Chapter 465
Only Dali Remains
...
Did they only seek peace after realizing they were no longer capable?
Want to eat shit?
Zhao Yu decisively issued an ultimatum to the Angkor Dynasty, the Queen's Kingdom, the Bagan Dynasty, and Srivijaya:
The emperor is the one who receives the mandate of heaven and rules the world, unifying the six directions; he is the one to whom the mandate of heaven is bestowed and the one to whom the people's hearts are.
I am favored by Heaven and have inherited the legacy of my ancestors. I have swept away the filth and cleansed the world, bringing peace to all. Wherever the sun and moon shine and wherever rivers flow, all is my royal land.
Angkor, Queen Mother, Bagan, and Srivijaya, residing in the remote south, have no desire for civilization and dare to obstruct the path of the royal army's unification. They are like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, overestimating their own strength.
You are merely clinging to life, begging for peace only when you are at your wits' end. What a foolish and delusional thought!
I hereby issue this final ultimatum: You are permitted to surrender your lands unconditionally, submit yourselves to punishment, and have your people registered and brought under the rule of the king. Only then may your clans be spared.
If they remain obstinate and stubbornly resist, I will surely order my imperial army to march straight in, and on the day the city falls, everything will be destroyed, and no one will be spared!
The proclamation was made known to all.
At the same time the imperial edict was issued, Zhao Yu ordered Li Gang, Zhao Li, and others to march westward.
At the same time, Zhao Yu dispatched Yue Fei, Liu Qi, Zhang Jun, Liu Guangshi, and others, each leading 100,000 troops, to travel south by train and treasure ship to reinforce the Song army.
At the same time, the Song Dynasty's northern navy also quickly moved south, heading straight for Srivijaya.
In this way, the Song Dynasty has actually deployed more than one million troops in the Indochina Peninsula, approaching one million two hundred thousand.
How to describe it?
At this time, the Song Dynasty had a total military force of just over one million in the vast north. It was not exactly empty, but it was certainly stretched thin.
Fortunately-
All the northern regions were recently pacified in the last twenty years or so, and many areas have been completely incorporated into the Song Dynasty.
This is why there's no need to keep so many troops stationed in the north, and why Zhao Yu dared to transfer so many troops from the north to the south to recover the Indochina Peninsula.
Without the constraints of hot, rainy, and malaria-ridden weather, the Song army could finally unleash its full firepower, and the strongest army of the time, sweeping across the entire north, reappeared.
Then, no one, no force, and no country will be able to stop the Song army's advance.
Li Gang was stationed at the front-line command post in the Indochina Peninsula, overseeing the overall situation.
Zhao Li and others led the Song Dynasty's infantry and cavalry to first defeat the coalition of a number of small countries in the Indochina Peninsula, and then knocked on the border of the Angkor Dynasty.
The army led by Yue Fei and others traveled by train and treasure ship, advancing by land and water, day and night, and arrived at the front line in just over twenty days, where they joined up with the original main force of the Song army.
The northern naval fleet set sail south, with thousands of warships cutting through the waves, their sails stretching to the sky, heading straight for the waters near Srivijaya.
The million-strong Song army, gathering like thunder and descending like tigers from the mountains, thus began the prelude to their sweeping conquest of the Indochina Peninsula.
The first to determine the winner was the navy.
Firstly, this is because the Song Dynasty's navy has always been the most powerful in the world. Previously, it was only due to the weather that it was unable to completely defeat the coalition of small countries in the Indochina Peninsula, led by Srivijaya.
Secondly, what Zhao Yu was most anxious about was to break the blockade of the Strait of Malacca as soon as possible, restore maritime trade and the Age of Exploration, and allow Song Dynasty merchants and adventurers to go out and bring a continuous stream of wealth to the Song Dynasty.
Thirdly, Srivijaya, relying on its coastal location, was skilled in naval warfare. Seeing the Song Dynasty's navy attack, they refused to surrender. They mobilized their entire navy, along with those of the Angkor and Pagan dynasties, to fortify their coastal strongholds, setting up giant crossbows, catapults, and hurling oil-filled bottles in a desperate resistance. Faced with such a suicide mission, the Song Dynasty navy naturally granted their request.
As a result, the Song Dynasty navy's cannonballs shattered the fortifications of Srivijaya's warships, and their fire attacks destroyed the coastal camps. The naval soldiers abandoned their ships and went ashore, advancing with unstoppable momentum and capturing three important capital cities in Srivijaya.
King Srivijaya Vimalakirti, seeing his navy annihilated and his city in ruins, led his civil and military officials to surrender, stripping to the waist and binding their hands.
