This is because the origin of the Yufan Xiao family is somewhat different from the traditional military merits, honors, and clans that led to the formation of overseas vassals. Because the ancestor who made this family prosperous was actually a humble son-in-law.
It is said that this person's real name was Lin, and he was the third among his peers. His parents had been exiled to a foreign country due to a famine very early on. Because of his good looks and proficiency in writing, he was able to sell himself into Jinling City at that time. He was a little-known merchant of the Xiao family who dealt in silk and silk. s home.
As a result, because of his talent and good job, which is not acceptable to outsiders, he fell in love with the widowed mistress of the Xiao family; and then under her secret arrangement, he married the second daughter of the Xiao family who became pregnant out of wedlock. , so she got married and changed her surname to Xiao.
Later, this Lin Sanlang/Xiao family's surrogate son-in-law showed rare quick wit and ingenuity in the business methods of merchants and real estate. Not only did the Xiao family's only remaining orphan daughter and widower survive several turmoils and crises, As a result, he got into the palace-envoy route of internal procurement.
Therefore, when the Xiao family left their ancestral home in Jinling and came to Shangjing to buy a new home, they were already one of the few wealthy families in the area. And with the help of his family connections, the Xiao family's son-in-law once again married the Xiao family's eldest daughter, who was getting older but still waiting for a bride, completing a counterattack that mainly turned against guests.
But this rather inspiring story of exchanging slaves for masters has not ended yet, but has just begun; because the middle-aged Xiao family’s adopted son-in-law actually met a style-stylist at that time during a banquet. The bold and bold widowed princess became an inseparable guest.
Then, relying on his identity as an open lover and de facto property manager, the Xiao family's ancestral son-in-law used the commander of Princess City as a springboard to successfully intervene in the business of Zongzheng Temple and the Imperial Palace, and gradually defeated many competitions. The person eventually became one of the imperial merchants named by the Tianjia.
But at this time, it was already the middle and late period of the century-old border opening era, which was initiated and initiated by Liang Gongsuo himself. The emperor supported by the Empress Dowager Ruiming has also reached the third generation; as those heroes who were suppressed are aging, there are already signs of the rise of the three supporting families.
Therefore, among the vassal princes in the world and the nine barbarians on all sides, almost all the territory adjacent to the central land and the Tang Dynasty that can be developed and conquered has been divided and occupied. Under this situation, the chances of being able to seal the border vassal land are becoming less and less.
However, at this time, the Xiao family's adopted son-in-law once again made an incredible decision. First, he joined the clan of the oldest Xiao family in Lanling; then he directly paid a lot of money to worship a certain Xiao family who had a title but no heirs and became a member of the national nobility.
However, according to convention, the princes/lords outside Kyushu who can divide the vassal are basically the families of heroes, expedition soldiers and their descendants who volunteered to become the Guoping vassal. There are also a small number of predecessors who are merchants and aristocratic families who were able to recruit volunteers to open up the barbarians because of their support in the army and their business achievements.
Then there are some examples of clans that have been sent abroad and ministers who have failed in political battles over the past dynasties; and even some living princes who, at the cost of giving up their own lineage, took a group of ministers and guards to join the vassal outside the territory; such as Today, the co-owners of the nine Zhaowu surnames in Hezhong are from the lineage of the former Hanzhong king.
However, with the consolidation of the surrounding areas of the Tang Dynasty and the successive establishment of vassal vassals, this opportunity seems to be becoming less and less; especially as the final step, it is necessary to obtain the Liang Dynasty, which is known as the "dai Mu Hai Nei (vassal), landless vassal lord" The Jingzhao clan was recognized by the Lifanyuan headed by the clan, as well as the local vassals and public vassals.
Therefore, in accordance with the rules followed in "Xinyi of Zhou Li" and "Taixing Daliyi", any newly added vassals and fiefs must be carefully and strictly scrutinized; a large number of exchanges and compromises need to be played secretly. As a result, when each generation of emperors came to power, only a handful of vassals could be added.
In contrast, it is relatively simple to open up the threshold for entry into the vassal region from outside the territory. Being able to conquer a foreign territory in a foreign land full of foreign barbarians, conquer a city and become the city lord (county magistrate), conquer a land and become a defender (provincial governor, prefect, general, guard, and defense), and even seize domestic annexes in one fell swoop. .
That would be extraordinary; both the previous city lords and ministers could only be promoted to official positions by the court, and they would use this opportunity to open up trade and shipping routes, and request support and product imports from the East; until the stable rule lasted for more than 20 years. Years or when it is passed on to the next generation, you can apply for the corresponding vassal/speylord title from the imperial court.
However, if there are deeds of seizing the country and offering territory to the emperor, as long as the situation lasts for five to ten years, you can directly apply for the imperial court to send envoys to confer lordship/spylordship. Of course, this kind of thing is a very rare case. After all, after conquering the outside world, there will be no small country that is weak enough to capture.
If you just conquer a group of uncivilized native chiefs and claim to be the founder of the country, it will only become a joke. After all, this kind of thing may be hidden from the dynasty for a while, but it cannot be hidden from the predecessors of the Tang vassal and the ministers who have developed foreign lands for many years and have established a firm foothold.
Moreover, in this matter, the cost of trying to deceive the Eastern Kingdom by using fraud is also extremely serious; it is so serious that it can be traced back to the lineage of relatives and descendants, and the qualifications for studying in the imperial examination and serving as officials; He was driven into the army to atone for his sins.
However, in this extremely cautious matter, the Xiao family's ancestral son-in-law found a loophole and flaw, or it could be said that he played a side job. As the commander of Gongzhuyi and a prince of the country, he privately launched a crowdfunding campaign to jointly expand territory and establish a country in foreign lands.
