Chapter 461
The Fall of Champa
...
After Annam was incorporated into the territory of the Song Dynasty, Li Gang and Lü Zhi submitted a memorial to Zhao Yu, detailing the situation in Annam.
Annam consisted of four prefectures and thirteen sub-prefectures, with the core area governed by "twenty-four circuits." Each circuit was further divided into prefectures, sub-prefectures, counties, and communities, while outlying villages were established for military control.
These four prefectures are: Thang Long Prefecture, Chang An Prefecture, Tian De Prefecture, and Yi An Prefecture, all of which are political or military core areas.
The thirteen prefectures are: Thanh Hoa Prefecture, Haidong Prefecture, Tianchang Prefecture, Guowei Prefecture, Jianxing Prefecture, Huangjiang Prefecture, Longxing Prefecture, Beijiang Prefecture, Chang'an Prefecture, Kuai Prefecture, Hong Prefecture, Yan Prefecture, and Fuliang Prefecture, which are mostly distributed in the Red River Delta and the Thanh Hoa-Yi'an Corridor.
Special establishments: In southern Aizhou and Huanzhou, "three fortresses" were set up. These were military and political units that were not included in the state government's statistics. They were used to defend against Champa and Zhenla and to control mountain tribes.
Annam has a population of over 2.5 million.
In addition, a large number of uncivilized people lived in the deep mountains and forests of Annam.
Based on this, Annam has a total population of approximately three million.
With such a large population, and having broken away from the rule of the Central Plains dynasties since the Joseon Dynasty two hundred years ago, they had long been alienated from Han culture.
In this situation, if the Joseon Dynasty were to be completely incorporated into the Song Dynasty, a large number of Han Chinese would definitely need to be transferred from the Song Dynasty.
Therefore, the Song Dynasty's propaganda department mobilized many students from the Imperial Academy to come to Annam for training under the slogan of "supporting backward areas." It also used the promise of land, housing, and women as incentives to attract millions of migrants from impoverished areas of the Song Dynasty to Annam.
Emperor Zhao Yu and his ministers also relocated a certain number of people from the newly incorporated regions of the Song Dynasty, including nomads, Tibetans, people from the Western Regions, Koreans, and Japanese, who might pose a threat to the Song Dynasty's rule, to Annam.
At the same time, Zhao Yu instructed his son, Zhao Cheng, who had already established himself on the Prince Continent, to send people to Annam, allowing them to use any means necessary to relocate the original inhabitants of Annam to their respective territories.
In this way, high salaries and attractive women were used to lure people in, incitement was spread that war was about to break out in Annam and that the people there would suffer the ravages of war, and even human trafficking was outright committed, all of which were constantly being staged in Annam...
……
The Song Dynasty launched a surprise attack on the Joseon Dynasty and captured its capital in just over a month, terrifying the Indochina Peninsula and a host of surrounding small countries.
Undoubtedly, these small countries all felt a sense of shared sorrow, like the rabbit mourning the fox's death.
The key point is that the Song Dynasty, having conquered the Joseon Dynasty, now has the means to attack them.
Annam controls the key to the Indochina Peninsula. The Red River Delta is fertile and can accommodate a million people. The Thanh Hoa-Nghe An corridor connects east and west and is a vital point of the Maritime Silk Road. After the Song Dynasty took Annam, it was as if it had established a forward springboard in the Indochina Peninsula. Whether it was deploying troops by land or transporting grain by sea, it had a solid base and was fully equipped with the hardware conditions to attack them at any time.
The crucial point is that the Song Dynasty never lacked reasons to attack them. They could easily find pretexts such as "disloyalty" or "obstruction of trade routes" to justify sending troops.
Moreover, in recent years, there have been some frictions between the small countries in the Indochina Peninsula and the Song Dynasty.
Take Champa as an example.
Although Champa sent troops to help the Song Dynasty attack the Joseon Dynasty during the Song-Li Xining War, Champa has been paying tribute to the Song Dynasty in recent years.
But how could such a large country not have any international incidents?
