I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 573 Water House and Fire House

In the eleventh year of Jianwu, winter.

A fleet arrived in Nanjing, carrying two old exotic men in strange clothes.

They were King Huo She and King Shui She who came from Nanpan Kingdom to pay tribute to Nanjing for pilgrimage.

They are said to be the two kings of Fire House and Water House, but in fact they are not kings in the true sense, but wizards in the tribe who control water, wind and fire.

Legend has it that they can use these witchcraft to communicate with the gods, pray for rain and control floods, so they are respectfully called the Fire King and Water King by the tribes in Nanpan.

And there is Bonan Mountain in the Nanpan Kingdom. The Water King is in the east of the mountain and the Fire King is in the west of the mountain. The Water King can make it rain, and the Fire King can stop the rain.

According to legend, the two kings of water and fire are not allowed to meet each other, and if they do meet, there will be death or injury.

The Nguyen family Annan has been destroyed, the young master is in doubt, the government and the public are in turmoil, the powerful ministers are regents, and the people are resentful... With so many contradictions gathered together, even if the Ming army does not fight, the Ruan family is destined to collapse.

It took less than a month for the Ming army from Guangnan to march south to capture the capital and capture the country's regent, queen mother and other royal nobles.

The Queen Mother Ruan and the young King Ruan arrived in Nanjing by sea ship a month ago to await the decision of the Ming Dynasty court. There was supposed to be a regent, but he got addicted to drugs on the way, and there was no aphrodisiac on the ship, and he wouldn't give it to him if there was any, so he couldn't withstand the withdrawal reaction and died of shock. This guy was lucky. .

This guy was indeed given an advantage, because all the Ruan princes and nobles who were sent to Nanjing, including the Queen Mother, were all suffering from drug addiction in the prison, which was like a purgatory on earth.

The upper class nobility of the entire country take pleasure in taking opium. It would be strange if the country is not ruined.

The Ruan family was destroyed and its territory was incorporated into the jurisdiction of Guangnan Province, while the Nanpan Kingdom established the Nanpan Military and Civilian Marshal's Mansion in accordance with the earlier agreement. This was also the first military-civilian mansion established in the new Ming Dynasty.

Nanpan Kingdom is said to be a kingdom, but it is too primitive. It is completely from the era of tribal alliances. There is no writing, and troubles are recorded by knotting ropes. Therefore, there is no way to be like the four major capitals in the north, Liaodong, and Snow Region. We can only settle for the second best and set up a military and civilian government here as a transition.

Fortunately, this place is too primitive. Even the succession to the throne of the two kings of water and fire is not hereditary and cannot be passed on to sons. Passing it on to sons will bring disaster, and can only be passed on to nephews and grandnephews.

This gave the Ming court room to operate. Now that the Nanpan Military and Civilian Office has been established, in addition to the above conditions, the succession of the Water King and Fire King should also be recognized and officially canonized by the Ming court.

This can not only strengthen the legal authority of the Water King and Fire King, but also further deepen their control.

Although the country here in Nanpan is weak and the people are poor, the fame of the two kings of water and fire is not limited to the tribes of Nanpan. Even the neighboring countries Chenla and Laos (now divided) are very convinced of the power of these two great wizards. , often requesting the two wizards to go to their respective countries to perform spells and pray for rain.

The Fire King and the Water King generally do not refuse, and often ride on elephants and take dozens of servants to the two countries to perform rain praying ceremonies.

This is the reason why Zhu Yijiong wants to meet these two wizards from the Nanpan primitive tribe in person, and also wants to recognize and canonize them.

As long as it can control these two Nanpan great wizards, Ming Dynasty can gain a unique say in Chenla and Laos in some sense.

But it was said that the King of Water and the King of Fire were brought to Nanjing and did not follow Nanpan's law that the two kings were not allowed to meet each other. It was also because the guest house of the foreign domain of Honglu Temple did not pay attention to these inexplicable rules.

However, the two kings also enjoyed it, discussing witchcraft with each other, going back and forth, and soon became good friends.

The two kings lived in Nanjing for almost a month. While learning Chinese etiquette, they were also actively learning about Chinese information.

Finally, in the twelfth lunar month of winter, I waited for the summons from the Chinese Emperor.

On the way to the Forbidden City following the interpreter of Honglu Temple, King of Fire was the first to speak: "After living in Nanjing for more than a month, I chatted many things about China with the interpreter of Honglu Temple. He told me about China It is a very powerful country, far more powerful than those Yue people. Moreover, China's area is much larger than Nanpan. Under the protection and rule of the Chinese Emperor, everyone here can eat We should have enough food to eat and live in a warm and waterproof house. I think we should have good relations with China, and pay tribute to the great emperor of China as we did to the kings of the Yue people before."

