The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 340: Cleaning the Ming Dynasty's Ass

The cries of men and women, as well as the sobbing of the elderly and children, could be heard. The Imperial Prison in Tokyo, which had been vacant for over a hundred years, was bustling again today.

Including Li Guidun's family of 37 people, 130 close relatives, and the families of his seven most talented students, Pei Huibi, Chen Gongshuo, Ruan Dinhjian and more than 400 people, a total of more than 600 prisoners were imprisoned here.

Because there were too many people, even the imperial prison could not accommodate them, so they had to be placed separately, and some were directly placed in the palace.

However, Mo Zibu did not immediately interrogate Li Guidun. Instead, he asked Wu Shishi to find Li Guidun's works and began to read them himself.

This is the advantage of me, King Mo. Even if I am so angry that I want to kill Li Guidun's entire family immediately, after calming down, I will still suppress my anger and verify it myself to prevent being deceived by either party.

After spending two days roughly reading all of Li Guidun's works, Mo Zibu was quite surprised.

This Li Guidun is really not a simple person!

This person's mastery of Confucianism, especially Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, would probably make him a great scholar in the Qing Dynasty at that time.

He has written many articles on Confucianism, such as "A Study of Various Books" and "Model of the Sages and Virtues".

This kind of book is a summary of the ancient books, works and even personal opinions preserved in Annan since the Han Dynasty, forming a fairly rigorous and logical Annan Confucian philosophy and literary inheritance system.

At the same time, he also wrote "Explanation of the Classics" and "Brief Explanation of the Four Books", etc., deconstructing, interpreting and reorganizing the Four Books and Five Classics from the perspective of the Annan people themselves.

Among them, the book "Commentary on the Four Books" is written entirely in Chinese Nom characters and is an extremely important milestone in the history of the development of Chinese Nom characters.

Moreover, although this person studied Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, he was definitely not a pedantic old scholar.

In the feudal era of the 18th century, Le Guidun actually opposed the strict ethics and advocated a certain degree of liberation for women.

He also wrote a poem close to vernacular, which was simply called "Mom, I Want to Get Married", criticizing and satirizing the overly cruel and inhumane ethics. At that time, it was simply shocking.

He was also the first person in Annan to open his eyes to the world. More than ten years ago, a craftsman named Nguyen Van You from Guangnan went to Europe on a Dutch merchant ship. After living there for two years, he brought back many new and interesting things.

Unlike other scholars and officials, Le Quy Don did not regard Western things as strange and lewd techniques. He even traveled from Bac Ha to Hue to have a cordial conversation with this small businessman and wrote a biography for him.

Le Quy Don verified the information about Europe he learned from Nguyen Van Yeu with the missionary works he read during his missionary mission to the Qing Dynasty.

He even understood the theory of atmospheric buoyancy and tried to verify it, acknowledging that humans live in the universe and that the universe is infinitely vast.

Damn! After reading this, Mo Zibu really couldn't bear to kill such a person!
Compared with the three Wu family members, the father and sons were just historians and writers, while Li Guidun was a true thinker and philosopher.

He is the kind of person Mo Zibu needs most at the moment. Mo Zibu even feels that Li Guidun has the ability to help him complete the theories of the debate between Hua and Yi and the four divisions of Confucianism.

Unfortunately, as Mo Zibu continued to read, problems arose.

The problem first arose in Neo-Confucianism. Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism believed that reason was the essence and law of everything, and qi was the most fundamental material that constituted all things in the world.

But Li Guidun did the exact opposite. He opposed the Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism's view that reason is the essence of all things.

He believed that "the universe is filled with Qi. The word 'li' means something that actually exists, not nothing. Li has no form or trace, but is revealed by Qi. Li is within Qi."

Simply put, he believed that Qi is the origin, and the law of Li is dependent on the origin.

Well, there is some truth to it.

But Mo Zibu saw through the true meaning of Li Guidun's theory at a glance.

The so-called origin of reason and qi is an illusion. The truth is to go against the theory of the Central Plains. You emphasize reason, and I emphasize qi. Qi is the origin of reason, to show that I am the master of the southern region.

Perhaps to put it more simply, this set of statements is called the Reverse Tiangang!

Then, regarding the distinction between Chinese and barbarians, Li Guidun believed that the Annan people were descendants of Shennong and Emperor Yan, and were indeed Han Chinese.

However, on the basis of maintaining the Han Chinese people, we should highlight the cultural superiority of our own ethnic group to show that since it comes from the north and is very different, Annan is already the southern China.

"What a pity! This person has gone astray and is no longer my companion." Ou Zibu sighed to Zheng Jinshui beside him, and then gave a serious order:

"Ah Shui, go to the Imperial Prison and see Li Guidun. Don't argue with him, don't listen to anything else he says, and don't make any promises. Just ask him if he's willing to serve me."