Just recently, Jaya Indravarman IV, the king of Champa, sent envoys to Jiyang Army in Hainan to buy horses, but were refused by the Qiongzhou government.
Not long after, the Champa fleet came again, but was refused again. The person in charge of the matter was furious and launched a surprise attack on coastal villages and ports with armed merchant ships. They quickly plundered people, food and livestock before setting sail back.
Before the Song Dynasty even learned of this, Champa released the eighty-three survivors (the rest had died of illness) and offered generous gifts as an apology.
Unexpectedly, Zhao Yu ordered the return of the lavish gifts sent by Champa, demanding that the murderers be severely punished, or the Song Dynasty would wage war against Champa.
Under pressure from the Song Dynasty, Champa sent two severed heads, indicating that these were the people who gave the order.
The Song Dynasty side neither agreed nor disagreed.
After that, relations between Song and Zhan cooled.
Prior to this, Champa did not think this matter was anything special and wanted to let time gradually fade it away.
Unexpectedly, not long after, the Song Dynasty destroyed the Joseon Dynasty.
If you were a Champa person, would you be afraid?
Frankly speaking, no one believed that Zhao Yu would attack the Joseon Dynasty because of a vague and ambiguous war between the Song Dynasty and the Joseon Dynasty decades ago, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. Anyone with discernment could see that what Zhao Yu was really after was the enormous profits that these small countries made in international trade between East and West—they controlled key transit trade routes, either becoming incredibly wealthy by collecting tariffs or by monopolizing special products such as spices and rice, making a fortune.
The key issue is that these small countries do not have strong military capabilities.
This is like a child parading around with a luminous pearl; it is itself a source of trouble and disaster.
They're all seasoned foxes; who can't see through this simple matter?
Champa, being the closest to Annam and having conflicts with the Song Dynasty, was the first to lose its composure. While they were urgently repairing the fortresses at the passes along the southern coast, Yang Bu Ma Die sent envoys with a ship full of gold, silver, spices, ivory, rare timber, and three hundred beauties to Quanzhou. He humbly expressed his willingness to pay thirty percent of the commercial tax to the Song Dynasty, only asking that the Song Dynasty recognize its tributary status and retain the right to govern itself.
Faced with Champa's capitulation, and out of consideration for the three hundred beauties, Zhao Yu, in addition to the conditions proposed by Champa, put forward six more peace terms:
1. Unconditionally release all slaves. Within the territory of the occupied city, if there is even one slave left, I will attack you.
Second, execute all the criminals who participated in the looting of Jiyang Army. Remember, it is all of them, not just a few people to be handed over. They were able to rob more than a hundred soldiers and civilians, and they committed large-scale looting in Jiyang Army. There must have been at least a thousand people, if not three thousand. Let's tentatively set the number at three thousand. Zhao Yu wants to see these three thousand people alive or dead, and he also wants the eighty-three survivors and others who saw this group of bandits to identify them.
Third, as the culprit behind this incident, Yang Bumadie must step down and apologize.
Fourth, pay the Song Dynasty one million taels of gold and ten million taels of silver in compensation.
Fifth, compensation shall be paid to the Song Dynasty for 20,000 cattle, 20,000 mules and horses, and 1,000 elephants.
The terms that Zhao Yu offered to Champa were seen by the Champa people as unfair and exploitative.
These five points, seemingly addressing past events, are in fact digging into the very roots of Champa, and almost none of them are things Champa could agree to.
First of all, Champa would never agree to the unconditional release of all slaves.
This is because the goal is to strip away the foundation of Champa's state, destroy Champa, or at least destroy the current rule of Champa.
It is important to understand that Champa's lifeblood was spice cultivation and port transshipment. The vast spice gardens and the arduous labor at the docks were all supported by slaves. If slavery were abolished, who would do these jobs?
Moreover, slaves constituted the majority of the private property of nobles and wealthy merchants in Champa, representing a significant and irreplaceable form of wealth for them.
Crucially, the nobles and wealthy merchants in Champa were also part of the ruling class. If Yang Bu Ma Die dared to force them to give up their slaves, they would certainly disagree and might even overthrow Yang Bu Ma Die's rule.
