The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 720 Who says the Eight Banners system is old? This system is also great
The desolate sound of a cow horn rang out in this small town called Shanbei.

Several Xia clan soldiers wearing red foam-studded armor and red iron helmets pushed open the gate of the official office belonging to the royal garrison commander in the center of the town.

As the heavy gate opened, the guards lined up in two neat rows to welcome them. The castle lords, who had been waiting for a long time, greeted each other and entered one after another.

The clerk from the garrison's office was calling out the names of the people beside him:

"Lord Leng Tianlu, the Lord of Changshun Fort, has arrived!"

"Lord Pingwu, the Lord of Changde Fort, has arrived!"

"Lord Mori Changzan of Changxin Fort has arrived!"

"Master Ye Mingdong of Wude Fort has arrived!"

"The Lord of Taixing Fort, Colonel of the Army, has been granted the title of Lord of Daxing. His name is Baotai, and the Lord has arrived!"

Upon hearing the name being called, even a rebellious person like Leng Tianlu stopped walking inside, turned around and bowed to greet the guests.

Because this person is not simple. He is of bannerman origin. Before the first year of Guangzhong, that is, before Emperor Mo fought back, he had been serving in the Western Regions. He was one of the twelve Kalen guards under the Minister of Yarkand, that is, one of the twelve border defense officers.

When the Kokand people attacked and the Hui people were defeated, he fought to the death and was rescued after fainting from more than 20 wounds. Only a dozen of them survived among the more than 200 people.

After Dayu began its march into the Western Regions, he was spotted by Li Xingtai, the second prince of the Xia clan, and was recruited to his side. He participated in the Korla raid, and defeated the 50,000-strong Kokand army with only 6,000 men.

Finally, he participated in the snow mountain raid across the Tianshan Mountains to attack Kokand, captured and killed thirteen major leaders of the Kokand army, and killed countless enemies. It is no exaggeration to say that he rolled out from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

Therefore, although Baotai was a bannerman, he was still respected by everyone and had the title of baron, which could truly be called a close vassal. At the same time, after the emperor heard about his deeds, he specially gave him a surname.

However, there are two types of surnames granted in the Mo Dynasty. The highest level is to directly take the surname Mo, be included in the Jade Book of the Clan Court, and officially become a member of the royal family.

Baotai is a level lower. You have the honor of being given a name, but you still have the same surname. Only in formal occasions, such as when calling out names now, is the national surname used.

After death, a mausoleum with the lowest standards for the royal family can be built, and the name of the deity can begin with the country's surname, called country surname xxx.

Therefore, when people bowed to each other in the past, they did not call Baotai "Guo Xing Ye", but still called him Bao Ye or Bao Jue Ye.

Baotai also enthusiastically greeted the surrounding castle lords one by one. This feeling made him feel very comfortable, even more comfortable than during the Qing Dynasty.

Because during the Qing Dynasty, although the imperial court belonged to the bannermen and the emperor seemed to care for them, in fact, the bannermen had to pay with their lives.

And what he exchanged his life for cannot be compared with Dayu at all.

For example, Baotai, no matter how many military achievements he has in the Western Regions, he will still be recalled. If he is lucky, he can become a deputy general or a lieutenant general in other places, and rely on the money he saved to support his retirement when he is old.

But in Dayu, Emperor Mo gave him a completely different choice, that is, 50,000 acres of land, more than 2,000 people under his rule, and a title that would not be deprived by the emperor's order.

If Baotai wanted to marry his daughter to a Han Chinese, she could marry a Han Chinese. If his son wanted to marry a Han Chinese girl, he could marry a Han Chinese girl. There would be no more artificial barriers.

I will never check five generations of ancestors before getting married again, because the circle is too small and if I am not careful, I may marry my distant aunt or uncle.

All of these were unattainable when one was a bannerman. The emperor of the bannermen was most afraid that the bannermen would become independent and would never relax his control over them.

The garrison commander of Shanbei Town is a middle-aged man with a plump figure, about thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old. He is a servant of the Ningxia Prince's Mansion. He has a round head and is very likable, but he looks more like a businessman than a soldier.

In other words, this guy really came from a businessman background, and he originally managed the coal industry for Li Xianwen.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that the title of garrison commander sounds very impressive. The garrison commander of the Xia clan is completely different from the garrison commander of Nanyang, and he doesn’t even have much administrative power.

For example, if the governor of Shanbei Town issues an order outside the town, it will be useless because the surrounding areas are all fiefs of the castle lords.

