Emperor Ming Dynasty

Bhutan is an amazing country.

This place belonged to the Zang District from the beginning, and the name Bhutan refers to the borderland of the Zang District.

At this time, Bhutan still maintained the Duars Plain, which was larger than modern times and was not entirely a mountainous country.

On its left is Nepal and on its right is the Zangnan region.

Like Vietnam, it had been subordinate to the Chinese plateau area for thousands of years, and it was only in the early [-]th century that it broke away from the plateau area and became an independent political entity.

At that time, Ngawang Namgyal, as the leader of the Drukpa Kagyu sect, could not bear the oppression of Zangpa Khan, so he went south to Bhutan and established a country with unified religion and administration.

Zangba Khan's three expeditions to Bhutan failed, and later Gushi Khan's two expeditions failed, which greatly increased Ngawang Namgyal's prestige and called himself Zhabdrung, becoming a nominal and de facto leader.

He is also the founding father of Bhutan.

He followed the example of Xizang and established the clan system. At the same time, the central government implemented the Zhacang system, setting up Diba to manage educational affairs, setting up Jie Khenpo, and choosing nobles to manage the secular world.

Diba and Je Khenpo even have a term limit of five years.

The separation of politics and religion is good, but it is not in line with Bhutan’s national conditions, and it immediately plunged Bhutan into a political struggle.

After Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal passed away in 1651, his disciples announced that he was in seclusion in order to stabilize Bhutan, even though everyone knew that he was no longer alive.

Quwang Valley, Tashi Quzong Palace.

The third Badampa and Je Khenpo Nawang Tseren sat across from each other and felt that this was a difficult time.

"Report, Ming people have occupied Paro Valley!"

The spies came to report, and the urgent military information made the two of them frown.

The grudges of the past disappeared immediately, and the crisis of survival made them immediately turn their hostility into friendship.

"Amitabha!" Depam chanted the Buddha's name and couldn't help but said: "Isn't there anything the army can do?"

"Dear Diba, Akito also has muskets, and they are more numerous and easier to use than us!"

The spy said helplessly.

Hearing this, Nawang Ceren had to exclaim: "I knew that the Ming Dynasty is a superior country and cannot be defeated by us."

Although the Himalayas are difficult to climb in Bhutan’s many local expeditions, Portugal’s factors are also not small.

When Portuguese missionary Casella and others visited Bhutan, they donated ammunition, muskets, artillery, telescopes, etc. to strengthen the armed forces of the Bhutanese army.

In 1634, Zangpa Khan's army marched south to Bhutan and was stationed at Thimphu Samdoka Palace. The Western gunpowder stored in the palace exploded, resulting in the complete annihilation of the Tibetan army.

Now that they know that Akito's artillery is sharper, the two of them are helpless.

Bhutan is weak, with a population of only around [-] people. The country is barren and cold, so it is really no match for the Ming Dynasty.

Depam held ten with both hands and held the beads tightly.

"Dear Diba, what should we do now?" Nawang Tseren couldn't help but asked: "Should we end the retreat of Zhabdrung Huofa?"

"Others don't know about this, don't you?" Depam said helplessly, "The master has been reincarnated a long time ago."

"The only solution for now is to negotiate." Nawang Ceren said with a wry smile: "I heard that I don't care about sectarian disputes. As long as you can recognize my sect, surrender is nothing."

"It's natural!"

Depam whispered: "Leave everything to Je Khenpo!"

Nawang Tseren naturally submitted.

He also wants to gain benefits from this negotiation.

Tian Mianxiu received a great welcome when he arrived at Thimphu Fort.

Hundreds of monks greeted him and saffron was scattered all over the ground.

This war was not too easy for Tian Mixiu. The biggest difficulty was crossing the Himalayas and replenishing supplies.

In a battle involving thousands of people, the number of casualties was less than a hundred, which was not as many as those who died of illness.

When it comes to negotiations, Tian Jianxiu is straightforward: "Bhutan will belong to the Ming Dynasty and respect the Ming Emperor as its king."

"The tax payment cannot be less."

"It's the most basic."

Nawang Tseren said seriously: "I don't know how to arrange these people like us? How can we guarantee the status of my faction in Bhutan?"

"This is not my responsibility." Tian Jianxiu shook his head and said, "My responsibility is to come and conquer you and bring Bhutan back under the rule of the imperial court."

"For specific conditions, you can go to Lhasa. His Royal Highness the Prince of Ming Dynasty is there. You can go and discuss it in detail!"

So, after the Zangli New Year, Nawang Tseren traveled all the way across the Himalayas and arrived in Lhasa with the hope of Bhutan.

At this time, Lhasa has a completely new look.

