At this time, in Siam. burden
Today's Siam belongs to the Ayutthaya Dynasty period, with prosperous economy, prosperous military force, stable rule of King Narai, and its heyday.
Throughout the Ming Dynasty, Ayutthaya sent envoys to visit China more than a hundred times, up to six times a year.
From China, they obtained silk and porcelain, which were highly profitable in the international market at that time. China also obtained agarwood, ivory, and rhino horn from Ayutthaya.
Because of the importance of the Strait of Malacca, diplomacy was very early.
As early as 1516, Portugal signed a treaty with Siam, stipulating that the Portuguese could live, do business and preach in places such as Ayutthaya, Tanassarin, Moji, Pattani, Liukun and other places.
Spain, Britain, France also signed contracts one after another, and even many Japanese.
Therefore, compared with Southeast Asian countries, the Ayutthaya Dynasty in Siam was more open and knowledgeable about firearms. burden
It is precisely because of this that when Southeast Asian countries fell into colonies in history, Siam understood the importance of diplomacy because it opened up earlier, balanced between Britain and France, and barely maintained its independence.
Escaped colonization and even Japanese invasion.
After Sun Kewang unified Myanmar, it was named Dian Kingdom.
Because of his indescribable fear of the Ming Dynasty and concern for the remnants of the Toungu dynasty, he moved the capital directly to the south.
From Taungoo City, we traveled hundreds of miles south to reach the Bago area, which was later known as the Yangon area.
The land here is fertile, and the Irrawaddy River has formed a delta plain, which supports a large population.
Therefore, Sun Kewang built a city here and renamed it Xinjing, while Toungoo City in the north became Beijing, following the example of the Ming Dynasty in implementing the two-capital system. burden
Since the Toungoo Dynasty roughly unified Myanmar, it took Sun Kewang several years to truly quell the civil strife and lay the foundation of the dynasty.
In fact, there were only a few hundred miles of land directly under the Toungoo dynasty and a population of less than one million. The rest of the land was just a few loyal chieftains who only had the obligation to pay tribute and lead troops.
To put it bluntly, it is a replica of the Western Zhou Dynasty.
Therefore, Sun Kewang divided the entire Myanmar into two capitals and thirteen provinces, and governed the world based on the provincial, prefecture, and county model, mixing the chieftain system.
The central government established a cabinet, and the inner court had a supervisor of ceremonial checks and balances.
They copied the Ming Dynasty without shame.
It’s not their fault. They have been exposed to the systems of the Ming Dynasty since childhood. How could they not stick to it? burden
It's better to copy it completely than to not resemble what you learned.
Zhang Xianzhong's messy retro system was just renamed. Thinking of completely separating it from Zhang Xianzhong, Sun Kewang adopted this suggestion.
In fact, the civil servants made Sun Kewang agree with just one sentence: "Does the king want Zhang Xianzhong to be the ancestor?"
Good guy, although Sun Kewang is his godson, he has already changed his surname back to his birth name. Now the world he conquered is worthy of the name of Taizu.
If it were Taizong or Gaozu, wouldn't it be a huge loss?
The reason why he did not proclaim himself emperor but king was actually because he was afraid that the Ming Dynasty would attack him.
Over the years, he was busy fighting against Siam and running the country at the same time. burden
Although the results of the battle against Siam were small, he achieved his goal of weakening the chieftains. The area under direct control became much larger, expanding from thirteen provinces to eighteen provinces.
Borrowing troops to reduce the vassal state is nothing more than this.
How could those chieftains be his opponents?
However, for the sake of prestige, Sun Kewang still worked hard and gathered tens of thousands of troops. He destroyed the Lanna Kingdom in northern Thailand, which was the Ming Dynasty's Babaidaidian (Chiang Mai) and Babaizhenai (Chiang Rai). A Xuanwei Department.
The territory expanded hundreds of miles, and its prestige became increasingly powerful.
In other words, the territory of the Dian Kingdom at this time has exceeded that of the previous Burmese dynasties, and it can be said to be extremely prosperous.
At this time, Sun Kewang, who had ruled the Dian Kingdom for nearly ten years, was almost fifty years old. He had been busy for most of his life and began to curb his ambitions. burden
From the previous expansion, it has reached the current stability and stability.
Compile household registers, establish prefectures and counties, establish armies, accept concubines, establish hundreds of officials, build ancestral temples, establish imperial examinations, promote farming, strengthen the army, suppress rebellious people...
Each piece of internal affairs completely absorbed his energy into internal affairs, so at this time, he began to think of a truce.
The war that has been going on for several years will finally come to an end.
Xinjing.