The key issue is that if all the slaves in Champa were released, the spice gardens in Champa would immediately be abandoned, trade routes would be paralyzed, and the country would inevitably descend into chaos.
More importantly, Champa's population was not large to begin with, only two or three hundred thousand. The sudden addition of over ten thousand ownerless and unemployed slaves would inevitably pose a huge challenge to resettlement. If not handled carefully, war would break out everywhere, and Champa would fall apart on its own without the Song Dynasty even needing to fight.
Therefore, it was impossible for Champa to liberate these slaves.
Executing three thousand criminals who participated in the raid on Jiyang Army and then requiring the survivors to identify them was an utterly impossible and hopeless situation. First of all, the idea itself was problematic.
The armed merchant ships they plundered back then carried fewer than a thousand people; in fact, they carried only five or six hundred.
Those eyewitnesses, with a slight exaggeration, became between one thousand and three thousand people.
The Song Dynasty, on the other hand, directly demanded the maximum number of troops from Champa, requiring 3,000 men.
If Champa complies, it will definitely lead to wrongful convictions and the scapegoating of more than two thousand innocent people.
That's not all; the Song Dynasty also wanted the survivors to identify them.
Please!
We only have a few hundred people, and you want three thousand. How could there not be any fakes?
At that time, if the survivors casually say something like, "This isn't it," or "That isn't it," the Song Dynasty can simply declare, "Champa is harboring criminals," and march south, leaving Champa no room to argue.
As for making Yang Bumadie abdicate and apologize, that's even more impossible.
Yang Bu Ma Die reigned for many years. Although he could not be considered a great ruler, he firmly controlled the power of Champa, and a power structure with him at its core had long been formed in the country.
If he abdicates, whether the new king is young or the royal family fights for power, Champa will inevitably fall into internal strife.
At that time, the Song Dynasty only needs to send a detachment to take over Champa under the pretext of "suppressing internal strife".
Moreover, Yang Bu Ma Die was the ruler of a country. If the Song Dynasty could easily order him to abdicate, what would become of Champa's prestige? If this were to happen, how would Champa maintain its foothold in the Indochina Peninsula in the future?
In addition, the compensation is one million taels of silver and ten million taels of silver.
It wasn't that Champa couldn't come up with the money.
Over the years, Champa has made a lot of money through trade routes, and can still come up with tens of millions of strings of cash.
The main problem is that the Song Dynasty only wants gold and silver, which makes things very difficult.
It should be noted that Champa is a small place that does not produce gold or silver. It would probably take ten years to earn so much gold and silver by relying solely on gold and silver.
To raise this indemnity, the entire country would have to be plundered. Not only would nobles have to donate all their gold and silver, but commoners would also be subject to heavy taxes. Even the gold and silver in the temples would have to be taken out. In the end, public resentment would boil over, and the whole country would become disaffected. Even if Champa did not fall to the Song Dynasty, it would perish due to internal strife.
Finally, the compensation of 20,000 cattle, 20,000 mules and horses, and 1,000 elephants cut off Champa's lifeline and fighting strength.
Cattle are the foundation of agriculture; the rice-producing areas of Champa rely entirely on oxen for plowing.
Mules and horses are the mainstay of transportation; they are indispensable for both the transshipment of grain and the passage of trade routes.
Elephants were the core fighting force of the Champa army, and their charge on the battlefields of the Indochina Peninsula was always the key to victory.
If any one of these three things is missing, the livelihood and military of Champa will collapse by more than half.
Twenty thousand cattle, twenty thousand mules and horses, and one thousand elephants—almost seventy percent of Champa's entire national reserves—would be finished if handed over. Champa would become an unarmed lamb, and the Song Dynasty would have no power to resist if it wanted to take action.
These five terms are all death warrants. They seem to give Champa a chance to negotiate peace, but in reality, they are forcing Champa to either surrender or fight to the death.
To put it simply, if Champa agrees to these five demands, it will perish; if it doesn't, war will break out immediately. Either way, it's a dead end, just a matter of sooner or later.
