The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 833 King Han Guards the Border
On the ninth day of the ninth month in the eighth year of Guangde, the Annan king, Li Weiqi, who was surrounded by enemies, led the last 300 civil and military officials who survived in the Eastern Capital out of the city and surrendered to the Qi army.

In accordance with the edict of the retired emperor, Hong Chengchou, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, divided the surrendered Annan monarchs and ministers into two factions: those who advocated war and those who advocated peace.

The different attitudes towards Da Qi in the past determined the different fates of these officials.

Anyone who advocated attacking Qi would either be beheaded or sent to Sakhalin Island to become a slave with the armored men.

Most of those who had previously advocated peace were able to save their lives. They were dispersed and sent to the 36 provinces of the Great Qi Dynasty to work in factories and mines.

The remaining 2.8 million people in Annan are obviously no longer suitable to live in this land.

Whether it is to appoint a few chieftains to rule like in Yunnan and Guizhou, or to forcibly promote counties and restore Jiaozhi and Xiangjun, it is impossible to truly and effectively control this land.

Liu Zhaosun's plan was simple and effective, which was to relocate the Annan people and replace them all with local people of Da Qi, supplemented by long-term military management, so as to solve the problem from the root.

Thanks to sweet potatoes, corn and various types of high-yield rice, as well as the improvement of oil refining technology and the large-scale promotion of cheap fertilizers, the limited land in the 36 provinces of the Great Qi could feed more people.

Given the size of Qi under Liu Zhaosun's rule, it was actually not difficult to annex and digest Annan.

The core of annexation and digestion is assimilation.

Assimilation requires a population far greater than that of the other side.

A large-scale population migration is about to take place.

According to the population migration plan formulated by Hong Chengchou and Du Yinxi, they planned to resettle one million Annan people to the interior of Da Qi. The vacant land would be filled with Han people of the same size to reclaim wasteland and cultivate the land.

