"Even eating pufferfish can lead to longevity?"
Inside Ganlu Hall, Li Shimin sighed, his tone layered with complicated emotion. The courtiers around him could not help but laugh quietly.
After all, whether it was Empress Zhangsun, the crown prince, or the old retainers from the days of the Prince of Qin's residence, everyone knew how much His Majesty loved fatty lamb.
Although it was said that the palace kitchens had recently experimented with a dish called sweet-and-sour fish, which had greatly startled Sun Simiao, it only proved one thing. His Majesty was nothing like Cao Cao in his fondness for fish.
Thus the meaning behind his sigh was not difficult to guess.
Even the Classic of Mountains and Seas recorded that pufferfish was poisonous and could kill those who ate it.
Yet from the Spring and Autumn period down to the time before the Sui, people who ate pufferfish never ceased. Scholars of the Southern Dynasties especially treated it as a refined indulgence. Even death did not deter them.
Now looking at the example of the Ming dynasty, eating pufferfish had even produced a long-lived emperor like Zhu Yuanzhang.
Compared to that, His Majesty, who loved lamb above all else, had a lifespan that was…
As if sensing what the old ministers were thinking, Li Shimin swept his gaze around the hall, a clear warning in his eyes.
But such a gesture could not intimidate his close officials. Du Ruhui even said with a grin,
"Your Majesty might issue an edict summoning skilled fish chefs from the southeast. Perhaps Your Majesty's palate might change."
Li Shimin shook his head, feeling it was unrealistic.
Yet the thought still lingered.
Perhaps he should find someone in Chang'an skilled at preparing pufferfish, just to see how delicious it truly was.
---
[Lightscreen]
[The Ming dynasty's version rollback was somewhat complicated.
Because Zhu Yuanzhang intended to restore the institutions of the Chinese realm, he naturally supported the imperial examination system. As early as the third year of Hongwu, he had already proclaimed throughout the empire that officials would be selected through examinations.
However, the still inexperienced emperor soon discovered that the men chosen through the examinations were entirely different from what he expected.
"Those selected by the authorities were mostly young men. Their writings suggested promise, but when put to practical use, very few could apply what they had learned."
This was hardly surprising.
The problem of examination scholars being arrogant in theory but weak in practice had already been observed during the Song dynasty. Even after more than a century and three large educational reforms in the Northern Song, no effective solution had been found. By the reign of Emperor Huizong, the examinations were even abolished by force, yet the problem remained.
Ordinarily this would not have been a major issue.
But a failed northern campaign changed Zhu Yuanzhang's thinking.
In the first month of the fifth year of Hongwu, after making a formal proclamation to Heaven and Earth, he launched the Second Northern Expedition. The campaign lasted eleven months.
In the end, the central army under Xu Da was defeated, the eastern army under Li Wenzhong achieved victory, and the western army under Feng Sheng also won.
Because of the ancient convention of avoiding references that might offend rulers, the Veritable Records of Taizu of Ming summarized the battle in only nine characters.
"Engaged the enemy, suffered defeat, gathered troops and guarded the frontier."
However, by comparing accounts from Tan Qian's Guoque, Dong Fu's Yanzhou Historical Materials, and the Secret History of the Mongols, historians can roughly reconstruct the events.
The central army was undoubtedly the main force.
Facing the advancing Ming army, the Yuan general Köke Temür deliberately lured the enemy deeper.
Even against the vanguard commanded by Lan Yu, the Yuan forces repeatedly retreated after feigned defeats.
Lan Yu, eager for merit, pursued relentlessly.
From the battle reports he sent back, the Ming army defeated the Yuan at Yema River at the end of February, and by mid-March the vanguard had already achieved a small victory at the Tula River.
The distance between these battlefields was five hundred kilometers.
Even accounting for the time needed to deliver the reports, it meant that Lan Yu had pursued the enemy five hundred kilometers in just twenty days.
Even without considering the exhaustion caused by forced marches, reaching the Tula River by mid-March was far too early.
