Of the 50,000 elite troops sent by the Ming Dynasty to Annan, 40%, or 20,000, were combat troops, and the rest were auxiliary troops.
These auxiliary soldiers were not wearing armor, but simple combat uniforms.
There is a huge difference between armor and combat uniforms.
The cost of a set of armor is very complicated, just the craftsmanship of the armor plates is very complicated.
The role of armor in war is that it has strong defensive capabilities.
If someone slashes at you with a knife, with armor to block it, it will feel like being punched. If you slash at me with a knife, without armor, you will either die or be injured.
In the country of Annan alone, there are less than ten thousand people who can wear armor, and all the armored troops added up to only about eight thousand people, which is still an extremely powerful force in the entire South Seas.
The craftsmanship and quality of its armor are far behind that of the Ming Dynasty.
The deterrent power of 20,000 soldiers in Annan can be said to have attracted the attention of the entire Annan.
In addition to these 20,000 armored soldiers, the Ming Dynasty also had 30,000 auxiliary troops. After arriving in Annan, they transformed themselves into farmers and reclaimed farmland.
These arable lands were mainly owned by the royal family of Annan, and about 30% belonged to the nobles of Annan. However, under Liu Sheng's cunning and violent seizure, even if they had complaints in their hearts, there was nothing they could do.
After all, this is the suzerain state. There are many warlords in Annan now, and their forces are scattered. It is impossible for them to unite to fight against the Ming soldiers.
This also resulted in the soldiers who came from the Ming Dynasty living a very comfortable life except for some problems with acclimatization.
The Ming Dynasty's treasure notes had already begun to become popular throughout Annan.
Not long after Liu Sheng arrived in Annan, he discussed with the Emperor of Annan to promote the Ming treasure notes throughout the country, and the so-called reserve fund would naturally be the responsibility of the Annan royal family.
There are many natives of Annan at present, and they are still unfamiliar with new things like the Ming Dynasty's treasure notes. However, after the Annan royal family cooperated with Liu Sheng, they suddenly found that their wealth began to soar in a certain sense.
The money is still the same, but in terms of purchasing power, it has suddenly become possible to squander.
In the eyes of the Annan royal family, when they took out one hundred taels of silver and deposited it in the Ming Dynasty Money House, they would get fifty strings of Ming Dynasty treasure notes.
The one hundred taels of silver were still his, but they were kept in the Daming Money House as a reserve, while the fifty strings of treasure notes could be spent at will.
In his eyes, it seemed as if his wealth had doubled for no reason.
Of course, only the Annan royal family can enjoy this special treatment, and there are certain restrictions on the share of the reserve fund, rather than endless demands.
However, it was impossible for the Annan royal family to understand and comprehend such financial means that were ahead of their time.
It feels like the Ming Dynasty has sent me a lot of money.
"No wonder the Ming Dynasty is so rich that money can generate money on its own."
Annan's retired emperor Chen Yong said this with great emotion in the palace.
Annan was a system of retired emperors, meaning that the emperor emeritus held real power.
The Prime Minister Hu Jima frowned when he heard this and said, "Your Majesty, although Liu Sheng opened a bank with you, the actual manager of the bank is in Liu Sheng's hands. If he secretly transports silver, the emperor may not be able to detect it at all."
Hu Jima has always been opposed to money houses.
However, after Liu Sheng and other generals gained a firm foothold in Annan, they immediately offered bribes to many ministers in the court and tried to win them over, which dealt a heavy blow to Hu Jima's power.
In addition, Chen Yong was also tempted by his money, which eventually led to the popularity of Ming treasure notes throughout Annan.
Chen Yong looked at Hu Jima with a meaningful look in his eyes.
Hu Jima's two aunts married Chen Mingzong, and his cousin was the empress of Chen Ruizong, so he participated in politics as a relative. Later, he was trusted by Chen Yizong, and after winning the war against Champa, he became the prime minister and began to hold power.
Chen Yizong once said to Hu Jima: "I have entrusted you with the affairs of state and the affairs of the family. Now the country is weak and I am old. After I pass away, I will assist those who can be assisted, and those who are incompetent will be punished by themselves."
Hu Jima quickly replied: "I cannot be loyal and work hard to assist the government. If this is passed down to my descendants, the heavens will hate it."
"Even if my body is torn to pieces, I still cannot repay you even a little bit, how dare you have other intentions!"
In fact, what Chen Yizong said at that time was a test of Hu Jima.
