Song Dynasty: Yuan Dynasty, you didn't expect this, did you? I'm still alive.

In the thirteenth year of Xingwei (1361), the "Chicken Eating Tournament" in Cambodia finally came to an end.

Of the original twenty chieftains, only three survived the continuous fighting and plundering—Chen Wuge, Lin Zhenla, and Zhou Funan; the rest were either annexed or destroyed.

The vast Khmer land is dotted with scattered village ruins, corpses, and barren fields. When the wind blows, it stirs up clouds of dust, carrying the pungent smell of blood.

At this very moment, Zhao Yu personally led 10,000 Song soldiers into this devastated land.

The army arrived outside the camp where the three men were stationed. Ji Bai, dressed in a Song Dynasty official robe, strode into the camp and loudly proclaimed, "The Great Khan of Heaven and Earth, the supreme ruler of the universe, has decreed that you three must come to court immediately!"

"Your subject obeys the decree." Chen Wuge and Zhou Funan bowed almost subconsciously and turned to leave with Ji Bai—in their hearts, they were Zhao Yu's subordinates, and it was only natural for them to pay homage to the emperor.

"Wait!" Lin Zhenla suddenly stepped forward, stopping the two men with his hand. His voice was extremely low, and his eyes were full of vigilance. "My two brothers, don't forget, of the twenty chieftains before, only the three of us remain! All of this was orchestrated by that Great Khan. Now that he's summoning us, isn't he just leaving us to be slaughtered?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Wuge and Zhou Funan paused, their eyes narrowing slightly. After a moment of contemplation, they said in deep voices, "The Great Khan's mind is as unfathomable as an abyss; we naturally cannot fathom it. But to say he intends to harm us, is that possible? If he wanted to act, he could have done so after conquering Angkor Thom. Why wait until today, until we have fought to the point where only the three of us remain?"

Lin Zhenla was stunned for a moment, and after thinking about it carefully, he felt that there was some truth to what he said.

He was of humble birth and rose to the position of commander through fighting. During this time, he also learned some political strategies from the captured Khmer nobles. However, he had never heard of a monarch harming a general who had made "meritorious contributions" at such a time when the country was pacifying chaos and needed to appease the people.

Little did he know that he had chosen the wrong teacher—as early as the end of the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang's execution of Han Xin, Peng Yue, and other kings of different surnames had already vividly demonstrated this "killing the dog after the rabbit is caught" scenario.

With their own thoughts in mind, the three followed Ji Bai to Zhao Yu's camp.

A sumptuous feast had already been set up in the camp, with agate wine cups, white jade plates, and the table laden with roast suckling pig, steamed sea fish, exquisite pastries, and dozens of jars of fine wine labeled "Imperial Brew of the Great Song Dynasty," their aroma filling the air.

Zhao Yu's pomp and circumstance completely opened the eyes of the three of them.

They had never seen such a luxurious banquet. They picked up their wine glasses and rubbed the smooth sides of the glasses. Looking at the dishes on the table that they had never tasted before, they all exclaimed in their hearts: The Great Khan is indeed rich in the world, and the products of the Great Song Dynasty are so abundant!

After several rounds of drinks and dishes, the three gradually lowered their guard, and their faces showed signs of intoxication.

Just then, Zhao Yu put down his wine cup, changed the subject, and finally revealed his true intentions.

He slowly recounted the story of Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty, who famously "released his military power over a cup of wine." Then, raising his wine cup, he smiled at the three men: "You three have rendered great service in pacifying the Khmer Empire for me. Now that the chaos is about to end, I wish to bestow upon you endless riches and honors. I wonder if you would be willing to relinquish your military power and return to your hometowns to enjoy your later years?"

Upon hearing this, the three of them felt as if they had been doused with a bucket of cold water, instantly sobering up. The drunkenness on their faces vanished, leaving only shock.

Just then, they caught a glimpse of people moving around outside and heard the faint sound of armor clashing. Their hearts were filled with fear and dread—they had only come to the banquet!

What is the Great Khan trying to do?

Lin Zhenla reacted the fastest. He stood up abruptly, then knelt down with a thud, kowtowing repeatedly: "Thank you for your great grace, Great Khan! I am willing to relinquish my military power and only wish to return to my hometown to farm!"

