Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

The capital of the State of Ceylon is Polonnaruva, which was occupied by the Chola Dynasty for a long time.

After the restoration of the country was successful decades ago, the city was renamed "Victory King's City".

The king in the city of Victory is called Vaishyabhava.

This guy has no political acumen at all!

When his grandfather succeeded in restoring the country, the official religion on the island was Brahmanism. His grandfather and father were both committed to reviving Buddhism - Brahmanism was too powerful, and even official support for Buddhism was difficult to suppress, and there were a large number of Brahmans in the army.

In fact, half of the temples Yu Yunwen saw at the harbor belonged to Brahmanism.

Just when Buddhism could compete with Brahmanism, Vaishyabhava succeeded to the throne.

This guy cut off his hands and feet as soon as he came up, and frantically suppressed the Buddhist group that supported the royal family.

Not only did he forcibly take back all the treasures given by his grandfather and father from the Buddhist temple. They even sent all the Buddha's tooth, bowl, and relics to the south, but did not leave them to the Buddhist temple in the capital for safekeeping.

The reason is simple. In the battle for the throne, the monks in the capital did not support him...

As a result, the monks and the king separated from each other, and Brahmanism rose again. The region became fragmented and the army was no longer reliable.

The soldiers that the king could rely on turned out to be Tamila mercenaries who believed in Brahmanism.

The Tamiras are from South India and are not indigenous to Sri Lanka.

At this moment, artillery bombarded the city wall, and this group of mercenaries finally showed their "loyalty".

A mercenary officer hung a basket out of the city and was brought to Zhu Xiaozhong: "We are Tamila people, but we are hired by the king. If you give us enough money, we will immediately open the city gate and even help you attack the palace!"

The South Indian merchant immediately translated.

Zhu Xiaozhong sneered: "Cut off his ear and put it back to send a message. If the defenders resist to the end, after the city is breached, no one will be left alive!"

Two screams rang out, and the officer covered his bloody ears and ran towards the city wall in panic and fear.

After a while, the shelling continued.

"Open the city gate, open the city gate!" the mercenary general shouted hurriedly.

Just as the Domilo mercenaries were marching into the city, a Sinhalese general came with his troops: "They want to surrender to the enemy, kill them and seize the door!"

There is still shelling outside the city, and there is already internal strife inside the city.

The Tamila people from South India who believed in Brahmanism fought with the Sinhalese people, the indigenous people of the island who believed in Buddhism.

King Vaishyabhava was so frightened in the palace, and he was even more frightened when he learned that his army was in internal strife. He took a group of palace guards, called his wife and children, packed up his gold and silver treasures, and prepared to run away.

The Prime Minister Vadagamoni dissuaded him and said: "Your Majesty, it was not us who attacked the Ming Dynasty, but Parakarama who did not listen to the king's orders. Now you can send people out of the city to negotiate and say that we are willing to surrender to the Ming Dynasty. In this way, both By preserving the Victory City and gaining protection from the Ming Dynasty, the local nobles will not dare to rebel!"

"Yes, yes, as long as they are willing to withdraw their troops, I am willing to give half of my treasure and surrender to the Ming Emperor from now on!"

King Vaishyabhava reacted suddenly, pointed at the Prime Minister and said, "Go out of the city to negotiate in person."

The Prime Minister is not afraid of death. He was also a fierce general when he was young.

The two kings of Ceylon, Taizu and Taizong, were both ruthless and militaristic men, and the ministers they left behind were naturally very fierce. Unfortunately, the third king was incompetent, which led to disunity throughout the country, and all local nobles became separatist forces.

State Minister Vadagamoni said: "Before the negotiations, the rebels in the city need to be eliminated."

"I will hand over all the palace guards to you and quickly destroy the Tamila rebels!" Vaishyabhava said.

The defenders in the city have been huddled together, and there is no one to defend the city wall.

The Ming army did not have decent siege equipment. The only dozens of ladders they had were made from the wood of demolished houses in nearby villages during the bombardment of the city wall.

"Climb the wall!"

But they saw two thousand Ming soldiers, carrying more than a dozen wooden ladders that could fall apart at any time, charging towards the city wall at full speed.

A few people climbed ladders there, while the majority stood guard outside the city, throwing arrows into the city to cover the friendly forces.

The first ones to climb up were the melee soldiers, followed closely by other types of soldiers. They did not rush into the city randomly, but stayed in place to wait for the follow-up friendly troops, and gradually began to occupy an entire section of the city wall.

The defenders in the city also decided the winner. The rebel mercenaries were at a disadvantage and were retreating in panic toward the Ming army.

The Ming army divided its troops and left the city wall, and one of them ran to occupy the city gate.

Seeing the defeated troops escaping, the Ming army general Dai Daquan shouted: "Those who rush into the battle will die!"

There is no translation, so I can’t understand.

The rebels were overjoyed when they saw the Ming army defeated. After all, they rebelled because they were afraid of death and wanted to surrender to the Ming army.

"Raise the gun. Fire!"

"Draw the bow. Release it!"

"Raise the gun!"

Flintlock muskets and crossbows began to fire in turn, and the long gunners also squatted in the front row with their guns raised.

The rebels broke out and dozens of people were killed or injured in an instant. They were so frightened that they quickly turned around and fled in the opposite direction. A large number of broken troops collided together and were attacked from the front and back by the Ming army and the Sinhalese soldiers.

