Southern Ming, my destiny is too abstract

Chapter 9: Damn it, how did the country become like this?

Five days later, the October sky was clear and the clouds of war that had been hanging over the sky of Ava City seemed to be gradually dissipating.

The Crown Prince of Ming was willing to cede the entire Luchuan territory and recognize King Hongsha as his father in order to achieve a truce between the two countries.

From the princes in the Glass Palace to the slaves in the village, everyone was overjoyed.

A year of war and the repeated defeats suffered by Hongsha Kingdom against the Ming army had already exhausted the entire Hongsha Kingdom.

If the Ming army had not been controlling the banks of the Jinsha River in the north, preventing the chieftains of the various ethnic groups in Luchuan and the Lancang Kingdom from sending envoys, it would have taken at least half a month to prepare for this alliance ceremony.

This is the Crown Prince of Ming recognizing the King of Toungoo as his father.

In terms of equivalent exchange, the king of Hongsha Kingdom is at the same level as the emperor of Middle-earth.

In other words, he was the emperor of Siam and Yunnan Province, two levels higher than the chieftains of Luchuan.

How could the Hongsha people in Ava City not be excited by the trampling of the Shan people like this?

It is comparable to last year when the chieftain of Mangshi celebrated the New Year in the city wearing a longji.

The only thing that made the civilians unhappy was that the prices of celebratory fireworks and firecrackers had risen a lot, just like food.

Hongsavadi is located at the entrance to the land above the wind. Although it was not as important as Malacca and Siam on the peninsula during the Age of Exploration and Trade, it still had a lot of trade.

The trade between Pegu in Lower Hongsha and Java and other places was prosperous, and Upper Hongsha also had economic exchanges with the Dian Province in Central Earth. Local cotton, jewelry and minerals were imported into China with copper, ironware, pottery and silk.

The Dutch opened a trading post in Bhamo decades ago, and last year the Dutch East India Company also purchased cotton in Ava.

Therefore, there is no shortage of chambers of commerce and restaurants in Ava City, and there is no shortage of information exchanges based on them.

"From the time Mang Yinglong first subdued Mubang Mengyang, Mang Yingli broke through Yaoguan and set his sights on Tengyue, to the time Liangyuan Wang and his son recaptured Mubang Mengyang and used it as a base to unify Hongsha and restore Toungoo, a hundred years have passed. After a hundred years, we can finally take Luchuan, and there will be no more war in the north."

"If you count carefully, it's from the time King Helong went on the expedition to Luchuan forty years ago. At that time, China was still very powerful during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty. But by the time of Emperor Shenzong's grandson, the Ming Dynasty's son-in-law, Gulun, had usurped the throne and occupied China. Even the great-grandson of Emperor Shenzong wanted to acknowledge our king as his adoptive father."

The elderly who had experienced the reign of King Liangyuan and King Thalong were quite emotional.

At that time, their Toungoo country was destroyed due to internal strife, but now it was the Ming Dynasty that lost the world.

The way of heaven is constant, but the way of the country is not.

The younger ones didn't feel anything. They were born in a prosperous era when King Helong was recuperating. Even though the chiefs and nobles had suffered a lot of losses in the wars in the past two years, their land might still expand once the Ming army withdrew.

Even Mou Wen (governor) and Mou Sa (chief of the princes and chieftains), who had died in battle in the past two years, needed replacements.

War has always been the best opportunity for class transition, and the reputation of Toungoo King Pingdali suddenly increased among the younger generation.

"I heard that Luchuan produces gems, gold and silver. When the war is over, my father plans to let me go to Luchuan to work as a Pomuminda in a Shan chieftain. That's a good job."

A young man from the distant royal family said.

There are three major ethnic groups in the Hongsha Kingdom. The Mon people in the lower Hongsha are controlled by the two counties of Pyay and Taungoo. The dry area where the Ava city of the upper Hongsha is located is occupied by the Hongsha people who continue to immigrate. The border areas such as the Luchuan Shan people in the north are under the charge of the special silver and tax minister in the royal capital. He has a dozen Pomumindas under his command who regularly patrol the Menghe State above Luchuan and collect taxes.

According to the Luchuan map presented by the Crown Prince of Ming, Ludao must add at least twenty new Pomumindas.

"I hope the Shan people can make up for our losses this year. I heard that many Ahmedans lost their land due to the war. They have no money to buy food and support their families, so they have no choice but to take on debt and become slaves."

A Hongsha man who had just arrived in Ava for the alliance ceremony was surprised and asked, "Didn't King Helong strictly forbid Ahmedans from escaping their duties?"

Each Ahmutan had his own duties, and there were soldiers and people of various professions, who lived in villages, such as cavalry villages and infantry villages. When King Thalong was in power, he ordered the Ahmutans to have tattoos on their faces to divide their responsibilities.

Ahmutan of the Hongsha ethnic group could not become Ata farmers and slaves.

"Haha, now that Pingdali is king, the price of rice in Ava City has risen to 100 copper coins for five liters. Even if we stop fighting and plant autumn crops, and the price of grain goes back to 100 copper coins for eight liters, those Ahmutans won't have enough money to survive for a few months."