Soon after, the royal family, clan, and nobles of Srivijaya were all taken back to Beijing, and the territory was divided into three routes of Srivijaya in the southern border of the Song Dynasty.
The Angkor Dynasty was the first territory of a group of small kingdoms in the Indochina Peninsula to be set foot on by the Song Dynasty's infantry and cavalry (not counting the Ly Dynasty and Champa, which the Song Dynasty had already recovered).
Undoubtedly, the Angkor Dynasty was the most powerful and the most stubborn among the small kingdoms of the Indochina Peninsula.
Suryavarman II, the king of the Angkor Dynasty, firmly believed that his city was indestructible and that although the Song Dynasty was powerful, it was not invincible. Therefore, he summoned all the able-bodied men in the country, stockpiled food and fodder, and vowed to fight the Song army to the death.
Faced with this situation, the Song army initially besieged the city without attacking. They first used artillery to bombard and destroy the city's outer defenses, and then sent elite infantry to break through the city's moat defenses. Yue Fei's Beiwei Army took the lead, fully armed and ready to break through the heavy gates of Angkor Wat.
Although the defending troops in the city fought bravely, their flesh and blood could not ultimately stop the Song Dynasty's Li Lin cannons and Li Lin guns.
The streets and alleys were littered with the remains of the resisters. Suryavarman II died on the city wall, and the remaining soldiers, misled by religion, refused to surrender and were eventually annihilated by the Song army.
After the fall of the city, the Song Dynasty carried out a major purge of the rulers of the Angkor Dynasty, especially the religious forces. The royal family, clansmen, nobles, and priests were all escorted to Beijing.
This most fertile land in the Indochina Peninsula was thus incorporated into the territory of the Song Dynasty.
The Queen's Kingdom was located in the eastern part of the Indochina Peninsula and was weak. Seeing the Angkor Dynasty resist and fall, and the Srivijaya Kingdom suffer a crushing defeat, panic gripped the court and the people.
Queen Zhao Deviana knew that her kingdom was powerless against the Song Dynasty. Therefore, before the Song army even reached the city, she took the initiative to send envoys with a letter of state and the imperial seal, leading the royal family, relatives, and nobles out of the city to surrender, indicating that the kingdom was willing to cede territory unconditionally and become a vassal state for generations.
However, even so, the territory of the Queen's Kingdom was still completely taken over by the Song Dynasty, and Zhao Deviana and her royal family members, clan members and nobles of the Queen's Kingdom were all moved to Beijing.
The so-called queen's title disappeared completely from the annals of history.
King Arunsithu of the Pagan Dynasty, seeing the Song army's million-strong force pressing in, feigned sending envoys to seek peace while secretly amassing troops, attempting to launch a surprise attack on the Song army's rear while they were attacking other small countries in the Indochina Peninsula.
Li Gang had already seen through this move. As soon as he captured the Angkor Dynasty, Liu Qi led 100,000 troops in separate groups to march north and strike directly into the heart of Pagan.
The Pagan army's surprise attack plan failed, and instead they were surrounded and encircled by the Song army. After several bloody battles, the main force of the Pagan army was wiped out, and the capital was captured. Arun Sidu hurriedly sent envoys to express his willingness to surrender unconditionally.
Soon, Arunsithu and the royal family, clansmen, nobles, and religious leaders of Bagan were all taken to Beijing to be dealt with by Zhao Yu.
In just six months, the four small kingdoms that had once dominated the Indochina Peninsula were all recovered by the Song Dynasty. Some resisted to the bitter end, only to suffer the destruction of their kingdoms, the death of their rulers, and countless corpses; others surrendered, saving their families and clans but losing their homeland.
Ultimately, whether one resists or surrenders, the outcome is almost the same—all become part of the Song Dynasty's territory and subject to its rule.
At this point, in the entire south, and even in the entire area surrounding the Song Dynasty, only the Dali Kingdom remained unincorporated into the Song Dynasty's territory.
In fact, Zhao Yu once considered taking Dali first, and then conquering the Indochina Peninsula. However, the Dali Kingdom was far less wealthy than the other small kingdoms in the Indochina Peninsula, and conquering the Dali Kingdom would be far less beneficial to the Song Dynasty than conquering the Indochina Peninsula.
As it turned out, Zhao Yu's judgment was proven correct.
To put it simply, if the Song Dynasty conquered the Indochina Peninsula, it would suffer at least thirty years of misfortune.
Even so, this was only possible because the Song Dynasty had suffered numerous disasters and calamities for the past thirty years, during which it had ceased all development.
Otherwise, the Song Dynasty would be very wealthy for the next fifty or even one hundred years.
This is not an exaggeration.
