prosperous age

The next day, the Ming army in the port began to move.

Although they were still resting, the military camp began to expand to the hills on both sides.

That afternoon, the Ming army occupied the three surrounding hills and set up simple fences at the foot of the hills to prevent people from going up.

To the local mountain residents, it was uniformly emphasized that this area had been requisitioned by the military and entry was prohibited.

A large number of tents were set up, and many soldiers were deployed to patrol the area, which completely covered the port area.

Meanwhile, the Ming army in Aceh already knew about the arrival of the Ming troops at the port.

In fact, the Aceh military camp received news of the Ming army's reinforcements at Old Port through two channels.

In addition to the scouts who escaped from Old Port reporting the situation, the Aceh army north of Sumatra also noticed the movements of the Ming fleet.

After all, the Strait of Malacca is a narrow body of water between Sumatra and the Indochina Peninsula. The Portuguese in Temasek could see it, and naturally the people of Acehnese on the island could see it as well.

"The Ming army has reinforced its troops, what should we do?"

Inside the Aceh military camp, an emergency meeting was also underway.

"According to the scouts' reports, the Ming Dynasty has sent at least three to five thousand reinforcements, which, together with the original two thousand or so in Old Port, greatly increases the enemy's strength."

"Yes, Commander, if we don't act now, and the Ming army continues to reinforce, we will really have no chance at all."

The pro-war generals rushed to speak first, while the pro-peace generals, who had previously been suppressed in their military camps, were now happy to see the strength displayed by the Ming army and chose to stand by and remain silent.

"This matter should probably be reported to the Sultan for a decision."

The Aceh commander glanced at his somewhat panicked subordinates and slowly spoke.

"General, I'm afraid this matter cannot be resolved easily."

The Ming Dynasty has taken notice of us, and there have been several previous conflicts.

Now that reinforcements have arrived at Old Port, they will likely launch an offensive against us.

At this point, our best option is probably to retreat and avoid engaging the Ming army in battle.

Finally, a general close to the commander whispered a reminder, "The king will probably be even more hesitant."

We had requested war several times before, but Wang refused each time, only hoping to make a deal with Temasek to acquire more firearms.

The best opportunity has been lost; retreating and avoiding war is the best option.

In fact, which of these generals didn't know that this is not how battles are fought?

Unfortunately, before the war began, the Sultan of Aceh repeatedly warned that the war must be initiated with his orders.

Therefore, they could only keep creating friction on the border and then report it to Kutaraja, hoping to get the Sultan to agree to go to war.

Well, although the King of Aceh did indeed want to take over Old Port, the prestige of the Ming Dynasty made him hesitate to make a decision.

Many people are the same; they may have thought they had made up their minds and made a decision before, but when it comes to the final step, they often hesitate and become cautious.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it becomes very bad when it comes to matters of national importance.

Military preparations are actually very difficult to keep secret; leaks are only a matter of time.

While the Sultan of Aceh hesitated, the Ming court in the capital, thousands of miles away, made a much more decisive decision, showing no sign of such indecisiveness.

"Let's observe first and see how the Ming army reacts after they reinforce their troops."

Do not report to Kutaraja for the time being. The Sultan was hesitant before, and if he knew that the Ming army had sent reinforcements, he would probably be even less willing to take any action.

Thus, all our previous efforts have been in vain, and we have also exposed our intentions to the Ming Dynasty. It is truly a case of losing more than we gain.”

The Aceh coach immediately said.

"I imagine the Ming army will definitely take some action. When that happens, we can directly report the provocation to the Ming army, what do you think?"

The lieutenant suggested.

"Yes, if the Ming army provokes us, it might make the Sultan decide to go to war."

The Aceh coach finally nodded and said.

When generals are leading troops in the field, what they fear most is being hampered from behind.

Such situations have occurred frequently not only in Chinese history, but are also not uncommon internationally.

As expected, reports came from the border over the next two days that Ming army patrols had begun to provoke the enemy.

At first, in addition to insults and throwing stones, Ming soldiers even fired shots into the air.

However, the news that Ming reinforcements were coming to Palembang was already circulating among the Aceh army, or in the vicinity of Palembang, and was no longer a secret.

Therefore, even when faced with provocations from their opponents, the Aceh patrol chose to remain restrained.

The failure to provoke a border conflict for two consecutive days surprised not only the garrison commander of Old Port, but also made General Li Chonggui somewhat impatient.

Unbeknownst to him, news that after they completely blockaded the port, they even went so far as to expand the military camps near the port on a large scale also quickly reached the Aceh military camp.

At this time, the generals of the Aceh army unanimously believed that the reinforcements from the Ming Dynasty should still be on their way and would continue to arrive in Old Port.

Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain the purpose of the Ming army's massive expansion of military camps.

These few thousand men may only be the vanguard of the Ming army, and subsequent reinforcements should arrive at some point in the future.

News of the Ming army's provocation reached back, but the possibility of further large-scale reinforcements from the Ming army caused panic among the generals and officers of Aceh.

Inside the military tent, the Aceh commander once again summoned his officers to discuss countermeasures.

