Han Shizu

Chapter 2184 The Ultimate Limit of Peninsula History
Liu Jirong, the third king of Linyi, officially ascended the throne in the 12th year of Jianlong. By the 2nd year of Zhengtong, for fourteen years, he launched wars at a frequency of almost twice a year.

Of course, the scale of the war was not large, as all the major battles had been fought by our predecessors, and half of the energy was spent on suppressing internal unrest and rebellions.

As a multi-ethnic feudal state, Linyi Kingdom could not have been without resistance when the Han ethnic group, as outsiders, occupied the main ruling position and enjoyed most of the country's resources. The security war also lasted for decades in Linyi.

Especially those Zhenla lands that were conquered and annexed by Linyi, those tribes, princes, and Khmer people whose interests were harmed, could not help but oppose the strong rule and exploitation of the Han people.

Based on decades of management by two generations of kings and the hard work of hundreds of thousands of Han people, Liu Jirong adopted a strategy combining "internal appeasement and external war" to completely conquer the southern region of the former Zhenla Kingdom, especially the vast plain area of ​​​​Tonle Sap Lake, which is also the foundation of the Angkor Dynasty. Without this place, the Zhenla Kingdom would only be a false name.

When Liu Wenyan conquered Zhenla and achieved the last decisive victory over the enemy, he established two states, Dun and Lin, in the area southwest of Tonle Sap Lake to the coast.

By the second year of Zhengtong, after Liu Jirong inherited his father's will and continued to conquer and annex countries for fourteen years, the Linyi Kingdom had occupied the entire Tonle Sap Lake area and the Mekong River basin in the east, basically incorporating modern southern Vietnam and Cambodia into its territory.

The three prefectures of Ji, Siam and Cham were set up in the area east of Tonle Sap Lake, and the three prefectures of Ke, Na and Bo were set up in the upper Mekong River basin.

At this point, the Linyi Kingdom ruled by Liu Jirong, more than half a century after its founding, already owned 18 states and had encroached on the Angkor Dynasty, which was supposed to be heading towards a glorious history.

After the imperial army knocked it down, the Linyi Kingdom quickly stepped forward, kicked it hard several times, and then stepped on it until it was killed, and drew nutrients for national development from its corpse. As a result, the Linyi Kingdom became the second largest country on the peninsula and an imperial vassal state with extensive influence in the Nanyang region.

The northern expedition launched by Liu Jirong in the second year of Zhengtong went a step further on this basis. Although nominally it was to pursue and suppress the Zhenla court that had moved north to "Phitsanulok", it was actually a conquest of the tribal princes and nobles of the original Zhenla who were divided and separatist.

This was destined not to be a simple, easy and quick task. The complexity and difficulty lay not in the military, but in the unfamiliar geography, harsh environment and backward transportation, which greatly consumed Linyi's national strength.

Therefore, after the arduous conquest of several northern plateau princes, Liu Jirong, who had suffered a lot, finally suppressed his eagerness to conquer and changed to direct annexation and controlled rule.

This move indeed reduced the resistance to the Northern Expedition. On the premise of ensuring the power and class interests of the original princes and chiefs, the Khmer people were naturally unwilling to go against the powerful and ferocious Han kingdom.

Therefore, following the example of the chieftain system in the empire, Liu Jirong also granted titles to a large number of chieftains in the northern Linyi region. Those who showed "filial piety" could be given titles.

Jizhu was a helpless choice, but its positive significance cannot be denied. While achieving the expansion of territory, it also ensured the stability of the northern territory of Linyi State for a considerable period of time.

With the stability in the north, Liu Jirong was able to free up his hands to continue to cultivate the country, develop land, recruit local people, and establish a Sinicized system.

The "River Island Region" in the lower reaches of the Mekong River was considered by Linyi as the foundation for its rise more than 40 years ago, and Linyi tried its best to compete with Zhenla. The Donghu region, which gave birth to the so-called "Khmer Empire", is a large plain that is even more fertile and has a rich foundation.

When these two fertile lands fell into the hands of the Linyi Kingdom, they were obviously able to achieve better development under the rule and management of the Han people, and the level of civilization and enlightenment was greatly improved.

Subsequent historical developments proved that, thanks to the unique and excellent water and soil conditions of these two plains and river islands, after decades of operation, the national strength of the Linyi Kingdom rose rapidly, at one point approaching and even surpassing Annan.

