When the Song Dynasty fell, Zhao Shizun stayed at home obediently.

He neither went south to join Emperor Huizong of Song nor went north to join the pseudo-Song court. He was also quite proficient in literature and history, so Zhu Guoxiang threw him into the Hanlin Academy to serve as an official.

Anwari said: "I have not seen Xixia in Chinese history books. How did this country come into being?"

Zhao Shizun roughly recounted the story: "The ancestors of the Western Xia emperor were originally barbarians of the Tang Dynasty. Later, the Tang Dynasty gave them land and made Western Xia chieftains officials. After the Tang Dynasty fell apart, the Dangxiang tribe of Western Xia took the opportunity to grow stronger and established a country and proclaimed themselves emperor during the Song Dynasty."

Anwari probably understood that the Tang Dynasty was similar to the complete version of the Seljuk, the Song Dynasty was the current Seljuk, and the Western Xia was the Sultanate that emerged when the Seljuk split.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty's expedition against Western Xia was not considered an act of aggression or expansion, but merely a recovery of lost territory.

Anwari was still unaware of the Seljuk defeat. The chancellor Mulek, who had accompanied him on the mission to the Ming Dynasty, had already returned to report and participated in the Battle of Katwan.

Moreover, Mulek was the deputy commander of the Seljuk army, responsible for commanding the troops that did not enter the valley at that time. He personally led the charge to rescue Sanjar, but ultimately failed and fled on horseback alone.

"Mr. Zhao, is this word pronounced 'Di'?" Anwari stopped talking about Western Xia and instead held up the "Zizhi Tongjian" to ask for advice.

Except for the envoys from neighboring countries, the other overseas envoys had no idea about the demise of Western Xia. They just thought that the Ming Dynasty had destroyed another small neighboring country.

At this moment, the Dali and Japanese envoys stationed in Luoyang were already scared to death in the Sifang Pavilion!

If this trend continues, will the Ming Dynasty attack them?
Zhao Shizun came over to take a look and said, "This character cannot be pronounced as Di, it should be pronounced as Ti. Zu Ti led the Northern Expedition. Zu Ti was a great hero in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. There are several idioms related to him. "Hearing the cock-crow and rising to dance", "First I put the whip on the ground", "Strike the oar in the middle of the stream" are all about Zu Ti."

Anwari asked again, "What does it mean to be like a big river?"

Zhao Shizun said: "He will never come back."

He seemed to find this explanation too tiring, so he simply told the whole point of the article:
"Zu Ti was from Fanyang, and had great ambitions since he was young... At that time, the Jin Dynasty and all its officials fled south, but Zu Ti wanted to recover the Central Plains. He petitioned the emperor, who gave him an official title but only gave him food for a thousand men and three thousand bolts of cloth."

"Zu Ti brought more than a hundred followers and crossed the river to the north. When the boat reached the middle of the river, Zu Ti struck the oars and said: If I can't clear the Central Plains and recover the lost territory, I will be gone like this river. He built weapons and armor in Huaiyin, recruited more than 2,000 volunteers, persuaded some of the Central Plains forces that were attacking each other to surrender, and defeated Shi Hu's 50,000 troops in one battle, and really recovered the Central Plains..."

"Unfortunately, when Zu Ti wanted to lead his army across the Yellow River, the emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty sent a general to seize Zu Ti's army and territory. Zu Ti died of grief and anger, and the territory he had recovered was lost again."

Anwari took a simple map of the Ming Dynasty and, under the guidance of Zhao Shizun, compared the place names of the time to figure out Zu Ti's northern expedition route.

After a long while, Anwari sighed: "Zu Ti is indeed a great hero."

Zhao Shizun smiled and said, "Of course he is a great hero. Among the second batch of sages invited into the Martial Temple, Zu Ti was ranked first. His Majesty personally wrote an inscription to evaluate him: He who strikes the oars in the middle of the stream is a hero of China and a model for the ages. I heard that in the Luoyang Martial Arts School, military students must recite Zu Ti's Northern Expedition."

Anwari read the article carefully and copied down several idioms. He was very happy that he had learned something new.

