In the Southern Song Dynasty, I competed with Mongolia for the world

Chapter 559 How Long Will This War End?

Meng Zhijing said: "It seems that they are still preparing to fight - the Delhi Sultanate (India)?"

Zhao Qi was even more unhappy, and couldn't help but say: "How long will this war last? The soldiers of the Song Dynasty need to take a rest."

As soon as these words were spoken, Meng Zhijing's face changed drastically and he looked around quickly.

Fortunately, he and his two highest-ranking officers were walking in front, while the others followed far behind, so it seemed that no one heard it.

"King of Han, please be careful with your words." Meng Zhijing reminded quickly.

Zhao Qi was stunned for a moment, his face turned pale and he stopped talking.

Meng Zhijing's heart was pounding. "King of Han, don't talk nonsense. Don't drag me into this."

His father Meng Gong is in charge of Central Asian affairs in the Central Asia Province and is under the control of Zhao Yi. He follows the King of Han here. It is obvious that the father and son have no faction and just follow Emperor Zhao Yurui. Now many civil and military officials are taking sides and each is picking their own vassal kings. Meng Zhijing does not want to be labeled as a member of the King of Han faction.

Especially after seeing Zhao Qi's performance in recent times, Meng Zhijing is definitely even more unwilling to be a member of the King of Han faction.

After thinking about it, he felt it necessary to explain to Zhao Qi.

"The King of Han should have seen the map."

"After Siam was conquered, the Delhi Sultanate, east, south, west, and north, all four directions, became the territory of the Song Dynasty."

"We have been surrounded by the Song Dynasty. In this situation, we have to fight."

"If we don't attack the Delhi Sultanate, our Song Dynasty will have an enclave in the middle, and we will also isolate the Central Asian Province, the Ming Province (Persia), the Borneo Province, and the Annan Province."

"Once the Delhi Sultanate is destroyed, all the territories will be united."

"Moreover, the Delhi Sultanate is vast and has a huge population. It is indeed a good place. If they were to govern it, it would definitely be far worse than the Great Song."

"King of Han, in the short term, war is cruel and the people will suffer."

"But in the long run, the people of the Delhi Sultanate under the rule of the Song Dynasty will definitely live a better life than before."

Meng Zhijing also tried to persuade Zhao Qi earnestly.

According to Zhao and Rui's current sphere of influence, in the whole of Asia, except for Japan and Goryeo in the east, only Java and the Delhi Sultanate here have not been destroyed.

If we can destroy Java by the end of this year, we will have to destroy the Delhi Sultanate next year or the year after, and then the entire southwest Asia will be connected.

Of course, the Delhi Sultanate was not easy to destroy, because it did have a large territory, a large population, and strong power.

The Delhi Sultanate existed for more than three hundred years until it was replaced by the Mughal Empire in 1526. Of course, the Mughal Empire was still their own people.

Even when they were colonized by Europeans in the 18th century, their local feudal princes and nobles were not destroyed and continued to rule the land.

This country has strong vitality, unlike the Han dynasty which was destroyed twice by the Yuan Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty.

Therefore, Zhao and Rui were the last ones to attack them. They had to clean up the surroundings first. Then they could send troops from the four directions, southeast, northwest, northeast and southwest, at the same time to destroy the dynasty in one fell swoop.

After listening to this, Zhao Qi remained silent. He just looked at the sea in the distance quietly, not knowing what he was thinking.

After his father ascended the throne, the Song Dynasty went on wars everywhere, from Baoqing to Yuanzhen, without stopping. In his eyes, this was a bit warmongering, and he obviously didn't like it.

If I could be the emperor, manage the Song Dynasty well, make the people richer and live a better life, wouldn't it be better? He thought silently.

Not sure if Meng Zhijing had guessed what was on his mind, seeing Zhao Qi remained silent, Meng Zhijing sighed, "Wherever there are people, there is the Jianghu. The Jianghu is just like the rest of the world, with fighting and killing all day long."

"After the founding of the Song Dynasty, when the Jin, Liao, Xixia and Mongolia rose, they would attack the Song Dynasty."

"Sometimes it's not us who want to fight. If we don't fight others, they will fight us when they become strong."

Zhao Qi became even more unhappy after hearing this. He blushed and argued, "So now that we are strong, we can beat others without restraint, just to prevent others from becoming strong and beating us?"

"Well, that's about the idea." Meng Zhijing felt that he couldn't communicate with him, so he had to deal with it casually.

At this time, Zhao Qi had already stood on a high place and was looking at a town in the distance. It seemed that there was a town several miles away from the sea. He found it rather strange. After all, from Sumatra to Siam, such a high town was rare.

"Telescope." Zhao Qi stretched out his hand, and a servant behind him came forward and handed him the telescope.

