There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 493 The Ambitious Emperor of the Celestial Empire

The latest news published in the official gazette is the list of this year's newly appointed Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations).

Xu Mingyu and his group returned quite late; they had set off for Ryukyu after the Lunar New Year. They then went to war with the Satsuma Domain, capturing the Amami Yashima and advancing all the way to Kagoshima Castle.

Even Xu Mingyu, the legitimate Han envoy, stayed in Edo Castle for a long time before returning to China with the shogunate's delegation.

Xu Mingyu quickly glanced through the list of newly appointed Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) and discovered that the Tanhua Lang (third-ranked scholar) was actually from Fujian and was very young.

I couldn't help but sigh in my heart, he really is a young prodigy!
It's a pity that if I had been quicker in handling things in the island nation, I might have been able to catch up with the newly appointed scholars' flower-adorned parade.

This is the first imperial examination since the Han Dynasty moved its capital to Nanjing and His Majesty established the imperial system. It is a rare and grand event!
Xu Mingyu continued reading. The content about the newly appointed Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) in the official gazette only occupied less than a third of the article; the rest was mostly about other national affairs.

First, there's the domestic conferment ceremony for titles of nobility. The list of nobility is only finalized beforehand; the actual conferment of titles is very elaborate.

This included customizing ceremonial robes for noble titles and holding grand ceremonies. All generals and nobles who could return had to come back to receive formal rewards from the imperial court.

This single list of titles and honors takes up another third of the article. It also means that the new Han Dynasty has truly added more than ten privileged nobles this year.

Nie Yu was not a person of this era at heart, so he was always very restrained in bestowing titles upon him.

It has been almost six or seven years since the uprising began in Yidu County, Hubei Province, and the Han Dynasty has finally seen the emergence of a proper aristocratic class.

Still limited by the historical context, no matter what system the Han Dynasty implemented, it was almost inevitable that nobles and privileged classes would emerge.

Nie Yu could only impose restrictions similar to the "Imperial Ancestral Instructions" on these privileged classes whose status was already established when it came to bestowing titles.

The official gazette took up a third of the space, mainly consisting of these related restrictions and regulations.

After reading it carefully, Xu Mingyu basically understood what the nobles of the new dynasty were like.

In short, it is indeed quite different from previous dynasties, but not by too much.

The new dynasty abolished the messy titles of Beile and Hahafan from the pseudo-Qing dynasty, and restored the ancient five-rank system of nobility: Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, and Baron. Below the Baron, a new lowest rank of nobility, the Merit Lord, was also established.

The requirements for this lowest rank of nobility are lower than the previous five ranks, clearly intended for special groups such as artisans, doctors, and future chemists and physicists.

Anyone who has made meritorious contributions or created a useful invention can be granted this title.

The downside is that it cannot be inherited, can only be used by the individual, and has almost no special privileges; it is essentially just an honorary title.

It should be said that after the restoration of the old regime, the five ranks of nobility had been stripped of many privileges, and were basically only half an honorary title.

Xu Mingyu was very perceptive. After reading it, he smiled and commented, "It seems that the imperial court attaches great importance to those craftsmen, as well as disciplines such as astronomy, mathematics, physics, and chemistry!"

As the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial in the new dynasty, he was naturally considered a high-ranking official in the capital.

He was quite familiar with the new astronomy, mathematics, physics, and chemistry academies His Majesty had established.

When Xu Mingyu left the capital, these four guild halls were already basically completed. This was because His Majesty had specifically instructed the Ministry of Works to place them outside the Imperial City.

The Ministry of Works initially had some objections, arguing that the construction of the Forbidden City should be prioritized to demonstrate the majesty and dignity of the imperial family. However, after being summoned by His Majesty to the imperial palace for a discussion, they returned and accelerated the construction progress of the four major pavilions.

It can be said that the emperor's emphasis on the four major guild halls was comparable to that on the Northern Expedition.

Xu Mingyu carefully examined the clues he had gleaned from the official gazette. After much deliberation, he decided to return home and have another child with his wife.

The eldest son was allowed to continue his studies at the academy, and the future depended on whether he would enter officialdom through the academy or through the imperial examination system.

