Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 870 Kang Guo
At this time, Kang Guo fell into a strange atmosphere.

Without it, the king of Kang Kingdom, Li Zijing, was already in poor health. After suffering for many years, he finally became terminally ill this month, and there was not much time left to suffer.

Shunjing, formerly known as Ganzi, after Li Zicheng died of illness, Li Zijing ascended the throne and proclaimed himself king here. Li Zicheng's temple name was respected as Taizu, and his posthumous title was "Wucheng", that is, King Wucheng.

Naturally, in order to enjoy peace, the previous title of Dashun Kingdom can no longer be used, and they can only surrender to the Ming Dynasty and pay tribute, so as to maintain peace.

Because of this, the year name was changed to Shaowu, and the system was changed to comply with the county king system. Ganzi was renamed Shunjing.

Its official system is similar to that of the Ming Dynasty. The cabinet was renamed Zhengshitang, and the elders of the Shoufu Pavilion were called Shangxiang, Zuopu, and Youbi. There were six governments under it: officials, households, rites, soldiers, criminals, and workers. The head of the government was the government. Shangshu.

Among them, Niu Jinxing served as prime minister, actually the chief assistant, Song Xiance served as Zuopu, and Song Qijiao served as Youbi.

In terms of the local official system, the magistrate is the prefect, the prefect is the state shepherd, and the county magistrate is the county magistrate. What is more peculiar is that the local officials are not headed by civil officials, but defensive envoys are the main ones, and civil officials follow them.

Kangguo has a government in the capital, called Shunjing Prefecture, which is divided into five prefectures, namely Kangding, Ya'an, Xichang, Batang, and Litang, a total of [-] counties.

Years of governance, according to statistics, Kang has 120 million people, of which more than [-] are Tibetans, while the Han and Mongolian people, including merchants, the army, and hundreds of officials, are only about [-], occupying a disadvantage.

It is precisely because of this that Li Zijing set up defense envoys in various states and counties, on the one hand to suppress the rebellious herdsmen, and on the other hand to appease the generals.

You must know that compared to Li Zicheng, although Li Zijing has deep qualifications, he is relatively mediocre, and it is difficult to follow every order.

Therefore, for this group of arrogant soldiers and warriors, they can only be condoned and split up, while the defense envoys are the product of compromise.

Li Zijing compromised with them. The defense envoys of the states and counties, that is, the military power, would be hereditary, just like the military household system in the Ming Dynasty, which would be passed on and managed by his heirs, but must be approved by the court.

The army is under the control of the defense envoy, while the civil affairs are presided over by the county magistrates and state shepherds appointed and dismissed by Shunjing, and obey the orders of the defense envoy.

Financially, the [-]-[-] split method is used.

That is, the local government turned over [-]% of the fiscal revenue and [-]% was retained.

However, Shunjing Mansion, as the center of the Kham area, is controlled by Li Zijing himself. Not only is the agriculture and animal husbandry more developed, but also the commerce is relatively prosperous, with a population of about [-].

Shunjing Prefecture is located in the transition zone from the mountains on the western edge of the Sichuan Basin to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It is the center of the Kangba area, so the altitude is only more than 3000 meters. It can be said that the people living here are naturally adapted to the plateau climate.

In Shunjing in summer, there is still a cool breeze, and the high sun is extremely bright, which makes people feel a little scared when they look directly at it.

At noon, a burst of dark clouds suddenly came to the sky, thunder and lightning were set up, and continuous drizzle began.

Flocks of birds flitted across the sky and quickly headed towards the forest, while the people in the city couldn't wait to return home to shelter from the rain.

Niu Jinxing fought in the waves last night, and he didn't stop until noon, enjoying the exquisite food.

How about the Kham area? As the end of the ancient tea-horse road, a large number of Han merchants came here, bringing salt, tea, and silk, in exchange for cattle, sheep, fur, gems, and the most precious horses from the Tibetans.

Compared with Gansu and Qinghai, this is simply heaven and earth.

It is precisely because of this that the generals humiliated and began to enjoy a peaceful life.

"Well, today's tea is good." Niu Jinxing took a sip of tea and praised: "Yunnan Pu'er, next time I will buy more."

"Yes!" The butler is a Tibetan, blushing, he respectfully handed over the chopsticks, and then skillfully cut the beef:
"Master, this beef has been boiled since last night, and it has melted today, so it's not hard to chew."

"Well, that's right—" Niu Jinxing, 64 years old, has loosened his teeth a lot after years of hard work.

He tasted a piece of beef for the first time, and it melted in his mouth, which made him marvel.

"How?"

"A yak that has been born for less than three months and has not yet given up milk. The meat is very tender. It is boiled with some spices and tea leaves, and it is tender and juicy."

