Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 980 0975 [Tianpeng Armor, Liquan Spear]

Luanping, Chengde, Chifeng, Kuancheng, Qinglong, Suizhong, Jinzhou, Yixian... These places were all under the jurisdiction of Dading Prefecture and were temporarily assigned to Liaoning Province by Zhu Ming.

It’s nothing, the population is too small.

Only Dading Prefecture City (Zhongjing of Liao Dynasty) and Jinzhou were still somewhat intact, the rest of the places were all destroyed.

Most of the territory of this prefecture was previously the territory of the Xi people.

The central part of Dading Prefecture was in chaos when the Xi leader rebelled against the Jin Dynasty and proclaimed himself emperor. Then the Han leader Zhang Jue rebelled against the Jin Dynasty in the Liaoxi Corridor, and the southeastern part of Dading Prefecture was desolate.

Then came the Ming-Jin battle.

Of the people living in Dading Prefecture today, 45% migrated from Liaodong by the Jin Kingdom, 45% migrated from Liaodong by the Ming Dynasty, and only 10% are originally from here.

This means that the inhabitants of this land have been completely replaced in just twenty years!
There are also many states and counties where the people died or fled, but were not replaced by immigrants. There are few people and wild beasts swarm around.

Zong Wu and his companions encountered wild beasts seven times just on their way from Miyun to Chengde.

Two of them were caused by tigers, who stood far away on the road, watching people coming and going. If only a few people passed by, the tigers would pounce on them, and many people were eaten by wild beasts.

At Fugu Station, Zongwu encountered a caravan heading south.

The caravan also hired several retired soldiers as bodyguards. The leader said to Zongwu, "This place used to be very wealthy, as you can tell from the name of Fuguyi. Now there are only a dozen households left, all of whom hid in the mountains and returned home when the Jin Dynasty was clearing the countryside. Not far to the north, there used to be a Guihua County. Now it is no longer in business. There are only a hundred households inside and outside the county, and I don't know when the county can be re-established."

At this point, the caravan leader took out a tiger skin and said, "Not long ago, a tiger came into the city looking for meat and killed a child. The locals then beat it to death. I happened to receive that tiger skin when I went to the north to do business. If you like it, I can sell it to you at a low price."

Zong Wu shook his head: "This thing is ominous, it has the life of a child on it."

"Then I will transport it to Zhending Prefecture and sell it. It will definitely not be sold at a high price in Yanshan Prefecture." The merchant carefully put away the tiger skin.

Zong Wu asked, "Are you going to Linhuang Protectorate to do business?"

The merchant said, "Linhuang is too far. I will sell the tea to Dading City and come back. There are merchants who will resell the goods to the grassland."

"Are the Han and non-Han peoples also living together in Dading City?" Zong Wu asked again.

The merchant said, "They are all from Liaodong. Some migrated from the Jin Kingdom, and some migrated from the Ming Dynasty. Most of them are Bohai people, followed by Han people, and the least are Jurchen people. They all speak Chinese with a Liaodong accent mixed with some northern Han accents."

Zong Wu then asked about other things he had heard, and the merchant told him in detail, which really broadened his horizons.

Continuing their journey, they arrived at the vicinity of Dading Prefecture and Zong Wu discovered that the population here was actually larger than that of Yanshan Prefecture.

This was a deliberate move by the imperial court, which moved the Bohai and Han peoples from Liaodong to merge them into the new northern Han people in order to control the grasslands of Linhuang Prefecture further north.

Upon hearing that an imperial envoy was going to the grassland, three caravans came up to him and said they wanted to travel with Zong Wu.

Salt, tea, and ironware were all controlled commodities, and transporting them to the grasslands required a special license, and there was also a maximum limit set every year. But cloth and the like did not matter, and could be sold freely to the grasslands.

Zong Wu communicated with the merchants while he was on his way.

"Will the grassland tribes rob caravans?" Zong Wu asked curiously.

The tea merchant laughed and said, "With Yue Duhu guarding Linhuang Prefecture, how dare the grassland tribes rob Ming merchants? It's not like they are tired of living!"

The salt merchant said, "Now we have the Wei Suo system, and the grassland tribes have all been allocated pastures, and they no longer attack each other. When the caravan arrived, they were very welcoming and each of them killed a sheep to entertain us."

The so-called "Weisuo System" here is actually a combination of the Tang Dynasty's Protectorate System and the Qing Dynasty's League and Banner System.