With the current transportation capacity of Da Qi, it will take about three years to accommodate one million Annan immigrants. Before the population migration is completed, the southern expedition army will continue to garrison this land.

~~~~~~
"You stubbornly resisted the Heavenly Army, refusing to repent, causing great suffering to the people of Annan and countless casualties... I will confer upon you the title of Duke Hun De as a punishment!"

Liu Zhaosun looked at Li Weiqi, who was kneeling on the ground in panic, and spoke straight to the point to the defeated Emperor of Annan.

Duke Hun De is not a good title.

Before Li Weiqi, the last person to receive this honor was Emperor Daojun of the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhao Ji.

Giving the King of Annan such a title is extremely insulting.

However, the victor is the king and the loser is the bandit. Since the King of Annan has been defeated, he can only accept this fate.

"Send him to the North Sea to herd sheep. Have the officials prepare a flock of rams for Duke Hun De. When lambs are born, I will release him back to Annan."

"I, a guilty minister, thank the Supreme Emperor for sparing his life. Long live the Emperor, long live the Emperor, long live the Emperor!"

Li Weiqi knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly. Liu Zhaosun gently shook his hand, and the guards immediately pulled Hun Degong away.

The emperor's punishment of his enemies was always full of irony.

God knows what kind of mood Li Weiqi, the King of Annan, who was born and raised here, would be in when he arrived at the icy and snowy North Sea.

On September 19th, the retired emperor returned to Guangzhou from Annan by boat. After arriving in Guangzhou, he rested for two days and then returned to the capital from Guangzhou along the main post road.

The people who went with him included Hong Chengchou, Li Dingguo, Zhang Huangyan, Dongfang Zhu and others~~~~~
In late September of the eighth year of Guangde, before the emperor's convoy returned to Junzhou, the news of the King of Annan's surrender spread in the capital.

Ordinary people on the streets were discussing the emperor's expedition to Annan. The storytellers of the Great Qi Dynasty modified classic works such as "The Biography of Yue Fei" and "The Heroes of Water Margin" overnight, and changed their works into the "Retired Emperor's Southern Expedition Record".

Teahouses and taverns with storytellers were always crowded with people eager to know everything that was happening in Annan.

It’s not because the situation in the Annan war will affect Da Qi’s future foreign policy. Victory or defeat will determine the fate of thousands of citizens who have bought Da Qi stocks and hope to get rich.

"It seems like another stock investor is going to suffer heavy losses!" Junzhou went to the capital, the Ministry of Revenue.

Minister of Revenue Chen Zizhuang lit a cigar, leaned against the window, looked at the bustling crowd with different expressions in front of the stock exchange, and said meaningfully.

Ruan Dacheng, the Minister of Rites, who was sitting in front of Chen Zizhuang, crushed his cigar into the ashtray.

"Everyone in the world is driven by profit, and the stock market is causing great harm to people."

The two looked at each other and fell silent.

Chen Zizhuang asked, "Master Ruan, now that we've defeated Annan, will we send in provincial governors or place chieftains? Does your Ministry of Rites have any information?"

Ruan Dacheng shook his head. No one, whether it was the retired emperor or Emperor Guangde, had ever mentioned this matter to him.

"The Retired Emperor never mentioned this matter, but Emperor Guangde, during his morning court session a few days ago, expressed his hope that the Prince of Han could go to Annan."

Both of them knew that the Prince of Han and Emperor Guangde were not on good terms with each other. Because of the incident of killing the Japanese envoy, the retired emperor was furious and almost deposed Emperor Guangde last year, preparing to make the Prince of Han the emperor.

Letting the ministers discuss how to govern Annan at this time would undoubtedly add fuel to the already tense situation.

The question was whether Annan should have a king, whether it should follow the example of the Mu family in Yunnan and guard the city for generations, and whether the King of Han should be sent out.

The civil and military officials who stayed behind in Junzhou City soon fell into a fierce quarrel.

Prince Liu Qian of Han was sixteen years old this year, and judging by his age, he should have been made a vassal long ago. In the fifth year of Guangde, the Han prince's vassalage was initially established in Shaanxi, and the former residence of the Ming prince of Qin was used as the Han prince's palace.

However, in the fifth year of Guangde, the rebellion of bandits in Shaanxi broke out, and the matter of the Hanwang vassal was delayed again and again.

The emperor has been busy fighting wars in the south and the north in the past two years, running around like a fire captain, and has no energy to take care of this matter.

In addition, Concubine Chen doted on this child very much and was reluctant to let Liu Qian leave the capital. She cried and made a fuss several times, asking the retired emperor to make Liu Qian the crown prince.

I don't know if it was because of Chen Yuanyuan, but Liu Zhaosun doted on this young son and almost met all of Liu Qian's requests since he was a child.

So the Han King's vassalage was suspended.

Liu Zhaosun warned the King of Han more than once that it was impossible to depose Emperor Guangde, so he and his followers gave up this idea as soon as possible.

The world is bound to be in chaos again. Since ancient times, the eldest son has been appointed as the emperor instead of the most capable one. Tragedies caused by the so-called appointment of the most capable one are everywhere.

The emperor emeritus would never violate this taboo.

~~~~~~
Ten days later, the emperor's carriage arrived in Wuchang, and on the fifteenth day, it arrived in Tianxin City.

Emperor Guangde, accompanied by civil and military officials, went ten miles outside the city to welcome him.

Liu Zhaosun met his son, Emperor Guangde, at Caodian Wharf.

The father and son met and exchanged a few words. Liu Zhaosun asked about the affairs of the palace, and Liu Kan said everything was fine.

Chen Zizhuang and Feng Quan kept praising Emperor Guangde for his good governance of the country. He worked diligently every day and rushed to the morning court, and he had not missed a single day in three months.

Liu Zhaosun nodded in satisfaction. After exchanging greetings with the ministers and Emperor Guangde, he suddenly announced:

"I, the vassal of the King of Han, have been delaying. It would be better for me to go to Annan to guard it, and follow the example of the vassal kings of the former Ming Dynasty who guarded the border."

(End of this chapter)