The little smarties in the defeated army fled to both sides of the street, kneeling close to the houses to beg for mercy, not knowing who they were surrendering to.

After the Sinhalese soldiers broke through the defeated troops, they still wanted to charge towards the Ming soldiers. The Prime Minister Vadagamoni hurriedly shouted: "Get back, let them get back, I want to go over and negotiate!"

late.

The Ming army, which had already finished loading their bombs, took turns to fire again, this time targeting the Sinhalese soldiers.

The flintlocks and crossbows fired alternately, and the Sinhalese soldiers in the front row fell one after another. The few who were able to rush over were stabbed by the pikemen.

Moreover, the city gate had been opened, and more and more Ming troops came to join them, and even two Ming troops went around to other streets to encircle them.

Just as the prime minister ordered to retreat, the Sinhalese soldiers, who were already stunned, subconsciously turned around and withdrew.

As they retreated, they turned into a rout.

"Chase!"

The Ming army's sword and shield soldiers, pikemen and crossbowmen rushed out, but the flintlock soldiers stayed to reload bullets.

"Da da da da..."

A sound of horse hooves rang out, and more than 200 Ming cavalrymen rushed into the city gate.

Wadagamoni stood at the edge of the street, with a group of palace guards behind him, and the fleeing soldiers kept running past him. Seeing that the situation had collapsed, this guy could only lead his troops back to the palace, because the palace still had a city wall.

The Ming cavalry had already passed the infantry and chased and killed the enemy's fleeing soldiers all the way to the outside of the palace wall.

Zhu Xiaozhong rode a horse and soon came to the outside of the palace: "Who is the king of Xilanchi?"

The South Indian merchant translator shouted: "The king, come out and speak."

The king had already hidden in the palace, hugging his wife and trembling.

Vadagamoni stood on the top of the city and shouted: "I am the prime minister. We are willing to submit to the Ming Dynasty and will offer some wealth and goods. Please leave the Victory King City."

Zhu Xiaozhong said angrily: "Let the king speak in person!"

In desperation, Vadagamoni could only send someone to invite the king.

King Visayapoha was dragged here. He was so scared that he couldn't speak clearly: "I... I... I am the king, I... I am willing to surrender!"

Suddenly, he spoke fluently and said to the remnants who fled into the palace: "Put down your weapons and open the gates of the palace."

The prime minister hesitated and finally did not stop him.

The king was brought to Zhu Xiaozhong and knelt down, kowtowed and said: "Spare my life! Spare my life!"

The prime minister was speechless and said: "General, calm down. The army that attacked you before was not the king's army. The man was called Parakalama, the king's uncle. He did not listen to the king's orders and often blackmailed the king. The entire northeast and east of the country are his territory."

"I will send troops to punish him," Zhu Xiaozhong asked, "Are you willing to submit to the Ming Dynasty?"

"Yes, yes!" This time it was the king who answered first.

Zhu Xiaozhong nodded and smiled: "Very good. You prepare the letter and tribute, and you also need a prince as an envoy, waiting for me to return to the Ming Dynasty together. In addition, I have suffered a lot of losses in sending troops, and you need to compensate for the military expenses."

"Of course, I am willing to offer half of the treasures in the palace!"

Perhaps because he was afraid that the Ming army would not leave, the king actually said: "There are also Buddha teeth, Buddha bowls, and Buddha relics, all of which are presented to the Ming emperor!"

As soon as this was said, both the prime minister and the soldiers changed their faces drastically.

Those are Sakyamuni's teeth, relics and rice bowl!

They are all in Sri Lanka now and have not been taken away by foreigners. Later, the Buddha bowl and Buddha relics disappeared, and the Sinhalese only took back the Buddha's teeth.

Why was the king willing to donate the Buddha treasure?

Because he believed in Buddhism on the surface, but he was actually a Brahman. This was also the fundamental reason why the Sangha did not support him during the battle for the throne.

His mother was a Kalinga from the Bengal region - his mother was a Brahman.

For this king, he had long been disgusted with monks.

Anyway, the Buddha treasure had been thrown to the south by him, and he would never enshrine it in the Buddhist temple in the capital. It is just right to offer it to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty now, which can both please the suzerain country and disgust those damn monks.

After listening to the translation, Zhu Xiaozhong was shocked and said, "Sakyamuni's Buddha treasure?"

"It is Sakyamuni." The South Indian merchant confirmed.

It is one thing for Emperor Zhu not to believe in Buddhism, and it is another thing to bring the Buddha treasure back to the country.

Zhu Xiaozhong's blood boiled, and he nodded and said, "Very good, as long as the Buddha treasure is delivered as soon as possible, I can do without your treasure."

There are many transport ships in the Ming fleet, and they can trade along the way, and the king's treasure is really not lacking.

"Thank you for your kindness, General!" The king kowtowed frantically.

Zhu Xiaozhong looked at the officials and soldiers on the opposite side, and felt that if he did not send troops to protect him, the king might be in danger: "Let all your soldiers hand in their weapons, and I will send troops to garrison the palace to protect you."

The king said, "The Buddha treasure is in the temple in the south, I will send troops to retrieve it immediately."

Zhu Xiaozhong smiled and said, "I'm afraid it's difficult to retrieve it, I might as well take you there, so as to avoid any accidents from running back and forth."

"Okay, okay!" The king didn't care about anything, as long as he could save his life.

To be safe, Zhu Xiaozhong took the king's family away, and also took away the abbots of all the Buddhist temples in Shengli King City.