Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Dali, the royal city.

The king Duan Zhengxing fled from the palace in panic, followed by a queen, three concubines, more than ten palace maids and eunuchs.

Oh, and there were two babies.

One of the babies was called Duan Zhixing, and it was unknown whether he had the talent to practice the One Yang Finger.

Nearly twenty of them hid in the garden, hiding in the flowers in groups of three or two. It was normal for someone to stick out their buttocks occasionally, because it was dark and you couldn't see clearly anyway. If someone really came to find them, they couldn't hide no matter how well they hid.

There was a lot of noise outside, and some palace maids and eunuchs even took the opportunity to steal money and goods and ran away.

At the gate of the royal city, a fight had already broken out.

Gao Yuchengsheng's confidant who was sent to guard the palace exchanged bows and arrows with Zhang's private soldiers who came to "rescue the emperor".

Zhang Dexing shouted at the tower: "Gao Aji, your father has escaped from the city, do you still want to defend the palace?"

"Bullshit, how can the Ming army attack the city so quickly?"

Gao Aji encouraged morale and said: "Don't believe this man's lies, the prime minister will soon bring troops to help!"

Zhang Dexing shouted: "Except for the Gao family, all the civil and military officials in the city have surrendered to the Ming Dynasty. If you continue to resist stubbornly, you will not end well. Quickly capture and kill Gao Aji, not only can you save your life, but you can also make meritorious deeds!"

"Shoot him to death!" Gao Aji ordered.

Another rain of arrows flew out, but the force became smaller and the accuracy was a bit off. Those soldiers were leaving themselves a way to retreat.

For the time being, no one captured and killed Gao Aji's defection, purely because they didn't know what others thought, and were afraid that they would be killed if they took action first.

It's a pity that in this good situation, Zhang Dexing did not bring siege equipment, but only carried a few civilian wooden ladders, which could not pose a threat to the soldiers defending the city at all.

At this moment, a thunderous shout came from the south city.

It was Dong Mingshou who took the city gate and welcomed the Ming cavalry who had been chasing him into the city.

On the palace side, the soldiers guarding the city changed color.

They were all private soldiers of Gao Yucheng, and the long-established concept of loyalty made them dare not attack Gao Aji. But they had to escape after all. Suddenly, an officer left the city wall, and his soldiers followed him to escape.

"Open the city gate quickly, it will be too late if we don't leave!"

The soldiers at the city gate heard this and subconsciously joined forces to open the city gate, and then rushed out.

Zhang Dexing shouted: "Don't shoot arrows, don't stop them, let them escape!"

The soldiers who found that the first soldiers who rushed out of the city gate and escaped were not killed by Zhang's private soldiers, and the soldiers who were still guarding the city were ecstatic. They didn't care about anything immediately, threw away their weapons and turned around to run, no matter how Gao Aji tried to stop them.

When most of the city defense troops had fled, Zhang Dexing suddenly ordered: "Shoot!"

"Shoot!"

The archers in Zhang's private soldiers immediately fired at the city gate.

"Charge!"

"Kill!"

The Gao's private soldiers who fled slowly were first shot at and then surrounded on three sides. They instantly broke down and cried like crazy. Some people continued to rush out and were stabbed to death by the enemies outside; some turned around and fled back and collided with the follow-up friendly troops.

Gao Aji himself had already taken advantage of the chaos to leave and led a small number of diehards to the depths of the palace - he wanted to kidnap the King of Dali.

Duan Yu held a string of prayer beads and said to the eunuchs who hurried back: "The royal city is blocked and can't get out?"

Several eunuchs said with bitter faces: "There is a battle at the city gate."

Duan Yu said: "Some of you were arranged by Gao Yuchengsheng, and some were arranged by Gao Guanyinlong. Do you still want to help your master now?"

The eunuchs looked at each other.

Duan Yu suddenly shouted: "If you want to live, just listen!"

The eunuchs were as if they were hit by a slap in the face, and they woke up all of a sudden, kneeling down and shouting: "Long live the emperor!"

