Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

He had an expansion strategy: for countries that were a little further away, he would first force them to submit by force, and then force them into political marriages.

Then wait for the other side to fall into internal strife, or secretly instigate internal strife, and take the opportunity to send troops to intervene and put your nephew or son-in-law on the throne.

That autumn.

Suleiman, the nephew of the Seljuk Sultan, led three hundred cavalrymen, hundreds of servants, and a large number of livestock and valuables to the Ming Dynasty by land.

When they passed through the Gaochang Uyghur territory, King Bilege of Gaochang warmly received them.

After a brief conversation, the two sides identified themselves.

The Seljuks were the overlords of the Eastern and Western Karakhanid Khanates, while the Gaochang Uyghurs were a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.

From now on, let's get along amicably and do silk trade together.

At the time of parting, Bilege said, "There is a Khitan nobleman named Yelü Dashi who herds livestock on the barren grasslands north of the Tianshan Mountains."

“They are eyeing the territory of the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate and may invade next year. The Seljuk Sultan should be on guard.”

Suleiman said, "I will send someone to inform the Sultan."

In fact, Suleiman didn't take it seriously at all.

He couldn't wait for the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate to be attacked and forced to flee in terror.

The Seljuks now had a convenient excuse to send troops to help, which would allow them to further control this vassal state.

...

When Suleiman arrived at Gaochang Uyghur, Abu and other envoys were paying homage to the Ming emperor.

"Great Khan of Peach Blossoms, Your Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty, on behalf of the equally great Seljuk Sultan, I wish you good health."

Abu knelt in Persian rites.

Taohuashi Khan, similar to the Heavenly Khan, possessed the legitimacy to rule over the Tang Dynasty's most prosperous territory.

Within the two Karakhanid Khanates, a large number of local nobles incorporated "Peach Blossom Stone" into their surnames to demonstrate their innate nobility (descendants of Tang Dynasty princesses) and their right to compete for the Khanate.

Zhao Yuan smiled and said, "Please also convey my greetings to the Seljuk Sultan. Please take a seat!"

Abu did not sit down immediately, but bowed to Zhao Yuan: "Your Highness, so learned and wise, please allow me, as a scholar, to pay you my highest respects."

Zhao Yuan smiled and said, "I also have great respect for scholars."

After a brief exchange, Abu began to boast about his king: "Our Sultan, like His Majesty the Emperor, is also the most benevolent and wise ruler."

"He has a broad and inclusive mind, allowing different religious sects to coexist without favoring any one side."

“He also tolerated the existence of heretics; there were even Zoroastrians around the Sultan.”

"He summoned scholars from various sects and races to serve as officials in the court."

"Persian literature, which had long been in decline, has been revitalized."

“Countless poets in the gardens sang their newly composed poems, sincerely praising the Sultan’s noble character.”

"I humbly request to stay in the Ming Dynasty for several months to collect the best poems and translate them into Persian to take back with me."

Zhao Yuan nodded and said, "Poets should exchange ideas with each other; this will make them more likely to create great poems."

"I allow you to live in Kaifeng, and you can stay as long as you want."

"I also hope you can recite Persian poems from memory, and I will have them translated into Chinese."

Abu was very pleased: "Great and merciful Majesty, may God bless you."

Zhao Yuan said, "The Ming Dynasty allows Seljuk merchants to trade in any port."

“If any Ming Dynasty merchants travel to Seljuk, your country should treat them well.”

"this is necessary,"

Ab said,

“Our capital and Baghdad have merchants from all over the world.”

"As long as they abide by the law and pay taxes, they will not be deliberately harassed."

No wonder!

The Seljuk rule was too loose; in many places, the lords had the final say, and even the sultan could not directly intervene.

But Sultan Sanjar was indeed very kind and tolerant. Persian literature revived rapidly under his rule, and desert religion also became more secular.

At least, that's the case in the areas he actually controls.

Chapter 3293 The Battle for Succession

From the war for the Sultanate's succession to a series of expansionist wars, Sanjar remained undefeated for over thirty years.

With such a record, Sanjar possesses strong self-confidence, which in turn leads to inclusiveness, even a willingness to employ Zoroastrians.

In return for the gifts brought by the Seljuk envoy, Zhao Yuan presented a large number of gifts.

He even bestowed two silk garments upon each messenger (excluding servants), which made Abu so excited that he became incoherent.

What followed was a year-long cultural exchange program, during which officials from the Hanlin Academy and the Court of State Ceremonial were responsible for acquiring as much information as possible from abroad.

Zhao Yuan didn't know much about the Seljuks, only that the Sultan had been utterly defeated by Yelü Dashi.

Zhao Yuan was completely clueless about which countries were in West Asia and Central Asia, and what their relationship was.

The Seljuk delegation just happened to illuminate the map for the Ming Dynasty!

After settling in Kaifeng, Aibu kept inquiring about various information about the Ming Dynasty.

At the same time, he was also frequently subjected to indirect questioning, and Ming officials obtained a great deal of intelligence from him.

The information obtained by both sides was somewhat distorted...

For example, Abu always embellished the Seljuk Empire, making everything about it seem wonderful, while portraying all of the Empire's enemies as villains!

"The country to our west is called Rome, which always attracts foolish, fanatical heretics."

“Those infidels are cruel and bloodthirsty. In the early years, they took advantage of the empire’s division to rob and slaughter our civilians everywhere.”

“They have repeatedly invaded our homeland, carrying the flag of the cross.”

"Those happy and content people, because of their loyalty to the Sultan, were often killed by infidels..."