He raised the telescope and looked, and finally discovered that it was not the town that was higher, but the city wall over there was built on the gable, so it looked higher. This was exactly the ancient city wall of Yaga in later generations.

"That was the former capital of West Java." Meng Zhijing stood behind him and explained, "Now we call it West Java City."

The Song Dynasty renamed Jakarta to West Java City, intending to make it the capital of Java Province.

Zhao Qi frowned, probably thinking that the name was not nice: "Who came up with this name?" What an uneducated person! Fortunately he didn't say the last few words.

"-——" Meng Zhijing looked around and had to whisper: "It is-the court--" actually referring to Emperor Zhao Yurui.

Zhao Qi didn't seem to care, and said to himself: "Write to the court to change the name to 'Xinzhou'."

In Zhao Qi's opinion, this place was formerly called the Sinhasari Dynasty, and the largest city in West Java should be called Sinju.

Meng Zhijing's mouth twitched, and he said helplessly: "Reply to King Han, I have a Xinzhou in the Song Dynasty."

The Song Dynasty has a Xinzhou in Jiangxi. Meng Zhijing was speechless about the King of Han.

Ah, Zhao Qi sighed, then thought for a moment: "Then I will write to the court and change the name to Xinhezhou."

"..." You must go against His Majesty the Emperor, right? Meng Zhijing had no choice but to say, "This was chosen by His Majesty."

Meng Zhijing directly brought up Emperor Zhao and Rui, hoping to remind the King of Han not to mess around anymore.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Qi didn't care at all: "Just write the letter and see if the emperor will accept it."

"..." Meng Zhijing lowered his head: "I understand."

At this time, there were many civil and military officials standing not far behind Zhao Qi. They all looked at each other as if it was a conditioned reflex.

They basically listened to the conversation between Zhao Qi and Meng Zhijing.

I didn't expect Zhao Qi to be so bold as to change the name given by the Emperor.

However, some people have heard some anecdotes. It is said that the eldest prince Zhao Qi was trained by the emperor himself. He followed the emperor to various places since he was a child. Among all the princes, he has followed the emperor for the longest time.

It seems that His Majesty the Emperor is very fond of the eldest prince.

But despite this, you can't be arrogant because of your favor, right? You dared to change the name given by Zhao Yurui, which really shocked many civil and military officials present.

But the result was shocking. Half a year later, a letter finally came from Lin'an, agreeing with Zhao Qi's petition and changing the name of Xizhao City to Xinhe.

Zhao Qi also changed Java Province into Sinha Province, which was also approved by the emperor. The provincial government was located in Sinha Prefecture, and he set up a governor, a commander, and a navy.

Zhao Qi also recommended Meng Zhijing as the commander-in-chief of the Dusi.

Meng Zhijing was in tears when he heard the news. He thought, can I refuse? He didn't want to have anything to do with Zhao Qi. But there was no way. He couldn't refuse. Zhao Qi dared to change the name given by the emperor, and he didn't dare to say no.

Zhao Qi's name change caused quite a stir.

Usually after the Song army conquered a place, they would change its name to reduce its previous influence in the local area.

For example, Zhao Yi changed the name of the Persian Gulf to the Great Song Bay because he did not want the Persians to remember that they had a king named Persia in the past.

Zhao Qi conquered the Xinhasari Dynasty and named the city Xinhe, which was really surprising. Many people in the court were opposed to it, but Zhao Yurui agreed, so naturally no one dared to say anything.

That day, Zhao Qi decided to change his name to Xinhe, then he mounted his warhorse and led a group of people to Xinhe City.

Song troops and civilians could be seen everywhere along the way, as well as various horse-drawn carriages transporting supplies.

The Song army was building roads and repairing cities.

The ancient city wall of Yaga is less than ten miles away from the sea, and the road is not very good. After the Song army occupied it, they conscripted some local people to build roads, and at the same time immigrated Srivijaya people to help build roads and cities.

The road construction ahead was fine, Zhao Qi could not see anything, but along the way he kept reminding Meng Zhijing: "These road construction workers must be fed and watered, they are now also our people of the Song Dynasty."

"The King of Han is kind and righteous. The people will remember this. Please rest assured, King of Han."

"Do they get paid?" Zhao Qi suddenly asked.

The corner of Meng Zhijing's mouth twitched slightly, and he turned his head to look at a civil servant beside him.

The civil servant secretly groaned, this was Zheng Shichang (son of Zheng Qingzhi) who was preparing to come and serve as the prefect of Xinhe Prefecture.

Zheng Shichang said with a stiff upper lip: "The court is determining the amount of monthly salary based on the actual local situation."

"?" Zhao Qi heard this, so you didn't pay? What's the difference between you and the Mongols?
Zheng Shichang saw his expression change slightly, and quickly said, "The King of Han doesn't know."