The Protectorate had direct jurisdiction over the territory, and the people living in the direct jurisdiction did not belong to any tribe, and were all registered as citizens by the Protectorate. They mainly cultivated the land, but a few also raised livestock.

The territory under the jurisdiction of the Protectorate outside the direct jurisdiction was divided into several guards (leagues), and each guard was divided into several squads (banners).

The chief of a guard was the commander-in-chief, who was recommended by the Protectorate from among the chiefs of each tribe and could take the position after approval by the court. The chief of a station was the commander-in-chief, who was recommended by the commander-in-chief of the guard and could take the position after approval by the Protectorate.

The tribal form still exists, but it is gradually divided into administrative districts based on guards.

It is strictly forbidden for any garrison to attack or rob each other.

If there were any disputes between the stations, they would be mediated by the commander of the Wei Du. If the mediation failed, the case could be reported to the Protectorate.

If there were disputes between the guards, the Protectorate would mediate. If mediation failed, military intervention would be necessary. If the Protectorate failed, the central government would certainly intervene.

In addition, the people in the area directly under the jurisdiction of the Protectorate, except for the families of the garrison troops, were all herdsmen and slaves from various tribes.

They belonged to the exploited class in their original tribes, and when the Protectorate was first established, it ordered all tribes to send enough people. The chiefs sent herders and slaves, and the Protectorate liberated them and allocated arable land or pasture to them.

Therefore, although the people in the areas directly under the Protectorate came from various tribes on the grassland, they were extremely loyal to the imperial court.

They are a stable source of tax revenue and military personnel, and the foundation for the long-term existence of the Protectorate!
The Linhuang Protectorate where Yue Fei was located had four directly-governed territories, namely Xianzhou (the ancestral state of the Liao Dynasty), Raozhou, Fengzhou, and Wuzhou.

If we use the administrative names of later generations, they are: Balin Left Banner, Balin Right Banner, Wengniute Banner, and the riverside area from Tongliao to Shuangliao.

Occupy all the land suitable for farming!
In the directly governed areas, 70% of the population is engaged in farming and 30% in animal husbandry. However, regardless of farming or animal husbandry, they are all in a semi-agricultural and semi-animal husbandry state, divided according to their main source of income.

Zongwu entered Fengzhou (Wengniute Banner) and saw many farmlands along the river. The clothes and hairstyles were all those of the Han people.

If the local farmers had not spoken Khitan, Zongwu would have thought he had arrived in Han territory.

These farmers and herdsmen who spoke Khitan were very enthusiastic when they met the Han people.

After hearing the merchant's introduction and learning that Zongwu was sent by the emperor, the farmers and herdsmen actually knelt down one after another.

The vast majority of them were former slaves, and a few were low-level herdsmen.

Now that they have their own farmland and pastures, they are afraid of losing them all. They took the initiative to cut ties with the grassland tribes and even considered themselves Han Chinese. There was no need for the Protectorate to force them to do so. They learned to dress and comb their hair like Han Chinese. The only thing they couldn't change was their language.

"The barbarians have surrendered, and the people across the country are united. This is truly a sign of a prosperous era!" Zong Wu couldn't help but sigh.

A prosperous era must be achieved through force.

And thanks to the Liao-Jin war, the grassland population was drastically reduced. The few remaining people were dragged into the war by the Jin Kingdom. They went to fight in Mobei and fought with the Ming Dynasty, which made the grassland population smaller and smaller.

By the time Yue Fei was ordered to establish the Linhuang Protectorate, the grassland was already vast and sparsely populated, and it could be easily demarcated as a directly governed area.

Then guards were set up, pastures were divided, and tribes were relocated.

From beginning to end, no tribe rebelled because everyone was given enough pasture.

The real ruling dilemma will come in a few dozen or even a hundred years. By then, the population of each tribe will increase, the pasture will gradually become insufficient, and conflicts will inevitably be resolved through foreign wars.

The commander of Fengzhou had already sent someone on horseback to deliver the message. A few days later, when Zong Wu arrived at Changtai Posthouse, Yue Fei led a group of cavalry to greet him.

"Linhuang Protector General Yue Fei, along with the civil and military officials of the Protectorate, comes to pay homage to the angel!" Yue Fei dismounted and bowed.

Behind him, in addition to a group of generals, there were also civil servants from the Protectorate, such as the Chief Secretary Li Geng.