The river, now called the West Tuul River, lies near present-day Ulaanbaatar. The average temperature there in March is roughly between minus five and eight degrees Celsius.
This strategy of luring the enemy deeper continued until Lingbei.
There, the Northern Yuan's reinforcements under He Zongzhe had long been waiting.
Because of Lan Yu's reckless advance, the Ming central army stretched its supply line to an unprecedented length. It lost contact with the eastern and western armies and was drawn directly into the Northern Yuan ambush.
Even under such unfavorable circumstances, the Ming soldiers fought bravely and did not collapse.
However, according to the Mongolian Golden History, because Lan Yu advanced too quickly, the central army reached Lingbei earlier than expected. A sudden blizzard destroyed the fragile supply line and triggered the army's defeat.
Later historians speculate that the defeat caused massive losses of warhorses and elite troops. As a result, Ming national strength was severely weakened and the empire had to enter a long period of recovery.
Even after the deaths of Köke Temür and the Northern Yuan ruler, Ming refrained from launching new campaigns. Only fifteen years later did another northern expedition occur.
Numbers recorded in the Veritable Records of Taizu of Ming support this theory.
At the beginning of the Hongwu era, there were 28,754 military officers registered in the capital and provincial garrisons. After the northern expedition in the fifth year, the number dropped to 12,980.
By the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu, the number had only recovered to 16,489.
Since Ming military officers were usually replenished through hereditary succession, the scale of the losses at Lingbei becomes clear.
In addition, letters from Zhu Yuanzhang to the Prince of Jin, Zhu Gang, preserved in historical records, summarize the lessons of the campaign and reveal the emperor's changing mindset.
"I have commanded armies all my life and never suffered defeat," he wrote of his past.
But the reality was different.
"At Helin I exhausted my troops, trusted unwisely, and caused the deaths of tens of thousands."
The defeat at Lingbei dealt Zhu Yuanzhang a severe blow.
It was therefore no surprise that when he saw Wang Guangyang drinking heavily in the Secretariat, his anger flared and he banished the man to Guangdong.
The defeat also deprived Zhu Yuanzhang of the time needed to gradually reform the problems of the examination system.
After all, this was the early Ming.
When news of Xu Da's defeat returned to Hebei, it must truly have caused "joy in some households and sorrow in others."
Whether to recruit capable officials quickly or to stabilize Hebei by absorbing local elites into Ming administration, Zhu Yuanzhang needed a method faster and more direct than the examination system.
Thus, at the beginning of the sixth year of Hongwu, he issued an order.
"All examinations throughout the realm shall temporarily cease. Officials shall instead recommend worthy and capable men…"]
---
When Zhao Dezhao saw the undisguised admiration on his father's face, he asked directly,
"Father, do you also wish for the imperial guards of our Song to ride beyond the frontier like this?"
This was not the first time they had watched the light screen. After many explanations from his father, Zhao Dezhao could now understand much of the map displayed before them.
Seeing the Ming armies advancing deep into the northern steppe stirred something within him.
To him, the imperial guards of Song were invincible in all directions. The empire's territory continued to expand, and his father's dream of reunifying the realm seemed far from empty talk.
Watching the Ming army's campaign routes, he imagined elite soldiers raising banners across the grasslands just as in the days of the Han and Tang.
The imperial guards of Song were also brave and strong.
If the Han could go there, if the Tang could go there, if the Ming could campaign there, why could Song not advance as well?
Hearing the question, Zhao Kuangyin showed a complicated expression.
As usual, he glanced slowly at his younger brother before placing a hand on his son's shoulder.
It was as if he saw elite soldiers lying dead beside frozen rivers.
As if he saw scarred generals bent under ridicule and doubt.
As if he saw a scholar-general gripping a golden tablet while gazing north, his eyes filled with unwillingness.
"This is not merely my wish," Zhao Kuangyin said quietly.
"It must become the future of the Song."
His voice was calm but carried a strange conviction.
Zhao Dezhao's face brightened with excitement, while Zhao Guangyi lowered his head slightly.