At this time, a group of chariots and horses, guarded by many soldiers, hurried to the city gate.
"Who?" Negative
"A new envoy from Siam!"
The general looking at the gate asked immediately.
After receiving the accurate answer, his face lit up: "Hurry, Your Majesty is impatient. Follow me into the palace."
In the carriage, the Siamese envoy opened a corner of the carriage curtain, his face suddenly full of novelty.
The city gate inlaid with copper nails is completely different from other countries in South Asia and looks very eye-catching.
The tall city walls and extremely wide moat make the entire New Capital look very solid and difficult to destroy.
There are gates and arrow towers on the city wall, and there are guards patrolling the gates for protection. burden
"Even if there are hundreds of elephants, I'm afraid they won't be able to do anything to this city."
The envoy exclaimed.
Soon, the carriage went to the city, and the style of Xinjing appeared in front of him.
The road paved with bricks and stones is very flat, extremely clean, and has no muddy feel.
You know, even in the dry season, there is light rain, and all kinds of sludge piles up in the streets, which smells bad. It is inevitable in any city in Siam, but not in Xinjing.
The streets are full of people and traffic.
Vendors in colorful clothes were shouting about their goods, and stalls set up on the side displayed a dazzling array of goods, attracting many people to come and buy. burden
What made him envious was that even those commoners were dressed in commoners and decent clothes, just like the nobles of Siam.
You must know that among the people, ordinary people are like banana leaves, and they can be covered with leaves. Those who can have commoners are nobles.
For a moment, he was actually a little ashamed.
Because the clothes of the customers coming and going from the shops were more gorgeous than his.
Then, he saw a group of officials carrying swords, walking arrogantly on the street. The people along the road quickly gave way, which was obviously a habit.
Soon, he walked past buildings one after another, with brick and tile structures and gray walls and earth tiles. They were very different from Siam, which made him feel particularly novel.
In a short time, he arrived at the palace. burden
A team of guards stood in front of the door, their eyes shining, watching everyone who entered the palace with vigilance.
Even with someone leading the team, he still went through several inspections.
"It seems that King Dian is still afraid of death."
The palace pillars are painted deep red and covered with yellow glazed tiles, making it appear solemn and majestic.
Entering the main hall, you can see a large number of flower windows with their bottoms facing upward, the jade paving stone floor is exquisite and elegant, and some ancient calligraphy and paintings and camellia patterns are hung on the walls, which demonstrate the profound cultural connotation of the palace.
In the hall, two rows of bead curtains were pulled aside. The white marble throne was majestic and upright. An old man with slightly frosted temples was dressed in a yellow dragon robe. He seemed to be in a high-ranking position.
On both sides, there were many ministers standing, standing in accordance with the civil and military classes, which was very regular. burden
Such pomp and majesty made the Siamese envoys tremble with fear:
"Foreign Minister Basong Chalunpeng has met the King of Dian."
"Get up!"
Sun Kewang was sitting on the dragon chair, with the soft backrest cushioning his waist, and his face was slightly pale.
Everyone has a compensatory effect on themselves. After years of fighting and traveling thousands of miles to Burma, he naturally took in concubines and reproduced children.
Now that I am getting older, I have more ambition but less strength.
Now there are only six sons and three daughters, and in recent years they have even withered away, with no heirs born. burden
"Your country wants to sign a peace treaty, but I don't know why.
What conditions? "
At this time, Yang Changzhi, who served as the chief assistant of the cabinet, asked calmly.
"Our country is willing to offer 10,000 shi of food, 5,000 taels of silver, and 1,000 taels of gold to form a friendship forever——"
The interpreter on the side quickly translated.
"Not enough." Yang Changzhi said casually: "Your country has to pay tribute of another three thousand shi of rice every year."
The previous conditions have been negotiated, but the subsequent tribute is additional.
In fact, for Siam, with three crops of rice a year, food is not a problem at all. The biggest difficulty is silver and gold. burden
In South Asia, precious metals are in short supply.
After hearing that they only wanted food, the envoy thought for a moment and agreed.
If the war that has lasted for many years can be ended and military expenditures can be quelled, what does this little food mean?
However, the envoy brought another piece of news that shocked the entire Dian Kingdom:
"The Ming Dynasty captured Annam. Although it is their old land, they may capture Khmer and Siam tomorrow. Your two countries must help each other..."
The Ming Dynasty captured Annan and established the so-called Qin State.
This also means that the Ming people are a little closer to the Dian Kingdom. burden
You know, although Yunnan and Dian are close, the tropical rainforest is enough to kill any elite.
And if Annan is really captured, Siam and Khmer will be the only distance away from Dian Kingdom.