Zheng Jinshui didn't quite understand, but he nodded and went to carry it out.

Only then did Mo Zibu understand why Zheng Sen said before he left that if Li Guidun could not be subdued, he would definitely become a disaster.

This is a thinker who has awakened national consciousness and possesses rich theories. He is a flag. As long as he is there, Mo Zibu will never be able to unify Annan, which has been independent for 800 years.

Faced with such a person, Mo Zibu didn't dare to debate with him at all. Who the hell could debate against a thinker and philosopher who could be called a big shot? King Mo's skills were not good enough to show off.

So Mo Zibu did not go himself, but asked Zheng Jinshui to go. He also did not allow Zheng Jinshui to talk to him, but only asked whether he was willing to surrender.

If you are willing to surrender, then revise your works and get closer to me, King Mo.

I don’t want to, huh, it’s better if I don’t want to!
Kill the person with a knife, burn the books with fire, and bury all the inheritors in a pit. This is the easiest way.

After a while, Zheng Jinshui came over to report, "This man has closed his eyes and is resting in prison. He has never said a word to me.

Moreover, the Beihe eunuchs and jailers treated him with great respect. Li Guidun even had a single room in prison and the meals were just like those at home."

Mo Zibu was not surprised at all. He waved his hand and let Zheng Jinshui go. Zheng Jinshui hesitated for a moment and said to Mo Zibu:

"Your Majesty, I don't think this man is a man of iron will, at least not someone like Fang Xiaoru who refused to surrender even when dozens of his family members were killed.

If the king uses his family and the students' families as leverage, he will surely be able to be persuaded."

"Impress him? Humph." Mo Zibu sneered and waved at Zheng Jinshui, "No need. It's always easier to deal with people than to solve problems. You don't understand yet. Go away."

After driving the kid away, Mo Zibu fell into deep thought. Li Guidun could not be killed for the time being because the poor man he wanted to use was not in his hands yet.

Killing Li Guidun now would surely infuriate all of Beihe, making them even less likely to cooperate. Then, he would be caught off guard. "Go, spread the word that I'm seeking Li Guidun's hand in a major matter, and that I'm interested in marrying Li Guidun's granddaughter to my concubine."

All of Li Guidun's students, with the exception of Pei Huibi and Chen Gongshuo, who inherited his legacy, will be released. However, they must be closely monitored to ensure that they are not lost when they are arrested next time."

Mo Zibu summoned Li Quan and Huo Ran and made careful arrangements.

Li Guidun wanted to kill people, and he wanted to use this as an excuse to kill a lot of people, but not now. The most important thing now is to completely control the poor families and equalize the land.

After temporarily putting aside Li Guidun's affairs, Mo Zibu shifted his attention to another aspect.

After the most basic administration was established and Mo Zibu summoned civil officials and military officers from all over for a candid talk, he knew that he could start the next step, but he had to do it quickly.

Because he now only occupied eleven towns in Beihe, including Tokyo, Shanxi, Taiyuan, Jingbei, Ngee'an, Xinghua, Haiyang, upper and lower Shannan, and inside and outside Tsinghua.

The towns in Annan are roughly equivalent to states on the mainland. Two towns can barely make up the size of a prefecture, so the territory is not large, and it is located in the core of the Red River Plain surrounding the city of Tokyo.

The remaining two towns of Gaoping and Minh Shun in the northwest were still in the hands of King Jingxing Li Weiyu.

The northeastern town of Lang Son was in the hands of Crown Prince Le Vien Kin, who was supported by Nguyen Van Hue.

In other words, the entire scenic area of the Red River Plain is still in the hands of others.

Especially the town of Lang Son, which is so important. If Lang Son is lost, Tokyo will have no defenses and may be overthrown at any time.

All of this provided very favorable conditions for the Qing army to intervene.

What Mo Zibu had to do was to take control of the hearts of the people of Beihe through a series of quick and decisive measures before the Qing army intervened.

On the first day of June, after dealing with most of the urgent matters, Mo Zibu once again offered sacrifices at the Mo family ancestral temple in the south of Tokyo.

A temple was built to commemorate the civil and military officials of the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration of the Ming Dynasty who died that year, and they were given posthumous titles and their descendants who remained in Annan were granted titles.

The most special person among them is Mo Sui.

This man served as the right councilor of Jiaozhi Provincial Administration Commissioner's Office in the Ming Dynasty. He made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty's recovery of Annan.

It was he who led more than a thousand Han people from Jiaozhi and requested the Ming Dynasty to directly rule Jiaozhi.

It was he who followed Duke Ying of Ying to suppress the rebellion of the descendants of the Chen Dynasty and chased them all the way to Hue and beheaded them.

