Mid-October, the 28th year of Hongwu.

The things happening in Dobang City have finally come to an end.

Among them, a large amount of grain and officials were mobilized from Guangxi and Yunnan provinces to northern Annan.

The destruction of Annan was inevitable, and any Annan chieftain noble with a little bit of vision could see it.

As to whether Annan would be under the rule of the Annan royal family or the Ming Dynasty in the future, it is unknown.

Because the Ming army had more food, its reputation was relatively good. Except for the strong resistance against the Annan chieftains, the other Annan people had a relatively smooth transition.

Moreover, in Dobang City, the people of Annan who belonged to the north were basically released, which won the favor of many chieftains and people.

The national rebellious sentiment became calm.

Speaking of which, Annan has always been under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty, and many chieftain nobles are aware of this.

For the Ming army to enter Annan, it was not an invasion, but an effort to restore order and was fundamentally an army of justice.

After all, there are still a small number of ethnic groups that are constantly in rebellion, which also forced the Ming Dynasty to implement military control over the northern region that Duobang City had conquered.

Zhu Ying's decree also arrived in the northern part of Duobang City again.

It was mainly about winning over and enthroning chieftain nobles.

Guards were re-established in the areas originally under the jurisdiction of the chieftains and nobles, and some stubborn nobles, or those who were not so obedient, were directly punished.

Support was given again to some of the fallen nobles, and with the intervention of the Ming Dynasty, a power change was carried out among the chieftain nobles.

The newly promoted nobles were naturally extremely supportive of the Ming Dynasty. Some bad areas were quickly stabilized, and began to supply food, intelligence and other supplies to the Ming Dynasty.

Including the chief officers of the garrisons here, the commanders, the thousand-householders and the hundred-householders, all of them are upper-class chieftains and nobles.

These measures were implemented because it was impossible to mobilize a large number of Han people from the Ming Dynasty to migrate there in a short period of time.

Today, the productivity of the chieftains of various ethnic groups in Annan can no longer exceed the previous productivity, and they can only implement a restorative strategy. In addition, due to the relationship between the chieftains and the nobles, it is impossible to abandon the chieftains and the nobles to rule this land.

If you force yourself to do this, it will only lead to long-term restlessness and anxiety.

In fact, whether it is the chieftain nobles, the Annan royal family or the Ming Dynasty, they are essentially a community of interests. As long as their common interests are protected, they can reach a compromise with each other.

For the suzerain Ming Dynasty, everyone can accept it as long as the interests are not affected too much.

Among them, the chieftain nobles, as the Ming Dynasty intervened in their power, more internal conflicts arose between the new and old nobles.

When a balance point is reached, the Ming Dynasty will not have to spend too much effort to govern the conquered Annan region.

Even if there is a shortage of officials, it will not have any impact at all.

Of course, everything depends on the situation behind the Ming army in Dobang City.

As many people predicted, after the reorganized Ming army left Duobang City, they were unstoppable all the way.

Hu Jima's army simply did not have the courage to confront head-on.

Ye Sheng and others also went straight south to attack Thang Long City, the eastern capital of Annan, which is now the city where the Annan royal family and Liu Sheng and others were imprisoned.

There were no surprises.

When the Ming army arrived, Hu Jima had already fled the capital with his cronies and troops, and did not even have the courage to defend the city.

In fact, this is not Hu Jima's fault, because the location of Thang Long City is quite special. If they defend the city, there is no way to escape. In addition, there are many confidants of the Annan royal family in the city.

It is easy to form an internal and external cooperation with the Ming army.

The best option is to decisively give up Shenglong City.

After Hu Jima left, the Annan royal family took over the capital again and welcomed the arrival of the Ming army.

Hu Jima still has a lot of ideas on politics.

The Ming Dynasty dispatched so many troops, naturally wanting to get rewards in Annan.

He gave up Thang Long City today, which would inevitably lead to a conflict between the Annan royal family and the Ming army.

Hu Jima had already received intelligence about what the Ming army did in the area north of Duobang City, including setting up garrisons and redividing aristocratic rule.