Upon seeing this, Yang Bumadie and his ministers were furious!
Even clay figures retain some earthy qualities. Moreover, Champa has been invaded before; Annam and Zhenla both invaded Champa, and Champa even fell to the Japanese, but it eventually recovered.
With this in mind, Champa decided that it would not lose face even if it lost the war. While contacting the Khmer Empire, which was preparing for a decisive battle with the Song Dynasty, it preemptively declared war on the Song Dynasty. At the same time, it reinforced its defensive facilities, such as the large wooden fortress with a circumference of about ten kilometers, which was built to defend against the Joseon Dynasty and pirates.
Even before he presented these five tyrannical terms, Zhao Yu had already prepared to attack Champa.
At that time, the Song Dynasty's navy had already returned to replenish its ammunition and supplies, and then anchored at the ports of Qiongzhou and Annam to replenish its living supplies and allow its soldiers to rest.
As for the Song Dynasty's infantry and cavalry, including elephant cavalry, they had already assembled on the border of Annam, waiting only for Zhao Yu's order to march south by land.
Just as Champa declared war on the Song Dynasty, Zhao Yu sent a telegram to Li Gang, Zhao Li, Li Jun, and others, ordering them to take action!
The next day, the Song Dynasty's land and naval forces launched their attack simultaneously.
By water, Song Dynasty warships cut through the waves, heading straight for the port stronghold in northern Champa.
Those wooden fortresses, with a circumference of ten kilometers, were once Champa's main defense against Annam and pirates, but now, under the roar of Li Lin's cannons, they were as fragile as paper.
Suddenly, a flash of light appeared at the muzzle, and the cannonball roared out, crashing heavily into the thick wooden wall and instantly blasting huge holes in it.
Amidst flying wood chips, the Champa soldiers inside the fortress cried out and fled in all directions. Many were struck by collapsing beams and pillars and died instantly.
In less than half a day, Champa's coastal defenses, painstakingly built up over many years, crumbled, and the Song navy successfully landed and advanced inland.
On land, the Song infantry and cavalry marched swiftly along the old roads that once connected Annam and Champa, encountering almost no significant resistance along the way.
What Yang Bumadie and his ministers did not expect was that when the Song Dynasty went to war with Champa, the slaves and even civilians in Champa directly rebelled. They wanted to be liberated like the slaves in Annam or to have the opportunity to redistribute wealth like the civilians in Annam. They became guides, and even took the initiative to help the Song soldiers get food. Some even joined the Song army directly and served as laborers for the Song army.
In addition, the Song cavalry were fast and powerful, and the soldiers of Champa were forced to abandon their armor and weapons.
Even the few areas that managed to defend their cities could not withstand the bombardment of Song army general Li Lin's cannons.
This allowed the Song army to move as if they were in an empty field. The Champa troops they encountered either abandoned their armor and weapons, scattered and fled, or surrendered on the spot.
Only the last wooden palisade outside the capital of Champa still had thousands of die-hard soldiers and more than a hundred war elephants stubbornly resisting.
But when Li Lin's cannon was pushed to the front of the line, after several volleys, the wooden palisade was reduced to ruins. The war elephants were frightened and went berserk, which disrupted the formation of the Champa army.
The Song infantry and cavalry seized the opportunity to launch a surprise attack, and amidst the clash of swords, Champa's will to resist was completely crushed.
When the Song army was at the city gates, Yang Bumadie was still in the palace convening a meeting of nobles, but the palace was already in chaos.
Some advocated surrendering the city, some clamored to retreat to the southern mountains, and others drew their swords and committed suicide, preferring death to becoming prisoners of the Song Dynasty.
The cannon fire outside the city was intensifying, shaking the city walls and causing even the roof tiles to fall off.
Looking at the chaotic crowd outside the hall, Yang Bumadie finally understood that the so-called "fight to the death" was nothing but self-deception.
—Given the overwhelming military power of the Song Dynasty over Champa, Champa didn't even have the right to die.
Having finally come to terms with reality, Yang Bumadie chose to surrender the city...
...(End of chapter)