In this era, the Indochina Peninsula controlled the throat of maritime trade between East and West, and was a necessary passage for merchant ships. The small countries on it took advantage of this location to reap huge profits from transshipment, with full treasuries, prosperous markets, and each one extremely wealthy.
Previously, Srivijaya relied on its control of the Strait of Malacca, which required all passing merchant ships to pay heavy taxes, generating countless sums of money every year, thus enabling a small country to support such a large navy.
The Angkor Dynasty, by possessing rice granaries and gemstone mines, and by engaging in transshipment trade of silk and spices, was able to become the most powerful nation in the Indochina Peninsula. In the decades that followed, it built the Angkor Wat, which cost an immeasurable amount of money.
Even small countries like the Ly Dynasty, Champa, the Queen Mother's Kingdom, and Bagan made a fortune through trade between the East and the West.
Now that the Song Dynasty has taken over the Indochina Peninsula, it has firmly grasped this golden route of trade between East and West. From now on, it will no longer allow these small countries in the Indochina Peninsula to retain even a fraction of the profits. All the trade dividends that once belonged to these countries will now belong to the Song Dynasty.
Merchant ships traveled from Japan, Yongming City, Jidi, Jizhou Port, Dengzhou, Mingzhou, Xiuzhou, Hangzhou, Quanzhou, Guangzhou, and Qiongzhou, passing through the Joseon Dynasty, Champa, Angkor, Queen Motherland, and Srivijaya, crossing the Strait of Malacca, then passing through Bagan, and reaching India, the Abbasid Caliphate, and other Western countries, with unimpeded passage.
The Song Dynasty's navy patrolled the seas, protecting the peace of trade routes, and commercial taxes and customs duties poured in, filling the national treasury.
All the ports along the coast were developed into commercial ports of the Song Dynasty. Shipbuilding, loading and unloading, warehousing, and foreign exchange industries flourished as a result, attracting merchants from all directions and making the market more prosperous than ever before.
Not to mention the fertile lands of the Indochina Peninsula, where rice can be harvested several times a year, enough to make up for the food shortage in the heartland of the Song Dynasty; rare treasures such as spices, gems, and ivory from the forests are processed and transported by Song workshops and then sold to various food-deficient areas of the Song Dynasty and Western countries, which brings in huge profits.
In addition, as the railway network of the Song Dynasty gradually expanded and extended in all directions, land and sea trade routes complemented each other, making the flow of goods more and more convenient, and wealth naturally flowed in like a continuous stream.
This move succeeded, and the voices that had advised Zhao Yu to stop waging wars and allow the people to recuperate completely disappeared.
On the contrary, more and more people began to sing praises of Zhao Yu.
Some have even deified Zhao Yu, stating bluntly that he was the greatest emperor in history, both ancient and modern.
To be realistic, Zhao Yu's decision to abandon Dali and take the Indochina Peninsula first was precisely because he saw through this advantage—Dali is mountainous and barren, and even if it were taken, it would only add a little territory, and a lot of troops and supplies would be needed to garrison it, which would be a loss; while the Indochina Peninsula is a real treasure trove, which can not only sustain the war through war, but also provide the Song Dynasty with a source of wealth for a hundred years, or even longer.
—As long as the Song Dynasty firmly controls the Indochina Peninsula and safeguards this vital maritime trade route, it can deter all sides with its navy and enrich its treasury through trade. It will have a continuous stream of wealth to support the national economy and people's livelihood, strengthen the military and prepare for war, and radiate its prosperous southern border to the southwest, thus consolidating the foundation of a unified empire.
Such benefits are not a one-time achievement, but a long-term benefit that will benefit future generations. For the next fifty, one hundred, or even thousands of years, the Song Dynasty's treasury will be full and its people prosperous, all thanks to this.
In order to firmly grasp this wave of wealth, Zhao Yu did something that no one in later generations could accomplish—he opened the Kra Isthmus Canal.
Of course, the name had to be changed. After thinking for a while, Zhao Yu named it "Dingnanhe".
The Strait of Malacca is a narrow and winding waterway. Merchant ships often have to spend half a month traveling around it. Not only are the winds and waves treacherous along the way, but they are also vulnerable to attacks and blockades by pirates or remnants of old forces. Even if the garrison is stationed there, it is necessary to divide troops to guard many passes, which consumes a lot of military resources.
The Kra Isthmus stretches across southern Thailand, connecting the Andaman Sea to the left and the Gulf of Thailand to the right. If this isthmus is opened up, merchant ships will no longer need to take long detours, greatly reducing travel distances, time, and losses, making cargo transportation more convenient.
Once this canal is opened, commercial ports can be established on both banks, attracting merchants from all directions. Shipbuilding, warehousing, loading and unloading, and other industries will flourish. Coupled with the southward railway overland, the land and sea trade routes will be interwoven into a network, and the flow of goods will be unimpeded.
