Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

The Hanlin official began to tell the stories of Yao, Shun, and Yu.

Avari exclaimed, "The three kings Yao, Shun, and Yu are so much like our four caliphs!"

"They all possess supreme virtues, never covet money and power, and will choose the perfect successor."

Mullek listened silently to the stories of Yao, Shun, and Yu, seemingly lost in thought.

The courtyards where envoys from various countries resided were frequented by officials from the Hanlin Academy of the Ming Dynasty, who would chat about all sorts of topics every day.

They would stop every now and then to learn each other's language.

They were both intelligent people and learned very quickly.

At night, Mullerk spoke with Anwari.

Anwari said, "Why hasn't the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty summoned us yet?"

Mullek laughed and said, "Didn't you hear today? The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is going hunting and wants us to come along too."

"He wants to demonstrate his military strength first to intimidate us before he will summon us for a special audience."

Anwari nodded and said, "The Sultan often does this too."

“After conquering a state, he would send the king and officials of the vassal state on a hunting trip.”

Sultan Sanjar nearly met his end while hunting during his second conquest of the Western Karakhanid Khanate; he was assassinated and nearly died there.

Enraged, he replaced the king of the Western Karakhanid Khanate with the country's third prince, who was also his nephew.

Mullek stood up and drew his sword: "This is a good opportunity to see just how the Ming army is."

"The one who annexed the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate, Jur Khan (Yelü Dashi), was said to have been driven away by the northern barbarians, and the Ming emperor then annihilated those barbarians."

"Therefore, the Ming Dynasty was more powerful than the barbarians, the barbarians were more powerful than the Jurchens, and the Jurchens were more powerful than the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate."

"Can you compare them like that?" Anwari was a little stunned.

"The Sultan has decided to conquer Gurkhan, and I can't dissuade him," Mullek said.

"We must carefully examine the military strength of the Ming Dynasty and make an assessment of the military strength of Jurhan."

Anwari said, "The Ming army, with only a few thousand soldiers, suffered only minor casualties and helped the Prince of Ceylon restore his kingdom."

"You heard and saw their weapons that could strike thunder, which they had on the ship. They could eliminate the enemy from a great distance."

"That weapon is indeed powerful, but it's not the most crucial element," Muller said.

"The main problem is that Ceylon is too weak, and the Ming army also has a Ceylon prince in their hands."

"The army left behind by the false king in the capital was instigated by the prince to rebel; otherwise, how could the Ming army have won so easily?"

“If our army were to suddenly encounter a weapon that can generate thunder, they would probably panic and flee,” Anwari said.

Mullek said, "So we should take advantage of the hunting opportunity to thoroughly investigate the Ming army's strengths and weaknesses."

"Ideally, we could learn how to manufacture that weapon!"

Anwari shook his head and said, "It's too difficult. They don't allow outsiders to get close."

"Now many envoys from various states speculate that that weapon is a power bestowed by the gods of the East."

Muller said, "God only gives us morality and wisdom; He cannot give any mortal any power."

"Morality and wisdom make people strong, not a god."

The central army of the Ming Dynasty, stationed in Luoyang and Kaifeng, has not fought a war for several years.

This hunt serves as a perfect opportunity to both showcase military might to the envoys of various countries and to allow the central army to conduct a proper military exercise.

Chapter 3672 The King and His Wise Minister

The day before the hunt began, Zhao Yuan moved into Dongxi Garden.

During this period, the first results of the exchanges between Eastern and Western scholars were compiled into materials concerning political systems, kings, and wise ministers.

Although Zhao Yuan didn't think much of it, he still read it as interesting information.

As Zhao Yuan read on, he was surprised to discover that Mullek's grandfather, the prime minister, was truly amazing.

During his tenure, he established systems, determined the calendar, reformed the tax system, streamlined the military and government, built post stations, dug canals, promoted education, and encouraged industry and commerce...

He also established universities in all major cities, which not only taught general knowledge and doctrine, but also offered subjects such as philosophy, history, astronomy, medicine, and literature.

These Seljuk universities, like the official schools of the Ming Dynasty, were funded by government appropriations and owned a large amount of real estate as subsidies.

In addition to free room and board, students can even receive scholarships!

However, with the assassination of that prime minister and the subsequent division and turmoil of the Seljuk Empire,

Many of these schools had closed down at one point, but several have reopened in the last twenty years.

The most famous one at present is called Nietzschemi University.

The school is located outside Baghdad and consists of a large complex of brick buildings, which was supported by funds allocated by the Caliph during the war.

The Seljuk Sultan is now eager to provide funding, not only to win over the scholars and students at the university, but also to rely on the university to continuously train officials.

Several prime ministers in a row were graduates of this university.

Other officials, such as Shahs and governors, are also frequently appointed from this university.

In terms of schools and student numbers alone, Seljuk had basically met the conditions for the imperial examination system and could have established the kind of imperial examination system that existed during the Sui and Tang dynasties.

After reading the story of this legendary prime minister, Zhao Yuan picked up another book, the Rubaiyat.

This book is extremely famous, especially during the Republican era, when it was translated into multiple versions by Guo Moruo, Hu Shi, Wen Yiduo, Xu Zhimo, Zhu Xiang, and others.

It was born at Nitzimia University in Baghdad, and the author had only been dead for a few years.

The Ming Dynasty translation is quite interesting; the title of the Rubaiyat is "Tianfang Jueju".