Water King nodded: "You are right. The Chinese are not only stronger than the Yue people, but also friendlier than them. When they first came to Nanpan, they did not ask us to pay tribute and gifts. Instead, they sent teachers to teach us. The Chinese writing allowed us to get rid of the troublesome knotting method of remembering events. Moreover, the Chinese also gave us iron pots, salt and tobacco, and took the initiative to exchange yellow wax, deer antlers and other things with us. The things they gave us were better than those of the Yue people. There are more businessmen.”

The Nanpan Kingdom had no written language and no army. They knotted ropes as a sign of trouble. There was no distinction between kings and ministers. Even the King of Water and the King of Fire lived in long houses made of thatch.

But this country is very rich in resources. Yellow wax, velvet antlers, bear intestines, and male elephants are all specialties of Nanpan. In the deep mountains of Nanpan, there are still many undeveloped virgin forests, many of which have giant trees that are hundreds of years old, especially extremely valuable ones. Tall century-old teak.

These are all high-quality consumables for building battleships. Later World War I battleships still use teak as the basic building material.

It can be said that just these century-old teak trees in the Nanpan Mountain Forest are worthy of the Ming Dynasty's long-term occupation and control.

As for the teachers who were sent to Nanpan to teach Chinese characters to the Nanpan tribe, they were naturally Chinese merchants captured by the Ming army after the Ruan family was destroyed.

Don't get me wrong, the Ming army did not arrest people indiscriminately. Almost all of these Chinese businessmen were involved in smuggling, and all of them were involved in the overseas opium trade.

According to the current "Ming Dynasty Laws", those who participate in the opium trade will be beheaded as the principal offenders, and their families will also have their homes confiscated and exiled as a serious crime, regardless of their own country or foreign vassal.

This is necessary. Once aphrodisiac becomes widespread, even in the outer vassals, given the current size of China, a large amount of it will eventually flow into the country.

However, the Ming army now gave these merchants a chance. Although the main criminal still had to behead his head. Without beheading, he would not be able to deter other merchants, but his family members were able to go to Nanpan and serve as local Han teachers, teaching Chinese characters to the local Fan tribe. .

And living here for generations can be considered an exile in a sense, but the conditions are definitely much better than those in Heilongjiang and Snowy Region in "The Law of the Ming Dynasty", as well as the recently added Lingbei Mansion.

The Fire King continued: "I heard from the interpreters of Honglu Temple that now Nanpan has been brought under the jurisdiction of their military and civilian government by China. From now on, the tribesmen of Nanpan will also become Chinese tribesmen and gain the rule of the Chinese Emperor. and shelter." The Water King said happily: "This is good. The Chinese people under the rule and shelter of the Chinese Emperor can all have enough to eat, live in warm and comfortable houses, and have enough warm clothes. I think we should also pay tribute to The emperor of China requested that Nanpan be given better farming technology. Those Chinese who entered Nanpan told me that the slash-and-burn farming we used seriously damaged the land. That is why a piece of land can only be cultivated for a few years. It’s hard work to move the land, and the food harvest is not enough.”

The two kings of water and fire in Nanpan are still very receptive to new things.

Historically, the Nguyen Dynasty converted them back to their native lands and brought them into rule. The two kings also acquiesced and accepted the surnames and seals granted by the Nguyen Dynasty.

It's just that the Yue people of the Nguyen Dynasty went too far. After returning to their native land, they did not introduce advanced technology to Nanpan. Instead, they completely blocked it and exploited it crazily, forcing Nanpan to rebel.

The Fire King was convinced: "China does have many good things, especially this tobacco. It allows us to better communicate with the gods and pray for rain."

As he said that, the Fire King took out his pipe and looked at it with fascination.

Pipes and tobacco are naturally not native creations of Nanpan, but flowed in from China. They were also designated by the Fire King as special instruments for communicating and praying for rain, and were directly passed down from generation to generation to the last Fire King Ruolan Hei.

While the two kings were talking in native language, they soon arrived at the main hall of the palace.

"Meet His Majesty the Emperor!"

The Fire King and Water King bowed respectfully to Zhu Yijiong.

These etiquettes have been taught by Honglu Temple for a long time in advance, so it is not rude at this time.

"No courtesy, I'll give you a seat." Zhu Yijiong smiled.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." The two kings stood up respectfully.

