Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

The fleet passed behind the Chalukya dynasty, and in front was the Solange dynasty.

The approximate territory of Solanchi country is equivalent to the Indian state of Gujarat, plus a small part of Rajasthan.

This country is at its peak.

Maritime trade is prosperous, handicraft industry is developed, and religious culture is tolerant and prosperous.

Brahma was not well received throughout India, but the Solanchi Kingdom built a temple for him.

The Jains were driven into exile, but Solanchi was willing to take them in. Therefore, Jains migrated here one after another and created splendid literature and art.

Even Zoroastrianism can gain a foothold in Solange Country. Some of the Solange silver coins feature the king's image on the obverse and a Zoroastrian altar on the reverse.

After spending a few days wandering around the largest seaport in Solange, the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty liked it very much.

Because this country, which is relatively unusual in India, seems normal in the eyes of the Chinese.

For example, the White Sect of Jainism can be seen everywhere. They advocate that both men and women can obtain salvation, and even advocate that all castes are equal. They were keen on handicrafts and commerce, advocated getting rich through labor, and allowed monks to get married and have children.

"This country should be able to prosper in India." Hu Quan commented.

Zhu Xiaozhong shook his head repeatedly: "Brahma God presides over life (creation), and Jainism also opposes violence. This country respects these two things, just like a rich man who only knows how to make money, but there are countless robbers living around him. I'm afraid we will encounter something along the way. Among the Indian countries, the Solanchi country was the first to perish.”

Yu Yunwen also said: "Yes, the Solanqi country is too civilized. Civilization is naturally a good thing, but it also needs swords to protect it. I heard from merchants that although this country is getting richer and richer, and its culture and education are getting more and more prosperous. But in the past hundred years, Come, about one-fifth of the country has been lost.”

The royal family of this country is a branch of the Rajputs.

The bloodline composition is extremely complex and is a mixture of Eastern and Western ethnic groups such as Sezhong, Kushan, Xiongnu, Parthian, Greek, and Gida (from the Mongolian grasslands).

Hearing that a Ming envoy had arrived at the port, the king sent the prime minister to ride on a fast horse to contact them.

They gave away large amounts of gold, silver, ivory and precious stones in exchange for silk, porcelain, lacquerware and other items from the Ming Dynasty.

He also requested that envoys be sent to accompany him to the Ming Dynasty for cultural and artistic exchanges, hoping to obtain paintings, sculptures, poems, etc. from the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming envoys were very happy and liked to deal with such cultural people.

The fleet set off again, and Hu Quan took notes in the cabin.

He spoke highly of Solanchi and believed that this country was the most civilized, prosperous and foreign country from Champa to India.

Moving on, there is the Sindhi dynasty (Sindh, Pakistan).

The place is now semi-green, and there are many high-caste nobles who are directly descendants of Arabs and Persians.

Maritime trade is also basically controlled by Arabs and Persians, and the bottom class is mostly Brahmans who advocate agriculture.

Further ahead is Makran (the coastal area at the junction of Iran and Pakistan), which is very poor and has fierce folk customs.

Pirates are extremely rampant!

Many pirates from around the Persian Gulf also fled to the Makran area after being driven away by their own forces.

However, the Ming fleet was not easy to mess with at first glance, and these pirates chose to avoid it.

…

Arriving at the Persian Gulf, the accompanying Seljuk and Arab merchants guided the Ming Dynasty's official and private fleets to conduct trade in various ports in the Persian Gulf.

Wherever he goes, he is bound to cause a sensation.

But the real top-quality goods were shipped to Isfahan and sold to Seljuk Sultan Sanjar.

The envoy was allowed to take three hundred soldiers with him, landed at the northern port of the Persian Gulf, and headed north along the rugged valley.

Officials accompanied him throughout the journey, but the accompanying translator was a merchant.

Since 200 of the 300 soldiers who protected the Ming envoy were cavalry, the local officials were very considerate and even recruited civilian men and fodder for them. They also arranged livestock for the Ming cavalry to help carry armor so that the horses could fully rest.

Yu Yunwen looked at the conscripted civilian husbands. They were all in ragged clothes, with disheveled faces, and their expressions were as numb as walking corpses.

Yu Yunwen couldn't help but sigh: "The people of Seljuk are not as good as those of the former Song Dynasty."

Hu Quan said: "The people here are very poor, far inferior to the Solanchi country in India."

After traveling for a day, we came to a mountain village.

While resting and eating, Cheng Yu took a walk near the village, cleared away the weeds, looked at it, and came back and said: "The cultivated land has not been restored, and the village is also dilapidated. I heard that the Seljuqs have been fighting for many years, and the territory is extremely vast. It seems that they are militaristic." In exchange.”

Yu Yunwen smiled and said: "Just like the Jin Kingdom, it's really normal."

After traveling on land for several days, they encountered a large city.

Cheng Yu asked: "The city walls here are tall and strong, and there are many business trips. Why are some houses abandoned?"

The merchant glanced at the accompanying Seljuk officials and explained in Chinese: "This is called Shiraz. It was once the largest and richest city. Because of the war, this city was turned into ruins and has only begun to recover in the past twenty years."

The merchant's answer was obviously reserved.

Shiraz, the largest city in Persia, was destroyed by the Seljuks!

