Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 1078: Reconquest of Annan
"Be father and son again!"

The father and son were both very excited and felt full of heroic spirit. Hu Jinyi picked up his sword and strode into the harem with his eldest son. As soon as they entered the harem, they met his first wife head-on. She was dressed in luxurious robes, followed by a large group of concubines and eunuchs. She was always meticulous on weekdays, but at this moment her hair was messy.

When she saw Hu Jilin and his son, her eyes lit up, and she hurried over with her concubines and asked, "Your Majesty, outside, why do we hear someone attacking the palace?"

"War, how's the war going?"

Hu Jinli said nothing. He suddenly stretched out his hand and stabbed his wife in the abdomen with a sword. Then, in his wife's disbelieving eyes, he slowly pulled out the sword.

"...You go first. Your husband will be here soon."

Hu Jinyi said.

The woman's face was filled with disbelief and resentment, but when Hu Ji's words came out, she understood and immediately closed her eyes in resignation. The concubines who witnessed this moment were all stunned, until Hu Ji's sword swung again and killed another concubine, and then the concubines finally reacted after realizing it belatedly.

"Someone come... Your Majesty, Your Majesty is crazy!"

Suddenly, there were escapes and screams everywhere.

Hu Jilin was killing these concubines everywhere, while Hu Cheng blocked the passage for Hu Jilin. They soon killed all the concubines. Then, they went to kill other female relatives and concubines of the Hu family one palace at a time.

Hu Jinyi was killed very decisively because it was to prevent his family from suffering disgrace.

When almost everyone was killed and the entire palace was ablaze, Hu Jilin finally prepared to commit suicide. He and Hu Cheng chose the hall where they usually met with ministers, and they wanted to die in this hall as the emperor of the Great Yu Dynasty.

"Father, son, I'm one step ahead!" Hu Cheng placed the blood-stained sword across his neck and spun around, with the sword about to cut his neck.

"Cheng'er, wait..." Hu Jilin took a step forward and snatched the sword from Hu Cheng's hand.

"Father?" Hu Cheng looked confused.

"...Father, I suddenly feel that...what you just said seems to make sense." Hu Jin said. "...As long as the green mountains remain, there will be no shortage of firewood. If you save your life, at least you can keep a little incense for my Hu family..."

"If you and I die, there will be no one to worship our ancestors. What will we do then..."

"It's fine if I die for my father, but it's not good to leave no one to offer sacrifices to my ancestors who have been implicated..."

"Besides, the Ming Dynasty is the Celestial Empire, they won't kill us all..."

Hu Jinyi kept talking, his eyes no longer as firm as before. Just now, he had personally killed a group of concubines. At first, he was too excited to feel anything, but the more he killed, the more terrified he became.

Those concubines died in such pain, I will be like them soon...

Hu Jilin, you are scared...

……

"Your Highness, how do you determine that Hu Jinyi does not dare to seek death?" Mu Ying asked curiously.

"Haha. The Hu family has been wealthy for generations. Although Hu Jinyi is extremely power-hungry, he is not a person who rose from the bottom." Zhu Su explained to Mu Ying with a smile.

"People who are born in a wealthy family don't have that kind of ruthlessness. The most important thing is..." Zhu Su showed a mysterious look and leaned close to Mu Ying's ear.

"Historically, his entire family was captured and taken to Yingtian."

Mu Ying also knew the inside story of him being a time traveler, so it would be okay to tell him about it.

"Oh!" Mu Ying suddenly realized.

In history, he was captured and taken to Yingtian. This basically means that Hu Jinyi was really afraid of dying.

The battle for Annan was not a matter of one day or one night. The journey to Yingtian was thousands of miles. If he really wanted to die, Hu Jinyi had 10,000 chances to commit suicide on the way.

The fact that he didn't die proves that this Annan villain, who was bold enough to declare himself emperor, did not have the courage to commit suicide.

……

As expected, not long after, the gate of Annan Palace was opened, and Hu Jilin and his son Hu Cang walked out of the palace with their hands tied. Mu Ying and Zhu Su quickly ordered people to enter the palace, put out the fire, control all aspects of the palace, and clear out all the people inside.

After several hours, the chaos in Thang Long City gradually subsided, everything began to settle, and all the captives in the palace were cleared out.

"Where are the people from the Hu family?" Zhu Su frowned and looked at the group of prisoners in front of him.

"This... Your Highness." Di Meng, who was in charge of suppressing the palace, seemed to be hesitant to speak. He looked at Hu Jilin over there and told Zhu Su everything he saw and asked in the palace.

