Chapter 2189: Peninsula Chronicle · A Century's Foundation

The rebellion launched by the two marquises, Liu Jiyuan and Liu Jichu, was doomed to fail from the very start—even beforehand, one could make an absolute judgment that there was no possibility of success whatsoever.

Politically speaking, in Annam, the two men were betraying their ancestral royal court, and on grounds of righteousness, they could never stand firm, making it difficult to win popular support (the hearts of the Han, who formed the core ruling class).

Toward the Great Han, this was a challenge to the thoroughly established system of enfeoffed vassals since the reign of Shizong, and moreover, it came at the very beginning of the new emperor's accession—regardless of any reasons, such conduct was destined never to be recognized by the imperial court, and would instead invite suppression.

Even if one conceded ten thousand steps and allowed that the two marquises, relying on their strong troops and great power, truly defeated the Jiaozhi court and usurped the throne of Annam, they would inevitably face an even more powerful counterattack. Setting aside for the moment the possibility of the imperial center directly intervening, a single imperial edict would suffice—the Liu clan's vassal states on the peninsula and in the South Seas could not possibly remain indifferent, and at the very least, Linyi, which bordered Annam, would never sit idly by.

The third-generation King of Linyi, Liu Jirong, lived up to his name—he was a warmonger. In his more than ten years on the throne, he had launched over twenty wars, half of which were directed against Chenla to the north, forcing Chenla to migrate westward and essentially completing the annexation of the Tonlé Sap region, which had originally been the core of Chenla's rule.

As for the other South Seas vassal states, whether for the sake of righteousness and legitimacy or simply for profit, under normal circumstances they would all take action. One should understand that among the South Seas states, Annam was unquestionably the most mature and prosperous region, and it had never lacked neighboring states with covetous, envious intentions.

At the same time, due to the great development of maritime trade, mature shipping routes, and frequent exchanges, the connections between the South Seas states were growing increasingly close, and in terms of troop deployment and logistical support, mobilization by sea had become more efficient and convenient.

Therefore, the rebellion of the two marquises of Van and Muong was doomed to failure from the grand strategic direction. The two men raised their armies out of resentment and anger, giving no thought whatsoever to political consequences—how could they possibly come to a good end?

On the other hand, even setting aside all external factors, considering Annam itself, with the two prefectures of Van and Muong, and even adding the two prefectures of Cam and Muong that they had infected, the combined strength of four prefectures was, compared to the power possessed by the Jiaozhi court, truly a case of a small witch meeting a great one.

The energy that the state of Annam could mobilize was several times, even ten times, greater than that of the two marquises. Therefore, as long as they could withstand the rebels' initial wave of attacks, all that awaited the rebels was failure after having achieved so much.

When the great general Zheng Quan pinned the main force of the rebels firmly beneath the walls of Nghệ An, the subsequent development of events was not difficult to imagine. As the fifty-thousand-strong pacification army assembled by the Jiaozhi court advanced southward under the command of the commander-in-chief Zhao Congzhen (great-grandson of Zhao Kuangyin, elder brother of Imperial Son-in-law Zhao Congzhi), the situation suddenly turned, sliding in a direction unfavorable to the rebels.

The two sides fought several great battles within the borders of Hoan Prefecture. The rebels, at a disadvantage in military strength, reinforcements, and provisions, ultimately could not hold out. Under the joint campaign of Zhao Congzhen and Zheng Quan, they collapsed into rout, and Liu Jiyuan and Liu Jichu led their remnant forces in a desperate flight back to their lair.

The royal army of Annam, under the leadership of Zhao Congzhen and Zheng Quan, then crossed the highlands westward and advanced to subjugate the two prefectures of Van and Muong, intending to wipe out the remaining bandits and thoroughly eliminate those two persistent ailments for the Annam court.

This process, from beginning to end, lasted fully three years. The reasons were manifold—on the one hand, the two marquises had operated for a long time, held the advantage of terrain, and defended stubbornly, but this was clearly of secondary importance.

There were two main reasons. First, after the great victory, internal strife broke out again within the Jiaozhi court, with some people pulling at the legs of the campaign. Second, the rebellion of the two marquises once again triggered uprisings among the indigenous lower classes in Annam who had long suffered oppression and harbored hatred and resentment toward the Han people, with calamity spreading across prefectures and counties. While besieging Van and Muong, Jiaozhi also had to devote enormous energy to suppressing rebellions in various regions.