Even the Seljuk capital Isfahan was razed to the ground by them a hundred years ago.

Wherever the Seljuk army struck, there was ruins. They deliberately destroyed cities, villages, and farmland, allowing war horses to eat farmers' crops so that their enemies could not resume production.

The whole Persian region was defeated by the Seljuqs and society regressed for hundreds of years.

Cheng Yu asked again: "Is the Seljuk feudal system, or is it a county system like the Ming Dynasty?"

The merchant replied: "The Seljuks used to be a Turkic nomadic tribe. After they came, they enfeoffed noble lords. At the beginning, the lords could not be hereditary, and they had to be replaced every two or three years. Moreover, they were only allowed to collect taxes and could not arbitrarily requisition the people. Now it is not possible. The lords are completely hereditary, and the people in the territory are like their slaves. Including merchants, they are also extorted by the nobles at will."

"That is the feudal system." Cheng Yu nodded.

The crowd left Shiraz and continued to move forward for a day, and suddenly heard the sound of a horn.

The accompanying officials were startled and rushed to the valley in front of them on horseback, shouting to the cavalry who were coming to kill: "This is the Sultan's guest, you leave quickly!"

"Cavalry wear armor, cavalry wear armor!"

"Infantry don't wear armor, line up to protect and buy time!"

Zhu Xiaozhong never expected that he could be attacked even with the Seljuk officials accompanying him.

The cavalry who came to attack, there were as many as four or five hundred people, but they didn't even have armor, and their weapons were swords, guns and bows and arrows.

Cheng Yu asked the merchant: "What's the matter with the enemy?"

The merchant said in panic: "Seljuk herdsmen. They used to roam in the north. After conquering the Persian Plateau, some Seljuks moved into the city and some Seljuks learned to farm. But many Seljuks are unwilling to change. They camp near the city and make a living by robbing merchants and farmers."

"They dare to rob foreign envoys accompanied by officials?" Cheng Yu couldn't believe it.

The merchant said: "We didn't expect these people to be so bold!"

The Seljuk officials who went to shout had been shot to death by several arrows.

The Seljuk herdsmen who came to rob came from several nearby tribes. They heard that the Ming envoys were very rich, and they would rob even if they offended the Sultan. They often did this.

One hundred unarmored Ming infantrymen lined up and raised their swords, shields and spears.

Four or five hundred Seljuk herdsmen rushed over, slowed down and planned to shoot arrows, as if they were going to shoot them and then charge.

"Raise your guns!"

"Raise your crossbows!"

Flintlocks and crossbows fired in turn, and arrows from the opposite side also came.

On the Ming side, two people were shot dead on the spot, and more than 20 others were shot and wounded.

The enemy suffered greater casualties, with more dead and fewer wounded.

Firearms made it difficult for the Seljuk herdsmen to understand, and they subconsciously chose to retreat, and then discussed what to do.

After a while, these guys came back and planned to charge directly.

The two hundred Ming cavalrymen had already put on their armor, and Zhu Xiaozhong personally led the team to charge, roaring: "Don't leave any!"

How could the regular cavalry wearing medium armor take the unarmored light cavalry seriously?

The Seljuk herdsmen retreated and shot arrows, but the war horses of the Ming cavalry were also covered with light vests, so they were not afraid of kite flying at all.

The Ming cavalry just charged at full speed, and the enemy was quickly shortened while shooting and retreating.

At the first encounter, the nomadic cavalry was defeated. No one dared to shoot arrows anymore. They all rode their horses and fled frantically.

After chasing for nearly half a day, Zhu Xiaozhong killed more than 200 enemies and captured more than 100 war horses. The remaining enemies finally escaped. They were lightly equipped and fast on horseback, and they were more familiar with the terrain here.

Returning to Shangjia, Zhu Xiaozhong grabbed Shangjia and asked: "Where are these bastards stationed?"

Shangjia said: "It must be several tribes joining forces. One tribe does not have so many cavalry. The nearest nomadic tribe is near Shiraz. They usually graze in the mountains and occasionally come out to rob caravans and farmers."

"Lead the way!" Zhu Xiaozhong scolded.

Zhu Xiaozhong was really angry. He just learned about the situation and another wounded soldier died.

That is to say, three people died!

Under the leadership of Shangjia, Zhu Xiaozhong dispatched cavalry to search and finally found the tribal station in a ravine.

The young and strong were not there. They had been killed long ago.

Only the old, weak, women and children were left in the tribe. Zhu Xiaozhong was furious and didn't care about the other party's situation. He rushed over and hacked them.

Then, he burned all the tents and brought back livestock and property.

He also cut off the heads of the old, weak, women and children, and tied them to the war horses together with the heads of the herdsmen and cavalrymen and continued to march.

Cheng Yu sighed: "Alas!"

He actually wanted to say that the women and children didn't need to be killed, but he didn't say it after all.

Yu Yunwen said: "Foreign envoys dare to rob, what kind of chaos will the Seljuk country be in? This sultan is incompetent in governing the country."

Hu Quan laughed and said: "The Seljuk envoys are still in Kaifeng to promote their enlightened monarch. What about allowing various religions to coexist, hiring scholars of various ethnic groups with a lot of money, and Persian literature has been revived. But under their rule, bandits are rampant and agriculture is not prosperous. Such a country will sooner or later fall."