Ming Dynasty: The Crocodile King of Han Prince Zhu Gaoxu's Family

Chapter 473 Three Steps to Localization
"The first thing: It has been quite a few years since the old supervisor passed away! But I am not satisfied with the titles that the court officials have proposed to bestow upon him!"
"Imperial Astronomical Bureau, soon come up with a suitable title for the old director!" After calming himself down, Emperor Longwu spoke first about the matter of the title for his teacher, the old Taoist priest Zhang Zhengheng!

By now, Emperor Longwu had finally realized that the ministers in the court simply didn't want to come up with a proper title for the old Taoist priest! Otherwise, with their limited intellect, how could they not come up with a fitting and easy-to-pronounce title for the old Taoist priest? They were just shirking their responsibilities!

Judging from the titles that the ministers had proposed more than ten times before, it was clear that those court officials simply didn't want to properly come up with a title for the old Taoist priest!
Or rather, these court officials were wary of their own founding emperor, the Dragon Kingdom, in the event that he might one day be in a good mood and become a Taoist priest! That's why the court officials were collectively uninterested in this matter! In fact, they were collectively resisting it!
Having figured this out, Emperor Longwu, though somewhat dissatisfied with his court officials, didn't want to argue with them. Instead, he simply assigned the matter to the Taoist priests of the Imperial Observatory.

After all, Emperor Longwu could understand the thoughts of his court officials! At the same time, the Taoist priests in the Imperial Observatory, especially the Taoist masters who knelt before him and oversaw the Taoist temples throughout the Dragon Kingdom, were all the old Taoist priest's disciples and grand-disciples! Therefore, both out of courtesy and reason, they would definitely think of a suitable and auspicious title for the old Taoist priest!

"Your subject obeys the decree!" Upon hearing the first matter arranged by Emperor Longwu, the purple-robed Taoist priest kneeling at the front immediately kowtowed in response!

Meanwhile, the Taoist priests kneeling in the Hall of Supreme Harmony breathed a long sigh of relief, as long as the Emperor wouldn't hold a grudge against them for this! As for bestowing titles upon the eunuch, that was incredibly simple for these Taoist practitioners! It was as easy as turning their hands!

"The second matter is a very important one." The Dragon Emperor spoke after surveying the assembled court officials in the Hall of Supreme Harmony with his majestic gaze. Clearly, this matter was addressed to everyone in the Hall of Supreme Harmony; it required the joint efforts of the Imperial Observatory and the court officials.

"Please give your instructions, Your Majesty!" Huang Zhong immediately stepped forward two paces and respectfully inquired. At that moment, Huang Zhong, the Second Grand Secretary, had a strong premonition that what Emperor Longwu was about to say was to be arranged for him!

As expected, Emperor Longwu's next words were proven true!
"Our Dragon Kingdom has a vast territory and a diverse population."

To date, our Dragon Kingdom has been established for many years, yet even now, we have not achieved complete unification of our written and spoken languages!

Therefore, I have decided to launch a comprehensive Sinicization campaign throughout the entire Dragon Kingdom.

"And this matter requires the concerted efforts of everyone present!" Emperor Longwu's solemn dragon eyes swept over the kneeling Taoist priests once more before he spoke again in a deep voice! Clearly, Emperor Longwu's talk of concerted efforts was directed at the Taoist priests before him!

Hearing Emperor Longwu's serious tone, the Taoist priests couldn't help but shrink back. They were officials in the Imperial Observatory and in charge of a region's Taoist court; they certainly had some skills! How could they not understand the meaning behind Emperor Longwu's words!
At this moment, these Taoist priests knew that if they could not cooperate with Emperor Longwu to successfully complete this task, the consequences would be extremely serious!

Ignoring the changing expressions on the faces of the Taoist priests kneeling on the ground, Emperor Longwu spoke again.

"Firstly, Grand Secretary Huang of the Cabinet will take over the Sinicization of the Dragon Kingdom from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel!" Emperor Longwu glanced at the Ministers of Rites and Personnel, then looked at Vice Grand Secretary Huang Zhong, and said with an unquestionable expression.

