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

"You all speak Chinese, so you must study this book carefully."

"Two months from now, the imperial court will hold a special examination for you."

"Those who pass the exam will be promoted one rank if they already hold an official position, and will be immediately granted an official position if they do not!"

Is it related to becoming an official?

An official immediately said, "My family has a genealogy, which clearly states that my ancestors migrated from Nanhai County!"

Xie Hong laughed and said, "Then your ancestors were from Guangzhou."

There was also a scholar who did not become an official, and whose family had no genealogy.

In an attempt to curry favor with Xie Hong, he fabricated a story about his ancestral origins on the spot: "My ancestors migrated from Luoyang during the Tang Dynasty!"

Xie Hong said with a smile, "If your ancestors hadn't migrated, they would be people from the capital region of the Ming Dynasty by now."

The scholar laughed along, as if he truly believed his ancestral home was Luoyang.

For the next period of time, these guys took the "A Brief Account of Jiaozhi" and spread it around, telling everyone they met that their ancestors came from China and that Jiaozhi had always been Chinese territory.

If anyone disagrees, they will cite historical records as evidence.

The nobles and officials of Annam were also ordered to send their sons to study at the Imperial Academy.

They enrolled over two hundred students at once, and the professors and instructors were all newly arrived scholars from Guangdong and Guangxi.

These young sons of officials were brainwashed in just a few lessons, and when they went home they asked their grandfathers and fathers to check their family genealogy to find out where their ancestors came from in China.

The grand-scale promotion of the "Jiaozhi Zhilue" made many court officials feel as if they were facing a formidable enemy, but they dared not oppose it for the time being.

It wasn't until Zhao Kang ordered that the "Jiaozhi Zhilue" be made a required subject in the imperial examinations that a minister from Annam finally couldn't help but speak out.

The result is simple—

"The traitor Du Yingwu has been defeated and fled. It has recently been discovered that Du Yingwu has secretly sent people to contact his remaining followers, intending to stage another coup in Daluo Prefecture."

"The imperial court has arrested several people and is subjecting them to severe torture..."

"According to the confessions of the traitors, Li Tao, Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, Tong Li, Yuan Kan, Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Personnel, and Ruan Yanzhi, Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue... all of the above are remnants of the traitor Du's faction and should be arrested and imprisoned for thorough interrogation..."

After the interrogation, some people were released without charge and from then on became well-versed in the "Jiaozhi Zhilue" (A Brief Account of Jiaozhi).

Some people, however, verified the evidence and confirmed that they were indeed remnants of Du's traitorous gang, and ordered the confiscation of their property and the extermination of their entire families!

In just two months, four local rebellions broke out in Jiaozhi.

The Ming army only launched one attack; the remaining three attacks were relatively minor, and King Zhiming led his troops to wipe them out.

Oh, and King Zhiming also discovered a family genealogy at home.

Genealogical records indicate that the founding monarch of the Ly Dynasty in Annam came from Jinjiang, China…

This isn't made up, it's fucking real!

The royal family of the Annam Ly Dynasty originated from Raoyang, Hebei, and later moved to Jinjiang, Fujian. Some of their relatives from Jinjiang even served as officials during the Ming Dynasty.

One branch became maritime merchants, initially traveling between Zhenla (Cambodia) and gradually moving to Jiaozhi (Vietnam) where they settled.

At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, Fujian became more stable, and they even returned to their ancestral home in Jinjiang to update their family genealogy.

King Jimyeong Yi Yangjeong produced the royal family genealogy and allowed the ministers to peruse it during the court assembly, instantly silencing everyone.

Chapter 3714 Empress Dowager Li

Zhao Kang naturally wanted to reciprocate, so he wrote a letter to Luoyang to help request an official appointment.

From this day forward, Li Yangzhen will not only be the Zhiming King of Annam, but also the Shangyi Marquis conferred by the Ming Emperor.

Zhao Yuan even sent people to Annam to propose marriage, welcoming Li Yangzhen's daughter to be the Empress Zhen of the Great Ming Dynasty.