Looking at the two old men in front of him who were plainly dressed and somewhat gorgeous and weird (Nanpan wizard robes), Zhu Yijiong said: "Nanpan country is now the Nanpan Military and Civilian Mansion of our Ming Dynasty. From now on, the people of Nanpan Military and Civilian Mansion, He is also a citizen of the Ming Dynasty. I am not only the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, but also the emperor of the Han people and other ethnic groups. In the future Nanpan Military and Civilian Mansion, the Han people are the elder brothers of the Nanpan ethnic groups, and the people of the Nanpan ethnic groups are the brothers of the elder brothers. . Nanpan and the Han people should live in harmony. If there are Han people who oppress the people of Nanpan, both kings can directly request the Nanpan Military and Civilian Office to make the decision. If the Nanpan Military and Civilian Office does not care, they will report it to Guangnan Province."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

The Fire King and the Water King were full of excitement: "Nan Pan will always be the brother of the Chinese Han brother."

Zhu Yijiong nodded: "Well said, Nanpan and the Han people will always be friendly brothers. I will give you the golden seal of the royal robe, as well as the sacrificial utensils donated by me. You can use these directly in the future for sacrifices and prayers for rain."

Officials from the Ministry of Etiquette who had been prepared in advance came forward, holding the standard robes of the Ming Dynasty king and the engraved gold seal, as well as some strange sacrificial vessels.

The sacrificial utensils are specially made, the most conspicuous ones are two gold pipes and two boxes of top-grade tobacco produced in Nangan.

The Fire King said: "We also have tribute gifts from His Majesty. I heard that Your Majesty will give us gold and silver gifts in return. We don't want gold and silver. We just want to ask Your Majesty to give Nanpan Chinese farming technology so that the people of Nanpan can Eat well."

Zhu Yijiong was quite surprised and said with a smile: "Since Nanpan is our territory of the Ming Dynasty, we should naturally learn Chinese farming techniques. Not only that, in the future, Nanpan will also move to Han people and teach you how to cultivate and cultivate. The old slash-and-burn cultivation will also Just abandon it.”

"Thank you, His Majesty the Emperor."

The two kings were overjoyed and bowed to express their gratitude.

Zhu Yijiong is also very happy. He also wants to move to Nanpan for immigration and reclamation so that he can develop this barren land as soon as possible. But now everything is falling into place.

Until the two kings left the Forbidden City, the Fire King was still touching the golden pipe given by the emperor: "Your Majesty, the Emperor of China, the golden pipe you gave me is more beautiful than our copper pipe. And this tobacco is better than mine when I take a puff." The ones I smoked before were better.”

The Water King also held the golden pipe in his hand and said with admiration: "So we should respect the Emperor of China even more. He gave Nanpan better farming technology and taught us writing."

The Fire King suddenly said: "But the two kings are not allowed to meet each other. How should we explain to the clansmen after we return?"

The Water King thought for a while and said: "It's simple, just tell the tribesmen that it was Nanpan originally, and we each believed in different ghosts, gods and ancestors. Now he is the emperor of Ming Dynasty, and he is ruling and protecting Nanpan. From now on. The Nanpan Fire House and Water House will also believe in His Majesty the Emperor of China, so there is no such thing as two kings who cannot meet each other."

The Fire King nodded: "Well, let's just say that."

In fact, the so-called two kings are not allowed to meet each other, which is essentially to prevent conflicts between Nanpan tribes and snatch each other's limited survival resources.

Nowadays, there is no such thing as seizing resources, so this tradition is naturally abolished.

　The official history book of the Nguyen Dynasty in Vietnam, "Da Nan Shi Lu", records that the customs of water houses and fire houses are ghosts, there are no armored soldiers, they farm their own food, weave their own clothes, there is no distinction between monarchs and ministers, and there is no method of punishment. There are no words, but knotted ropes are used to remember when things happen. There is no city wall, and even the emperor lives in a longhouse made of thatch. The chief is only the highest priest and does not handle government affairs. The tribe is in a primitive state and there is no distinction between rich and poor.

　　"The Preliminary Collection of Biographies of Danan Shilu" Volume 32 Foreign Biographies Er Shui She Huo She:

　　The seven-room hut of the governor is located to the east of the residence, and there is no city wall. There is a frame inside the house to worship the gods, and there are only fourteen or five family members and servants. The residence of the leader of the country of Huo She was separated from the water for about three days. Its thatched huts, residences for family members, servants, and civilians are similar to those of the water house.

　　I also heard that the two heads of state have never met each other, and if they do, they will die. When the head of state is old, he will pass it on to his grandson or nephew, but not to his son. It is said that it will be disadvantageous to pass it on to his son. When they returned home, the heads of the two kingdoms sent Xu Fan Wang two ladles each of glutinous rice and pockmarked seeds, as well as a piece each of beeswax and wax. First burn it with fire, and print the wax pieces on each palm. Instructions: If there is a strong wind, heavy rain, severe drought, a military attack, or illness, then use this wax to light two lamps and pray: Water King, Fire King. The king protects you.

　　

　

(End of this chapter)