Of course, we can also come by sea, but in their minds, land attack is the way to go.
How to transport troops at sea? How much can it transport?
If the logistical supplies are not adequate, it will be like a tree without roots.
Sun Kewang closed his eyes to hide the shock in his pupils. If you look carefully, only his slightly trembling eyelids reveal his mood.
The two groups of civil and military ministers changed their expressions one after another. burden
Yang Changzhi said: "That's it. The two countries are horns and help each other. My king is my brother and your king is my brother——"
The envoy was overjoyed and returned satisfied.
"Your Majesty—" Yang Changzhi waited for him to leave before he cupped his hands and said to comfort:
"The Ming Dynasty has been coveting Annan for a long time. It is reasonable to take it back now. After all, it has been two or three years."
"I know." Sun Kewang slowly opened his eyes, but the wrinkles on his face did not relax. His eyes were full of depth: "It took more than two years to regain Annan. This is because of Shaowu's stinginess."
"It's just that I don't know how big Shaowu's appetite is..."
Yang Changzhi remained silent. burden
The two of them did not speak, and the remaining civil servants and generals naturally did not dare to speak nonsense.
"Your Majesty, the Dian Kingdom now has hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, and the Ming Dynasty is thousands of miles apart. Even if we want to destroy our Dian Kingdom, we will still have to lose a few of its teeth."
"Akito is not that stupid."
"You're right." Sun Kewang showed a smile, and immediately drove away the haze in the palace, and it suddenly became much clearer.
"The chief assistant is interested."
After a while, all the civil servants and generals left, leaving only the monarch and his ministers.
"Chief Assistant, when will my Sun family's empire be completely stable?"
Sun Kewang lost his composure and asked impatiently, his eyes full of eagerness.
"Your Majesty, when the number of scholars in Dian Kingdom exceeds 100,000, it will be as stable as a mountain."
Yang Changzhi said seriously.
When Sun Kewang heard this, he had a toothache.
The current population of the Dian Kingdom, that is, the people who control the Dian Kingdom's court, is about four million.
There are one hundred thousand scholars, and one out of every ten men is a scholar. This cannot be implemented within a hundred years.
Where did he get so much time? burden
"No." Sun Kewang shook his head and stared at his chief assistant: "I can't wait any longer."
"Akito won't give us this chance either."
With that said, he stood up.
The former burly body gradually became rickety, and most of the general's belly disappeared, leaving him just a slightly fat old man.
.
Age has become his biggest enemy.
Jiazi, how many people can live to this age?
Fifty-three-year-old Sun Kewang has already felt the approach of death. burden
Now his greatest wish is to completely stabilize the Dian Kingdom and allow his descendants to rule the Dian Kingdom permanently and reproduce for generations to come.
"I want to follow Shao Wu's example and enfeoff his descendants to establish a vassal state."
"Your Majesty, then, Mingzhi Jingnan is not far away!" Yang Changzhi said hurriedly.
"I know."
Sun Kewang nodded and looked into the distance: "Nearly half of the land in Dian Kingdom is managed by chieftains. The future enemies of the imperial court will be chieftains, not vassal states."
"Wouldn't it be better to replace the chieftain with the feudal king?"
"But——"
"Besides, no matter how the Battle of Jingnan changes, it will only be the blood of the descendants of Ming Taizu."
Hearing this, Yang Changzhi could only admire.
Is there any way he can stop a monarch who cares about future generations?
Just when he was feeling sad and lonely, the old Dian King continued:
"Send envoys to Beijing!"
"Although it is a bit humiliating to surrender, it is also a last resort. This must be done. The sooner the better."
Sun Kewang showed an unspeakable smile: "From now on, the terms "Your Majesty" and "Holy Edict" will also be changed. They must comply with the regulations..." Negative
Yang Changzhi was stunned, this change must be too fast!
…
In Beijing, the emperor, who was still vacationing from the summer, finally waited for news about Annan.
For a moment, he felt relieved.
"Jiaozhou, Hanoi."
The emperor nodded and smiled happily: "King Qin has finally matured and is becoming more and more capable and dignified as the leader of a country."
The foundation of Qin lies in the Ming Dynasty, so it can only take root in Annan by staying close to the Ming Dynasty. burden
At the same time, completely reversing Annan's language, writing, history books, and systems must be a long-term process, and no discounts can be made in it.
And the vassal state can be better than the official in this regard.
"According to the order, the Ministry of Revenue allocates 500,000 yuan to the State of Qin to congratulate the State of Qin."
After saying this, the emperor said again: "Quickly, give me a bath and change my clothes. I am going to go to the Ancestral Temple to pay tribute. I have to let my ancestors know about this great thing."