Upon seeing this, Chen Wuge and Zhou Funan dared not hesitate for a moment and immediately knelt down, saying in unison, "Your subjects are also willing to obey the Great Khan's decree!"

"Very well!" Zhao Yu nodded in satisfaction, raised his wine cup, and said, "Since that's the case, let's drink this cup to the bottom and make this agreement a reality!"

The three of them dared not delay, and quickly picked up their wine glasses, tilted their heads back, and drank them down in one gulp.

Lin Zhenla put down his wine cup and looked up to see that Zhao Yu's wine cup remained untouched, still full of wine.

He couldn't help but feel puzzled: Could it be that this imperial brew didn't suit the Great Khan's taste?

But the Great Khan clearly drank quite a lot just now!

Before he could figure it out, Zhao Yu's lips twitched a few times, then he couldn't help but burst into laughter, his laughter full of mockery: "Hahaha! Just teasing you! You're nothing but a bunch of barbarians, do you think you're worthy of my use of 'releasing military power over a cup of wine'?"

Before he could finish speaking, Zhao Yu casually threw the wine cup on the ground, where it shattered with a crash, spilling wine everywhere.

Upon hearing the commotion, the Song soldiers who had been waiting outside the door immediately grabbed their steel knives and rushed into the hall like wolves and tigers. Before the three men could react, they hacked them to death.

Blood splattered across the lavish banquet, creating a stark contrast with the white jade plates and agate wine glasses.

How dare they abduct his slaves? How dare they delay his construction of the Buddhist palace?

Then let the entire Khmer Rouge be turned into a white wasteland!

After dealing with the three men, Zhao Yu issued an edict ordering his 150,000 Yellow Turban soldiers to return to their hometowns and cultivate the land.

He promised that all the fields in Cambodia were currently unclaimed, and that if they cultivated them diligently, the land would belong to the farmers after three years.

The Yellow Turban soldiers were all of commoner origin and had a natural desire for land.

Upon hearing that they could be allocated land, they cheered instantly, put down their weapons, packed their bags, and couldn't wait to return to their hometown.

Some generals who were unwilling to relinquish their power tried to obstruct the operation, but because Zhao Yu had already taken control of the army's supplies, they were powerless to incite him and ultimately had no choice but to compromise.

Of course, there were also a few desperate individuals who tried to incite some soldiers to riot.

As a result, a volley of fire from the Song army instantly obliterated the instigators, turning them into a bloody mess and bringing other restless individuals to their senses.

Zhao Yu ordered the execution of all 10,000 Yellow Turban soldiers who had rebelled, and at the same time, randomly selected 10,000 Yellow Turban soldiers who had not rebelled were also executed as a result of collective punishment.

He knew that barbarians feared power but did not appreciate virtue; only bloodshed could make them completely submit.

As expected, this cruel act did not cause unrest among the Yellow Turban Army; instead, it made the remaining soldiers more docile and filled them with awe and respect for Zhao Yu.

Subsequently, Zhao Yu ordered the 200,000 Yellow Turban soldiers who were building a Buddhist palace in Bangkok to return to their Khmer homeland to farm.

In this way, Zhao Yu easily resolved the natural disaster crisis of the Khmer Empire in the simplest and most direct way.

Even in the face of the most devastating natural disasters, the fertile land of Cambodia is sufficient to support more than 300,000 people.

If you can't change natural disasters, then change the population size—that was Zhao Yu's solution.

"I have gone to great lengths for the survival of the people of the Khmer Empire!" Zhao Yu stood on the high slope, looking down at the civilians returning home one after another, and sighed with a "compassionate" expression, "In all this world, is there any ruler more benevolent than me?"

After this battle, Zhao Yu's "Kill Record" (kda) exceeded 1.5 million, surpassing Bai Qi and Hamid II, ranking ninth on the list of human history's deadliest killers.

In the fourteenth year of Xingwei (1362), the Khmer region ushered in the autumn harvest.

As it turned out, Zhao Yu's idea was correct—even though the natural disasters had not completely subsided, the Khmer people still enjoyed a long-awaited bumper harvest due to the abundance of land per capita.