“The great Seljuk Sultan appoints Zangi as Aita Beg.”

"When I left, Zengi had already recaptured Aleppo and driven out the vicious and foolish infidels there..."

Having obtained this intelligence, Zhao Yuan could only make some simple deductions.

He told his father, "The Byzantine Empire and the Crusaders have joined forces to continuously invade Seljuk territory and are currently engaged in a fierce battle with the Seljuks."

In fact, the Seljuk Empire contained a large number of sultanates.

The Crusades were at their most successful during the Seljuk Civil War.

Now, Sanjar has formally unified the empire and has launched a counter-offensive against the Crusaders.

The Zangi that Abu mentioned was originally just a Turkic slave.

Because of his bravery and skill in battle, he was taken in by the former Sultan and learned cultural knowledge. He then became the prince's teacher and eventually rose to the position of governor.

Three years ago, Sultan Sanjar granted him three cities, two of which were in the hands of the Crusaders.

Zangi led his army to a crushing defeat, reclaiming his city and continuing to expand, even launching a counterattack against Antioch this year.

(When this man died, his territory already covered most of Syria and the whole of Mesopotamia. He established a dynasty by defeating the Crusaders.)

Zhao Yuan said, "The Byzantines and the Crusades are ultimately too far removed from us; no matter how fierce their battles were, they had nothing to do with China."

"There are also those whose interests are related to us."

Wen Huanzhang said, "Based on the information provided by the Byzantine envoys, as well as merchants from various countries and Ming Dynasty merchants, we have come to a conclusion."

"That is to say, maritime trade between the East and the West is currently controlled by two countries. Arab and Persian merchant ships that want to trade with China must pay heavy taxes to these two countries!"

"Which two countries?" Zhao Yuan asked.

Wen Huanzhang said, "One is the Chola Dynasty of India, and the other is the Srivijaya Dynasty of Southeast Asia."

"These two countries have been fighting naval battles for control of the seas for trade with the East for a hundred years."

"At its peak, the Choryan dynasty in India even occupied southern Myanmar, the Malay Peninsula, and parts of Sumatra."

"Even an Indian state has moments of expansion into Southeast Asia?"

Zhao Yuan was very surprised.

Wen Huanzhang nodded and said, "A Hindu country and a Buddhist country have been fighting each other for more than a hundred years for control of China's trade routes."

"The existence of these two countries seriously affected the Maritime Silk Road, and merchant ships from various countries were subject to heavy taxes."

"Including Chinese maritime merchants, the furthest they went was only to the eastern part of the Malay Peninsula, because the entry taxes became increasingly heavy as they went further inland."

"That's a problem."

"We must learn from Zhu Di and launch a Zheng He-style voyage to the Western Ocean to defeat both of these countries!" Zhao Yuan said.

Were the soldiers carried by Zheng He's fleet really on an armed parade?

Zheng He faced a situation similar to Zhao Yuan's now.

However, Srivijaya was replaced by Majapahit, and the Chola dynasty was replaced by the Sinhalese (Sri Lanka).

In order to defeat the Majapahit, Zheng He first appointed a Han Chinese governor in Luzon and drove the Majapahit forces out of the Philippines.

Then it supported Brunei, which gained a foothold on Borneo.

Subsequently, the Palembang Pacification Commission was established and took root on the island of Sumatra.

Chapter 3294 Surrounded on Three Sides

Surrounded on three sides and constantly shrinking its sphere of influence, Manjaboyi had no choice but to submit.

When conquering Sri Lanka, Zheng He brought nearly 30,000 soldiers, including 2,000 elite armored cavalry.

Even so, Zheng He almost had his ship overturn.

The whole process was a battle of wits and courage, and the fight was incredibly thrilling.

If the Sinhalese army had been of higher quality, Zheng He's fleet would very likely have been completely annihilated.

Wen Huanzhang said, "We must first destroy the Jin Kingdom; your talk of maritime expansion is too far-fetched."

Zhao Yuan said, "We should start building the ships now, so they can be used to fight the Jin Kingdom. We only need to build a few warships each year."

"We cannot act like Zhu Di, who went on a whim and built a large number of ships in a short period of time, causing people in some areas to suffer."

"The future operating model should not follow the example of Zhu Di; the interests of all parties should be distributed."

"Zhu Di's Zheng He's voyages to the Western Ocean resulted in an official monopoly on maritime trade, effectively blocking the financial avenues for private merchants."

"Local officials and ordinary people bore the entire cost of building the warships."

"However, all the profits from maritime trade were taken by Zhu Di, and most of them were used for the five expeditions to the Mongolian Plateau and the construction of Beijing."

"This led to central ministers, local officials, merchants, and ordinary people all opposing the continuation of the voyages to the West."

Wen Huanzhang produced a plan: "Your Majesty, let's discuss domestic affairs first."

"This is the reform plan that I developed after collecting local information and having the cabinet formulate it."

Zhao Yuan took it and read it carefully; it was about the reform of official duties that was配套 (matched) with the land tax reform.

First, the land tax system was integrated into the poll tax system, and the allocation was determined to be within the province.

That is, each province first determines its quota of males, and then these quotas are allocated according to the actual situation of each prefecture.

Wealthy governments transfer payments to poorer governments.

Similarly, within a prefecture, the costs are also shared among the various counties.

The advantage is that people in impoverished areas will not be burdened too much by this.

The downside is that the wealthier a place is, the greater the resistance to reform will be, because they will bear more responsibility.

Secondly, of the money and grain collected from the land tax reform, 30% went to the prefectures and counties, 30% to the provincial governments, 30% to the central government, and 10% to the central government.