"...were they all killed by Hu Jilin and his son?" Zhu Su was stunned. He turned around to look at Hu Jilin, who looked like a lost dog, and Hu Cheng, who still looked resentful towards his father. He was dumbfounded.

"…He is a ruthless person."

Zhu Su said. However, he felt even more disdainful of Hu Jilin in his heart:
With this level of ability, you still dare to provoke the Ming Dynasty?

Ah.

However, Hu Jinyi was no longer the focus. Lan Yu and Li Wenzhong had already finished suppressing the people in the city, Cao Yuan, Ruan Yue and others also brought the remaining troops into the city one after another, and Zhu Su began to take the final steps to recover Annan.

First, the city of Thang Long in Annan was "returned" to the local Annan forces led by Cao Yuan, Nguyen Viet and others, and they were instructed to find the descendants of the Chen family and inherit the Annan kingdom.

The Ming army began to retreat.

Of course, it was just a show. However, there were some interesting undertones. Many people claimed to be descendants of the Chen Dynasty and found Cao Yuan and Nguyen Viet, including a man named Chen Wei and his son Chen Jikuo.

However, the Ming Dynasty soldiers were at their side and no one could prove their identities, so the surviving Chen Dynasty ministers, including some captured ministers like Hu Jinyi, began to identify these descendants of the Chen family.

The final result, of course, is: it’s all fake.

kill!

In an instant, the Caishikou area of ​​Thang Long City was flooded with blood, and the people applauded: These desperate criminals who dared to come and pretend to be the descendants of the Chen family should be killed!
Of course, Zhu Su didn't know how many of them were truly descendants of the Chen family, nor was he interested in knowing.

Anyway, he had very "kindly" reminded those remaining Chen's ministers to identify clearly who were the descendants of the Chen family and not let the position of the Annan royal family be stolen by an unknown thief.

Two months later, no one came forward to claim to be a descendant of the Chen family. Zhu Su could only sigh. It seemed that all the descendants of the Chen family were really killed by Hu Jinyi. Chen Tianping was the last descendant of the Chen family.

Damn Hu Jinyi! Too cruel!
The people of Annan also criticized this.

So the next question is, who will inherit the throne of Annan?
The Chen family has no one left, the Hu family is a thief who stole the country, most of the other noble families were defeated in this battle, the Nguyen family is only willing to serve the Ming Dynasty and be a Ming person, and Le Loi of the rebel force is also dead.

Such a huge country as Annan suddenly became leaderless.

Seeing that His Royal Highness Prince Zhou of the Ming Dynasty was urging the Annan officials more and more urgently, they asked them to appoint a person who was qualified to rule Annan both in terms of legal principles and personal prestige as soon as possible.

Then, he was appointed by the Ming Dynasty to garrison Annan and serve as a protector for the Ming Dynasty.

From officials to ordinary people, everyone in Annan was scratching their heads over this matter and couldn't even think of a candidate.

And at this time, a little historical knowledge quietly spread in the streets of Annan.

This statement means that the land of Annan has been the old land of China for generations. As early as the Qin Dynasty, Zhao Tuo, the King of Nanyue, once dominated Annan. After that, Annan, as the "Jiaozhi County" of the Han Empire, has been ruled by the Central Plains Chinese Dynasty.

It was not until the late Tang Dynasty that the Jinghai Jiedushi began to rule Annan, and Annan gradually left the rule of the Central Plains dynasty. But strictly speaking, Annan was still a separatist force in China, but the Song Dynasty, the dynasty after the Tang Dynasty, was too busy to unify Annan. And the Ming Dynasty, which unified China, actually forgot about Annan.

After all this fuss, it turns out that we and the Ming Dynasty are one family!

Why is Annan still being crowned the King? Wouldn't it be better to return to China? The Chinese are powerful, the emperor is wise and brave, and there are no corrupt aristocratic families... Let alone other things, if Annan were Chinese land, would Champa and other countries dare to come and take advantage of us every now and then?
The Ming people, just the name alone is enough to make those barbarians tremble when they hear it out!
Let alone anything else, Annan has been China's territory since ancient times. We must return to China. China is the mother of Annan. We have been away from our mother for too long! Too long!
This view gradually became popular in the streets of Annan, and some Annanites even said that if Annan did not return, the Golden Bowl would not be complete and China would not be complete. They believed that Annan had been separatist for a hundred years, and if the Ming Dynasty did not take back Annan, the Ming Dynasty would not be a complete and unified Chinese dynasty.