Duan Yu led these eunuchs out, picking up useful things along the way as weapons, and calling panicked palace maids and eunuchs to gather together.

In a blink of an eye, the team grew to more than 50 people.

Duan Yu went straight to his son's bedroom, and gradually recruited more than ten people, and was taken to the garden by one of the palace maids.

"Get out quickly, you only know how to hide!" Duan Yu shouted at the entrance of the garden.

Duan Zhengxing heard that his father was coming, and he rushed out of the flowers like a drowning man grabbing a life-saving straw: "Father, help me!"

Duan Yu took his son and his group with him, and continued to wander around the palace, constantly recruiting more palace maids and eunuchs.

By the time Gao Aji led his troops to attack, Duan Yu had been followed by hundreds of people, who dismantled the legs of tables and chairs to make sticks, and some even took off their belts to use as weapons.

"Catch him!" Gao Aji shouted.

Duan Yu, however, held a piece of porcelain against his son's neck and shouted, "If you want to die, let's die together. If my father and I die, none of you will live. Come on, chop my father and me to death!"

Duan Zhengxing's throat was hurt by the porcelain, and he shouted in panic, "Father, spare my life..."

Gao Aji was stunned, and so were his soldiers.

Duan Yu said again, "Kill Gao Aji, and surrender to the Ming army with my father and me, and you will have great merit."

The shouting and killing sounds coming from the gate of the royal city became smaller and smaller, and it was estimated that the battle there had come to an end.

Suddenly, a personal soldier turned to Gao Aji and said, "Who is willing to follow me to make meritorious deeds and save their lives? If you are willing, let's shout and kill together!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill..."

More and more personal soldiers shouted. Gao Aji ran away immediately when he saw the situation was not good, but was caught up by his own soldiers and hacked to death.

The private soldiers of the Gao family dragged Gao Aji's body back and knelt down in front of Duan Yu one after another.

Not long after, Zhang Dexing led his troops to rush in and found that Duan Yu and his son were protected by soldiers, maids, and eunuchs.

Duan Yu took out a piece of silk cloth from his arms, stood out from the crowd and said, "Gao Yucheng, Gao Guanyinlong and other rebellious ministers and traitors are plotting a rebellion. I have invited the Great Tomorrow Soldiers to help. This is a sign of surrender to the country. With the blood of my father and son, do you want to stop me from dedicating Dali to the Emperor?"

Zhang Dexing stopped talking, hesitated for more than ten seconds, and suddenly knelt down and said: "I have brought troops to rescue you, so I will protect my two majesties and go to surrender."

As a result, Zhang's private soldiers were also taken over by Duan Yu.

Duan Yu's political methods are extremely clever, otherwise it would be impossible for him to remain in power for decades. The reason why he ended up like this is not because he is too stupid, but because his fundamentals are too bad to make a difference.

Soon, a group of Ming cavalry rushed outside the royal city. The person in charge of leading the troops was a small Ming army colonel.

They saw that the city gate was wide open and the troops were neatly dressed inside. It was really difficult to rush in for a while.

Duan Yu pulled his son forward and knelt down, held up the blood letter and said: "Duan Zhengyan, the Supreme King of Dali, and his son Duan Zhengxing, King of Dali, offer their surrender to pay homage to the Emperor from afar!"

The Ming cavalry quickly gave way. This was kneeling to the emperor, and they did not dare to accept it.

It wasn't until Duan Yu and his son stood up that the Ming Army Major led the troops in, respectfully took the blood letter of surrender, and at the same time sent someone back to report to Shangguan.

More and more Ming soldiers entered the city, and in the middle of the night, even Bai Qi came.

Bai Qi got the blood letter and asked about the situation carefully. He even had the eunuchs and soldiers interrogated to find out what happened in the Dali palace tonight.

Finally, Bai Qi sighed and said: "This is a virtuous king, but it is a pity that the court is full of rebellious officials and traitors."