In this way, all the trade benefits that the countries of the Indochina Peninsula used to enjoy were now in the hands of the Song Dynasty, and even more so than before.
Strategically speaking, the opening of this canal would allow the Song Dynasty to completely control the situation in Southeast Asia.
—If this canal is not opened, the Song Dynasty's navy will need to be divided to guard the Strait of Malacca and the eastern coast of the peninsula. The forces will be scattered and it will be inconvenient to send reinforcements. Once the canal is open, the navies of the two oceans can quickly support each other by waterway, without having to travel thousands of miles.
If military towns and artillery are set up on both banks of the Grand Canal, the two oceans can be controlled from one place, greatly reducing the defense pressure.
The Song Dynasty was able to use the Grand Canal as a link to connect various parts of the Indochina Peninsula, greatly increasing the efficiency of troop and food transport.
Furthermore, the newly recovered Srivijaya, Angkor, Banteay Srei, and Bagan could be connected by the Grand Canal, eliminating any concerns about isolation and ensuring the Song Dynasty's unshakeable rule over the Indochina Peninsula.
Furthermore, the Song Dynasty, having unified the Indochina Peninsula, needed to promote assimilation and solidify the hearts of the people. Such a massive project as the canal could mobilize labor from various ethnic groups on the peninsula, supplemented by Song Dynasty refugees who migrated south to participate. Through labor, they would gradually be assimilated into the Song Dynasty's rule. After completion, trade would flourish, the people would benefit, and they would naturally be drawn to the Song.
Conversely, without the Grand Canal, the Song Dynasty would have been confined to the Strait of Malacca, its trade lifeline held in peril, and the people of the Indochina Peninsula would have been unable to profit, inevitably leading to their alienation from the Song Dynasty.
Furthermore, the Indochina Peninsula has a vast territory without canals connecting it, hindering travel between different regions. Its garrisons are scattered and difficult to concentrate, making it easy to be defeated piecemeal in the event of unforeseen circumstances.
Therefore, after the Song Dynasty annexed the Indochina Peninsula, it was imperative to excavate this Grand Canal. It could even be said that if it was opened, it would benefit future generations and ensure the longevity of the nation; if it was not opened, hidden dangers would arise and the foundation of the dynasty would be difficult to secure.
The key point is that the Song Dynasty is now building this Grand Canal without any worries about financial shortages or construction difficulties, and can take advantage of the situation in the southern border region to develop its own industries.
This was mainly because the Indochina Peninsula was extremely wealthy, and all of that wealth ended up in the pockets of the Song Dynasty.
—The granaries of Angkor and the customs revenue of Srivijaya are sufficient to fund the construction of the Grand Canal, without consuming a single penny of the Song Dynasty's resources. This is precisely a case of using war to sustain war and using borders to sustain borders.
Furthermore, by setting up tax checkpoints in newly designated areas along the Grand Canal, merchant ships, even before the canal is open to traffic, rush to prepay tolls to gain an advantage. This constant flow of money will ensure a continuous supply of funds for the construction project, leaving no financial strain whatsoever.
The crucial point is that one or two million young men in the Indochina Peninsula were taken prisoner, and they could all be used as laborers (the kind who work for wages and land).
Furthermore, some areas of the Song Dynasty were impoverished or had suffered disasters, turning them into refugees. These people could be relocated to the Indochina Peninsula to build the Grand Canal.
Moreover, the Song Dynasty had experienced a population explosion in recent years, and the industrial revolution had led to a significant reduction in labor demand, both in agriculture and industry. Fortunately, the Song Dynasty had been undertaking large-scale infrastructure construction in recent years, which provided employment opportunities for the surplus labor force. The construction of this Grand Canal would also create numerous jobs for the people of the Song Dynasty.
Once the canal was completed, the military towns and commercial ports along the route would immediately become cities, allowing prisoners of war, refugees, and even river workers to settle down and make a living by farming or trading. The people would feel at ease, and the king's rule would naturally prevail.
In this way, the construction of this Grand Canal did not require the Song Dynasty to expend any money or effort in its heartland. Instead, it relied on the wealth, strength, and grain of the southern border to achieve this great undertaking. The day construction began was the start of the profits, and when it became navigable, all the benefits went to the Song Dynasty, far surpassing ordinary canal construction and land reclamation.
Therefore, after conquering the Indochina Peninsula, the Dingnan River project commenced in full swing...
At this moment, Zhao Yu also turned his gaze away from the Indochina Peninsula and onto the Dali Kingdom, which he had been longing for...
...(End of chapter)