Perhaps because he had served as an official on the grassland for a long time, this chief historian also had good riding skills and could even fight in armor at critical moments.

Zong Wu was led by Yue Fei to the Linhuang Protectorate City, where he was treated to wine and meat. After the banquet, only the two of them were left.

Yue Fei was initially promoted by Zong Ze, and Zong Wu was Zong Ze's great-nephew. The two were naturally close and became friends after just one meal.

After everyone left, Zong Wu said to Yue Fei: "Pengju, your title has not been promoted this time."

Yue Fei was stunned and a little surprised.

Zong Wu said, "That's why His Majesty sent me to confer the reward. His Majesty also asked me to pass on a message, saying that he wanted Pengju to lead the troops for a few more years. Moreover, the situation this time is special. If Pengju is promoted to county lord, it may cause dissatisfaction among many generals."

If someone else had conveyed the imperial edict, Yue Fei would definitely have felt resentful, but Zong Wu's identity was different.

Yue Fei could not help but say: "I will listen to your majesty, but the generals under my command..."

Zong Wu said: "The court has given additional rewards to the soldiers under Pengju. Even the civil and military officials who stayed behind in Linhuang Protectorate will be rewarded this time to comfort them for their hard work in the grassland for so long."

"Then there's nothing to say." Yue Fei actually still felt a little resentful.

However, when the rewards were given the next day, all of Yue Fei's resentment disappeared.

In front of all the soldiers, Zong Wu read out the imperial edict:

"...Yue Fei was transferred to the rank of Xianghou, with an additional 3,000 households in fief and 2,000 households in actual fief, and was promoted to the rank of Champion General. He was also given a Feiyu suit, a set of armor, a horse lance, a royal horse, and 3,000 silver dollars. The grandfather of Yue Fei was posthumously conferred..."

After the imperial edict was read, the generals were shocked.

First there was anger, then confusion, and finally joy.

The title of Marquis remained unchanged, but was changed to Xianghou, named after Yue Fei's hometown, Xiangzhou.

Speaking of the Feiyu clothing, the Ming Dynasty designated it as a duke's bestowal, and now giving it to Yue Fei is also a super-level reward.

The title of Champion General was a third-rank military rank in the Song Dynasty, but it became a third-rank military rank in the Ming Dynasty. Above that were only the three generals: General Huoqi, General Fuguo, and General Zhenguo.

In terms of military rank, Yue Fei was promoted twice.

This thing may seem to be of no use to outsiders, but to generals, it is second only to titles and military positions.

With the rank of Champion General, if he joins forces with any general next time, even if the other general's rank is higher than Yue Fei, as long as the military ranks of both parties are equal, Yue Fei can automatically become the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces - provided that the court has not appointed a commander-in-chief.

Moreover, after the military rank is promoted, the military position can also be promoted faster.

What's more, the name of Champion General has a special meaning.

In addition, Yue Fei's grandparents, parents, and wife were all given honorary official titles and imperial edicts.

Absolutely the emperor’s grace!
Zong Wu pointed at the imperial horse and introduced it with a smile: "Protector Yue, this is the warhorse that His Majesty likes best. The emperor named it 'Coal Ball'."

"Hahahaha!"

When everyone heard the horse's name, they burst into laughter.

Zong Wu put away his smile and said to the generals, "Your Majesty has only given names to two war horses. One is called Cornucopia, and the other is Coal Ball."

The generals stopped laughing when they heard this. They knew about the treasure bowl. When they looked at the coal ball again, their eyes suddenly became different.

Zong Wu added: "This horse lance is 16 feet (5 meters) long and took three years to make. It was originally your majesty's personal weapon. The lance also has your name engraved on it."

Yue Fei took the lance with both hands and liked it very much. He then looked for the words engraved on the lance and indeed found two words: Liquan!
Zong Wu said: "Your Majesty calls it the Liquan Divine Spear."

Yue Fei waved the spear for a while and praised: "What a good spear! What a good spear!"

Zong Wu pointed at the armor and said, "This armor is called Tianpeng Armor, which corresponds to Pengju. Not to mention that the outer layer is made of cotton armor, the armor plates inside are all made by skilled craftsmen through repeated cold forging. It is half the weight of ordinary armor, but its protective ability is comparable to that of heavy cotton armor."

After the horses, armor, and spears were all introduced, the generals' eyes were already shining.

Damn the county magistrate, whoever wants it can take it, how can it compare to someone so simple in the emperor's heart?
(End of this chapter)