His unborn youngest son was sent to study miscellaneous subjects like astronomy, mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Although these subjects were relatively niche at the time, few were willing to study them, and a career in government would be somewhat difficult after graduation, His Majesty simply liked them!

Your Majesty is currently in the prime of your life and should be able to reign for at least several more decades. As long as Your Majesty is willing to support them, what need is there for miscellaneous or niche schools of thought? They are all broad and promising paths!
Xu Mingyu only needed to look at the latest official gazette upon returning home to have already planned out the future career paths of his children.

This is normal. In officialdom, you have to be good at uncovering rumors and clues; details determine success or failure.

Moreover, such obvious details clearly indicate that the emperor deliberately revealed them, so naturally many clever people took the bait.

Xu Mingyu was reading the official gazette, and Matsudaira Nobuaki, the chief envoy of the shogunate delegation, was also reading the gazette.

Although the official gazettes were written in Chinese characters, Matsudaira Nobuaki, being a member of the Japanese aristocracy, was still able to read them.

At that time, the Edo Shogunate used both Chinese characters and kana, and being able to read and write Chinese characters was considered a privilege and a status symbol for the aristocratic class.

It wasn't until the Meiji Restoration, when Japan began a comprehensive Westernization reform, that the use of Chinese characters was completely rejected.

But in fact, even today, Japan has not been able to completely eliminate Chinese characters.

Japanese is derived from Chinese characters, yet it wants to break free from the influence of Chinese characters, which is as ridiculous as a child wanting to sever ties with its biological mother.

Matsudaira Nobuaki read the contents of the official gazette carefully. He was very good at learning Chinese characters, so he did not find it difficult to read the contents of the gazette.

After reviewing the list of newly appointed scholars, Matsudaira Nobuaki's opinion of the Han Dynasty improved considerably. Xu Mingyu's excessive pressure during his time in the shogunate had left a very bad impression on him, making him even feel that the emperor of the Celestial Empire might be difficult to deal with.

Looking back now, the fact that the emperor of the Celestial Empire could hold imperial examinations and employ scholars shows that he was still reasonable and ultimately different from the barbarians like the Manchus.

As for Xu Mingyu's increasingly demanding behavior within the shogunate, Matsudaira Nobuaki automatically interpreted it as a sign of the strength of the Han Dynasty, thus implying that Han envoys would also become more assertive.

Continuing to read, upon seeing the restrictions imposed on nobles by the Celestial Empire, Matsudaira Nobuaki frowned: "The Celestial Empire's emperor is being a bit too harsh on the samurai (generals), which may be detrimental to the Celestial Empire's future control over the samurai!"

He said it in Japanese, so Xu Mingyu didn't understand it, and even if he had, he wouldn't have cared.

Matsudaira Nobuaki had never been to China, and the shogunate had not had any exchanges with China for nearly two hundred years, so his impression of China was somewhat unfamiliar.

In their view, the Celestial Emperor's restrictions on the nobility were likely due to his fear of those military generals.

From the perspective of the shogunate ministers, Matsudaira Nobuaki believed that restrictions should indeed be placed on the samurai nobles. However, if the restrictions were too harsh, they would certainly provoke dissatisfaction among the samurai nobles and cause them to lose their loyalty to the shogunate.

The shogunate maintained its rule not only through military force, but also by distributing benefits as fairly as possible and maintaining the loyalty of all samurai families to the shogunate.

Matsudaira Nobuaki skipped this section and went straight to the end, which was about the troop mobilization operation in Annam.

The Han Dynasty has launched a military campaign against Annam!
Around last year, the most brutal battle between the Tay Son dynasty of Annam and Nguyen Phuc Anh broke out, a battle that determined the life and death of the Tay Son dynasty.

In this battle, the Xishan Dynasty was defeated, and its capital, Fuchun City, was lost.

King Nguyen Quang Tuan of the Tay Son Dynasty (formerly known as Nguyen Hong Thuy) fled north and was taken in by Nguyen Quang Thuy, the governor of the Northern River region, and settled in the old capital, Thang Long (Hanoi). Historically, this last king of the Tay Son Dynasty, Nguyen Quang Tuan, would send envoys from Thang Long to seek help from the Qing court, only to be intercepted by envoys sent by Nguyen Phuc Anh.