The previous Seljuk envoy, Abu, had already begun translating with the Hanlin Academy officials of the Ming Dynasty.

He didn't finish translating when he returned to China, but he translated the gist of all the poems into plain language.

Meanwhile, the Hanlin scholars of the Ming Dynasty, having nothing better to do, actually translated all the Persian quatrains into quatrains based on these vernacular expressions!

Correspondingly, the quatrains brought back from China were translated into quatrains by Seljuk poets.

Rubaiyat is a quatrain.

Even the rhyming rules for the last word of each line are the same as those for Chinese quatrains.

The author of the Rubaiyat, who had died only a few years earlier, had more than twenty of his works brought back to Luoyang.

Two of them are extremely important.

One of them is the Seljuk calendar, which this person revised.

A book called "Algebra" can already solve quadratic equations in a concise way, but the author doubts that there is a conventional way to solve cubic equations.

This author was not only a poet, astronomer, and mathematician, but also a physician and philosopher.

Moreover, he came from a humble background; his father was an Arab craftsman who made tents.

If someone from such a background could become a renowned scholar, it shows that the Seljuk imperial examination system was indeed a viable option.

"Dong dong dong dong!"

The clock struck, and Zhao Yuan put down his book, blew out the lamp, and went to sleep.

Automatic clocks have been invented, but they are too large and need to be reduced in size and improved before they can be put on the market.

However, clock towers in major cities have already begun to adopt this design.

……

Upon waking up in the early morning, Zhao Yuan put on the Heavenly King Armor and rode his horse to the Heavenly Horse Ranch in the south.

A temporary command platform was set up there, and Zhao Yuan, dressed in armor, sat upright on the platform, surrounded by heavily armored guards on either side of him.

First, civil and military officials of the fifth rank and above lined up to bow and pay their respects to the emperor.

"Summon the envoys of all nations!"

The envoys, deputy envoys, and guards from more than thirty countries, all wearing their own armor, stepped forward one after another.

If they did not bring their own, the Ming Dynasty would issue them standard armor.

More than two hundred people lined up in two rows, bowing haphazardly to Zhao Yuan.

The etiquette should be according to the customs of each country.

Zhao Yuan wasn't Zhu Di, who insisted that envoys from all nations kneel.

When Timur's envoy refused to kneel, Zhu Di could only laugh it off. Could he possibly have beheaded the envoy?

That envoy was Timur's prime minister.

At this moment, some people are kneeling on both knees, some on one knee, some with their arms crossed and bowing, and there are many other variations.

For example, when kneeling on both knees, some messengers simply kowtowed, some clasped their hands together, and some suddenly prostrated themselves on the ground.

The way people bow with their arms crossed is also different; some cross their arms over their chests, while others place one hand diagonally across their chest.

When Hu Anguo, the Minister of Rites, saw this, he felt very uncomfortable.

He felt that they could train in advance to unify the envoys' movements, so as to reflect the majesty of all nations paying tribute.

Several artists stood on either side of the platform, having already captured the scene of the worship.

Chapter 3673 All Nations Pay Tribute

Take out your paintbrush and quickly sketch out the basic shape. You can take the rest home and refine it at your leisure.

It is estimated that several "All Nations Paying Homage" paintings can be produced.

After the envoys stepped aside and took their positions, Zhang Guangdao rode up on horseback and announced: "The six armies are ready; please inspect them, Your Majesty!"

"Qiang!"

Zhao Yuan stood up and drew his sword: "Review the troops."

Troops marched through the farmland; although the wheat had been harvested, other crops were still planted in the fields.

The damaged farmland should be exempted from autumn grain harvest and compensated for seedling costs.

That's what the Northern Song Dynasty did. Regardless of whether the funds actually reached the farmers, the imperial court allocated money for military reviews.

The central army in Luoyang and Kaifeng has been withdrawn from the field army and reorganized into the Imperial Guards of the two capitals.

The unit designations are as follows: Shence, Shenwu, Shenxiao, Shenji, Longxiang, Huyi, Yingyang, and Baotao.

There is another imperial guard: the Imperial Guard.

If we include the civilian and logistics personnel with official positions, the total number of personnel in these nine units is close to 100,000.

They were not all stationed in the two capital cities, but also occupied various major transportation routes.

The military garrisons around Luoyang are located in the following towns: Yanxi Town, Liuquan Town, Yique Town, Baibo Town, and Goushi Town.

The military garrison locations around Kaifeng include: Chenqiao Town, Guoqiao Town, Banqiao Town, Chicang Town, and Luguan Town.

The military camps are some distance from the towns, and the daily consumption of the soldiers makes these towns even more prosperous.

The conscription and demobilization system has also been reformed, with two models: one for inner towns and one for outer towns.

Inner towns are prefectures that don't fight much, and each county has a certain number of conscription slots.

Farmers' sons could volunteer to sign up. If a county could not gather enough soldiers, it would forcibly conscript soldiers from families with two or more able-bodied men to make up the difference.

New recruits from prefectures and counties were sent to the prefectural city for training, and were assigned based on their training performance by the general and the regional commander.

They were sent to various military units throughout the province for formal enlistment—given the current transportation conditions, this was only possible within the province.

Soldiers in the inner-township troops have a basic service period of five years.

If you fail to qualify for promotion after the required service period, you will be forced to retire from the military.

This system has led to a significant increase in military spending.

The outer towns, on the other hand, are located in the border regions.

Based on the local population and basic service life.