Han Shizu

Chapter 2180 Peninsula History: Forty Years of Annan

The Kingdom of Annan was established by Emperor Taizong in the 37th year of Yongxi, and in the th year, Liu Wenhuan arrived in Jiaozhi and officially established the Annan court. By the nd year of Zhengtong, years had passed.

37 years is enough time for two generations to grow up. Under the management of the Annan royal family, Annan has experienced unprecedented development, especially the Red River Delta region, which is prosperous and has sufficient grain, which greatly supported the rule of the Annan court.

Behind this rapid development, we must first acknowledge the political, economic, cultural and demographic foundations laid during the period of direct rule of the empire. There was Zhao Kuangyi in the early days and Kou Zhun in the later days. These talented officials of the empire became famous and promoted for their outstanding achievements in governance during the Annan Province period.

Of course, as the Queen Mother Liu E who was the regent of Annan for twenty years, although there were many contradictions and fierce struggles within the Annan court during her reign, a series of policies of recuperation and encouragement of production supported and implemented by Liu E also played a huge role in promoting the further development of Annan.

At the same time, the 37 years also marked another leap forward in the process of Hanization of Annan. By the second year of the Zhengtong reign, the population of the Han people in Annan (the local indigenous barbarians also called them the Hua people) had already exceeded two million, the largest among all the countries. Han academies and schools had been opened in all prefectures and counties, and the official status of the Chinese language was thoroughly established. The local language, history, customs, etc. also became fragmented under the impact of Han culture.
When Annan has such a population and cultural foundation, coupled with a political system that is highly consistent with the empire, it can be said that Annan's sinicization is truly successful. Under this premise, no matter what the future historical trend is, Annan will be the core development area of ​​​​Han civilization.

To achieve this, it took almost seventy years, thanks to the strong support of the early central empire and the hard work of countless Han officials, soldiers, merchants and civilians.

It can be seen how difficult it is to explore new areas.

Although the achievements were largely based on the foundations of predecessors, Liu E's contribution to the development and sinicization of Annan cannot be erased. This also led to a large number of political enemies resenting and slandering her for being too presumptuous, but there were also a large number of supporters who were grateful to her.

Moreover, as time went by and history and civilization developed further, Liu E was praised more and more. In the later period, in the history of Annan, she was even more glorified as a heroine who "created the world and appeared only once in the ages".

However, during the years when Liu E was in power, while the economy, culture, and livelihood of Annan developed rapidly, there were also some problems that could not be concealed. For example, frequent and fierce political struggles. In the early days, Liu E relied on the righteousness of the royal court and her outstanding political wisdom and skills to deal with the Annan dignitaries headed by the Zhao family one by one.

Afterwards, secret police politics flourished, making it difficult for the Annan court to get rid of the atmosphere of repression, tension and even terror. This inertia of political and party struggles continued until Liu Jidan took power, and was still unavoidable. The most obvious sign was that the Princess Party took over the Queen's Party and continued to fight. This was obviously not conducive to the stability and unity within the Annan court, and it left endless harm.

On the other hand, after decades of development, a large number of Han people have poured in and become the core ruling class of the Annan Dynasty. They have occupied a large amount of social resources in Annan, which has greatly infringed the interests of local indigenous people.

Among the indigenous people, those who are smart, proactive and actively naturalize can still get a share of the pie, even if they are dissatisfied in their hearts. However, those who insist on the old rules, are stubborn and oppose changing customs will find their living space and living conditions increasingly narrow and difficult, making it difficult for them to survive.

As a result, they either went into the mountains to become bandits, or became slaves, or simply raised the banner of rebellion. This was the main reason why Zhenla was able to arouse the response of many indigenous peoples in Annan when it brazenly invaded Annan.

As the next few decades passed, this problem became even more serious. Therefore, during the reign of Liu E, class contradictions in Annan (mainly between Han and Yi people) became increasingly serious, with several riots and even rebellions breaking out every year. Although they were all quelled by the government army, the problems and contradictions were not fundamentally resolved. This was also one of the long-standing bleeding points in Annan.

Another bleeding point is the long-term instability in the northern region, especially in the border areas with the empire. There, the barbarian forces that have long been entrenched in Annan and the western part of Guangnan West Road, nominally submit to the Han Dynasty, but have strong autonomy, especially after the founding of Annan, they have become more active, especially like to suck blood from the land transportation line between the empire and Annan.

By the middle of the Jianlong period, Yunnan and Guizhou rebelled. After the imperial court put down the rebellion, the rebellious Yunnan barbarians moved to the border of Annan, further exacerbating the chaos on the northern border of Annan. It even gradually developed into a cancer at the intersection of the three national roads of Annan, Yunnan and Guangnan, greatly affecting the land exchanges between Annan and the empire.