There were even officials and common people in Annan who wrote a blood oath written by ten thousand people and presented it to King Zhu Su of Zhou who was trying to stabilize the political situation in Annan.

Don't confer the title of King of Annan, our Annan is actually the land of the superior country! Quickly incorporate Annan into the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and let's happily welcome the prosperous era together!
After receiving this letter from the people, King Zhou Zhu Su was extremely surprised that there was such a reason. He hurriedly said that he would write a letter to Yingtian and ask His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to make the final decision.

Therefore, a memorial was submitted to the ninth heaven, bringing this letter from the people of Annan to the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang was well prepared. When he received the memorial, he asked the six ministries and the cabinet to discuss the letter. He even asked the students of the Imperial Academy to discuss the matter. They wanted to discuss it carefully. Should Annan be an unconquered country of the Ming Dynasty or an inherent territory of China?
Then, the result was very obvious: everyone believed that Annan was indeed a part of China, and that it had been a Chinese power since the Tang Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty had always focused on the former Yuan Dynasty and had overlooked this missing piece of the golden bowl.

Since ancient times, the Chinese people have been in the same boat and there is absolutely no reason for division!
A scholar named Huang Huai wrote an article, one sentence of which was thought-provoking.

I am China, not a single point can be lost!

This sentence was somewhat colloquial and should not be accepted in a formal setting, but it received support from scholars, officials and common people in Yingtian Prefecture.

Annan belongs to China and has been China since ancient times. The Ming Dynasty should not have conferred any title of King of Annan in Annan, but should have recovered it, settled the people well, let the wanderers return home, and make China complete!
Whoever dares to split China will be hit by the iron fist of the Ming Dynasty soldiers!
In such an atmosphere of public opinion, the financial and administrative pressures of taking back Annan were not worth mentioning. The six ministries and the cabinet all reported to the emperor, suggesting that the emperor take back Annan and regard it as the seat of our Chinese county, rather than conferring the title of Emperor of Annan and continue to separate this wanderer who had been lost for more than a hundred years from our Chinese.

At the morning court session, Emperor Hongwu agreed to the request of all officials.

Then, there was thunderous cheers in Yingtian City.

The imperial edict reached Thang Long City, and Annan would no longer have a king. Instead, it would be taken back by the Ming Dynasty and directly ruled by the imperial court. King Zhou Zhu Su would be responsible for the recovery and rectification of Annan... When this news spread in Thang Long City, the people of Annan, who had been nervous for several months, also cheered loudly.

What's worse, some even cried with joy or were moved to tears.

After more than a hundred years away from home, the Annan people finally returned to China.

According to the imperial decree, Zhu Su "restored the ancient counties of Annan" and renamed the Annan region Jiaozhou. In accordance with the administrative division model of the Ming Dynasty, he set up the "three offices" of the Commandery, the Provincial Administration, and the Criminal Investigation Office. Then, Zhu Su established 15 prefectures, 36 states, more than 180 counties, and five states directly under the Provincial Administration Office in Jiaozhou, which governed 29 counties. In important places, he set up 11 guards, three offices, and a maritime affairs office.

The original administrative system of Annan was completely disrupted, and the first provincial, county and prefectural examinations were held in Jiaozhou to select talented and virtuous people in Annan.

Because the gentry had been almost completely wiped out, this policy was implemented very smoothly. Those who passed the corresponding examinations could directly serve as grassroots officials in Jiaozhou and become part of the bureaucratic class that had previously been out of reach.

In the original history, after Annan was governed by Emperor Yongle, Annan's grassroots officials were still filled with a large number of members of the gentry. It can be said that the real power at the grassroots level of Annan was still controlled by the gentry of Annan.

The nobles were hostile to the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty's policies were difficult to implement in Annan. The court had to spend a huge price to implement policies in Annan.

Later, everyone found that being an official in Annan really had no future, so the civil and military officials from the Ming Dynasty simply regarded Annan as a place to make money, rather than as the land of the Ming Dynasty. They accepted bribes from the gentry, or simply relied on the power of the Ming Dynasty to rob the gentry, causing Annan to become increasingly alienated from the Ming Dynasty and eventually split again.

Now, without the constraints of the gentry, these grassroots officials are all selected by the order of the Ming Dynasty. In other words, they have no family support, and their status and wealth are all given by the Ming court, which in disguise increases their loyalty.

An effective Jiaozhou administrative team was quickly established.

(End of this chapter)