Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Zhu Ming was basically satisfied with this prince.

Although he was not a genius, he was quite smart. If he was born in the common people and received a good education from childhood, he would have a certain chance of passing the imperial examination.

This evaluation was already very high. It was not easy to pass the imperial examination.

He seemed to be weak in character, but he was actually very strong-willed. We can tell from the fact that he came back from hunting without anyone forcing him to do so, but he practiced riding and shooting in private.

He also liked to learn, and asked questions when he didn't understand something. At the same time, he had his own thoughts and understanding.

In another two years, Zhu Ming planned to throw the prince to Wangchuan Valley and let him learn dialectical materialism from Dean Zhu.

"Your Majesty, Liang Tongzheng urgently requested to see you."

"Let him in."

Zhu Ming had planned to promote Liang Yi, who was in charge of the Tongzhengyuan, to the cabinet and then replace him with someone else.

This person had no reputation among the people, and even most ordinary people didn't know there was such a person. But he was absolutely important in the court. Since the Zhu family father and son occupied Hanzhong, Liang Yi was responsible for the transmission and issuance of government orders.

Let's put it this way. If Liang Yi didn't care about the consequences, he could have taken on the entire Ming cabinet by himself.

Zhu Ming put down his brush and asked, "What's the urgent matter?"

Liang Yi said, "The family of the Duke of Gan came to Beijing to ask the court to grant him a posthumous title."

Zhu Ming was surprised and said, "Duke Gan died of illness?"

Liang Yi replied, "He died of illness a month and a half ago. His will was to donate the largest copper mine of the Zhang family to the court to set up a mint."

Zhu Ming was silent after hearing this.

The Zhang family was also a little hurt when they were dismantling the family in Jiangxi. Before his death, Zhang Gen actually donated the copper mine to the court.

This is forcing Zhu Ming to express his position. If he doesn't arrange his affairs after death, many ministers will be disappointed.

After thinking carefully for a while, Zhu Ming finally said: "Order the Ministry of Rites to grant the posthumous title of Wen Zheng. The funeral specifications are the same as those of a county prince. His eldest son will inherit the title and be demoted one level according to the regulations. However, the number of households in the fief will be increased by 300, and the number of households in the actual fief will remain unchanged. Select another woman of Zhang age to be the legal wife of the third prince Zhu Xiang. The crown prince will escort the queen back to her hometown to pay her respects, and all funeral affairs will be under the full responsibility of the crown prince."

"Yes!" Liang Yi took the order and left.

Zhu Ming no longer dealt with government affairs, and went directly back to the harem to find Zhang Jinping and personally informed her of her father's death.

Zhang Jinping was stunned at first, and then slowly sat down.

There was no sadness, but she was a little dazed, and even the smile she had when she saw Zhu Ming had not yet faded.

Zhu Ming took her hand and said, "You should go home and see, and let Yang'er accompany you back."

"Okay." The smile on Zhang Jinping's face turned bitter.

That night, Zhang Jinping thought about her father's life, and countless memories came flooding back, and she finally burst into silent tears.

Zhu Ming held her in his arms and patted her back gently.

Last year, Zheng Pangzi and Zheng Yuanyi's father died, and Zhu Ming asked them to go home to attend the funeral. Zheng Pangzi's grandfather, on the other hand, was alive and well, and he could still drink and eat meat at the age of over 80.

Grandmother Yan was still alive, but she was blind and deaf, and her life was inconvenient.

Zhu Ming began to recall the past, and the previous life and this life seemed like a dream.

A few days later, the crown prince Zhu Yang, with officials and guards, escorted his mother to Jiangxi to attend the funeral and bury her.

…

In the summer, there was a severe drought in the south, and Poyang Lake was almost dry.

The northern provinces that continued to suffer from spring droughts have ushered in heavy rains one after another, and some counties have even experienced floods.

The disasters in the north and the south have come in turns, and the climate is really weird.

From the central government to the local governments, everyone was busy with disaster relief. This year was one of the worst disaster years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

There were many strange opinions among the people, complaining that the court's policies were problematic.