In his later years, Liu Jirong, the King of Linyi, felt that Jinzhou was too narrow and not conducive to ruling over other regions, so he moved the capital from Jinlan City to Maozhou. On the basis of the old city, he built a new capital, Nanjing, across the Yanshui River (Liu Jirong carried out a comprehensive Sinicization and renaming campaign in the country, and the Tonle Sap Lake was named Yanhu, Yantongyan).

It should also be mentioned that although Liu Jirong's northern expedition in the second year of Zhengtong did not achieve the achievement of expanding thousands of miles of territory and conquering all nations, it was also the first time that the Linyi army crossed the plateau mountains surrounded by the Yanhu Plain on three sides, climbed the northern plateau, and set foot on the Chao Phraya River Plain in modern Thailand.

The latter also made Linyi Kingdom face a difficult problem again. On the land, it bordered Linhai Kingdom in the west. As early as thirty years ago, when Linhai Kingdom was still ruled by Liu Wenhai, it established a stronghold in the coastal area of ​​Bangkok Bay. After decades of development, a new city, Binzhou, has been formed. Taking advantage of the collapse of Zhenla, it has penetrated more than 200 miles inland.

Here, we have to mention the Linhai Kingdom established by Linhai King Liu Wenhai. Compared with the Linyi Kingdom, this was truly an extreme regime.

Due to the lack of support from the empire (the Linhai Kingdom can be said to be built by Liu Wenhai, relying on the legacy of Jin King Liu Xi, fighting hard with every sword), when he could only rely on himself, Liu Wenhai turned the Linhai Kingdom into an extremely aggressive militaristic state, and the Linhai Kingdom also maintained its development and even survival by relying on the militaristic system.

The heritage of Han civilization, coupled with a highly sophisticated military organization and the plunder of interests, combined with these three, in Liu Wenhai's hands, unleashed extremely powerful combat power, and directly defeated the Pagan Kingdom, which was originally on the road to prosperity and development, and returned it to its original form. For a time, it could only rely on the complex geographical terrain in the north to defend the country and maintain its regime pitifully.

Of course, the military kingdom established by Liu Wenhai cannot be healthy. It enjoys war but lacks production development. Once the gains from war cannot make up for the cost losses, there will be big problems.

Liu Wenhai had already realized this in his later years and had begun to change it. He also received certain support and achieved certain results, establishing a number of agricultural production areas in Lower Burma.

It is a pity that Liu Wenhai died too early. He died of illness on the way to suppress a rebellion in the sixth year of Jianlong. He was only 54 years old at that time. This also interrupted the difficult transformation process of Linhai Kingdom.

After Liu Wenhai's death, his second son Liu Jixu inherited the throne. However, Liu Jixu obviously did not have his father's prestige and ability, and was unable to handle the major event of the Linhai system's transformation. Therefore, during those years, the Linhai Kingdom had been struggling, especially in the major issues of war and development, and could never find a balance.

Even the suppression of the Pagan Kingdom, which was lingering in the northern mountains, was relaxed. If it were not for the Yunnan-Guizhou Rebellion, the "Dian Tribe" entered Burma and merged with Pagan, and then internal strife led to the chaos in Pagan, the Linhai Kingdom might not have been able to pacify the north and realize the full annexation of the Burmese region.

However, such a Linhai country obviously has big problems and serious contradictions. In the face of repeated internal unrest, Linhai, a military-based country, inevitably faces a problem: where to expand next?

The eastern coastal area is obviously a good direction, and a good foundation has been laid. When the highly expansionist Linhai Kingdom and the equally powerful Linyi Kingdom under Liu Jirong's rule simultaneously stretched out their claws to the "Thailand" plains, it was normal for some sparks to rub against each other.

In fact, by the second year of Zhengtong, after more than half a century of development by the Three Kingdoms, there was not much space left in the entire Indochina Peninsula.

The fertile land and favorable places have been divided up, and the remaining wild and remote areas are not very attractive. Under such circumstances, the "crowded feeling" of the Three Kingdoms will only become more and more obvious, and how to deal with such a situation is a difficult problem for the Three Kingdoms, and it is also a difficult problem, or even an unsolvable problem, for the Central Empire.
(End of this chapter)