Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 977 [Yue Fei's Reward]

Two more imperial troops returned to Luoyang from Western Xia.

The troops were stationed around Luoyang to protect the capital.

Lu You and his companions arrived in Beijing relatively early and had not yet formally entered the Imperial College. They called their friends and stood on the shore, watching the imperial guards approaching from afar, and exclaimed in admiration from time to time.

Actually, there’s nothing to see, and they don’t wear armor during the march.

But these are the imperial guards after all, and the Ming Dynasty was willing to spend money on the soldiers, and even the ordinary soldiers in the imperial guards had regular uniforms.

They wore a curved collared outer garment inherited from the Tang Dynasty, but the sleeves were extremely narrow and had straps at the cuffs. The hem of the outer garment was also shortened to the thigh, tied with a belt to look particularly neat. The lower body only had a pair of trousers, and leggings were wrapped when marching. The shoes were standard foot-strap boots, and the head wore a foldable Fanyang hat.

Lu You exclaimed in admiration: "It's just an ordinary march, but they can walk so casually and in unison!"

Hong Mai smiled and said, "They are passing through the capital, so they naturally have to show off."

"No," Lu You pointed at the army in front and said, "You see some of them are still laughing and joking, and there is nothing deliberate about it. I think they can follow their own will and still be in order."

Hong Mai did not respond and was too lazy to argue with Lu You. He was sure that these imperial guards must be passing through Luoyang City and trying to show their abilities.

Countless people inside and outside the city ran over to watch the fun happily, and there were even young ladies waving at the soldiers.

"What a group of tigers and wolves!" Taira no Kiyomori exclaimed, watching from afar with a Japanese sword on his waist.

He has been studying in Ming Dynasty for several years and will return to Japan this year.

He also studied Confucian classics seriously, but his level was average. If he were placed in a remote area of ​​the Ming Dynasty, Monkey King could barely pass the examination to become a scholar.

What Taira no Kiyomori was really interested in was the art of war. He took great pains to obtain a copy of Wujing Zongyao and even spent a large sum of money to learn spearmanship from a retired cavalryman.

With these, Taira no Kiyomori felt that he would be invincible in Japan after returning.

Only after the two imperial guards had gone far away did Taira no Kiyomori go for a stroll in Shifangkan.

As soon as I entered the Sifang Pavilion, I found that there was something exciting to watch.

The envoys from Champa and Chenla repeatedly threatened to kill each other. The Ming officials were unable to mediate, so after consulting their superiors, they allowed the military attachés of the two countries' envoys to duel.

Life and death are determined by fate. No revenge is allowed within the territory of the Ming Dynasty!

When Taira no Kiyomori ran over to watch the fun, both sides were already injured.

After all, the Zhenla military officer was more powerful. He took the sword himself and hit the Champa envoy's neck.

Blood gushed out, and it was probably that he was not going to survive.

The Zhenla military officer danced with his sword, enduring several wounds on his body, and showed off his power in front of the Champa envoys.

"Why is it necessary to fight to the death?" asked Taira no Kiyomori.

Hanoi Ching Kuo said: "When Zhenla invaded Champa, the two countries had just fought a war. The Champa envoys came to Luoyang to complain. The Zhenla envoys also came to complain, saying that the border generals of Champa first crossed the border and provoked. The envoys of the two countries met in Sifang Pavilion and quarreled every day, and they even fought."

Taira no Kiyomori sneered disdainfully: "The prince of the Ming Dynasty is the regent of Annan, and they still have the leisure to attack each other. Sooner or later, they will be annexed by the Ming Dynasty."

There are two main reasons why the two countries went to war:

First, the Ming prince was the regent of Annan. After the ten Annan troops were defeated, he did not restore and replenish those troops. Instead, he took advantage of the situation to carry out large-scale disarmament and directly reduced the number of Annan's standing army by half. This made Champa and Zhenla feel relieved. Since they did not need to guard against Annan, they could attack each other.

Second, the old king of Champa died last year without leaving any offspring, and was succeeded by a member of the royal family from a side branch. The king of Zhenla believed that there was something wrong with the bloodline, and that his son's bloodline was more orthodox, so he wanted to send his son to be the king of Champa.

The current King of Chenla is the one who built Angkor Wat, named Suryavarman II.

The Angkor Dynasty he inherited had reached its maximum territory and finances, so he built hundreds of temples of various sizes, and Angkor Wat was the largest one.

The state religion of Zhenla was the Shaivite Brahmanism, but the king believed in Vaishnavism, which made the mainstream Buddhist community in the country extremely dissatisfied.

"The envoys from Champa and Chenla received the order!"

Soon after the duel ended, an envoy from the emperor came to deliver his imperial decree, but Zhu Ming was too lazy to deal with such a trivial matter personally.

"...Champa and Zhenla are both vassal states of the Ming Dynasty. The two countries are like brothers and should not attack each other anymore..."

"…The succession to the throne of Champa should be decided by the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Does the King of Zhenla want to usurp the authority of the emperor? Now, all official titles of the King of Zhenla except the title of king will be stripped, and he will no longer be ranked with the prince of the Ming Dynasty…"

"…the Chenla government ordered the immediate return of the property and people it had looted from Champa…"

The Champa envoys immediately cheered, Dad is indeed on our side.

The Zhenla envoy was extremely angry and no longer compared himself to the prince of the Ming Dynasty. The Zhenla king was inferior to the Champa king.

No matter how angry you are, you have to endure it!

After the messenger left, the Zhenla envoys glared at the Champa envoys and decided to return with a big force.

The newly enthroned king of Champa did have some problems with his bloodline, and he had many opponents in his country.

Historically, Zhenla would take advantage of the civil unrest in Champa and attack the capital of Champa a few years later, looting and beheading the Champa king.