Ultimately, the Qing court rejected Nguyen Quang Tuan's request for assistance, citing the Tay Son dynasty's collusion with pirates in southern China, and allowed the Tay Son dynasty to be destroyed by Nguyen Phuc Anh.

Of course, neither Tay Son Dynasty nor Nguyen Phuc Anh were good people.

The former did indeed collude with pirates in South China, but the latter was a puppet and lackey supported by the French.

The Qing government's decision to allow Nguyen Phuc Anh to eliminate the Tay Son dynasty and thus gain absolute power in Annam resulted in Annam quickly becoming a French protectorate.

This meant that China not only lost a Southeast Asian vassal state, but also gained another colony of a foreign power in the southern border region.

From a military and geographical perspective, the Han Dynasty could not possibly allow the Western Mountain Dynasty to perish.

Therefore, upon learning that a new emperor had been appointed in southern China, Xishan immediately dispatched an envoy, Ruan Deng, to Nanjing to pay homage to the Han emperor and request his assistance.

South of Annam, Nguyen Phuc Anh, who had already captured Phuc Xuan, also sent his envoy Trinh Hoai Duc with pirate heads to intercept the Tay Son envoy after receiving the news.

Nguyen Phuc Anh was very clever. He knew that the emperor on this mission was a Han Chinese rebel who had fought against the Qing dynasty, so he specially sent an envoy who was also a Han Chinese, and a native of Mingxiang.

The people of Mingxiang were originally from Mingxiang, meaning Han Chinese who refused to submit to the Qing Dynasty when the Ming Dynasty fell.

After fleeing south to Annam, they called themselves Mingxiang people, meaning to carry on the legacy of the Ming Dynasty.

Unfortunately, Nguyen Phuc Anh failed to play his emotional card effectively.

At the beginning, the entire court of the Han Dynasty did indeed condemn Ruan Quang Zuan's Tay Son Dynasty for daring to collude with pirates in South China, which was simply outrageous.

But when they learned that Nguyen Phuc Anh was backed by the French, they turned around and started to criticize him for being treacherous and for not seeking help from the Han Dynasty, the suzerain state, but instead recognizing a foreign power as his father.

The envoys of Nguyen Quang Tuan and Nguyen Phuc Anh were almost simultaneously driven out of the palace.

After a discussion in the palace, Nie Yuqian, acting unilaterally, decided to launch a military campaign against Annam.

However, they weren't there to help; they were there to seize territory.

Tay Son Dynasty and Nguyen Phuc Anh are birds of a feather. Tay Son Dynasty's collusion with pirates in South China is a serious crime, and the Great Han will definitely send troops to punish them.

Nguyen Phuc Anh's betrayal of his suzerain state and his defection to foreign powers is equally unforgivable. He cannot receive investiture from the Han Dynasty and has no legal basis to rule Annam anymore.

But what had the people of Annam done to deserve this? Therefore, the Great Han decided to send troops to intervene, destroy the Tay Son Dynasty and Nguyen Phuc Anh of Annam, and bring Annam's territory into the territory of the Celestial Empire, which would then directly govern it.

The officials naturally opposed this blatant annexation of a vassal state, but their opposition was ineffective.

The emperor directly provided historical evidence, stating that Annam has been Chinese territory since ancient times. It was even briefly recovered during the Ming Dynasty, but later Annam took advantage of the Ming Dynasty's preoccupation with other matters and suddenly rebelled, establishing the Later Le Dynasty.

Because the Ming Dynasty was unable to send troops to suppress Annam, and because suppressing Annam would not bring any benefits but would only require endless investment, it simply acquiesced to Annam's independence.

The Later Le Dynasty, after gaining independence, was also very clever. Knowing that it could not confront the Ming Dynasty head-on, it decisively submitted and became a vassal state.

The Ming Dynasty readily agreed and bestowed a title upon the king of the Later Le Dynasty, which led to the establishment of the Annam Kingdom.

After the fall of the Later Le Dynasty, the newly established Tay Son Dynasty and Nguyen Phuc Anh were both illegitimate.