Zhu Ming issued another order, asking the prince not to rush back to Luoyang to report after burying his grandfather. He could stay in Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Huainan to inspect the disaster situation, but not to interfere in disaster relief affairs, but to carefully observe the operations of local officials.

At the same time, he asked the inspectors of the southern provinces to copy a recent work report and hand it over to the prince.

In the blink of an eye, it was autumn.

Yue Fei and Han Shizhong sent messages one after another: The war in Mobei has begun!

Because the Ming Dynasty controlled the southern grasslands, it also set up two protectorates, and the Wanggu tribe at the northern foot of the Yinshan Mountains was very loyal to the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, the tribes in Mobei did not dare to invade the south for the time being. After experiencing a severe drought in the grasslands this year, the Kerait tribe brazenly launched a war against the Mongolian tribe.

Zhu Ming immediately sent an envoy to order the two tribes to resolve the dispute peacefully.

Then he ordered Yue Fei and Han Shizhong to wait and see for the time being. When one side was defeated in succession, he would send troops to help it recover its territory, that is, he would help the loser, and would never allow the unification of the Mobei grassland.

Just when the Mobei war was going on, the Western Liao envoys arrived in Luoyang.

When Zhu Ming first received the news, he was somewhat surprised. He did not expect Yelu Dashi to take the initiative to make peace.

Zhu Ming did not meet him immediately, but asked the Honglu Temple to sound out the situation first.

Soon, the Western Liao envoys explained their intentions: they offered thirty good horses and planned to establish a brotherly relationship with the Ming Dynasty forever. Merchants from the Ming Dynasty could travel freely in the territory of the Western Liao Dynasty as long as they held official documents. In addition, the Western Liao Dynasty wanted to request a batch of Buddhist scriptures, Confucian scriptures, eminent monks and Confucian scholars.

Ma Kuo, who had been transferred to the Privy Council, was summoned by Zhu Ming for questioning: "Have you ever dealt with this Western Liao envoy Xiao Chala Abu before?"

Ma Kuo said: "When Emperor Tianzuo was still there, this man was a co-president of the Privy Council of the Liao Kingdom. He and another general, Xiao Urili, were known as Yelu Dashi's right-hand men. He led a team to envoy the Ming Dynasty, which fully showed that Yelu Dashi sincerity.”

"Is Buddhism popular in Gaochang?" Zhu Ming asked.

Ma Kuo replied: "My previous mission to Mobei was to pass by Gaochang Uighurs. There are the most Buddhists there, followed by Nestorians. Then there are Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism, Taoism and Shamanism."

Ju Ming was extremely shocked: "Gaochang is actually the second largest Nestorian?"

Ma Kuo nodded and said: "That's right. The Kelie tribe who fought with the Mongols in Mobei and the Wanggu tribe at the northern foot of Yinshan Mountain all have chiefs and nobles who are Nestorian Christians."

Ju Ming: "..."

Ju Ming really doesn’t know about this situation.

Historically, the biological mothers of Meng Ge, Kublai Khan and others were Nestorian Christians from the Kle tribe. After she died of illness, Kublai Khan personally ordered that she be sacrificed at the Cross Temple in Ganzhou.

After Ju Ming asked in detail, Ma Kuo answered carefully and quickly dispelled the emperor's doubts.

It is true that Nestorianism is a branch of Christianity, but it is definitely a heresy in Europe.

The idea of ​​this school is to separate the divinity and humanity of Jesus. It is very secular and has lost its exclusivity. The Han people even call Nestorianism Persian religion.

Especially in Turpan, where Buddhists and Nestorians are the most numerous, intermarriage between believers of the two religions has become normal. Monks and priests also had friendly interactions, and even absorbed each other's teachings... That scene was unimaginable to Ju Ming.

On the contrary, Manichaeism is the most exclusive among the Gaochang Uighurs.

Manichaeism is extremely well-organized and once became the state religion of the Gaochang Uighurs, with a large number of believers in the upper class.

