prosperous age

Chapter 1027 1118 Detection

"We stationed troops in Luzon only because the barbarians came here, and there is no other reason."

Yu Dayou blamed the barbarians for the reason of Ming Dynasty's garrison, and he did not have the slightest awareness of lying, and he did it without blushing or feeling nervous.

Wei Guangde has been keeping his eyes on Southeast Asia for a long time. When he was paying attention to trench-armed merchant ships and firearms manufacturing technology, he had already sent people to pay attention to the situation in various countries in Southeast Asia.

However, small countries like Sulu did not enter his sight.

The large-scale arrival of foreigners also became the reason for Wei Guangde to follow in the footsteps of the South Seas.

In fact, Yu Dayou knew better than anyone that what Wei Guangde wanted was to restore Ming's influence over the entire Nanyang. Originally, the first step was to target Jiugang and restore the Jiugang Xuanwei Office, which would be equivalent to blocking the passage into Nanyang from the west.

Although the Portuguese have already controlled Manciga, due to the location of the Strait of Malacca, Old Port's control over the strait is no less than that of Manciga.

It’s just that the location of the city of Singapore in later generations happened to control the narrowest and most easily blocked passage in the strait, so its geographical location is particularly important.

But correspondingly, the location of Singapore city is very important. But since it is a strait, the blockade capabilities of the old port and the area across the sea from here are the same and are both very important.

Of course, there is a good harbor near the sea in Singapore, which adds a lot of points to this place.

Therefore, Singapore later developed by leveraging its geographical advantages, while development on the other side of the strait was much slower.

However, the Ming Dynasty was a great power in this maritime region. Unlike the European colonists, they did not expand their trade routes by seizing strongholds along the coast. Instead, the Ming Dynasty wanted to control the entire region, the entire ocean of East Asia and the South China Sea.

Under such circumstances, the geographical location of Mancijia is not that important. Instead, the Old Port, relying on the huge island of Sumatra, can allow the Ming army to gain more advantages here.

“King Baker, you must be aware that the barbarians not only extended their tentacles to the South Seas, but in fact, a long time ago, they had already adopted a similar model to Luzon in other places, that is, occupation.

To the east, the Manila barbarians are said to have occupied a vast area and killed their king.

Yu Dayou also learned about Spain's conquest of the Inca Empire through exchanges with maritime merchants, but the details were very vague. They were all boasted by the foreign maritime merchants after drinking. After all, they were always proud of such feats.

And this news also spread to many neighboring countries through the trade of Spanish merchants.

When King Baker heard what Yu Dayou said, he also nodded.

He had heard this news from others, and because of the Luzon incident, he was extremely wary of the foreigners in Manila.

"My Great Ming also heard about this, so I paid attention to Nanyang. I sent people to learn about the situation in Nanyang before, and I learned that the Jiugang Xuanwei Office of my Great Ming no longer exists.

I will not hide it from you. When the court first learned the news, they wanted to send me to lead the army south to restore the Jiugang Xuanwei Office and declare war on the country that attacked and occupied the place and destroy it.

However, knowing that the Majapahit Kingdom that had invaded Old Port had long been destroyed, the imperial court did not send troops.

But through understanding, we also learned that the barbarians who came to our Ming Dynasty for trade had actually occupied Mancijia and Luzon in Southeast Asia. The two vassal states were destroyed, and the court did not know anything about it. "

When Yu Dayou said this, he looked angry.

"Marshal, our Nanyang countries are small and weak, and we also have difficulties. I really don't know how to report to the upper country."

King Baker said this with great fear and trepidation.

In fact, everyone knows the real reason. The Ming Dynasty's influence in Southeast Asia and even in the whole of Southeast Asia has shrunk since the early Ming Dynasty, and its influence has weakened sharply. Not many people care about it anymore.

But this cannot be said directly.

"Just like me, I have long wanted to go to Ming to meet His Majesty the Emperor of Ming, but I have never been able to do so. Sigh."

Having said this, King Baker sighed.

"King Bakr is loyal to the Ming Dynasty, as can be seen from the fact that he has raised an army to help. The Emperor and the court of the Ming Dynasty will understand this.

When this battle is over, I will send a ship to escort His Majesty the King to Ming."

Yu Dayou immediately took over the conversation.

King Baker pretended to express his emotion, but he was also thinking in his heart that it seemed that the Ming Dynasty did not have any ambitions towards the Sulu Kingdom.

But no matter what, as things have developed to this point, he must go to the Ming Dynasty to see with his own eyes what this legendary and extremely powerful empire looks like, and also to see the Ming Dynasty's attitude towards the Southeast Asian countries.

"Our Sulu Kingdom has always been loyal to the Ming Dynasty. If the Ming Dynasty wants to restore the Old Port Xuanwei Office, our Sulu Kingdom is willing to do its best to provide assistance."