"The local people still have slavery, and the people are all slaves of the nobles of the Xinheli Dynasty. They don't have coins in their own country, and the people mainly barter with each other, and they don't have the habit of using money."

"Only when we conduct official transactions with other places do we use our Song coins or silver dinars."

Zhao Qi sighed, "The common people are already suffering. If we force them to be laborers without even paying them, it will only increase their resentment and make them more opposed to the Song Dynasty."

“Whether they used money before or not, we want them to get used to using our Song coins.”

"The King of Han is wise." All the civil and military officials had no choice but to say.

What Zheng Shichang said was true. The local people mostly bartered, and money was only used in official large-scale transactions. Moreover, many people did not have enough to eat before. Now that the Song army has arrived, it is considered quite good to be able to feed them.

We don't mint coins here, so if you want to pay workers, you have to ship them from far away Persia, which is a huge expense.

Now Zhao Qi wanted to distribute money, and everyone was helpless. After some discussion, they decided to do the same as in the previous Borneo Province, and first distribute something similar to food coupons, which could be exchanged for supplies in the shops exclusively run by the Song Army, which was equivalent to distributing money.

Because this kind of food coupons are recognized by Song troops everywhere, they are equivalent to money. Now many foreign businessmen sometimes accept them because the food coupons can be used as money in their hands.

Of course, the merchants did not dare to collect too much. If the Song army did not recognize it one day, it would be a huge loss. Merchants from all countries would use it as soon as they received it and would never store it.

The group chatted as they walked and soon arrived at Xinhe City.

Because it had been attacked by the Song army, the ancient city walls outside had collapsed in many places, and many local and relocated Srivijaya people were repairing them.

There were many people coming in and out of the city, and the various supplies transported by the Song army from the sea were also being transported into the city.

Various government offices, military camps, etc. were built in the city. It looked very busy and full of people.

Zhao Qi asked, how many people are there in Xinhe City now?

Meng Zhijing and Zheng Shichang looked at each other and thought, the government hasn't agreed to change the name yet, and you're shouting.

Zheng Shichang had no choice but to say, "There are 24,000 households of Xinhasali people in the city, 1,200 households of Srivijaya people who have migrated here, and our Great Song garrison has more than 3,000 soldiers."

The total number is close to 100,000.

It is also one of the most populous towns in West Java.

The population at that time was considered small. In later generations, the Yaga region became the largest economic center of India, with a permanent population of over 30 million.

Zhao Qi frowned again when he heard this: "Isn't the population of Java much larger than that of Borneo? Why are there only so few people?"

Meng Zhijing said that not long after our army arrived, many people from West Java followed the people of the Singhasari Dynasty and fled eastward.

There were also those who fled to the vicinity of Xinhe City, but the Song army did not capture them.

The Song army is now mainly focusing on finding a foothold, building up defenses in Xinhe City and the coast, and then searching and expanding in all directions.

According to the plan of the Song army, some of the original residents of the city, the Javanese, would have to be relocated one after another to Borneo, Persia, and Srivijaya.

Then people migrated from Persia and Srivijaya and mixed with the Javanese to reduce the influence of the local people.

Don't think that immigration is easy. As long as it is transported by ship, the transportation capacity of the Song army is already the strongest in the world. However, there are still risks along the way. The ship may sink at any time, and a group of people will die on the ship every time they transport.

Because they were not their own people, the Song army did not take very careful measures in all aspects.

Zhao Qi obviously thought about this question, and said in a deep voice: "My Great Song army, with tens of thousands of people, has been transported over long distances and has been at sea for several months without any casualties, or even only a few deaths."

"Last time, when we transported two ships of Brunei people from Borneo to Singapore, more than 30 people died. Did the officials in the court not do their job seriously?"

Everyone looked at each other, and Zheng Shichang didn't dare to speak.

Seeing no one respond, Meng Zhijing said, "I will ask the navy officers and soldiers to pay attention and strengthen the hygiene and safety inspections on the ship to ensure the survival rate."

"When transporting civilians, there must be a doctor accompanying them. All preparations must be in place. We cannot allow too many people to die. These are now the people of our Great Song Dynasty."

"Yes, yes, I—"

"Your humble servant--"

"I understand." Finally, everyone expressed that they understood.

When Zhao Qi entered the city, he saw hundreds of people repairing his temporary residence.

His Prince of Han's Palace is in Hanzhou, and a temporary residence is being built for him here, mainly to renovate the previous house. There are hundreds of people working on the site.

After taking a look, Zhao Qi immediately said to transfer all the people away and repair the city walls and roads first. He didn't care about the accommodation, just find a house where he could sleep without being leaky or windy.

The civil and military officials looked at each other again. Zhao Qi's previous words had made everyone unhappy, but now they finally saw the good points in Zhao Qi.

However, this advantage is obviously not enough to fight for the throne.

(End of this chapter)