During the two Song Dynasties, the north and northwest were always facing a huge border pressure, and liao, western Xia, Jin, and Mongolia were not easy enemies.
In order to strengthen the barrier against the enemy's soldiers, the Great Song must appease the ethnic minorities in the southwest region, if even they make trouble, then the Song Dynasty is in danger!
In order to appease them, the Song Dynasty mainly adopted tributes and other ways to detain them. Through tribute, ethnic minorities in the southwest could get the materials they needed to develop, and the Song Dynasty could also strengthen its local prestige.
In order to maintain tributary ties with the ethnic minorities in the southwest region, the Song Dynasty made great efforts and established many safeguard measures.
For example, every time the southwest ethnic minority mission came to pay tribute, the Song Dynasty would send a large number of escorts to ensure their safety.
In addition, when the envoys of these ethnic minorities came to pay tribute, they often provided their own means of transportation, but sometimes their transportation was too rudimentary, resulting in a little difficulty in traveling, and the Song Dynasty would be satisfied one by one.
For example, at that time, if the ethnic minorities in the Lizhou area wanted to come to pay tribute, they needed to cross the rapid dadu river, but with the shipbuilding ability of these ethnic minorities, it was risky to cross the Grand Canal. For this reason, Emperor Taizong of Song ordered that large boats should be built on the Dadu River in the Lizhou region to receive tribute from Southwest Yi.
In the Southern Song Dynasty, it was clearly stipulated that it was responsible for the supply of tribute horses and boats for the ethnic minorities in the southwest, which was no longer simply the responsibility of the post station, but also the responsibility of the local government along the road. Sometimes these local governments even arranged special servants, pavement troops, van troops, etc. to help these missions transport tribute and escort security.
After the tribute was completed, the gifts given by the imperial court were sent out by the officials along the road. If these envoys encountered illness along the way, they also needed to be carried back by the officials of the government.
Under normal circumstances, the tributary envoys were arranged at the post station for halfway rest. Therefore, the Song Dynasty paid special attention to the accommodation environment of the station, and whenever the ethnic minorities in the southwest, or the envoys of the Liao, Jin, and Western Xia came to pay tribute, the imperial court would order the pavilions along the way to be cleaned up a day or two in advance.
In summary, the Song Dynasty's pacification measures for these ethnic minorities in the southwest were relatively in place, and in order to ensure the smooth progress of the tributary process, detailed arrangements were made from the central to the local level.
Because the Song Dynasty gave back many gifts, the ethnic minorities in the southwest were able to obtain a large number of practical benefits from the tribute every time, so they were also keen to come to the tribute. Over time, they will form a dependence on the Song Dynasty, and then achieve the purpose of restraining them.
Only if the southwest is stable, the north of the Great Song Dynasty can have no worries when facing the Liao, Jin, and Western Xia.