The only function of Shanbei Town is that it is a concentrated area of commerce. The castle lords and the people under their rule can come here to trade and exchange what they have.

And since the castle lords all lived in their own forts in the countryside, when they encountered important matters that needed to be discussed and the county town was far away, they needed a place like this to discuss things temporarily.

When King Li Xianwen needed to pass general information to his subordinates, he had to issue it directly through the garrison commander to prevent the power of the royal palace from being usurped by the powerful vassal who held the position of county magistrate.

To put it bluntly, the towns where these garrisons are located are the tentacles through which Li Xianwen controls various places.

The Xia Palace collected tributes, manpower, etc. from all over the country through the town, and could also control the local castle lords in trade through the town, earn some money from trade and collect taxes from passing merchants.

Seeing that the castle lords had arrived, Li Zhenshoushi immediately ordered the clerk to come and record the warriors, laborers, food and fodder that each castle lord wanted to provide, and then ordered the kitchen to prepare the meal as a reward before the expedition.

There was a banquet inside the garrison's office and outside, but the level and scale were very strict.

The Han warriors of the castle lords held a banquet in the academy outside the government office. Although it was not a feast of delicacies, there was plenty of roasted whole lamb, stewed pork, and homemade rice wine, wine, and distilled liquor.

In addition to them, the Hui warriors also had a feast to eat. There was no roasted whole lamb, but there was enough mutton, pork, domestic duck meat and white flour naan.

What? You said they shouldn't eat big-eared sheep and short-nosed elephants. They do eat them, but now the grass on their graves is ten feet tall.

At the bottom were the former Kokand men who were conscripted to be cannon fodder and laborers. They were only fit to squat in groups outside the door. More than a dozen people surrounded two large barrels, one containing multi-grain cakes, the other containing a large pot of stewed meat and wild vegetables with a little vermicelli, etc.

Amidst the shouting and cheering, several North Korean warriors from Lelang got drunk. They gathered together and sang a little song in Korean.

On ordinary days, they would never gather together to sing Korean folk songs, because they felt it was a bit cheap and would make people discover that they were of impure origin.

But now I am happy and don’t have so many concerns.

Some warriors from the Han area nearby did not take it seriously and even started to sing along, because the Han people's own dialect was complicated enough, and many Han people who did not know their origins thought it was a dialect from somewhere else.

As the song was being sung, a North Korean warrior named Kim Kwon-il's eyes became moist. He grabbed a large piece of lamb chop and held it high.

"If this were in Hwanghae Province, the county magistrate would treat it as a delicacy and wouldn't eat it easily, but here, we, who aren't even yangban, can eat it to our heart's content.

This is all the kindness of the great emperor. How can we, the Koreans, who have received such great benefits, repay him?"

"The Great Emperor is the adopted parent of the Korean people, the sun in the sky. His kindness shines upon everyone, and we can never repay him in our lifetime."

"Even if we sacrifice our lives for this lamb chop, it's worth it."

The others also cried out in unison. The emperor's kindness seemed to be tangible, flowing through everyone.

And this is really not a lie. The Koreans had a very hard life, so even when they arrived in the Dayuan Basin, the westernmost part of the empire, it was like heaven.

These Koreans have a miserable life. If they were not born on the peninsula and suppressed by China, they would be a nation that would go against the wind and kill people wherever they go.

As he was singing, Jin Quanri shoved a Hui warrior who was nodding and bowing beside him, looked at him fiercely, and said word by word:

"Be loyal to the Great Emperor, be loyal to Dayu, and fight bravely, and you will surely receive benefits beyond your imagination. If you still think about that bullshit Khoja of yours, I will definitely send you to see him!"

This Hui warrior is under the management of Jin Quanri. He knows very well what these guys are thinking, but at the same time he is very confused.

The emperor is such a good adoptive parent, but you are not loyal to the sun in the sky, but you are loyal to Khoja. You must be crazy.

Since their brains are broken, there is no need for them to exist. It is easiest to kill them with a knife. Kim Kwon-il has killed at least twenty of those guys, if not thirty.

The Hui warriors were so frightened by Jin Quan Richu that their calves were shaking. They knew that these guys who looked ridiculous at the moment were actually devils who killed people without blinking an eye.

The Hui warrior nodded repeatedly and said in broken official language, "Don't worry, Master Jin, I know what to do and what not to do. I will definitely be the loyal dog of the great emperor."