Even though the city was lost, Hu Jima still had some confidants there. Especially as the old nobles fell in power, they became closer to Hu Jima, so it was not difficult for him to get news from them.

This also made Hu Jima realize that the Ming Dynasty's move was intended to annex Annan.

Regarding the emergence of these situations, including Hu Jima's own inference, he went to the Annan Royal Palace the night before he left Thang Long City.

"Your Majesty, no matter what, I am from Annan, but if we allow the Ming army to rule Annan, this Annan will never be your Majesty's Annan again."

"I have seen clearly that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty has great ideas about Annan, no, even Champa, and wants to bring it under the direct rule of the Ming Dynasty."

"I was blinded before. I should have thought of this when the Ming navy tried every means to station in Champa port."

"The King of Champa has already ceded a city as a fiefdom to the Ming Emperor's grandson Zhu Yunwen. With this excuse, the Ming can justifiably station troops in Champa."

"Although I defeated Annan's elite troops, what we got in return is the direct intervention of the Ming Dynasty, which gave them enough excuses."

"I am going to Thanh Hoa now. I don't know how long I will stay there. This meeting will probably be the last time I see Your Majesty."

"Your Majesty should know that I just don't want Annan to belong to the Annanese. Annan has always been loyal to Your Majesty."

After saying this, Hu Jima knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times and nine times to Chen Yong, the retired emperor of Annan, who was sitting above him.

After the ceremony, he turned and left without waiting for Chen Yong to reply.

Annan's retired emperor Chen Yong looked at Hu Jima's departing back with complicated emotions in his eyes.

Ever since his father began to use Hu Jima, the situation in Annan has actually been relatively stable. There is no doubt that Hu Jima himself is a relatively talented person.

In relation to Champa, it has always maintained a relatively strong position.

However, the current situation was not the choice of Chen Yong, the Emperor of Annan.

Or perhaps the only motivation was to send the eldest princess Chen Muyue to the Ming Dynasty.

…

The Ming army that took over the capital of Annan was even stronger than Chen Yong had imagined.

The first step upon entering the city was to establish officer rule over the entire city.

It was at this time that Liu Sheng, Li Xiucai and Zhao Yuanhong were able to come out of the dungeon where they had never seen the light of day.

"This Hu Jima is so bold that he dared to rebel against the Ming Dynasty. If we catch him this time, we will tear him into pieces."

Li Xiucai said fiercely.

During his time in the dungeon, he suffered a lot. Apart from anything else, for several months, all his excretions had to be done in the cell.

The stench alone is unbearable.

During this time, I felt even worse because my stomach caught a cold, but I couldn't even take a shower. I could only endure it.

It's simply... insulting!

Whether in the Western Regions or in the capital, I have never suffered such pain.

"Come on, it's already good enough to be able to save my life."

Liu Sheng said indifferently.

I've been through everything in my life, and there have been worse lives than this.

It was actually the best situation that Hu Jima didn't kill them.

This was also because they were afraid that the three people would be killed, leading to the Ming Dynasty's fury, and there would not be no room for turning back.

Hu Jima also understood that the chances of a successful rebellion were slim. If he simply killed three people, not only would he die, but according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, his entire clan would be exterminated.

There are some things that you cannot do too much, otherwise you will have no way out.

The first thing Zhao Yuanhong did after coming out was to immediately obtain the latest intelligence, mainly to win over his previous subordinates.

Fortunately, after the incident, the previous secret agents were immediately hidden. Although some of them were purged, most of them survived.

It's not difficult to recover again.

After experiencing this incident, Zhao Yuanhong obviously had more ideas.

The first thing before him, naturally, was to track down the whereabouts of Li Laosi.

Traitors must be punished most severely.

Zhao Yuanhong is different from others. He has never lived in the capital. Even though he knows that his boss has become His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty, he still behaves in the same way as before in the Chamber of Commerce.

The punishment for traitors is not only physical destruction, but their souls will be thrown into the hell of endless torture.

Liu Sheng was busy summoning his former subordinates.

Most of the 50,000 elite soldiers were taken prisoner by Hu Jima, and some escaped. Naturally, they had to be brought back now.

