The Revolt of the Three Feudatories: All-in at the start in Beijing

Chapter 248 Korean Brahmins

Xu Chuang fell silent after listening. He looked at the laborers carrying goods on the dock, their dark brown shoulders bent and straightened by the weight of the carrying poles. These people were still thin, but they had not become emaciated.

Xu Chuang suddenly understood why Liu Weiqing's soldiers were so loyal. Perhaps it wasn't the name of the Kshatriyas or the blessing of the temple, but this.

After 18 million bushels of grain are transported away each year, what remains is enough to allow farmers to eat one more bite than before, even if it's just one more bite.

"Your Highness can arrange it." Since Liu Weiqing said so, Xu Chuang didn't ask any more questions and put the list into his pocket.

After Liu Weiqing ordered the loading to proceed, the loading of ships began day and night at the Dhaka docks for the next three days.

After deducting the hundred Fujian ships that Yin Huasheng took away, Xu Chuang still had more than three hundred large and medium-sized Fujian ships, which was just enough to transport the gold, silver, cloth and dye.

Spices and dried fruits are small and can be placed in the corner of the cabin, but polished rice takes up too much space. There are 18 million shi (a unit of dry measure), and even if the cabin is bursted, it will not be able to be transported all of them.

Liu Weiqing said he didn't need to worry about that part; he would arrange for passing merchant ships to haul the goods to Dahan one by one, and the matter would be settled when the hauling was finished.

At noon, all the cargo was loaded onto the ships. The more than 300 Fujian ships had very low drafts, with the sides of the ships no more than two feet above the water, and the hulls were pressed down steadily.

The red flag with black Chinese characters on the mast fluttered in the sea breeze as soldiers ran around on the deck to do final checks.

Xu Chuang stood at the bow of the ship, cupped his hands in greeting to Liu Weiqing on the dock, and then turned around to face the sea.

"set sail."

With Xu Chuang's order, the fleet slowly sailed out of Dhaka Port. As the fleet entered the downstream channel of the Ganges, more than 300 Fujian ships lined up in a western column. With the current and the sails billowing in the northeast wind, the fleet moved very fast.

Seven days after Xu Chuang left, a large number of people and soldiers had gathered in front of the Shiva Temple in Dhaka.

This temple, located outside the east gate of Dhaka, was funded by Liu Weiqing. The tower is carved with an image of Shiva dancing, with his arms outstretched and his feet treading on Asuras, a majestic and solemn figure.

Lotus flowers floated in the square pool in front of the temple, freshly crushed flower petals covered the stone steps, and the air was filled with the rich aroma of sandalwood and ghee.

Twenty-three newly shaved heads gleamed with a bluish sheen in the sunlight. Each person wore a white cotton robe, with newly braided sacred threads around their necks and three white horizontal lines drawn on their foreheads with cinnabar.

Their skin was lighter than that of the Indian priests beside them, and their features were those of Koreans: flat faces, high cheekbones, and narrow eyes. But once they donned the white robes of Brahmins and tied sacred threads, standing before the towering gates of the divine temple, they did indeed possess a certain solemnity.

Jin Zhenen, in particular, already had a prosperous appearance, and wearing this Brahman robe made him look even more distinguished.

These twenty-three sons of noble Korean families had been fasting in the barracks outside Dhaka for the past few days, starving to the point of their backs sticking to their chests. Now, they knelt before the statue of Shiva, their foreheads pressed against the floor tiles, completely motionless.

Just when Jin Zhenen was about to lose his grip, the young master of the Song family quietly turned his head away.

"Brother Zhen'en, is what the Prince said true? That becoming a Brahmin allows one to marry and have sons? What if he later forbids it? That would be a real problem, and all those Luzon natives you bought would be widows!"

The dazed Jin Zhenen perked up immediately when he heard someone talking to him; he had done his homework beforehand and knew quite a bit.

"Don't worry, Hinduism here is different from Buddhism in China. Not only can you marry and have sons, but it also encourages everyone to have many children!"

"I've also heard that temples select holy maidens every year, ostensibly to serve the gods, but in reality, they serve us Brahmins!"

Upon hearing this, the young master of the Song family was overjoyed, but when he saw Liu Weiqing's cold gaze, he immediately lowered his head.

This isn't North Korea. If someone commits a crime and gets killed, their family won't say a word.

Just then, twelve Hindu high priests came over. They were wearing orange robes, with the three horizontal lines of Shiva painted on their foreheads, and were shaking copper bells in their hands.

After threatening Jin Zhenen and the others to turn around, he began chanting Sanskrit scriptures in a deep, resonant voice, like a swarm of bees buzzing among the stone walls of a temple.

Liu Weiqing stood on the right side of the altar, not wearing a python robe, but a white brocade robe with gold thread embroidery, a jade belt around his waist, and no crown on his head, only a white jade hairpin.

Standing beside him were several princes from various princely states and local elders from Bengal, as well as a dozen rows of Kshatriya officers from the Lion Legion, wearing white ceremonial robes over their green uniforms, standing at the head of the table.

After the high priest finished reciting the last passage of scripture, he turned around and bowed to Liu Weiqing with his hands clasped together.

Liu Weiqing stepped forward and took a stack of documents from the attendant. They were twenty-three Brahman recognition documents in both Sanskrit and Chinese, each bearing the temple's seal and the joint signatures of several princes from Bengal.

Liu Weiqing handed the documents one by one to the high priest, who then placed them on the heads of each Korean noble family member, took them down, and returned them to them with both hands.

Twenty-three noblemen from Korean families received the documents, held them close to their chests, and kowtowed simultaneously. The bells of the Shiva Temple rang out, their deep, resonant sound even echoing across the cobblestone square.

From this moment on, they were no longer scions of a noble Korean family; they were Brahmins, the highest caste in Hinduism, and the representatives of God on earth.

Liu Weiqing turned around from in front of the altar and said a sentence in Chinese to the Korean nobles.

"As His Majesty promised, your families will be granted control of a county in Bengal. From now on, aside from the regular taxes, everything else will belong to your families!"

After Liu Weiqing finished speaking, he didn't linger in front of the temple. As he stepped down from the altar, several high priests who understood immediately followed him and whispered something to him. Liu Weiqing shook his head, and the high priests didn't dare to say anything more, so they retreated.

Liu Weiqing knew very well why these twenty-three noble families of Korea were able to obtain these things. It was simply because they had been too eager to betray their country, assisting the Han Dynasty in turning Korea into a militaristic state and transforming all its people into professional soldiers.

Therefore, Liu Mu promised them that as long as they were willing to go to India, the Han Dynasty would not treat them unfairly. Each of them would have the authority to govern a county, and these twenty-three Brahman documents were Liu Mu's promise to them.

Next, with the twenty-three Brahmins leading those Korean youths into the most prosperous castle and taking control of the finances and lands of various regions, Liu Weiqing, the Indian king, could be considered a true king from then on.

……

Time passed quickly, and it was the 28th day of the 12th month of the 1879th year of the Han Dynasty.

Outside Zhengyang Gate, beneath the increasingly bustling Zhuangyuan Tower, a delegation of more than a dozen envoys, led by Pan Feng, entered the restaurant one by one.

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