"Fuck you!" Jin Quanri laughed and kicked the guy away. "You are such a barbarian, and you still want to be a loyal dog to the emperor. I am not even qualified. The castle lord might just be qualified.

You, just be a loyal dog to the castle lord, and be a good loyal dog. Here, this is a reward for you!"

As he spoke, Kim Kwon-il picked up half a jar of high-quality distilled liquor and gave it to the Hui warriors as a reward.

The Hui warrior was overjoyed, and happily hugged him and returned to the Hui warriors' table in a triumphant manner. However, after a few breaths, he felt that it was not enough, so he picked up a small half-jar of wine and half a piece of mutton and walked out.

Outside the door, a group of Kokand civilians who had not yet had enough coarse-grain pancakes and hotpot were peeping at the door, looking at the "luxurious" scene inside, their noses twitching as they inhaled the aroma, their saliva almost dripping.

Seeing this Hui warrior coming out, the Kokand people were shocked. They hurriedly stepped back several steps and fell to their knees.

Although the Kokand people looked down on the Hui people before and slandered them as being worse than Andijan, things are different now. The status of both sides has been reversed, with the Hui people becoming the second masters and them being the lowest of the low.

The Hui warrior searched the crowd and finally found his target, a handsome boy of about sixteen or seventeen years old.

"Ali, this is a reward from the fortress lord. I see that you are very loyal and know who is the real master of this river, so I give these things to you."

Ali was overjoyed and quickly took it. After putting the item on the ground, he kowtowed and said, "Ali thanks the master for the reward. When I get home, I will let my sister work as a maid in the master's house."

Although this Hui warrior was a third class below the fort owner and Han warriors, his family still had the right to cultivate 500 acres of land and was in charge of eight Kokand households.

So although he is not worth mentioning in the eyes of Kim Kwon-il, he can still be considered as a member of the ruling class.

The maid that Ali mentioned was actually his beautiful sister who was offered to this Hui warrior.

Not only were the Han people aggressively snatching women of childbearing age from Kokand, but the Hui people were also doing so, because the future of a nation lies entirely in the bellies of young women of this race.

If the men in the tribe lose enough mating rights and not enough children are born, it is only a matter of time before the tribe disappears.

The Hui warrior patted Ali on the shoulder and went back satisfied. In fact, what he wanted most was to marry a Han woman, but that was completely a dream. The Han people themselves did not have enough women to marry, so how could it be his turn?

So, it would be a good idea to choose two beautiful people from the Kokand people who are exactly the same ethnic group as them.

But when the Hui warriors entered the yard, Ali suddenly became proud.

He sat on a big rock, taking bites of meat and sips of wine. The Kokand civilians around him looked at him flatteringly, swallowed their saliva madly, and flattered him madly.

It was said that Ali was appreciated by the Han master, and that his family would soon have more land, more cattle and sheep, and that he would definitely take care of them in the future.

Ali would reward anyone he liked with a piece of meat or a sip of wine. That person would instantly feel as if his status had been elevated and would be beaming with joy.

Who says the Eight Banners system is backward? It’s very useful.

Because the Eight Banners system was not invented by the Banner people, but was the inevitable product of human civilization.

This system may not be safe for ruling Chinese people who have experienced the ideological explosion of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, been influenced by Confucianism, and heard the sayings "Are kings, princes, generals, and ministers born of different species?" and "The blue sky is dead and the yellow sky should be established."

Because there are too many people and the area is too vast, cultural ideas can spread too easily. If you are not careful, a hero will emerge from any corner and raise his arm to call for action.

But it is very effective against people like the Kokand, who are from the late slavery to the early feudal era.

Even in later generations, this set of methods is still useful.

On the third day after the banquet, the gate of the largest White Lotus Sect temple in Shanbei Town, the White Lotus Temple of Duyun Daci Dabei Mingwang, was opened.

It was simple, everyone drank too much at the banquet and it took until the third day for them to perk up.

Most of the twenty-one castle lords who came to Shanbei Town to trade elected Daxing Junnan and Taixing Castle Lord Baotai as their leaders and entered Duyun Courtyard to pray and worship.

At this time, the White Lotus Sect arrived in the Xia Dynasty and underwent another transformation, becoming more of a fusion of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.

For example, in this courtyard, in addition to the main deity, the Vajra King Buddha, the side halls on both sides are dedicated to the ancestors of the Han people in Shanbei Town.