"Your subject obeys the decree!" Upon hearing Emperor Longwu's words, Huang Zhong quickly stepped forward, bowed to Emperor Longwu, and responded firmly.

"Your Majesty, I obey!" The Ministers of Rites and Personnel visibly breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Emperor Longwu's words. Clearly, their thoughts were completely opposite to Huang Zhong's. They only wanted to get rid of this hot potato—the Sinicization of the foreign ethnic groups in the Dragon Kingdom!

After Huang Zhonghe, the Minister of Personnel, and the Minister of Rites received the order, Emperor Longwu lightly tapped his dragon throne with his finger and continued speaking. "The order is to confiscate all books, documents, and other written materials belonging to any foreign race within the territory of my Dragon Kingdom!"
Afterwards, all of it was handed over to the Hanlin Academy for unified compilation and summarization. The dross of foreign cultures was removed, and after further revision, it was transcribed in Han script. Finally, the imperial court distributed it throughout the country! Emperor Longwu stated his first demand: a complete eradication of all foreign cultures within the Dragon Kingdom! And after thoroughly revising these foreign cultures, they would all be replaced with Han culture for distribution!

This step is to sever the cultural foundation of the foreign race!

"Secondly, all the Taoist courts within the Dragon Kingdom began to carry out a comprehensive purge and replacement of the beliefs of foreign ethnic groups in various places."

It allows Taoism to unite with other folk religions to sort out all the beliefs of different ethnic groups and integrate them into their own beliefs!

The goal is to completely eliminate and assimilate all beliefs of other races within the Dragon Kingdom, forming a completely new belief system!

Finally, Taoism must, after assimilating the beliefs of other ethnic groups, compile a new pantheon of deities! Emperor Longwu's second demand was to completely eradicate all foreign beliefs within the Dragon Kingdom's territory, ideologically! Even those foreign beliefs that were preserved had to be Sinicized!

This step severed the spiritual foundation of the alien race!
"Thirdly, the imperial court will soon launch a military campaign against the various tribes of Ü-Tsang."

"All the stubborn elements from various ethnic groups should be incorporated into the army for the expedition!" Emperor Longwu's third request was the suggestion Huang Zhong had just mentioned! To carry out a comprehensive Sinicization effort, there will inevitably be resistance! After all, every place has its stubborn elements! As for these stubborn elements, let's purge them all into the army and let them fight one last time for the Dragon Kingdom!

This step is to sever the population base of the foreign race and force them to be completely Sinicized!

"Finally, the above three things must cover the entire territory of the Dragon Kingdom!"
Your Excellency, I entrust this matter entirely to you!
I don't care whether you burn books and bury scholars alive, or you instigate literary inquisitions against foreign tribes.

Or it might require the cooperation of six departments, or the military, or other similar requirements!

"I want to complete the Sinicization of all ethnic groups within the Dragon Kingdom as quickly as possible!" Finally, Emperor Longwu entrusted this matter entirely to Huang Zhong! Furthermore, Emperor Longwu granted Huang Zhong the highest authority to handle this matter!
It includes, but is not limited to, comprehensive support in terms of military force and civil administration!
"Your subject obeys the decree!" Upon hearing Emperor Longwu's words, Huang Zhong was terrified. He immediately prostrated himself on the ground, respectfully kowtowed to Emperor Longwu, and accepted the matter.

Huang Zhong knew that this time, Emperor Longwu was serious! After all, this time, Emperor Longwu was even willing to cooperate with the Six Ministries and the military, and the methods were not limited to burning books and burying scholars alive! If the Sinicization work was not completed this time, Huang Zhong would be finished!
In fact, even after serving as the second-highest-ranking official for so many years, Huang Zhong remained humble and maintained a clear understanding and self-positioning.

Huang Zhong knew that although he was one of the earlier ministers who followed Emperor Longwu in his rise to power, he was of foreign origin. Therefore, even though the emperor trusted him, the other ministers still harbored some suspicion and rejection towards him.

Huang Zhong decided to make himself a lone minister, one who only obeys the emperor's orders!
That way, he can live longer! That way, he can maintain his current position!
Therefore, even today, Huang Zhong remains the most powerful non-ethnic official in the entire Dragon Kingdom! Without exception!

(End of this chapter)