Golden rice paddies covered the fields, smiles returned to the faces of the people, and the Khmer region gradually returned to stability.

Because the Eastern Song court did not contribute a single soldier or expend a single ounce of grain in the campaign against the Khmer Empire, Zhao Yu directly incorporated the Khmer region into the territory of the Kingdom of Siam.

As a result, the power of the King of Siam was greatly strengthened once again.

As the King of Siam, Zhao Yu was not subject to any restrictions from the Eastern Song court.

He pursued a firm policy of nepotism in Siam, placing all his friends and confidants from Xinxiang in important positions there.

Even so, Siam had just been incorporated into the Khmer Empire, and its vast territory still had a large number of official vacancies.

Without a second thought, Zhao Yu immediately began the process of buying and selling official positions.

He decreed that any Song citizen, regardless of their social status, whether they were a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination), a Juren (successful candidate in the provincial imperial examination), or a commoner, could become an official in Siam as long as they paid enough money.

Even noble titles can be bought and sold—in the Eastern Song Dynasty, noble titles could only be posthumously conferred upon high-ranking officials of the third rank or above, but now in Siam, you can get them for money.

The price varies depending on the official rank and noble title.

As for whether these official positions and titles were recognized in the Eastern Song Dynasty, Zhao Yu made no guarantee—after all, he was only the King of Siam.

But he can guarantee that, in his personal capacity as "the supreme Khan of Heaven, Earth, and Man, who governs all under Heaven and Earth," he will acknowledge the legitimacy of these official positions and titles.

When the news reached the Eastern Song court, it immediately sparked a wave of criticism.

The ministers angrily denounced, "That damned Ji Bai! He must have bewitched the emperor to commit such a corrupt and disrespectful act!"

Surprisingly, merchants from the Eastern Song Dynasty showed an extraordinary enthusiasm for these Siamese official positions and titles.

There are reasons behind this: in the early Eastern Song Dynasty, the population was small, so compulsory education was implemented; later, thanks to prosperous commerce and sufficient finances, compulsory education continued even as the population increased.

When the first generation of people who received compulsory education grew up, the number of people who had read and written books increased dramatically, and the cost of compulsory education actually decreased a lot—after all, everyone could read and write, and anyone who had read and written books could be a teacher.

This directly led to the imperial examinations in the Eastern Song Dynasty becoming increasingly difficult year by year, making it virtually impossible to pass the Jinshi examination, akin to one's ancestors' graves emitting auspicious smoke.

Even if one is fortunate enough to pass the imperial examination, one may not be able to become an official immediately. One still needs to be placed on the waiting list and wait patiently for an official position to become available.

Nevertheless, the Song people's pursuit of official positions was already ingrained in their very being.

Even though merchants lived comfortably, they still maintained a certain social status through their relationships with officials. In private conversations, they would scoff at the officials' hard work and say, "It's not as enjoyable as doing business."

But once an opportunity to become an official arises, they will still eagerly flock to it.

The most typical example is the competition among merchants from the Western Chamber of Commerce to purchase official positions in the Indian Viceroy's Office.

Although the official positions and titles of the Kingdom of Siam are nominally those of a vassal state, the King of Siam is the current official of the Song Dynasty and also the Emperor of the Song Dynasty.

After rounding up or down, wouldn't that be equivalent to them buying official positions and titles in the Song Dynasty?

Even if we take a step back and assume that these official positions and titles were not recognized at all in the Eastern Song Dynasty, the fact that "others have them and you don't" means that when you go out to do business, others will announce a string of prefixes such as "official or noble of Siam" while you have nothing. This will make you feel inferior from the start and lose face.

For this reason, the official positions and titles offered by the Kingdom of Siam were quickly snapped up by merchants from the Eastern Song Dynasty.

When Zhao Yu took stock of the imperial treasury, he was pleasantly surprised to find that from the time he embarked on his campaign in the eleventh year of Xingwei to the time he pacified the Khmer Empire in the fourteenth year of Xingwei, a full four years, he recruited 20,000 Song soldiers, purchased countless grains and supplies, and spent a huge sum of money to build a Buddhist palace. However, the money in the imperial treasury not only did not decrease, but actually increased significantly.

You can't spend it all, you simply can't spend it all!