Li Mansion.

Li Yu called her son over and asked, "Hasn't our family genealogy been compiled yet?"

Li Song replied, "It's being aged; it will take some more time."

"Tell them to hurry up!" Li Yu said anxiously.

Le Huy's great-grandfather was Le Hoan, the founding monarch of the Le Dynasty.

After the Ly dynasty usurped the throne, some members of the Ly clan died, but they still survived in the new dynasty. Le Thieu even became a prince consort of the Ly dynasty.

Whether it was the Le Dynasty or the Ly Dynasty, they all used the same old trick of bestowing a yellow robe upon someone.

Taking advantage of the fact that the young emperor was only six years old, Li Huan seduced the Empress Dowager and appointed himself as a vice-king.

And because Zhao Guangyi sent troops, he shouted that he would lead his army to resist, and put on a yellow robe as soon as he left the capital.

In fact, if the Northern Song Dynasty had been better prepared, Zhao Guangyi would have recovered Annam much earlier.

The Northern Song Dynasty had been preparing for war since July of the previous year, but delayed until March of the following year to set out with its troops, completely unaware of Annam's climate.

This timing of troop deployment coincided perfectly with Annam's hot and humid rainy season!

During battles, the actions of Northern Song generals were also perplexing.

The commander-in-chief won a great victory, prompting the other generals to quickly lead their troops to follow.

As a result, the generals did not take advantage of the end of the dry season to advance, but insisted on staying in place to wait for the navy to come and join forces.

The delay lasted for more than seventy days, dragging on until the hottest and most humid season, resulting in countless soldiers dying from illness due to the hot and humid environment.

The naval forces' version is even more absurd: Annam planted spies in the river, and it took them two months to remove them.

Then Li Huan sent someone to feign surrender. The Northern Song general was already very anxious at this point and rushed to accept the surrender with a small number of troops.

Then, the Northern Song general was surrounded and killed!

Zhao Guangyi was furious and executed all the military commanders, forcing him to recognize Annam's independence.

……

Several days later, the Li family's "genealogy" was aged.

Holding the thick family genealogy, Li Yu ran to pay his respects to Zhao Kang: "Greetings, Your Highness the Regent, Father of the King. I have found a family genealogy in the old Li family residence."

Zhao Kang smiled and said, "When the Le family ruled Annam, didn't they posthumously honor several generations of their ancestors? They didn't say they came from China at the time."

Li Yu explained, “At that time, only four generations of ancestors were posthumously honored. Now that we have found the family genealogy at the old house, we know that my Li family migrated to Annam in the early Tang Dynasty. My Li family is also a Chinese family!”

Zhao Kang nodded and said, "I see. This genealogy book must be kept safe."

“I will certainly do my best to safeguard it,” Li Yu said. “My eldest daughter has already remarried Your Highness as a concubine.”

"Please take in the second and third daughters as well, Your Highness. They are lonely in the palace."

"All my other daughters are married, but my twelfth daughter is still unmarried. If Your Highness is interested..."

Zhao Kang interrupted in surprise: "You have so many daughters?"

Li Yu said, "I have eight sons and twelve daughters, all of whom have survived to a young age."

"If I can bear a child for Your Highness, it will certainly not die young."

Zhao Kang neither agreed nor disagreed, only commenting, "Impressive!"

Just how absurd was the deceased King Ly Duong Huan of Annam?

He forbade his ministers from marrying off their daughters; he had to personally select all the remaining adult women before they could be married.

Chapter 3715 Annam's Integrity

The underage girls at that time were not allowed to marry until he selected a concubine again.

Such a ridiculous rule was actually followed by the ministers of Annan, which shows that there are very few people with backbone.

The three Li sisters entered the palace together at that time.

Zhao Kang only married his eldest son; his second and third sons are still widows in the palace.

Li Yu's thoughts were simple: to remarry all three of her daughters to Zhao Kang, and also to marry her underage twelfth daughter to Zhao Kang.

He is afraid!