Compared with a temple-centered fortress like Thimphu, Lhasa is quite large and can accommodate nearly 10 people.

The ground is paved with stone slabs, and the houses are built of wood and stones, all in uniform order.

There are countless shops along the street, and among the pedestrians are not only nobles, but also a large number of civilians wearing coarse cloth.

That's right, civilians.

Nawang Ceren could tell at a glance that these people were not serfs, but civilians.

Because when they saluted the passing nobles, they only bowed their heads slightly, instead of kneeling down and kowtowing.

The highland barley, cloth, or meat in the basket in their hands can only be their own. The nobles basically purchase it by hand, and most of it is exchanged.

Those businessmen were not from any manor, and their clothes were beautiful, even more beautiful than the nobles like him.

Some Mongolians are hunky-backed, with strange steps and clothes that reveal their identity.

"From the Mongols and Shuote tribe."

The guiding monk on the side smiled and said: "They followed Gushi Khan to the plateau and lived in Damxung and other places. There are about [-] tents. Now His Highness the Prince is kind and has distributed the land."

"And among them he raised five thousand horsemen."

At that time, the Heshuote tribe entered Zang and brought the elites of the Heshuote tribe. They were divided into two parts, Qinghai and Xizang. Qinghai left [-] tents, while Xizang had about [-] tents.

Historically, the loss of power of the Khoshot Khanate was due to the fact that people believed in Buddhism and surrendered to the Gelug Sect over time.

"What about these people?" Nawang Ceren pointed at these "people" walking around and asked in surprise.

“They were no longer serfs, but freedmen.”

The monk said seriously: "His Royal Highness, in accordance with the emperor's wishes, wants to use Buddhism to liberate the serfs and make everyone equal."

"This..." Nawang Ceren was silent.

If it is written this way in Buddhist scriptures, is it really necessary to do this?
So what do these nobles eat?What to produce?
While walking around Lhasa, Nawang Tseren had to admit that this city was extremely prosperous.

All kinds of commodities are available, including salt, grain, and cloth, and there is no shortage.

He couldn't help but wander in front of the salt shop: "Is there no shortage of salt in Lhasa?"

“Since the salt sources from Sichuan are constantly coming to Zang, there is no shortage of salt in Lhasa.”

The monk couldn't help but praise: "Thanks to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

Nawang Tseren arrived at the Potala Palace and met His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in a gorgeous room.

Zhu Cunqu was dealing with the paperwork, and after a moment he raised his head: "Sit down!"

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Nawang Ceren couldn't help but feel shocked after hearing these words.

"Bhutan is quite fast. Tell me what the conditions are."

"Your Highness, I need you to ensure the mainstream status of the Drukpa Kagyu Sect in Bhutan."

"Okay!" Zhu Cunqu nodded and said: "Zhabdrung Huofao, right? I allow him to reincarnate in Bhutan. He is the Buddhist leader of Bhutan, and I request the emperor to canonize him as Khutuktu, ranking only under Darai and Banchan. ."

"However, Zhabdrung Huofa must choose a soul boy from the Qushui Sect." The Qushui Sect is located two hundred miles south of Lhasa and is the essence of Xizang.

Nawang Ceren thought for a while and chose to agree.

After all, Zha Zhonghuofao is just a name.

In fact, not only Zhabdrung, but also the leaders of other factions basically arranged for the reincarnation of soul boys near Lhasa.

In short, it cannot be near its temple.

Da Lai and Ban Chan even selected soul boys in the Xikang area.

If it weren't for the fear that he wouldn't be able to accept it, Zhu Cunqu even wanted him to choose a soul boy near Shuntian Mansion in Beijing.

"Besides this, if Bhutan is set up as the Prefecture of Bhutan, I can allow you to recommend officials to the various zongs (counties) within it, but Diba and Je Khenpo must be appointed and removed by the court."

"Of course, I can compromise and choose from among the Buddhist monks and nobles."

Zhu Cunqu gushed: "Bhutan's external affairs are under the control of Xizang, business travelers are not allowed to intercept, and the currency of the Ming Dynasty will continue to be used..."

Zhu Cunqu talked a lot about some details, but Nawang Ceren didn't care.

Because in his opinion, these are all side details, as long as they do not involve the interests of their sect and nobles.

For example, emancipating the serfs or something.

Therefore, he was cautious but said: "Your Highness, don't you know about this serf?"

"Oh, that's it." Zhu Cunqu said casually: "From this year on, the children born to serfs are no longer serfs, but free people."

"And nobles are not allowed to beat serfs at will. Violators will be punished with a sheep. If a serf is executed, he will be punished with a hundred sheep and two cows."

"If the nobles want to cultivate land in the future, they can only hire free people..."