The housekeeper spoke fluent Chinese and flattered him, "I specially hired a cook from Han to make this. Even the royal palace doesn't have such delicious food."

"En!" Hearing this, Niu Jinxing was satisfied.

Enjoying the food that even Kang Wang does not have, can have the greatest refreshing feeling.

After eating a few mouthfuls of beef, he ate half a bowl of wheat porridge, which made his whole body clear.

A group of servants hurried over to tidy up. The maids and servants were pretty and handsome, wearing finely modified Tibetan robes, and they were extremely respectful.

Although Kangguo initiated the campaign to change customs from the very beginning, due to the special situation in the Kangba area, where the morning is cold and the afternoon is hot, the traditional Hanfu is very embarrassing.

In this case, a Tibetan robe with half a sleeve on the shoulders seems appropriate.

However, as aristocrats and officials, they still uphold the customs of the Han region, wearing Han robes that conform to the regulations, adding a fur coat when it is cold, and taking it off when it is hot.

Suddenly, his son, Niu Quan, was carrying a pot of highland barley wine, his cheeks were flushed, and he staggered forward, his face full of eagerness.

"What's wrong?" Niu Jinxing frowned.

Although it was Xiu Mu today, he really disliked his son's appearance in such a mess.

"There is news from the palace that His Highness is dying—"

Niu Quan spoke out of breath, and then said impatiently: "Father, you'd better change into your official robe and go to the palace!"

"Is that what you need to say?"

Before Niu Jinxing gave the order, the housekeeper went to find the official robe: "You change into it too, and come with me."

Immediately, the two went to the palace in a carriage.

It's been a long way, and it was still bright when I left the palace, but when I got to the gate of the palace, I bent down and got out to look at the carriage, it was already dark.

In a mountain city like Shunjing, it can only accommodate more than [-] people, while the royal palace inherited Chieftain Baili's mansion. Although it has been decorated in various ways, it only occupies an area of ​​more than [-] mu, which does not meet the requirement of a thousand mu of royal palace. rules.

But there is no way, Kang Guo is weak and lacks financial resources, so it is impossible to expand the palace.

Pass through the palace wall made of earth bricks, and then enter the inner palace.

At this time, quite a few people had already gathered in front of the narrow Chang'an Hall.

Six ministries of government, Zhengshitang Zuopu Song Xiance, Right Bi Song Qijiao waited for a long time.

And the defense envoys of the states and counties arrived in Shunjing half a month ago.

Among them, Tian Jianxiu, Liu Fangliang, Yuan Zongdi, Hao Yaoqi, and Li Laiheng served as the defense envoys of the five states and occupied the city of the state.

The remaining ten generals each occupy a county.

So when these five people saw Niu Jinxing, they just bowed their hands to show their respect, while the other generals bent down to salute, almost at ninety degrees.

This is the rule, which is the privilege of the five of them.

Tian Jianxiu frowned: "I don't know what happened to Your Highness."

"God bless you." Song Xiance said softly.

After years of running around, the once high-spirited counselor has gradually aged.

And many years of rich and noble life have intoxicated many generals, each of them is extremely rich, and there is no such brave appearance as before.

When Niu Jinxing saw it, he nodded slightly in his heart.

The king's method is indeed good. Although it is said that enfeoffing the state capital is not conducive to holding great power, years of wealth and glory have already caused the generals to fall, and their iron bones have been ground to brittle bones.

The invincible generals who used to show off their power in the court have disappeared.

"Under the prince's residence——"

Suddenly, the door was opened, and a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy came out of the palace, wearing a red royal robe, and his immature face was full of seriousness.

Under the patriarchal system, the Kingdom of Kang enjoys being the prince of the county. The King of Kang can only be called His Highness and His Majesty, while the prince is only a Daoist mansion and cannot be called His Highness. These are rules and cannot be exceeded.

"Your Majesty let you go in..." the eldest son Li Si said softly.

"Oh, oh." After tidying up his robes, Niu Jinxing couldn't wait to walk into the hall.

Others did not dare to be sloppy and filed in.

39-year-old Li Zijing was half lying and half sitting on the floor, with a young eunuch behind him supporting his body.

It's a pity that his breathing was very uneven, as if he was pulling a dilapidated bellows, which was short and sad.

Who would have thought that this is the body of a 40-year-old man.

But there is no way, this is forced by luck.

Since he was young, Li Zijing has not enjoyed much happiness. Following his elder brother Li Zicheng's constant expeditions to the north and south, he has been fleeing and fleeing thousands of miles to Kangba. Even a real general can't bear it, let alone ordinary people. Li Zijing.

And the few years of enjoying the blessings was accompanied by intrigues with military generals and civil servants. He was obviously exhausted with the appearance of a man.