In this tent, Baker knew that he could not speak nonsense and had to follow General Ming's wishes.

So, I generously expressed my willingness to help.

“In fact, the imperial court only intends to restore the old port, but the current situation in Luzon also makes the imperial court uneasy. They are worried that the barbarians will come in large numbers and use Luzon as a base to expand everywhere, so they asked me to come and take a look.

If the Kingdom of Luzon has really been destroyed, then the Ming Dynasty will directly station troops here to monitor the movements of the barbarians nearby.

If they still have ambitions towards the Southeast Asian vassal states, they can take military action nearby.

I wonder if King Baker can understand the good intentions of the court."

Yu Dayou continued to explain the original intention of the Ming Dynasty to station troops in Luzon. In fact, this was also the argument Wei Guangde used to convince other ministers in the court.

With the Ming army monitoring nearby, if the barbarians still want to expand their influence in Southeast Asia, the Ming Dynasty can take action to suppress them as quickly as possible.

When King Baker heard about the Ming Dynasty's plan, his doubts were relieved a lot, but his worries were still not completely eliminated.

However, Ming Dynasty’s reasons were indeed very strong.

If the Ming Dynasty did not station troops in Southeast Asia, especially in Luzon, if the barbarians attacked the Sulu Kingdom in the future, the Ming Dynasty would be unable to reach them and would be afraid that by the time the barbarians got the news, the country would have been destroyed.

Now, if the Ming Dynasty stations troops in northern Luzon, if the barbarians set out from Manila to attack other places, the Ming Dynasty can send troops to contain them.

With the Ming army at its side, the Sulu Kingdom seemed to be much safer.

Thinking of this, King Baker suddenly felt a lot more confident.

Luzon has already been destroyed. If the Ming Dynasty had not come, the Sulu Kingdom would have had no chance anyway, and it would have been a good opportunity for the barbarians.

It seems that he did not suffer any loss by giving the land of Luzon to the Ming Dynasty. On the contrary, it was much safer with the army of the superior country stationed there. He could come here regularly in the future and follow the Ming Dynasty fleet to the Ming Dynasty to meet the emperor.

Thinking of the tribute, King Baker became interested.

He knew that the vassal states could gain many advantages by paying tribute to the Ming Dynasty.

In the past, he could only think about it. Without large ships to cross the sea, the only route he could choose was to go downward first, through Sumatra and Manciga, and then through Siam, Annan and other countries to the Ming Dynasty.

After the Ming Dynasty stationed troops in Luzon, he only needed to wait here for the arrival of the Ming Dynasty fleet and then take a boat to go there.

In the past, the Sulu Kingdom had considered going to the Ming Dynasty via roads or merchant ships from other countries, but they had to endure high charges.

You have to know that the travel expenses will not be given to you for free, they will require benefits.

If they don't want to, then naturally there's no way they can go.

After that, since there would be Ming troops stationed in neighboring countries, there would inevitably be regular travel of ships, and the connections would become closer.

"Marshal, from what I've heard, the Old Port is in chaos right now."

Baker is not complacent in Southeast Asia. He has some connections with the surrounding forces, so he knows the current situation in Old Port.

"I heard that there are people who rebelled against the Ming Dynasty and built a city there."

Before, he had heard that some Ming pirates had gone to Luzon to build a city, and he was not surprised at all because it was not the first time he had heard such news, but he had become accustomed to it.

You know, someone had already been to the Old Port ten years ago. Hearing Baker talking about this, Yu Dayou just nodded slightly.

“This is true. I was the one who led the troops to defeat the rebels. I thought we could capture them in one fell swoop, but they ran away on their boat.

There was no news for many years afterwards, and I thought they all died at sea. It was only recently that I learned that they went to Old Port."

There was no need for Yu Dayou to hide such a thing, so he just told it directly.

"It turned out that the Marshal led his troops to defeat them. I heard that this group of people is very powerful. The Bazhang Kingdom and the neighboring Yaqi Kingdom both fought against them, but they couldn't defeat them, so they could only let them stay there."

Old Port was originally defeated by Majapahit, and after a series of changes, it became the land of the Kingdom of Padang, and around them was the Aceh Kingdom in West Sumatra.

"I heard that the situation in Bazhang country is unstable now?"

Yu Dayou asked casually.

"Yes, the nobles of Matalan want to overthrow the Kingdom of Bachang, and the two sides have been on the verge of a war."

Baker had a relatively good understanding of the situation in Southeast Asia. He had to have a good understanding of it. It was such a small area, and the war might spread to Sulu at any time.

"The Ming Dynasty has no interest in Aceh, Bachang, or the Mataram you mentioned, but we must take back the original territory of the Jiugang Xuanweisi."