A young man in yellow whispered, "It's no use for our king to sell eight liters at the palace gate. I heard that the royal mahouts have started selling their children to support their families."

These words immediately shocked everyone in the restaurant.

“Have elephant trainers reached this point?” However, Ahmudan means a person who undertakes service. It originated from the Pagan Dynasty and lasted through the Ava Dynasty to the Toungoo Dynasty. In fact, they were the royal family’s special serfs and soldiers.

After King Thalon moved the capital from Pegu to Ava, he gradually introduced immigrants to open up wasteland. Among the people living around Ava, Ahmedan alone accounted for as much as 40%.

They are divided into three categories. The upper-level Ahmedans are the imperial guards, cavalry, and elephant soldiers. Most of them are the sons of noble officials and leaders, and are exempt from agricultural taxes and labor.

The middle level consists of infantry spearmen, as well as sedan chair bearers and messengers who directly serve the king and can also be allocated land.

The lower-class Ahmedans could only cultivate royal land and had the heaviest corvee labor, doing menial jobs such as executioner, boatman, and lawn mower.

Elephant trainers are far superior to cavalry elephant soldiers. In Hongsha Kingdom, they are second only to princes and nobles. Their status is even higher than that of some chieftains in border areas. They are given at least 20 acres of land.

"The Ming army is strong. They conquered Pagan, Shizhi, and Dibein. They have no shortage of noble leaders in the exiled capital. They spend money, and the nobles in Ava City have money. During this war, they will naturally annex land. Aren't they working together to drive up food prices?"

There was something that no one said.

Why didn't the king take action to curb the nobles? After all, wasn't Ahmudan just a servant of the royal family?
Distributing food can at least stabilize the chaos in the city.

Are you afraid of raising lazy people?

But when they thought of Pingdali's incompetence in the ten years since he took the throne, and how he had only been chanting scriptures and praying to Buddha, they all kept silent.

"Fuck, how did the country become like this?"

Only ten years had passed since King Long's heyday, and now, like the Ming Dynasty, there were signs of national destruction.

"Fortunately, the Crown Prince of Ming is as kind as a Buddhist Bodhisattva, and the war is finally coming to an end."

On the second floor, Zhu Cixuan and Adayun were having a secret conversation while listening to the gossip downstairs.

"Pindali's unpopularity has reached the point where he is condemned by both humans and gods. The monks in the temple are also complaining about his selling of grain."

"Your Highness, it is precisely because of your revolutionary words that the gods and Buddhas are on our side."

[Emperor, as the regent prince of the Ming Dynasty, you ceded land to King Pingdali of Toungoo and called yourself your son. You have gained the support of the entire Hongsha Kingdom.]

Zhu Cixuan looked out the window at the glazed palace glittering in the sunlight. "Adayun, have you arranged the personnel?"

"Your Highness, rest assured. I have already stationed your three hundred soldiers around the Liuli Palace. My one hundred men and the Dibein leaders will also seize the opportunity to cause chaos. The five hundred troops that the Duke of Toungoo has sent into the city will immediately surround Ludao (the central government) and prevent any imperial edicts from being issued."

"Then the two thousand troops stationed outside the city by the King of Toungoo will enter the city and take control of the troops inside."

"Okay, I'll go prepare to go to the Liuli Palace to meet King Hongsha." Zhu Cixuan finished the wine in the glass, got up and went downstairs.

Adayun saw Zhu Cixuan walking away and got up and went upstairs.

Mang Bai, who should have been guarding the Ming army in the north, or who should have been outside the city as agreed with Zhu Cixuan, was sitting here.

"Hou Wang, everything has been arranged."

Mang Bai glanced at Adayun and said, "Adayun, the agreement between me and the Crown Prince of Ming does not include any clauses regarding his mother and grandmother."

Adayun's face froze. "Your Majesty, this was a request the Crown Prince of Ming made to Pingdali later. Pingdali felt the two women were insignificant, so he allowed Gong Xinwen and Andiwen to see our sincerity and withdraw his troops immediately."

“This is not because Gong Xinwen’s army retreated to Pagan County after receiving the people and no longer threatened Ava City.”

Mang Bai shook his head: "Who knows if those two women will bring anyone else with them?"

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I've been keeping an eye on them. The Emperor of Ming, the Crown Prince of Ming, and the Chieftain of Mangshi are all being watched."

Mang Bai pondered for a moment and said, "The Crown Prince of Ming is more dangerous than Militipo. We will wait until the palace guards kill him before we take action."

Militipana was the son of Anabilun who reunited the Hongsha Kingdom. He took advantage of his father's serious illness in the palace and killed him. Therefore, King Tharun, the father of Mangbai Pingdali, the son of King Liangyuan and the younger brother of Anabilun, was able to become king. He went south to Pegu to kill the rebellious king and then moved the capital to Ava.

Adayun accepted the order and said, "I will take Biedaiyun's imperial edict to Ludao to issue an order to put all the city guards under the command of the prince."

(End of this chapter)