Niu Jinxing suddenly thought of Li Zicheng, and thought of the kindness of knowing you, his heart was sour, and his eyes were warm.

Back then, he also died around the age of 40. Was Lao Li's family so unlucky?
He was afraid that the king would lose his appearance, so he hurriedly avoided his eyes, rolled up his sleeves, and knelt down first: "My minister, Niu Jinxing, kowtow to the king!"

Li Zijing was originally a very honest and honest person. Although he had been intriguing all these years, he couldn't help but reveal his true feelings at this time:

"To see you all again today, I am worthy of King Wu Cheng..."

As soon as this remark came out, everyone couldn't help but burst into tears, even the titans like Tian Jianxiu and Li Laiheng couldn't help but their eyes turned red, and a few tears gushed out.

At this moment, everyone suddenly thought of Li Zijing's kindness and Li Zicheng's indomitable spirit who died young.

Of course, in the end, my hometown in Shaanxi will never be forgotten.

"I have been wandering with King Wucheng for more than ten years in my whole life, traveled thousands of miles, and finally settled down in Shunjing. I never thought about my fortune, and I will finally meet today—"

Speaking of this, Li Zijing couldn't breathe, and under the service of the eunuch, he calmed down a lot.

He looked at his eldest son Li Si: "Come here—"

"Yes!" Li Si came obediently and stood in front of the bed.

"The fortune of the widow is poor, but thanks to God's blessing, this son Jiang and Kang Guo, after my death, will be succeeded by the eldest son Li Si, and you will support them wholeheartedly."

Li Zijing's voice was intermittent, but he spoke clearly.

"The ministers and others obey the order—"

Everyone hurriedly kowtowed, shouted in unison, and then bowed down to Li Si, which was regarded as establishing the name of monarch and minister.

Compared with his elder brother Li Zicheng, Li Zijing also has children in his family, but there are only two seedlings, one is the eldest son Li Si, and the other is the youngest son, Li Zhao, who is only five years old.

Obviously, before he died, he was still uneasy about his life, for fear that the position of the eldest son would be unstable and the youngest son would succeed him, so he directly went to confirm the righteousness of the monarch and ministers in front of everyone.

On and off, King Kang announced that his youngest son, Li Zhao, would be named Cheng Dejun, with Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, Song Qijiao, Tian Jianxiu, and Li Laiheng as assistants.

After the announcement, Li Zijing passed away.

At this time, everyone also regained their calm, and began to discuss temple names and posthumous names.

Since Li Zijing had been lingering and sick for many years, these funerals had already been decided.

Niu Jinxing said directly: "The former king should be Taizong."

"The posthumous title will be bestowed by Beijing."

Everyone agrees on this.

After that, the 16-year-old Li Si was changed into a royal robe and sat on the throne, watching these ministers discuss important issues.

As for these major national events, he can't get involved at all, and can only sit with his eyes blank, his mind wandering into the sky.

At this time, Tian Jianxiu suddenly said: "Not long ago, because the previous king was seriously ill, the news from Beijing has not been dealt with. Now that the new king is taking the throne, I am afraid that he will not be able to resist."

Hearing this, Niu Jinxing and the other three civil servants frowned and couldn't help thinking.

After becoming a vassal state, Kang Guo, like North Korea, practiced the principle of doing things, and on the surface showed great respect for Ming, and did not dare to go beyond it. It seemed to be more obedient than North Korea.

But this can’t be helped. The survival of the Kang Kingdom requires the Ancient Tea Horse Road, which is a lifeline. Once it is banned by the Ming Dynasty, the economy of the Kang Kingdom will collapse.

Let this make them obedient.

And this matter is to send troops to Lhasa to attack the Heshuote Khanate.

Civil servants are naturally not happy, because it will consume money and food from the treasury, and it is thankless.

But the generals were very happy.

Being able to fight is second to none, because the plundered land, population, and generals will get a big share, which is tempting.

"Let's discuss it after the king's grand ceremony!" Niu Jinxing used the method of delay.

"Make sure things are ready first." Tian Jianxiu said in a deep voice, "The Ming court is in a hurry, and we can't tolerate any delay."

"Being prime minister, Kang Guo can't bear the consequences."

Hearing this, Niu Jinxing was very annoyed.

Sure enough, they were a group of arrogant soldiers. Fortunately, he thought that the ambition of this group of people had been wiped out, but it fueled their greed.

Several people were discussing like this, or arguing.

But at this time, all the generals were there, and the civil servants fell into a disadvantage, and the Zhengshitang headed by Niu Jinxing had to succumb.

The military government sent [-] troops, and the generals of the prefectures and counties sent a total of [-] troops, numbering [-] troops, to Lhasa.

The household government will take out 10 yuan in silver dollars as a starting fee.

The date of dispatching troops is set in one month.

(End of this chapter)