Previously, Liu Jiyuan had even specially sent envoys to contact those cave tribes and barbarian clans, promising them great benefits to entice them into raising rebellions and revolts in response to his great army...

But no matter how drawn-out the process appeared, with Jiaozhi determined to eradicate the persistent ailments, the destruction of the two marquises of Van and Muong was only a matter of time. Liu Jichu was the first to crack under pressure. In the ninth month of the second year of Zhengtong, he surrendered to Zheng Quan, and together with his entire clan and subordinates, was escorted to Jiaozhi to face judgment. In consideration of his voluntary surrender, Liu Jidan only ordered Liu Jichu himself executed; as for his family members and descendants, their lives were spared, they were stripped of status to commoners, and expelled from Annam.

In comparison, Liu Jiyuan's backbone was much stiffer. Facing the siege of Zhao Congzhen's great army, he refused to surrender unto death. Relying on the solid city defenses of Văn Đàm and the grain and wealth he had stockpiled for years, he fought and resisted tenaciously, even launching counterattacks from time to time, breaking Zhao Congzhen's siege on several occasions and forcing him to retreat and regroup.

And so it dragged on until the spring of the fourth year of Zhengtong. Liu Jiyuan, who had held out for another year and a half, was finally completely broken by Zhao Congzhen under conditions of internal and external distress with no way to continue.

Because this obstinate, unrepentant resistance enraged Zhao Congzhen and infuriated the Jiaozhi court, in the end, Liu Jiyuan's entire clan—womenfolk and descendants numbering several dozen—were all executed, and Liu Jiyuan's own corpse was ground to ashes and scattered, with the intent that this rebellious, unrighteous wretch should never be reborn for all eternity.

The rebellion that occurred within Annam from the second to the fourth year of Zhengtong had far-reaching influence and great significance. It was a rebellion initiated by the imperial clan, and from then on, among the South Seas states, struggles between royal houses visibly increased and intensified. Under the enfeoffment system, those dukes and marquises with grain, money, and troops also possessed the capability to launch rebellions at any time.

At the same time, this situation of brothers fighting among themselves gradually became more bloody, with the extermination of Liu Jiyuan's entire clan serving as the beginning and the symbol. Although they shared the same roots, the same origin, even the same blood, after a hundred years and several generations, so-called blood ties had become merely an adjective—far less capable of moving hearts than power and profit.

It could be said that the "Rebellion of the Two Marquises" was like opening a Pandora's box—negative influences continuously spread outward, profoundly affecting the entire South Seas region, and also impelling the history of the South Seas vassal states to transition to the next stage.

As for within Annam itself, the manifestation of the impact was even more direct. On the negative side, the fierce and prolonged warfare greatly depleted Annam's national strength, interrupted its rhythm of upward development, and intensified internal court struggles and chaos.

Taking this as a lesson, after the end of Liu Jidan's reign, the situation of seizing the throne by force and staging coups within the Annam royal house began to occur frequently, which accelerated the decline of royal power and the rise of aristocratic clans and powerful families.

Of course, there was still a positive side. At the very least, through this period of chaos, the Jiaozhi court completed its actual control over the vast region of the four southwestern prefectures. Liu Jiyuan and Liu Jichu, the two marquises, had played a positive role in Sinicization and frontier development.

At the same time, after this rebellion, feeling the increasingly acute contradictions between Han and barbarians, as well as the accumulated grievances of the indigenous commoners who formed the majority of the population, the Jiaozhi court began to open up avenues for these indigenous peoples from various aspects.

Specifically speaking, this meant further absorbing them into Annam's military and political system from political, economic, and even military perspectives—though of course, the basic prerequisite was that they must be Sinicized, obedient subjects.

This appeared to be the same continuous policy of Sinicization and assimilation as before, but compared to the past, there was bolder devolution of power and concession of benefits, and true ethnic assimilation in the Annam region began to accelerate from this point.

This led to, in the subsequent decades, the rise of a large number of indigenous powerful figures who played important roles within Annam's system. The rise of this group, on the one hand, consolidated the rule of the state of Annam, and on the other hand, made Annam's political environment more complex and volatile.

It was not until a hundred years later that Annam truly formed a mature, stable, unified political system...