The commander Wei Xing is still in Hu Jima's hands.

Li Xiucai had nothing to do, and the current situation was not suitable for education, so he followed Zhao Yuanhong.

In fact, we are all scholars of the Ming Dynasty and educated people.

They were not very familiar with each other at first, but during the time in the dungeon, their relationship naturally became much closer.

After all, we were in jail together.

After some investigation, the whereabouts of Li Laosi was also found out.

He took dozens of people and slipped away on a boat.

We took the sea route and went west.

"Zhao Yuanhong, have you really thought it through?"

"This vast sea of ​​people has gone west again. I don't know how many years it will take for them to be gone this time."

"Besides, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince didn't say anything. Is it worth it for a Li Laosi?"

Li Xiucai couldn't understand why Zhao Yuanhong had to capture Li Laosi. He could live a good life now but why did he do this?

Even if we report this to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, it won't be a big deal.

Now Zhao Yuanhong was going to lead two hundred people to hunt down the murderer Li Laosi for thousands of miles, which Li Xiucai could not understand.

Zhao Yuanhong looked at his subordinates who were constantly carrying supplies onto the ship. He was silent for a while, and then said: "This is the rule of the Chamber of Commerce. Anyone who dares to betray the Chamber of Commerce must be captured and brought back for trial, no matter where he is."

"This time, Li Laosi not only betrayed us, but also destroyed the arrangements made by the Dong family in Annan. We have lost so many brothers. We cannot just let him go."

"I spent the first half of my life wandering around, and in the second half I met a wise master. Now Annan doesn't need me much anymore. No matter how many years it takes, I will bring him back."

At this point, Zhao Yuanhong turned around and looked at Li Xiucai and said with a smile: "You don't have to worry too much. I have already written a letter to His Highness. This time I am going to the West, in addition to arresting Li Laosi, I am also going to see the development of our Chamber of Commerce abroad."

"Your Highness the Crown Prince established the franchising model for the Chamber of Commerce a long time ago. The Ming Dynasty no longer has the Qunying Chamber of Commerce, but outside, no one knows where to join it."

"When I come back, I will also report to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince about the development of our Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce outside."

"I have a token from the former Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce in my hand, so I think the journey will be smooth. Supervisor Liu is also quite supportive of this."

"With so many firearms and supplies, as long as we don't provoke any big country, we will be safe."

"Besides, Liu Jianjun gave me the seal, so I believe that ordinary small countries would not dare to provoke the Ming Dynasty."

"Don't worry, it's just that we won't see each other again for who knows how many years."

Zhao Yuanhong smiled somewhat carefreely.

It was just that he hadn’t laughed for a long time, so his smile was rather stiff, which made Li Xiucai’s mouth twitch.

After the chat, the ships over there were also ready.

This sea-going ship came from the Ming Dynasty Navy. It was slightly smaller than the treasure ship, but it was the latest model of sea-going ship and was made of extremely sturdy materials.

It can withstand most winds and waves on the sea.

After getting on the boat, Zhao Yuanhong never looked back.

Li Xiucai just stared blankly at the blurry ships moving away on the sea.

"He is different from us. He was the first one to follow the boss and the most loyal one to the Chamber of Commerce."

"When he was in the Western Regions, Zhao Yuanhong proposed to go to Annan to hide. I admire him very much for making such a choice."

"To be honest, people like Zhao Yuanhong are the most loyal supporters of the Dong family."

"They are the biggest contributors to the growth of our Qunying Chamber of Commerce to such a scale."

“I have truly fulfilled the promise I made when I joined the Chamber of Commerce and have been working towards it my entire life.”

At some point, Liu Sheng appeared beside Li Xiucai and spoke with a sighing tone.

This is a belief.

It is this belief that gave rise to the mythical and legendary Heroes Chamber of Commerce.

Liu Sheng could understand it, but Li Xiucai couldn't.

However, looking at the vast sea, Li Xiucai seemed to understand something.

Some things have to be done by someone.

Some things also require persistence and sacrifice from some people.

I just don’t know if I will ever come back after this departure.