Zhao Shizun went out for a stroll. He had already signed up to participate in the editing of "Book of Western Xia" and was learning the Western Xia script by the way.

When I walked to the next courtyard, I saw a group of people sitting around a stone table looking at something.

Someone suddenly exclaimed: "Protector Yue is truly the greatest marquis of the time. I'm afraid he will also be crowned king in the upcoming captive offering ceremony, right?"

Another person said: "It is impossible to be crowned a king. It is unlikely that he will be crowned a duke or a county duke. It is estimated that he will be a county duke."

The man nodded and said, "That's right. Protector Yue has too little experience in the army. Currently, the title of a county lord is the limit."

Zhao Shizun walked over and asked, "What are you looking at?"

"The detailed battle report sent by the Ministry of War was sorted out and filed by the Hanlin Academy's Literature and History Institute, and stored in the library as historical materials."

"Protector Yue has made great contributions?"

"It's more than a great achievement. Last autumn, Protector Yue led 5,000 cavalrymen and recovered the three cities in Hexi within a few days. He then rushed north and joined hands with Protector Han to defeat Richard's army of 100,000. This year, his way south was blocked by Keyi Gate, so he took a detour through the desert and attacked Xingqing Prefecture with 6,000 cavalrymen. He then captured Huaizhou, which was heavily defended by 50,000 troops, captured more than 100,000 Xixia soldiers and civilians, and seized countless livestock, horses, and grain. It was because Protector Yue messed up the area around Xingqing Prefecture that scared the commander of another Xixia army to abandon his troops and flee."

"Yes, if it weren't for Yue Duhu, this battle would probably not have been over by now."

"That spy named Li Cunhui is also a talented general. This time he will at least be made a viscount, and there is a chance he may even be made an earl."

Zhao Shizun felt like he was listening to a legendary story, and hurried over to read the detailed military report.

The Northern Army Newspaper was co-written by Yue Fei and Han Shizhong. Although they tried their best to show Han Shizhong's role, Yue Fei was too eye-catching throughout and completely overshadowed Han Shizhong's style.

Han Shizhong also made great contributions. When fighting against Richard's 100,000-man army, Han Shizhong was the commander of the Ming army. Yue Fei rushed south, and it was all thanks to Han Shizhong that he held back tens of thousands of enemy troops at Keyi Gate, otherwise Yue Fei would have been trapped.

The Privy Council and the Ministry of War are currently studying how to reward the officers and soldiers of each army for their merits, and then transferring the matter to the Ministry of Rites for discussion on conferring titles.

Ministry of War.

Zhang Guangdao had read all the battle reports of the various armies. He rubbed his temple and said, "I really want to give my old subordinates more credit, but Yue Fei must be the first to defeat the Xia this time. Han Shizhong can be considered second. They broke the backbone of the Western Xia in the battle last year. This year, when the various armies went out to fight, the Western Xia seemed to have lost its soul and only knew how to avoid fighting and retreat, emptying the houses and clearing the fields."

Li Bao didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Except for Yue Fei, Han Shizhong, and Wu Jie, the rest of the troops didn't fight any decent battles. Li Yanxian's group was relatively good, at least they stormed two cities, and Yao Pingzhong even defeated Richard and made him flee and die. Deng Chun's group was simply an armed march, and all the enemy troops along the way fled. After finally getting ready for a decisive battle in Lingzhou, the enemy commander actually abandoned his army and fled."

Yang Zhi said, "Deng Chun should also be commended. He is an old man in Daming Village and has many experienced people under his command. Chen Ziyi should at least be promoted this time."

Wang Yuan scratched his head and said, "Calculate the military merits and submit them to His Majesty for review. We cannot make the decision on such matters."

Shi Yuangong knocked on the table and reminded, "Those spies in the Military Intelligence Department must calculate their contributions. Although I am no longer in charge of the Military Intelligence Department, I cannot let the spies suffer. Some spies have been sneaking into Xixia for seven or eight years, regardless of their wives, children and parents. Even if they did not help to break the city, they spread rumors in the city and made the Xixia army panic, at least making the Xixia army surrender more easily."

Zhang Guangdao smiled and said, "I will definitely not forget the spy brothers from the Military Intelligence Department."

(End of this chapter)