He took the offering table to see Duan Yu and his son, helped the two of them to prevent them from kneeling, and said comfortingly: "With this offering, your father and son can be rich and noble for the rest of their lives. Please stay in the palace for the time being and don't go out until I calm down." If there is chaos, I will send your whole family to Luoyang.”

Hearing this, Duan Yu finally felt at ease: "Little Wang does not seek wealth. He only wants to find a temple in Luoyang to worship Buddha for the rest of his life. I, my children and grandchildren, also asked the general to help me and say a kind word."

Bai Qi said: "It should be."

Over at Longshou Pass, hearing that Longwei Pass and Dali City had fallen one after another, Gao Guanyinlong directly opened the pass and surrendered to Lin Chong.

Half a month later, Yang Ji, the governor of Yunnan Province, came to Dali with many officials.

The civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty cooperated with each other. They first dispersed the local soldiers and horses that had surrendered or been captured, and then sent Duan Yu and his family to Luoyang.

Then the tribesmen with major surnames in Dali Kingdom migrated to their hometowns.

For example, the Gao family only moved away the tribesmen in Kunming, and there was no need to go to war elsewhere. Because the Gao family has not developed and strengthened the clan power in the new territory.

Take Gao Liangcheng as an example, it only took a few decades for his father to seize the Weichu Mansion, and two generations of hard work only gave birth to more than a dozen descendants.

How did Gao Liangcheng control Weichu Mansion?

One is private armed forces.

The second is local prominent families.

The third is Buddhist and Confucian officials.

No matter whether they have made great achievements or not, no more private soldiers are allowed in Yunnan.

Without private soldiers, local prominent families will no longer submit their services and will only listen to government orders from now on.

As for Buddhist and Confucian officials, this thing is unique to Dali.

The Dali Esoteric monks who studied for the imperial examination were called "Buddhist Confucians", sometimes also called "Master Monks". They must "cultivate both Confucianism and Buddhism" in order to be admitted to the imperial examination. They will not be able to pass the exam if they only practice Buddhism or Confucianism.

But in practice, Buddhism is often more emphasized.

"Buddhism and Confucianism" is the key to governing Yunnan in the future. Those who practice Buddhism and Confucianism, pass the imperial examinations, and serve as officials are basically the children of those twenty or so surnames. It is impossible for the content they learn to be recognized by the court, and they will cause trouble if they are not careful.

Yang Ji said to Bai Qi: "The troops stationed in various places must not relax their vigilance, especially to protect the official schools that are being established one after another. If there are Buddhists and Confucians causing trouble, they can take the opportunity to kill a group of them, and then take advantage of the situation to ban the remaining temples."

Bai Qi nodded and said, "I've also asked, Dali Esoteric Cult must be strictly guarded. Buddhists and Confucians here are spread all over the villages. They even persuade every household to enshrine Buddha statues. While reading the books of sages, they also provide them to the villagers. Witchcraft practices to cure diseases and eliminate disasters are very likely to secretly incite the villagers to rebel. "

Yang Ji said: "Dong Mingshou is the leader of the Dali Esoteric Cult. Let him guide the reform of the Dali Esoteric Cult and change all the messy contents. If he disobeys, he will be arrested and sent to Luoyang for a reason, and his son will be in charge of Dali. Tantric reform. Also, Sanskrit must be exterminated in Yunnan!”

Sanskrit is the official mainstream script in Dali.

If you look for a copy of The Analects of Confucius printed in Chinese characters, most of the annotations will be in Sanskrit. Various plaques and inscriptions, even tombstones, are often engraved in both Chinese and Sanskrit, or even in Sanskrit only.

After Yang Ji learned about the situation two days ago, especially when he got the local sage's book, he was furious when he saw the Sanskrit in the book.

Sanskrit must be banned!

Bai Qi worriedly said: "Once Sanskrit is banned, there will probably be trouble soon."

Although Yang Ji is a civil official, this matter involves the teachings of sages, and he is countless times more radical than Bai Qi: "Someone is making trouble, so I will kill them ruthlessly, and I will have an excuse to demolish the temple!"