Therefore, no matter in terms of form, area size or even population distribution, these vassal states are more like a town, a township or even a village in later generations.
However, these vassal states vary in size, and the largest and most prosperous ones can be compared to counties.
Among them are Guangyuan Prefecture and Ande Prefecture.
Therefore, in a sense, it is a miracle that Nong Zhigao, with only a few counties and dozens of villages under his control, with a population of less than 200,000, was able to deal with Vietnam, which had a population of millions, and finally even rebelled and fought against the Song Dynasty, which had a population of nearly 100 million.
"Your Majesty."
When Huang Wei and the others arrived, they asked, "What is the matter that you summoned us here?"
Nong Zhigao said, "Brother Jingzhi, Brother Congfu, you've arrived just in time."
As he spoke, he handed over the letter in his hand and said, "The court has finally replied."
"Have you replied?"
Huang Wei and Huang Shimi suddenly became excited.
Nong Zhigao nodded and said, "The imperial court said that the southwest is remote. In recent years, they have been busy fighting against the Liao Kingdom and the Western Xia, so they have no time to take care of the southwest. Now that we have defeated the Liao Kingdom and the Western Xia, we will free up our hands to destroy the Yue Dynasty."
"Eliminate the Yue Dynasty?"
Everyone was shocked. They didn't expect that the imperial court would actually take real action this time and directly destroy the Yue Dynasty.
Huang Wei took the letter and glanced at it immediately.
The content of the letter was actually very simple. First of all, it affirmed Nong Zhigao's struggle against the Yue Dynasty in the southwest in recent years, but at the same time it also criticized Nong Zhigao's ambition to establish a country without authorization. The first requirement of the Constitutional Council was to immediately abolish the country's name and return to the flag of the Song Dynasty.
This is actually not difficult, because Nong Zhigao founded the country originally to fight against the Vietnamese Dynasty. He needed to establish a banner in the southwest and win over the ethnic minorities who were oppressed by the Vietnamese Dynasty to join forces for warmth.
He had written to the court several times before, all of which were requests to return to the country. So it was not difficult for him to fulfill the court's request.
Secondly, the imperial court granted Nong Zhigao the same Jinshi degree and appointed him as the Tongzhi of Yongzhou.
The current Yongzhou prefect, Wang Chu, was transferred, and the court appointed a new prefect, Zhao Wenzuo, the former Gaozhou co-prefect.
In addition, the Guangnan West Road Transport Commissioner was also replaced by the former Censor Yang Cha.
The court also explained the reason in the letter.
Wang Chu and others were afraid that the border invasion by Vietnam would be reported to the court and affect their political achievements, so they withheld most of the letters that Nong Zhigao submitted to the court.
If it weren't for the Imperial City Administration in Guangnan West Road, the imperial court might not even know about this matter.
This was not only done by Wang Chu, but also by his successor, Chen Gong, the governor of Yongzhou. Chen Gong hated Nong Zhigao very much. Later, Nong Zhigao rebelled in anger and killed Chen Gong, only to find out that his letter had never been delivered to the court.
Finally, the imperial court officially issued a notice stating that the southwest would be changed into a vassal state and belong to the territory of the Song Dynasty. In the future, these ethnic minority leaders would serve as local officials and must obey the orders of the imperial court.
And not only Nong Zhigao, but also Huang Wei and others were granted positions such as county magistrate and defense envoy.
Huang Wei and Huang Shimi, a pair of brothers from the same clan, were both Jinshi graduates. They met Nong Zhigao when they were taking the imperial examination together in Bianliang. They were lucky enough to pass the exam and ranked at the bottom of the list, while Nong Zhigao failed.
Therefore, Nong Zhigao is still a profession that produces many heroes - a failed scholar.
This meant that their knowledge and abilities were much higher than those of ordinary people. Huang Wei immediately saw what was going on and said in a deep voice, "The imperial court is trying to annex the Yue Dynasty and completely turn Guangxi and the Yue Dynasty into the territory of the Song Dynasty."
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
Nong Zhigao nodded and said, "It seems that the imperial court is very determined this time. The letter said that if a Yue person kills one Han person, ten Yue people will be killed. If a person encroachs on one part of Han territory, the entire Yue Dynasty will be destroyed!"
Nong Jianhou said, "Your Majesty, the court wants us to abolish our state. Does that mean we can no longer be kings?"
"Of course."
Nong Zhigao glanced at him and said, "We will be officials of the Song Dynasty in the future, just like those officials."
Nong Zhizhong complained: "What's so good about being an official in the imperial court? It's better for us to establish our own country. Besides, they didn't care about us much before, so why should we care about them?"
"Confused!"
Nong Zhigao slammed the table and said to his two brothers, "The Song Dynasty is now strong and powerful. We defeated the Liao Kingdom in the north and the Xia bandits in the west. We are at the peak of our power. We have secretly established a country, which has already displeased the court. Moreover, the court is planning to annex the Yue Dynasty. Will they allow a tiny country to exist on the border? If you don't obey the imperial edict, I am afraid you will be wiped out in a moment."
At this time, Nong Zhigao was still very weak. Historically, he established a country, raised a big flag, and gathered together the ethnic minorities from the surrounding tribes. He barely gathered tens of thousands of people and launched a massive offensive to fight against the Yue Dynasty and rebel against the Song Dynasty.
But at this time, Nong Zhigao had not yet reached his later status. His territory was limited to a few vassal states such as Guangyuan Prefecture, Guihua Prefecture, and Ande Prefecture. His clansmen numbered tens of thousands, but his military strength was only a few thousand. Compared with the Song Dynasty, it was a world of difference.
Therefore, he had no intention of rebelling at all. Instead, he was very happy about being appointed to an official position by the court.
He looked around and said to Huang Shimi and Huang Wei, "Jingzhi, Congfu, the court has appointed you as the magistrate of Wuyuan County and the defense commissioner of Yongzhou. We are to go to Yongzhou immediately and await the arrival of the new Guangnan West Road Transport Commissioner and Yongzhou Governor. What do you think?"
Huang Shimi smiled and said, "Your Majesty has already become a prefectural governor since he was just twenty years old. Before the new governor of Yongzhou arrived, Your Majesty was in charge of Yongzhou. If not now, when?"
"Let's go, let's go to Yongzhou to take up our post immediately."
Nong Zhigao thought so too.
Suddenly excited.
Now he is temporarily the boss of Yongzhou.
(End of this chapter)
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