Hu Jima was obviously very clear about this, so he simply swore an oath, which allowed Chen Yizong to die peacefully and entrust his son to his care.
However, after Chen Yizong's death, Hu Jima became increasingly domineering and monopolized the government power. As the emperor emeritus, Chen Yong was like a puppet, and all imperial edicts had to be reviewed by Hu Jima.
This is also the reason why Chen Yong wanted to send Princess Anxiu Chen Muyue to Ming Dynasty, because he wanted Ming Dynasty as the suzerain state to get support.
As for the current situation, Chen Yong obviously feels very comfortable.
He was quite disdainful of Hu Jima's words.
At this moment, the three thousand guards guarding outside the gate were all Ming Dynasty soldiers and were Chen Yong's support in the palace.
Originally, Liu Sheng had not actually thought about taking control of the Annan Royal Palace. This was entirely Chen Yong's own private request.
How could Liu Sheng refuse such a request? He naturally agreed to it.
And ever since the five thousand armored guards of the Ming Dynasty took control of the entire palace, Chen Yong felt that he was the real Emperor Emeritus of Annan.
At least, when facing Hu Jima's words now, he can just ignore them instead of being so timid as before.
Seeing that Chen Yong completely ignored him, Hu Jima's eyes flashed with fierceness, but it finally disappeared.
Four years later in history, Hu Jima felt that his power had reached the peak of Annan, so he forced Chen Yong to move the capital to the new capital of Western Capital in Thanh Hoa.
After three years, he deposed the Shao Emperor and established himself as the emperor, claiming to be a descendant of Yu Shun. He changed the country's name from "Dai Viet" to "Dai Yu" and the reign title was Shengyuan.
However, these plans have become a complete mess after the arrival of 50,000 soldiers from the Ming Dynasty.
"I will take my leave now."
Seeing that he could not get support from Chen Yong, Hu Jima had no choice but to leave and make plans to resist the Ming Dynasty.
After Hu Jima left the palace, a figure walked out from behind the screen.
Chen Yong immediately smiled and said, "Mr. Zhao, it seems that our prime minister is a little anxious now."
"But what he said does make some sense. Mr. Zhao, why don't you talk to General Wei and Military Supervisor Liu about this? I will also send some people over to help with the money."
The Wei generals and Liu the military supervisor that Chen Yong mentioned were naturally Wei Xing, the commander of the Annan army, and Liu Sheng, the military supervisor of Annan.
The Mr. Zhao standing in front of Chen Yong was Zhao Xiucai, who had been lurking in Annan to collect intelligence.
Zhao Xiucai's real name was Zhao Yuanhong. After the Ming army came to Annan, he transformed himself into a diplomatic envoy of the Ming Dynasty. With special permission from Chen Yong, he was able to attend the Annan court meetings.
He is basically the one who handles the handovers on a daily basis.
Wei Xing wanted to supervise the Ming army soldiers, while Liu Sheng and Li Xiucai were more focused on educating them.
Zhao Yuanhong was a little unhappy when he heard this and said, "The emperor doesn't trust the Ming Dynasty?"
"You should know that our Great Ming is rich and has a vast territory. Even the entire territory of Annan is equivalent to a county of our Great Ming."
"I think the Emperor has already read the latest Ming capital bulletin. If it weren't for the fact that Concubine Yue was extremely favored by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, there wouldn't be 50,000 troops to help her today."
"Her Majesty Yue Fei has been greatly favored. Soon, she will be able to return to Annan to visit her relatives, and even the strongest navy of the Ming Dynasty will be used to escort her."
"In order to support the emperor, he even deliberately took a detour to Champa to destroy his prestige and stabilize the country."
"That's the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty. He commands millions of brave warriors of the Ming Dynasty. Even if the Japanese refuse to obey orders, it doesn't matter. We have already dealt them a severe blow."
"What the Mongols could not do before, is now easily accomplished by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty."
"If that's the case, then the emperor has nothing to worry about."
"This bank is under the control of General Wei and Military Supervisor Liu, so it is safe. Even on the side of the Emperor, I don't know how many of them belong to Prime Minister Hu, which will give rise to many clues."
These words made Chen Yong lose his temper immediately, and he immediately said: "I was confused, Mr. Zhao is right."
Looking at Chen Yong who seemed a little aggrieved, Mr. Zhao comforted him, "Your Majesty, there is no need to be like this. We are all here under the order of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to protect the Annan royal family."
"If there is anything that the Emperor finds inappropriate, please speak directly."