The Le family belonged to the royal family of the previous dynasty, and their marriage with the royal family of the Ly dynasty was a form of political cooperation.

Once the Ming Dynasty annexed Annam, they would become the former royal family of the previous dynasty and would completely lose their last bit of political influence.

Moreover, the Lê clan was constantly suppressed by the Lý dynasty, and the main clan members could only hold sinecure positions, unable to develop their own power.

They must cling to a large tree, otherwise their family will struggle to survive.

And Da Ming and Zhao Kang are that big tree.

To this end, the Li family even forged their genealogy, making their ancestors appear to be Han Chinese who migrated south.

……

Since Madam Li was so considerate, Zhao Kang naturally reciprocated.

He married all the Li sisters, who were widows in the palace.

However, Zhao Kang did not accept Li Yu's twelfth daughter as his wife, but instead married her to Han Jing as a concubine.

The release of the Li family genealogy caused a stir in the court and among the public!

It turns out that the ancestors of the Le and Ly families, who ruled Annam for two consecutive generations, were actually Chinese.

Xie Hong seized the opportunity to publicize the matter extensively, and even obtained an imperial edict to be posted throughout the country to announce it to the world.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the imperial examination reform was implemented, and the "Jiaozhi Zhilue" was listed as a compulsory subject.

For a time, the entire Annamite government and people took pride in their Chinese lineage, sparking a surge in the compilation of family genealogies.

Actually, they've been doing this for a long time.

Especially those prominent families, many of whose genealogies include Chinese ancestors, and they like to align themselves with the five surnames and seven clans.

The same was true of the Dali Kingdom; those families also had Chinese ancestors.

They are either descendants of a general from the Han or Tang dynasties, or descendants of a civil official from the Han dynasty, or even claim to be members of the Han or Tang imperial family.

Only in this way can their noble lineage and long history be demonstrated.

After Li Yangzhen and Li Yu produced their family genealogies, those without genealogies made them up on the spot, while those with genealogies began searching for their relatives.

Regardless of whether their family genealogies were authentic, they all requested to visit their ancestral home to see their relatives, and even demanded that the Ming and Annam courts reimburse their travel expenses...

Zhao Kang asked, "This is a great thing, but it's too wasteful."

Xie Hong suggested, "Regardless of other places of origin, those whose ancestral homes are in Guangdong, Guangxi, or Fujian can arrange to travel by boat together."

"The imperial court is only responsible for transporting them to a few ports free of charge; the rest of the journey to find their relatives is up to them."

“Good.” Zhao Kang immediately agreed.

King Zhiming, Li Yangzhen, was the most proactive, personally taking a boat to Fujian.

Moreover, the search for relatives went exceptionally smoothly, and the Li Clan Ancestral Hall in Zhongcai Township, Anhai Town, Jinjiang County, Quanzhou Prefecture, is still thriving today.

Ly Cong Uan, the founding monarch of the Ly Dynasty in Annam, was the second son of Ly Chun'an of the Anhai Ly clan in Jinjiang.

They weren't originally from Anhai Town; they moved there to do business.

Li Gongyun's elder brother, Li Gongzao, did not go to sea with his father but stayed there and became the progenitor of the Anhai Li clan.

The family genealogy is written very clearly!

Li Yangzhen originally came to perform, but when he arrived at the Li Clan Ancestral Hall and saw the ancestral tablets, even the tablet of his great-grandfather, he immediately knelt there and wept in worship.

Chapter 3716 I Am Also a Man of Han

The clan chief took out the family genealogy and said, "We are a branch of the Li family in Quanzhou, and there is an even larger ancestral hall over there."

So Li Yangzhen went to the Li Clan Ancestral Hall in Quanzhou.

Local officials, gentry, and merchants all warmly welcomed Li Yangzhen.

Some Li family merchants took the opportunity to discuss business, and Li Yangzhen readily agreed, welcoming his clansmen from his hometown to do business in Annam.

All the sights and experiences encountered along the way were recorded in detail.