Yu Dayou just said.

Having finally arrived in Nanyang, Yu Dayou was already considering whether he should go to Jiugang and settle the matter.

Didn’t the remnants of the Feilong Kingdom ask for amnesty?

Go straight there and kill anyone who dares to resist. If they surrender, then wait for the court to decide their fate.

However, when he came to this point, Yu Dayou also thought of the purpose of his visit, so he waved his hand and said with a smile: "There is something important tonight, so we should think more about the city-breaking operation tonight.

As for the Old Port, as long as our navy arrives, no matter what the remnants of the Flying Dragon Nation choose, they will not be able to escape the fate of failure. "

"That's right, the commander-in-chief has a long-term vision and the Ming army is powerful, so they are naturally invincible."

Buckle hurriedly praised.

"Haha, King Buckle is overpraising you."

Yu Dayou smiled faintly and said modestly, then looked at Deng Zilong, then looked at Chen Lin beside him and said: "You must be cautious tonight, and strive to win in one blow and successfully occupy Daimao City."

"Yes, I will obey your orders."

The two men stood up, clasped their fists and saluted.

"Go down and check on the soldiers under your command. Try to satisfy their needs and see if there is anything else that needs to be prepared."

Deng Zilong was a relative of Wei Guangde, who had brought him in. Chen Lin had been Yu Dayou's subordinate for a long time and was someone whom Yu Dayou trusted very much.

This time, Yu Dayou appointed two people to be responsible for attacking Daimao City to give them the opportunity to make meritorious service.

As for the future arrangements in Luzon, Yu Dayou has already made a plan. Deng Zilong was appointed by Wei Guangde to go to Jiugang, and Chen Lin seemed to be able to serve as the commander of the Luzon garrison, and he could also hold the title of deputy general at that time.

In fact, in Jiugang, he may also command an entire town as a deputy general. As for his rank, he should be promoted to deputy commander or even associate governor.

That night, the area outside Daimao City was exceptionally quiet, no different from usual.

But everyone in and out of the city knew that tonight would be an unusual night.

Yu Dayou, Baker and others did not rest, but sat in the tent, waiting for the agreed time to come.

In the woods outside the north gate of Daimao City, thousands of troops have secretly gathered here, waiting for the signal to open the north gate, and then they will swarm into the city.

In the Ming army camp, there were 200 Ming soldiers with 2,000 troops as backup, ready to participate in the war at any time.

Although he was confident that he could capture the city this time, Yu Dayou would not let his guard down before successfully occupying Daimao City.

If Lin Fengchun and others were pretending to surrender, there were still reserve troops to rescue the vanguard troops out of the city.

"Brother, Brother Yan just sent someone to deliver a message that all the family members are staying in the Chengbei courtyards, and no one is missing.

Qian Laoliu from the south of the city sent people to look for a few families, saying that they had not returned yet so late.

Brother Yan sent them away temporarily, saying that they would rest tonight, so he allowed the soldiers to stay with their families for one night. "

Xu Yingmei whispered in front of Lin Fengchun.

"Has anyone asked about this before?"

Lin Fengchun frowned slightly when he heard this and asked.

"No."

Xu Yingmei thought about it before answering.

"Send two trusted men to deliver a letter to Youqian and Dacheng, asking them to be on guard."

The sudden incident made Lin Fengchun alert.

Although Lin Feng might not know about their conspiracy, otherwise he would not have waited until now without seeing any movement in the city.

You have to know what time this is, so there must be no mistakes.

"Maybe I'm overthinking it."

Xu Yingmei went down to arrange for someone to deliver the letter, and then Lin Fengchun whispered something.

At this moment, several people were extremely nervous.

After all, it was not yet the time agreed with the Ming army. If Lin Feng and others discovered something and attacked them first, they would be in danger.

Even if the Ming army outside the city noticed anything, they would never come to the rescue.

After all, before the city gates were opened to let the Ming army enter, the Ming army generals outside the city must have been on guard against them at all times.

Because this is not just his fantasy, but if he put himself in their shoes, he would do the same.

For the first time, Lin Fengchun felt that time was so long and unbearable. Although there was only a short hour left, he felt as if he had been waiting for several years.

Just when he was worried that Lin Feng and others would find out, Qian Laoliu, as they called him, was patrolling the streets and counting the population of the city.

The food reserves in the city were obviously insufficient after being consumed over this period of time, so Lin Feng had to start controlling the city's food consumption. He ordered each market to count the population and distribute food according to population in the future.

"Those families haven't come back yet?"

When Qian Laoliu heard the report from his subordinates, he just frowned and asked.

At this point in time, family members are still allowed to be with soldiers.

Although this happened before, we would return to the assigned residence at night and never spend the night outside.

There's something weird about it.

Qian Laoliu thought to himself.