The ancestors of twenty-one of the castle owners had statues of gods, and the ancestors of the remaining Han people all had ancestral tablets. The Hui warriors also managed to get some ancestral tablets, but they were placed in a small shrine outside the side hall.

In fact, this can no longer be considered a traditional Buddhist temple, but rather a kind of ancestral hall that was rebuilt when the Han Chinese clans in the north began to disintegrate and they were colonizing other places.

Everyone dressed in blue and white flying tiger uniforms, dressed up and worshipped the Incarnation of the King of Wisdom, and then began to worship their ancestors.

Tell the ancestors that a great war is about to begin, and bless them to kill more enemies, capture more people, and plunder more property from the Bukhara people.

Moreover, those who were allowed to enter the temple to worship were all Han people, or Hui warriors who had gained recognition from the Han people through their blood and sweat.

Others can only kneel on the ground outside without looking up when the Han people are offering sacrifices. They are not qualified to come in.

That’s right, what was implemented in the Xia vassal state in the Dayuan Basin was not religious discrimination, such as imposing heavy taxes on pagans or simply banning them all. What they implemented was actually a policy of religious discrimination.

In other words, if you are not a Han Chinese and want to believe in the White Lotus Sect, you will have to go through layers of review to see if you are qualified. If you are not qualified, sorry, there is no way.

If you dare to be a follower of the White Lotus Sect in private, I will chop off your head.

This policy was extremely destructive, causing the ruled to regard believing in the White Lotus Sect as a privilege that could help them climb the social ladder, and they flocked to it.

Moreover, they couldn't believe in Muslim religion even if they wanted to, because there was not a single Muslim monk who could chant scriptures in the entire Dayuan Basin.

All the Muslim monks in Kokand, and even all the educated people in Kokand, were executed, without leaving a single one alive.

This is called cutting off the roots, cutting off your means of dissemination from the root. In this way, it will not be passed on for more than one generation, and even the written text will disappear.

. . . .

In Changshun Fort.

After going to Shanbei Town to register the number of troops and supplies, Leng Tianlu led his men back to Changshun Fort.

And not only he came, the other five castle lords who came to help each other all gathered at Changshun Castle.

Six people were grabbing at the lot in a black pottery jar, and finally Xu Zhang, a native of Lingbao, Henan Province, from Changtian Fort, grabbed the lot with the words written on it.

"Damn it, what bad luck! The crows started cawing when I went out. It really is no good!" Xu Zhang looked unhappy. Now he couldn't go on the expedition.

Although you will be given some military merits and looted materials according to the rules, it is far from the result of going into battle and robbing them yourself.

"Lao Xu, if you think about it this way, if you stay this time, you won't have to draw lots next time." Leng Tianlu said with a smile.

Xu Zhang felt even more upset after hearing this. He looked at Leng Tianlu and said, "I don't know you guys yet. Damn it, if I go out this time, I might end the war. By then, you guys will become true vassals like Lord Guoxing Baojue, and I'll still be a landowner."

Everyone burst into laughter, and then promised to give Xu Zhang some share of whatever they had snatched back.

The reason why people had to stay behind was very simple. In the current Xia vassal state, there were 510,000 Kokand people, only a little over 100,000 of them were men, and there were only about 40,000 adult males.

The original population of Kokand was over 800,000. Even if the gender ratio was unbalanced, there were at least 350,000 men.

Where did these more than 200,000 men go?

Simple, they were all killed.

When Li Xingtai, the second prince of the Xia clan, said to kill half of the people in Dinghe, it was not just talk.

Xia Fan took control of the Dayuan Basin and wiped out over 300,000 people in Kokand in three and a half years. His methods were absolutely cruel and brutal.

For example, Xu Zhang was born in Guanzhong Yicong. Lingbao is close to Guanzhong, and he looked like an old farmer, but at least hundreds of Kokand people died at his hands.

Outside his Changtian Fort, there is a place called the Huaren Land. The reason for this name is that hundreds of Kokand men who originally lived in Changtian Fort were stabbed to death and then dragged here and burned. That’s why it is called the Huaren Land.

Although anyone among the Kokand people who dared to resist had been killed, one must always be on guard against others. Xu Zhang felt very uncomfortable, but he had no choice but to take on this task.

After Leng Tianlu and his men set out on the expedition, he was responsible for guarding these six forts, covering more than 110,000 acres of land, not counting the mountains, forests, and rivers.

(End of this chapter)