Taira no Kiyomori witnessed the reading of the imperial edict and could not help but sigh: "This is the power of the emperor. Not only can he intimidate the people at home, but he can also command many foreign countries."

Hanoi Kiyomizu asked, "What exactly do you want to do when you return to your country?" Taira no Kiyomori remained silent.

His current ambition is to unify all the counties and kingdoms in Japan, use the "Son of Heaven" to command the princes, and then use force to suppress the rebellious forces.

The Dali envoy remained silent throughout the process and quietly returned to his own courtyard.

Although the Ming Dynasty did not attack Dali directly, it destroyed the Luodian Kingdom and the Ziqi Kingdom, and supported tribes close to the Ming Dynasty to rule the local area. It also attacked the independent Temo Dao and appointed a Temo Dao commander who was close to the Ming Dynasty. In addition, it settled criminals in Guizhou every year to cultivate the land.

Dali has lost its external barriers, and who knows when the Ming Dynasty will suddenly send troops.

Now that Xixia is gone, I wonder who will be the next one.

However, the Goryeo envoys were not in Luoyang because the consumption level in Luoyang was too high and the Goryeo king and his ministers were reluctant to send envoys to stay there permanently.

Especially after the two countries opened up trade, there was no need to do business in the name of tribute.

Due to a series of changes brought about by the Ming Dynasty, the aristocratic families in Goryeo are accelerating towards a disaster - the era of warriors!
Historically, because they could not defeat the Jin Kingdom and used force to wipe out the nobles of Xijing, the victorious nobles of Kaijing frantically seized power and completely gave up military affairs. When the new king ascended the throne, no high position was given to the military. Even the positions that should have been held by the military were divided up by the aristocratic families.

After all the trouble, the warriors simply drew their knives, crazily slaughtered the civil officials, and established a new king.

The level of chaos during Goryeo's military era can be compared to China's Five Dynasties.

Now that the Ming Dynasty has occupied Pyongyang, there are no more Xijing nobles fighting for power, and the Kaijing nobles are playing more wildly than in history. Moreover, the Ming army is too strong, and it can't defeat Goryeo anyway. The aristocratic families no longer care about military construction, and most of the military expenditure goes into the pockets of civil officials.

It can be said that Goryeo’s current middle-level officers cannot even get enough food, and ordinary soldiers need to find all kinds of ways to make a living.

All that was left for the Goryeo warriors to draw their knives was an opportunity to detonate.

……

Chui Gong Hall.

Prime Minister Liu Yu bowed solemnly and said, "Your Majesty, this year's drought is getting worse, and hundreds of thousands of civilians have been conscripted in the spring. Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Henan provinces need to transfer grain for relief. In order to conquer Xixia, grain from various provinces has been transported to Shanxi and Shaanxi since three years ago. The grain reserves in the south from previous years are running low."

Zhu Ming said: "The cabinet discussed disaster relief matters with the six ministries."

Liu Yu hesitated for a moment, but could not help but say, "Your Majesty, please cancel the ceremony of surrendering captives. Destroying Xia is a great joyous event, but the year is not good, so we must be frugal."

"I'll think about it again, you can leave now." Zhu Ming said.

Liu Yu bowed and took his leave.

National-level ceremonies are indeed extremely costly, with millions of coins being thrown away at will.

From the dignitaries to the petty officials, from the generals to the soldiers, all participants must be rewarded and their meals must be provided for.

I don’t know if it’s because of the Little Ice Age, but there have been floods in the south and droughts in the north in recent years. This year, there were severe droughts in Shaanxi, Shanxi and Henan.

The drought brought great suffering to Western Xia, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it was one of the reasons for the country's demise.

But now that Western Xia has been destroyed, the drought cannot be eliminated.

It is indeed not a good year for celebration, and holding a prisoner presentation ceremony seems unfair to the victims.

Zhu Ming sighed and wrote: "In a year of great disaster, we should be frugal and not offer captives to the palace. All military commanders should return to their bases, and the soldiers should patiently wait for rewards..."

After all, this is a war of annihilation, so there will be no ceremony of surrendering prisoners, but other rewards will be increased.

The main problem facing the Ming Dynasty now is the lack of food after the war, but there is no shortage of gold, silver and copper coins, so we can just give more money as rewards to the soldiers.

Zhu Ming carefully read the memorials from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Rites, which were about conferring titles and rewards.

Yue Fei had made contributions during the destruction of the Jin Dynasty and had been made a marquis. Now that he had made great contributions again, he should have been made a county duke, but Zhu Ming decided to suppress it.

This move is to protect Yue Fei!

His performance was so outstanding that the merits of the two friendly forces were greatly reduced. It is not a good thing to be promoted too quickly.

But we must not allow Yue Fei to have misunderstandings, nor let the generals under Yue Fei feel resentful.

After much deliberation, Zhu Ming decided as follows:

Yue Fei's title of marquis remained unchanged, but his fiefdom and food were increased, and his military rank was raised. Honorary titles were conferred on Yue Fei's parents and wife, and those who had died were conferred posthumously.

The generals under Yue Fei, including Han Shizhong's troops who followed Yue Fei in the attack, all received additional rewards on top of their original titles.

Yue Fei was also rewarded with a top-grade warhorse, a set of special armor, and a special spear.

Han Shizhong's reward was relatively simple, he was promoted from earl to marquis, and all other rewards were also received.

Also have to take care of the elderly.

Deng Chunfeng was made county lord.

Chen Ziyi had already been granted a title of nobility, and this time his military rank was promoted, his fiefdom was increased to the maximum, and his parents and wife were also granted titles.

The rest of the early generals received additional rewards this time as a way of giving them an explanation.

(End of this chapter)