Zhu Cunqu didn't care at all about the large pile of them.

He did not directly overthrow serfdom, but resorted to boiling frogs in warm water.

In fact, unless he overthrew all the nobles and divided the land among the serfs, the serfs would not have real freedom.

However, a series of restrictions have cut off a large part of serfdom, effectively improved the situation of serfs and allowed them to live like human beings.

Seeing the latter's face turning blue and white, Zhu Cuqu said casually: "Bhutan also needs to comply."

"Yes!" Nawang Cedan sighed.

"Remember, if there is any violation, don't blame me for ransacking your home."

Zhu Cunqu said in a relaxed tone: "On the plateau, I have already raided thirty noble families that were fighting against them."

"The rest are wise."

"Youngster, you should obey!"

Although serfs were important, land and religion were the fundamental interests, so Nawang Seren naturally did not dare to mess around.

"Sikkim is coming, Bhutan is coming, how long will it take for Ladakh?"

"Nepal is not easy to deal with. We have to wait until the second half of the year."

Putting down the paperwork, Zhu Cun went and sighed.

He continuously brought Sikkim and Bhutan under his rule, and at the same time continued to relocate nobles. He also continued to kill chickens and give land to small nobles and serfs, which greatly increased his prestige on the plateau.

During this time, he was able to research the major sects on the plateau.

The four major sects are Nyingma (Red Sect), Sakya (Flower Sect), Kagyu (White Sect), and Gelug (Yellow Sect).

Including various branches, there are no less than three to five hundred species.

But there is no doubt that there are reasons why the Gelug Sect can occupy the mainstream.

Because the Gelug Sect is the only sect that strictly requires observance of precepts, it looks more like a monk.

It requires monks to live a purely religious life in the temple and strictly prohibits marrying wives and having children to participate in secular life.

When he learned that monks could marry and have children, and even live from father to son, and from generation to generation in the same family, Zhu Cunqu had to sigh that the Gelug sect had no injustice in the world.

"Mongolia is the pillar, the free people are also pillars, and the small nobles are also pillars, but the biggest one is the temple."

"There has been no chaos for such a long time, although it is because I have the troops in hand, but the fundamental reason is that I have not involved the fundamental interests of the Gelug sect."

Zhu Cuqu murmured: "As long as the temple land remains unchanged and the status of the Gelug Sect remains unchanged, there will be basically no unrest on the plateau."

"Next, we have to destroy Zang Wen, have people teach Chinese characters to those lamas, and copy Buddhist scriptures in Chinese characters..."

……

North America, Jinshan City.

After two years of construction, Muzhai, which gradually prospered due to gold mines, finally began to ram earth and build a city, building the Ming Dynasty's first city in North America.

At this time, the number of miners in North America has reached more than [-], and the Ministry of Internal Affairs has transported young and strong labor force many times.

They were promised a high price of 30 silver yuan per year, so they traveled thousands of miles to mine.

"Hey yo, hey yo, work harder!"

"Hey, hey, let's build a big house!"

Hundreds of big men in single clothes were pounding the mud constantly, with the splints on both sides tightly fixed.

Although it is just rammed earth, it is a guarantee of safety for everyone.

The wooden camp was too dangerous and could be burned down by a fire.

Zhao Dezhu was also wearing single clothes, but he had a knife hanging on his waist and looked around. He was promoted to Qianhu, so he was naturally a natural supervisor.

There were several subordinates behind him, looking impressive and majestic.

He raised his head and looked at the whistler on the arrow tower: "How is it?"

"Qianhu, there's no one there."

The whistler shouted: "The savages live in peace."

"Where's the one over at Jinshan?"

"As usual!"

After satisfying his vanity, Zhao Dezhu nodded, wandered around and returned to his wooden house.

As Senhu of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he is the highest official here, so he naturally enjoys the largest and most luxurious residence:
A small wooden house with five rooms.

"Squeak!"

"Master is back!"

At this time, a woman with wheat-colored skin came out and spoke awkward Mandarin.

"Yes!" Zhao Dezhu nodded.

He married this woman from the savage tribe.

In the past two years, two savage tribes have been close to each other, so naturally they have to deal with the lower body.

Although the savages can't stand it, they are still women, right?
If it weren't for the female savages not being able to accept polygamy, he would really want to marry more.

After a while, a big man walked in: "Qianhu, we don't have much tea, we don't have enough cloth, and we don't have many hoes. It will be difficult to mine. When will the ship come?"

When Zhao Dezhu heard this, he frowned: "Don't worry, it's only for the past few days."

"Don't worry, the Ministry of Internal Affairs doesn't care about us, but it is very nervous about the gold mine!"

(End of this chapter)