At this time, Turpan was simply a melting pot of religions.

Yelu Dashi also wanted to introduce Confucianism, and historically he did so. It wasn't until Qiu Chuji traveled to the Western Regions that he discovered that there were Confucian scholars in Central Asia, and there were quite a lot of them. Western Liao's contribution to this was indispensable.

…

In different history books in the East and the West, Xiao Chala Abu has different names.

For example, he led a large army to force the surrender of Azis and accepted Khwarezmo as the Orbus of the Western Liao vassal state. In fact, it was the name of Xiao Chala'a when he was not in Central Asia and West Asia.

He not only understands Chinese and Chinese characters, but also has some Confucian attainments.

All the way from Shaanxi to Luoyang, Xiao Chala'abu carefully observed and found that the Ming Dynasty lived and worked in peace and contentment. When he planned to go back to resume his duties, he advised Yelu Dashi to completely give up the idea of ​​​​the Eastern Expedition and honestly think that Central Asia will develop best from now on.

After several days of contact with officials from Honglu Temple, Xiao Chala Abu finally received an audience with the emperor.

"Xiao Zhala Abu, minister of the Daliao Dynasty, pays homage to His Majesty the Ming Emperor, and sends greetings to His Majesty on behalf of the Emperor of the Liao Dynasty!" Xiao Zhala Abu bowed solemnly, and his accent was very standard Northern Chinese.

Ju Ming smiled and said: "Please also say hello to Dashi Linya for me. Give me a seat."

Ma Kuo sat next to him and said, "Brother Xiao, long time no see."

Xiao Chala'abu returned the greeting and said happily: "It's been a few years since we last met, and it's really a great joy in my life to see my old friend today."

The two of them reminisced about old times there, and Ju Ming also exchanged polite words from time to time.

After Xiao Chala'abu drank a few glasses of wine, Zhu Ming asked, "I heard that Yelu Dashi built a Western Liao Kingdom?"

"It was the Liao Kingdom that moved westward!" Xiao Chala'abu corrected.

Zhu Ming did not argue and raised his glass with a smile: "A hero is a hero no matter where he is. I am here in Luoyang to pay homage to Yelu Dashi."

"On behalf of my lord, I would like to thank your majesty for your kindness!" Xiao Charabu smiled with a smile on his face. He had a very good impression of Ju Ming and felt that the Ming emperor was the true British master.

After another drink, Zhu Ming asked: "I can understand asking for eminent monks and Buddhist scriptures. Why does Yelv Dashi ask for Confucian scholars and Confucian scriptures?"

Xiao Chala'a didn't have a set of words, which was taught to him by Yelu Dashi: "Your Majesty, no matter it is the Liao Dynasty or the Ming Dynasty, or even the Song Dynasty before that, we all belong to the Yanhuang ethnic group. But the Western Region is different, not me Ethnicity must be different. When I first occupied the Black Khanate, I thought that all ethnic groups and religions could coexist peacefully. However, the sects there were really stubborn and had to use Confucian classics to survive. enlightenment."

Zhu Ming suddenly figured out why Yelv Dashi allowed merchants from the Ming Dynasty to pass unhindered.

This was to increase the number of Han people in Xiliao and attract more Han merchants to settle in Xiliao.

Xiao Chala'abu continued: "Our Majesty plans to promote more Confucian scholars to serve as officials. He also wants Confucian scholars to educate the local people and let people in the Western Regions also read the books of sages."

Ju Ming did not object to this, and even actively supported it.

Ju Ming said: "Serious Confucian scholars may not be willing to go to the Western Regions. But there are many eminent monks in the Ming Dynasty, and they are definitely willing to promote Buddhism. Many of these eminent monks also study Confucian scriptures, allowing them to bring the books of sages to teach. Alien."

"That's okay," Xiao Zala said happily, "the more eminent monks who are proficient in Confucianism, the better. As long as they arrive in Daliao, they will be given preferential treatment. A group of alien orphans will also be selected and stay with them as students. These aliens Orphans are the beginning of education, and there will be more and more in the future.”