"We are just temporary visitors to Annan. As long as the emperor stabilizes and regains control of Annan, we can report to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and return to Ming Dynasty. We will no longer stay in Annan."
"I think the emperor is also aware that the soldiers from our Ming Dynasty have a good salary and live a comfortable life even in the Ming Dynasty. Many soldiers are concerned about their hometown and will not say that they will live in Annan forever."
Only when Emperor Chen Yong of Annan heard this did his expression completely relax.
These issues are also the ones he has always attached great importance to.
He had been a puppet emperor for too long, and now that he finally had control over some of the power, he became even more obsessed with the feeling of power and was afraid of losing it again.
But the problem before us is that if the Ming Dynasty does the same thing as Hu Jima, it will be like driving away the jackals and only to bring in the tigers and leopards.
Compared with Hu Jima, he had even less resistance to the Ming Dynasty.
Zhao Yuanhong's words calmed his worries.
Relatively speaking, the principle here is relatively easy to understand.
In short, everything the Ming Dynasty is willing to do for the Kingdom of Annan is because His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty dotes on Concubine Yue.
This also made Chen Yong pay more attention to the matter of his eldest daughter Chen Muyue returning to Annan.
He immediately began to discuss with Zhao Yuanhong some specific details about Chen Muyue's return.
As half an hour passed, I had a general idea of some details and arrangements, and the next step was to continue to improve them.
Zhao Yuanhong’s visit to the palace today has basically come to an end.
But before leaving, Zhao Yuanhong spoke again: "When Concubine Yue comes here this time, my Ming envoy will definitely follow her."
"Those who can become Ming envoys are different from half-baked people like me. They are ministers who are truly loyal to Ming."
"He will certainly make a detailed record of the situation in Annan and then present it to His Majesty the Great Ming."
"Regarding the decision on the Nôm character, I hope the Emperor can make a decision this morning, so that it won't be recorded by the Ming envoys and then presented to Your Majesty."
"If Your Majesty knew that Annan acted like this, he would definitely have many thoughts in his mind, and this is related to the future direction of Annan."
"No matter how much His Royal Highness the Crown Prince dotes on Concubine Yue, he is still the crown prince in His Majesty's eyes after all. It is very rare for him to be able to do what he is doing now."
"If His Majesty really has some thoughts about this, then it will be difficult to explain to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and it is more likely that Concubine Yue will be implicated in the future."
"If this matter causes Concubine Yue to be wronged by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, it would be a serious sin."
Before the 13th century, Chinese characters were the only commonly used writing system in the Annan region, and all official documents, books, poems, and articles were written in Chinese characters.
Later, the Annan people created "Nom characters", or "Nom characters", to facilitate writing Chinese characters.
After a long process of development, writing in Nom script became popular during the Ly Dynasty. Now that it has entered its heyday during the Tran Dynasty, Nom script has entered a normal development track.
After Liu Sheng and others came to Annan, they naturally discovered this problem.
Nowadays, Chinese characters and Chinese language are no longer mainstream in Annan, but Nom characters are. The pronunciation has also undergone many changes with the emergence of Nom characters.
The popularity of Nom characters reflects the growing national consciousness of Annan.
This has created a strong rejection of Han culture.
Unique changes have begun to take place not only in written language, but also in clothing culture and other aspects.
The seventh year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty.
Although the Emperor of Annan at that time had expressed his submission to the Ming Dynasty, he issued an order in Annan that no imperial decree could be issued and that the military and civilians were not allowed to wear Han Chinese clothing.
Therefore, on the issue of education, the most urgent task for Liu Sheng and others is to let the current Emperor Retired of Annan, Chen Yong, issue an edict.
The imperial edict ordered that all people in Annan should use Chinese characters instead of Nom characters, that officials should wear Chinese clothes, that soldiers and civilians should wear Chinese clothes, and that Chinese should be the official language.
At present, all literary works written in Nôm characters must be completely destroyed, and all books on Nôm character enlightenment education must also be completely banned and destroyed.
This proposal was not the first one made by Liu Sheng and others, but their attempt to implement this policy encountered great resistance in the court of Annan.
Including Chen Yong, everyone was naturally very reluctant.
So it has been on hold.
This kind of thing cannot be accomplished by force. After all, the Ming Dynasty is fighting under the pretext of protecting the Annan royal family.
Therefore, strong support from Annan's retired emperor Chen Yong is needed.
After hearing this, Chen Yong still showed some hesitation on his face.