Because neither of them had the legal basis for being officially recognized by China, the Nishiyama Dynasty even fought a war with the Qing court. However, the Qing army lost the battle, and Emperor Qianlong reluctantly accepted it to save face.

Nguyen Phuc Anh was even more cunning. He offered several heads and the Jiaqing Emperor recognized Nguyen Phuc Anh's legitimacy as the ruler of Annam and bestowed upon Annam the name "Vietnam".

The latest Han Dynasty Gazette not only clearly stated the legal basis for the Han army's expedition to Annam, but also brazenly posted a map of the territories of past dynasties on the illustrated version at the end of the Gazette.

Moreover, they are all full maps, including not only Jiaozhi in the south, but also the grasslands in the north and the Western Regions in the west.

Of all the maps, the Tang and Yuan dynasty map is the largest in area, while the Ming dynasty map is the most expansive (covering a wide range of areas), and even the map of the Qing dynasty is included.

The Han Dynasty does not recognize the legitimacy of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but it does acknowledge the territory once controlled by the Manchu Qing.

Matsudaira Nobuaki didn't pay attention to the maps of the Qing Dynasty, as they were too conventional and uninteresting. What truly drew his attention were the maps of the Tang, Yuan, and Ming dynasties.

Leaving aside the Tang Dynasty, the sheer size of its territory at its peak almost made his jaw drop.

(Map of the Tang Dynasty)
For a long time, Japan and many Asian countries actually referred to Chinese people as Tang people, rather than China or the Celestial Empire.

Looking at the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty did not occupy much territory in the south, with Yunnan being the largest area. However, the area in the north was truly terrifying.

It not only annexed Korea, but also annexed most of the vast area north of the Great Wall.

(Note: Based on current historical research, although it cannot be proven that the Lingbei Province of the Yuan Dynasty controlled the entire territory of Siberia, it should have been able to reach two-thirds of it. This can be inferred from the latitudes that could have been reached by examining the notes of some officials, which record sunset times and natural phenomena such as the aurora.)
If it weren't for seeing this map published by Da Han, Matsudaira Nobuaki wouldn't have known that there was such a vast area in northern China.

The Mongols were indeed terrifying. Such a vast territory must have given rise to an incredibly powerful nation, yet the Mongols were able to defeat them.

The Yuan Dynasty's map shows the north as the largest area, while the Ming Dynasty's map is quite outrageous. The territory of the Ming Dynasty, including the various regional military commands, is about the same size as the Qing Dynasty combined, but the overseas territories are also too numerous.

Old Port Pacification Commission, the Three Pacification Commissions and Six Pacification Commissions in Southeast Asia, Demas Pacification Commission (Bangladesh region, where the Ming Dynasty official seal was unearthed by the British), Dewula Pacification Commission, Chadi Port Sub-Commission, Governor-General of Luzon (this governor-general is not the same as that governor-general), Malacca Outer Province, Sumatra Official Factory, Calicut Official Factory (western India), Hormuz Official Factory (Iran), Rongdi Thousand-Household Office (Syria).

This is only overseas territory; if we include dependent states, the territory is even more extensive.

Even during the Qianlong era, a very abstract event occurred: the Torgut Khanate, which had been established during the Yongle era of the Ming Dynasty, fled from the Volga River to China and submitted to the Qing Dynasty during the Qianlong era.

Emperor Qianlong was initially delighted, believing this to be a testament to his prestige and achievements, bringing the vassal state back to the Qing Dynasty.

As a result, the last Khan of the Torgut presented a seal inscribed with "Yongle of the Ming Dynasty," which nearly enraged Emperor Qianlong to the point of beheading him.

In the end, they had no choice but to reluctantly settle the Torgut tribe in Xinjiang. It seems that a TV series was even made about it, called "The Return of the Heroes".

Matsudaira Nobuaki carefully examined each map, and a strange fear suddenly welled up in his heart.

The emperor of the Celestial Empire posted maps of past dynasties and marked them with such detailed territories and vassal states. Surely he didn't have any bad intentions!
Probably not, it won't happen.

……

(End of this chapter)