And for this purpose, an extremely detailed information was collected from Honglu Temple, the Hakka Envoy and the Lifan Yuan; as a demonstration of the possibility and basis for pacifying a small country in Tianzhu in the five directions; and he was persuaded by his old friend, that at that time Emperor Guangming, who was about to abdicate, privately expressed his approval.
Therefore, he used the amount of money raised by the crowdfunders as a criterion, and promised a series of official positions, power, and benefits such as village head, city lord, governor, etc. after the completion of the project; it attracted an astronomical amount of money from all over the capital at that time. financial resources. If this was a Ponzi scheme, it would have exploded by now.
However, he really used the social connections and people of these people who raised funds/shares to purchase equipment, food and grass in the South China Sea, purchased boats and materials, hired followers of various ethnic groups, and recruited followers from various families... The whole incident was so loud that even the Nanhai Office was alarmed.
Finally, after a series of inhumane twists and turns, in the second month after the new emperor Shun Ning ascended the throne and announced a general amnesty for the whole country, nearly 30,000 armed volunteers, business groups, guards, and civilians were transported. A large fleet of prisoners, prisoners and naturalized people from all ethnic groups sailed to the lands of Tianzhu in the five directions.
After going there for several years, true and false news and experiences came back one after another. Many of them were ambushed by the Tu tribe many times, or were defeated and completely annihilated, or most of them contracted diseases due to acclimatization, which led to the failure of the trip. However, as the son-in-law of the Xiao family who owes a huge debt to Tianwen, he feels at ease.
On the contrary, due to the mutual restraint of all parties, apart from being unable to leave the capital, he has been living a very nourishing life with his wife, children and grandchildren. As a result, after a great dynasty on the first day of the year, news finally came back; those who went to the Five Directions of Tianzhu finally captured a small country called Nibonne.
Although it is a small country in the mountains with only a dozen cities located in the upper reaches of a tributary of the Ganges, it still has a history that has been passed down for hundreds of years and is only described in a few words in the Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, the government and the public were in an uproar, and even summoned the Lifan Yuan and Hakka envoys to discuss the matter.
Although there are many people who point out that this is obviously contrary to the internal vassal and external system of "Xin Yi of Zhou Li" and "Taixing Dali Yi"; it is an opportunistic move and is suspected of trying to seize and destroy the country's rules and regulations. However, there are too many interests involved in this, and obviously more people are citing scriptures and fighting for it;
Even the ancient legend of the Three Dynasties and the examples of the Eastern and Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods were cited as their respective proofs and arguments. In the end, Empress Dowager Ruizhen, who was hiding in Benei in disguise, suddenly sent a message to Empress Shuning, which completely ended this heated controversy.
Therefore, the Xiao family's son-in-law got his wish and got the title of vassal/spylord granted by the imperial court - Marquis Yu (Yu); but he also lost all the rights and interests except his name and routine tribute. Because, in fact, it was the youngest son of Emperor Guangming and the younger brother of Emperor Shunning, Prince Ningping Li Chen, who actually won the vassal state;
The ministers, generals, city lords, and even the heads of small towns in the territory of Nibonne were all divided up by various sponsors. What Xiao could get was the state minister Kong Kong, who had never taken office and could only take over from afar. name. It can be said that the results of a lot of hard work are almost all made into wedding dresses for others.
In the end, the Empress Dowager Ruizhen still added 500 food to his name on the grounds that the trend could not last long, but the rules and regulations of the country could not be shaken, so as not to get nothing. But for him to be a refugee who was sold into slavery, to be able to lead a family with a small family name and become a candidate for the title of King or Spyker is enough to be praised by the world for a long time.
But this was not the end. In order to preserve the double title of the lineage, in his later years, he arranged for his son with Xiao's daughter to marry the adopted daughter (illegitimate daughter) of his old lover; thus completing the fusion of the two bloodlines; and truly consolidating the bloodline. As a new vassal, the Xiao family's marginal position among the princes was eliminated.
Therefore, the current property under the name of the Xiao family of Yufan also inherited the style of their ancestors; it is a hodgepodge composed of various backgrounds. Theoretically, as long as you pay a sum of money, you can officially become its most basic ministers and vassals, and then enjoy some marginal conveniences.
For example, when vassal officials and ministers pay tribute to the lord, they have priority and a certain amount of tax reduction, and they are not easily disturbed by local subordinates. Therefore, even if the Xiao family of Yufan did not have an inch of land, they could always rely on the benefits granted by the past dynasties and established by convention to keep their family intact.
However, it has also caused considerable trouble and confusion for the current investigation by the Jinwu Street Envoy and the Imperial Censorate. Especially after checking the scene afterwards and finding signs that the other party had cut off his arms to survive and decisively abandoned everything. If you want to get more clues, you may even have to go far away from Gyeonggi Province, or even go to Guannai Road.
And this also involves the jurisdictional duties of the left and right street envoys, as well as the scope of authorization from Yushi Santai; as well as the feedback and decision-making among the upper levels after the matter is fermented; at least it is impossible to have immediate results in a short period of time. of. As a result, Jiang Tian, who had obtained the third temporary identity, could finally go home and have a good sleep.
On the way home this time, there were no more surprises; instead, there were two more gatekeepers (guards) from Kingo's left and right Yi Zhonglang's residence, wearing folded robes, black robes, scarlet crotch, and black leather armor. ), peers around. Therefore, almost no one would come forward to cause trouble.
However, after Jiang Tian returned to Qingqi Garden and placed them in the foyer, he found that someone was already staying in Tingliu Xiaozhu, and he couldn't help but become vigilant. Because no matter whether it is Kodakya who comes to visit or the manager who has been given instructions, they will not break in without permission.