In view of this, the Kingdom of Annan began a military cleanup operation against the barbarians in the north when Liu E was still regent. Although there were some results, it was difficult to solve the root cause because it was impossible to eradicate the barbarians.

Later, in view of the fact that the barbarians on the Guangnan border were causing chaos and could not be eradicated despite repeated suppression, Emperor Shizong issued an edict to arrange and coordinate joint bandit suppression and security operations between the border prefectures and the Kingdom of Annan at the central level of the empire.

With mutual cooperation, the results were naturally much better than previous independent actions. Many barbarians and bandits who were once rampant were killed by the government troops. After several years of bloody suppression, the bandits' arrogance was finally suppressed, and the border also gained a rare period of relative stability.

However, such results were based on tremendous pressure on the core of the empire and the huge expenditure of manpower by the two provinces and one country, and this intensity was obviously impossible to maintain for a long time.

The complex geography, customs and habits of the people in the northern border area of ​​Annan made it difficult to stabilize. Coupled with the fact that some local tyrants with ulterior motives fanned the flames and made trouble, it was no surprise that it became the source of chaos in one country and two regions.

With the death of Liu E, Annan entered an era of "co-governance by the court and the government". The intensification of internal struggles in the court also led to the resurgence of northern bandits and separatist forces in border areas.

The chaos in the northern border once again became a cancer in the body of Annan. However, for the Jiaozhi court, no matter how violent the barbarians were, they were just bandits. They could disrupt public order but could not become a big force. It was even more difficult for them to shake the rule of Annan.

In contrast, the two brothers Liu Jiyuan and Liu Jichu, who were granted the title of Wenzhou and Wanzhou in the southwest by the previous king Liu Wenhuan, were regarded as the real threat by the Jiaozhi court. In terms of attitude towards the two marquises, the Jiaozhi court, regardless of which faction, had basically the same attitude, especially when the threat from the two states was growing day by day.

By the second year of the Zhengtong reign, the brothers Liu Jiyuan and Liu Jichu had occupied the two states for thirty-five or thirty-six years. After more than thirty years, the two young men with miserable lives had reached middle age, especially Liu Jiyuan, who was approaching the age of knowing the destiny.

However, the long time did not dissipate the dissatisfaction and resentment, but deepened them. During these thirty years, the two marquises always faced the defense and suppression of the Jiaozhi court, especially after Liu E dealt with her opponents in the court.

The two brothers Liu Jiyuan basically fought against each other, recruited soldiers and raised scholars to expand their power. However, looking back on Liu E's regency career, although she once planned to use force to deal with the two marquises, she did not put it into action in the end.

On the one hand, she was concerned about internal instability, and on the other hand, the watchful eye from the imperial capital made Liu E cautious and cautious. Therefore, for a long time, she could only use political and economic means to divide and disintegrate Wen and Wan states.

Similarly, the brothers Liu Jiyuan and Liu Jichu also had many concerns. The Empress Dowager Liu and the clan laws were like two mountains that firmly suppressed their ambitions. When Liu E died, they had some thoughts, but they managed to suppress them. When Emperor Shizong passed away and the Central Empire was replaced by the old and the new, especially after the "Prince Coup" in Jiaozhi in the first year of Zhengtong, the brothers Liu Jiyuan and Liu Jichu finally made up their minds to give it a try.

The two brothers joined forces and raised an army, under the banner of "killing the treacherous and supporting the royal family", more than 30,000 troops from Jiwen and Wanzhou came out in full force and marched towards Jiaozhi. Forty-five years after the Zhenla Rebellion, another major rebellion broke out, almost affecting all of Annan.

When the two marquises first started their rebellion, it was not only Annan that was shaken, the chain reaction even affected the entire peninsula. After receiving the news, the imperial center could not help but turn its attention over. Its attitude was unquestionable, and it firmly supported Annan in suppressing the rebellion. However, because Liu Weizhen had just ascended the throne, this support only remained at the level of verbal criticism.

The two marquises, Liu Jiyuan and Liu Jichu, had trained their soldiers for thirty years and suddenly marched eastward. Their combat effectiveness was still guaranteed to a certain extent, and they caused great losses and shock to Annan in the early stages.

However, the army was strong but morale was weak, and the strength could not last long. The rebels conquered cities and territories in southern Annan, and were invincible until they were finally stopped at Yi'an, the capital of Huanzhou.

As Annan's strategic hub connecting the north and the south, the rebels would not dare to advance northward without capturing this city. The garrisoning general was none other than Zheng Quan, who had made great contributions to Princess Anping Liu Ying during the "Crown Prince's Coup".

In Yi'an, Zheng Quan once again made outstanding contributions, leading the garrison in a bloody battle, and resisting the rebels at the gates of the city, buying a lot of time for the Jiaozhi court to organize a large army to suppress the rebellion.
　Future updates will focus on the new book, and the postscript of this book will depend on the situation.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)