It was he who captured Hu Hancang, the son of Hu Jinli, and Hu Rui, the son of Hu Hancang and the crown prince of the Hu Dynasty.

Unfortunately, in the tenth year of Yongle, the giant bandit Nong Wenli occupied Lang Son and rebelled. Mo Sui led the garrison troops to suppress the rebellion and won a great victory.

But in this battle, Mo Sui was accidentally hit by a stray arrow on the battlefield. Although the arrow penetrated deep into his flesh, his life was not in danger at that time. However, he did not know that the arrow was smeared with poison. Mo Sui suddenly suffered from severe poison in the night and died of vomiting blood.

This was really fate. This man was in Jiaozhi at the time. He was a leader of the literati and could lead troops in battle. He was both civil and military. If he had not died unexpectedly in battle, the situation in Jiaozhi would not have deteriorated so quickly.

However, the Ming Dynasty did not realize the importance of Mo Sui to the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration. After he died in battle, he was not even given a posthumous title, and there were not many records about him.

It was not until the Hongzhi period, when Qiu Jun, the Grand Secretary of Wuying Palace and the Minister of Revenue, wrote "Records of the Pacification of Jiaonan", that a simple record was made: "At that time, the local official Mo Sui led his troops deep into the enemy's territory and was killed by a poisoned arrow."

To be honest, the Ming Dynasty was sometimes too heartless.

Mo Sui's deeds were not recognized until Mo Dengyong arrived in Vietnam.

He pretended to be a descendant of Mo Tingzhi. After establishing the Mo Dynasty, he posthumously honored his ancestors and regarded Mo Sui, the real descendant of Mo Tingzhi, as his ancestor. In other words, Mo Dengyong might indeed be a descendant of Mo Sui.

Therefore, Mo Dengyong posthumously honored Mo Sui as Yuzu and gave him the posthumous title of "Emperor Zhaofu Hongdao Jide".

Well, looking at it this way, it seems quite logical for Mo Dengyong to join the country. No wonder he doesn't have much psychological burden.

In addition to Mo Sui, the descendants of civil and military officials of the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration of the Ming Dynasty, including Chen Feng, the commander-in-chief of Jiaozhi, Du Weizhong, the prefect of Hue, Liang Ru, the councilor of Jiaozhi Provincial Administration, Qin Peng, the prefect of Nghe An, Qin Lan, the commander of Nghe An Guard, and Tao Jirong, the co-magistrate of Thanh Hoa, all came here.

Well, the descendants of Mo Sui have also come. In fact, there are quite a few descendants of the Mo family in Beihe. After all, they are the royal family of the previous dynasty.

In addition to direct descendants like Huang Gongzhi who were forced to change their surname to Huang, many distant relatives of the Mo family were able to continue to use Mo as their surname.

And because the Mo family attached great importance to culture and education, these descendants did well, and some even became high-ranking officials of the third or fourth rank.

These people were ecstatic about Mo Zibu's return to Beihe!
Because the Mo family in Vietnam and the Mo family in western Guangdong have always had close ties, Mo Zibu's ancestor Mo Shiping was once the inspector of the northern city of Dongguan (Beijing) during the Ming Dynasty.

They came out one after another to contact Mo Zibu and became a force that Mo Zibu could rely on.

Well, what is even more shocking in history is that during the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, the Le Duan group was inhumane. In order to build a strong defense and clear the countryside, they cruelly drove all the Vietnamese people in the area from Cao Bang to Lang Son into the forest, burned down their houses, and burned all their food.

These people who entered the forest did not even have enough food for one day. In Gaoping alone, more than 10,000 people starved to death, and in the end they had to rely on the PLA's rations to survive.

Therefore, during the war, the people of Gaoping actively supported the People's Liberation Army. When the People's Liberation Army retreated, the Vietnamese army wanted to ambush in Gaoping. Often, the people of Gaoping informed the People's Liberation Army before the troops were deployed in place.

Among them, there are many people with the surname Mo from Gaoping.

After the war, some Cao Ping residents were afraid of retaliation from the Le Duan group and chose to live in the Republic as overseas Chinese.

Therefore, in Annan, even in the 1970s and 1980s, it still had a certain foundation.

After setting an example, Mo Zibu immediately prepared to clean up the interior before the Qing army moved south.

He wanted to let all the Annan people know that only by following him, Mo Zibu, back to their country would they have a future.

　My research on the Mo family is primarily based on a paper by Professor Niu Junkai of the History Department of Sun Yat-sen University titled "Studying the Relationship between the Vietnamese Mo family and China." However, due to the lack of historical data and the ambiguity of the historical data, Professor Niu can only cross-check and speculate on some aspects.

　　Lao Hu is just a novelist, so he is bolder than Professor Niu speculated. There is no problem in general, but there are definitely some discrepancies in the details, which may not be too small.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)