"The only way is to launch an attack first and capture Old Port before the Ming reinforcements arrive."

Otherwise, if the Ming army sends a large number of reinforcements, the initiative in the war might fall into their hands.

The Ming Dynasty has mobilized so many troops to Palembang; this is certainly not just to demonstrate against Aceh. There must be follow-up military actions.

After the general finished speaking, he stood up and said excitedly, "General, let's start the war! If we delay any longer, we'll miss our chance."

This was the original choice made based on the Ming army's movements as currently known to the Aceh army. If they waited for the Ming army to arrive in droves, they would have no chance of fighting.

"But Kutaraja has not given the order."

The Aceh coach also looked worried, though he understood the reasons behind his subordinates' suggestion.

If it were up to him, he would have made the same choice: to start the war before the Ming reinforcements arrived.

With one burst of energy, they launched a fierce attack and captured the old port city, leaving the Ming army with nowhere to land.

However, if he did this without the Sultan's orders, the consequences would be predictable.

If he wins, he will receive preferential treatment, but it will also mean that he will lose the Sultan's trust and can forget about leading troops again.

No monarch would tolerate a general who disobeys orders and leads his army on an expedition.

That's way too risky.

He dared not gamble, because regardless of winning or losing, he could foresee his future: he would completely lose power in the kingdom.

At this moment, the Ming army's provocation was seen by the Aceh commander as an excuse to wait for reinforcements to arrive before launching an attack.

The Aceh army's restraint left even some officers in the Old Port garrison somewhat helpless.

More than 3,000 troops have been deployed around Old Port, especially in areas where conflict is most likely to break out.

However, no conflict broke out between the two armies for a long time, giving them no reason to launch an attack.

"In the past two days, the Aceh army has chosen to endure our provocations and disengage as soon as possible. It seems they are afraid."

Yu Shoubei had faced conflicts between the two armies many times, and he naturally noticed the unusual reaction of the Aceh army recently.

“We cannot afford to delay any longer and give Aceh more time to recruit more troops.”

Li Chonggui said with a stern face, "Have them set up an ambush in front of us."

"If we wipe out a unit of Aceh's army, I don't believe they'll be able to hold back. The main thing is that as soon as their border troops gather, we'll go to war with them."

Li Chonggui was determined to make a name for himself on Sumatra Island, so he naturally didn't care about anything else.

We must start the war as soon as possible and complete the task assigned by the imperial court.

He didn't care whether doing so was too despicable.

That's the kind of decorum that only civil officials care about. He's a military general, and all he wants is to achieve merit and establish a career, so that his wife and children can be rewarded.

"Okay, I'll make the arrangements right away."

Yu Shoubei naturally obeyed Li Chonggui's order.

However, after agreeing, he couldn't help but think of that military supervisor again.

"General Li, shouldn't we also inform the military supervisor?"

Commander Yu asked in a low voice.

"Don't announce it over there yet."

If these civil officials knew we were doing this, they would probably bring up those old sayings of the sages to stop us from doing so.

Once the fighting starts, report that it was an attack by the Aceh army and that we were acting in self-defense.

The imperial edict stated that Aceh had provoked the Celestial Empire and should be destroyed.

It's unlikely he would investigate the cause of the conflict.

After all, as long as we completely destroy Aceh, he can return to the capital with a great victory and be promoted.

Everyone's goal is the same.

Li Chonggui thought for a moment about the official he had been in contact with recently, then shook his head and said.

Civil officials, to a large extent, all possess a pedantic, scholarly air about them.

If they had known that they had set up an ambush and launched a surprise attack on the Aceh army, who knows what kind of trouble they would have caused.

If things go wrong, we'll send a memorial to the capital to impeach them.

Sometimes, these people are just a bit stubborn and like to be different.

"I will transfer two detachments of soldiers from the camp to you, and you should also transfer one detachment from the city. Prepare at least two thousand men, and I think that should be enough."

Li Chonggui continued, "I will lead the remaining troops to launch a surprise attack on Kutaraja and capture the King of Aceh alive."

The garrison in the old port city, including the personal guards of the garrison commander, numbered no more than 2,600.

Two thousand men were stationed inside the city, and five hundred men were stationed in five military camps outside the city to patrol the border.

The five battalions of soldiers rotated, taking turns to patrol outside the city.

In fact, the two men were of the same rank, both being deputy garrison commanders, and both holding the military rank of chiliarch.

However, Li Chonggui accumulated rich combat experience while following Li Chengliang in the campaign against Burma.

After this battle, he will at least be a deputy commander-in-chief, and it's even possible that he could be promoted directly to commander-in-chief.

The achievement of conquering a country is among the most outstanding military exploits in ancient China.

It's no wonder that when the Tang Dynasty was at its peak, its generals were keen to wage war against neighboring countries, often destroying several nations at a time.

The Tang Dynasty was a very special existence in Chinese history. After the establishment of the Tang Empire, it successively destroyed 17 countries.

This only refers to wars fought against foreign powers, and does not include the countries and forces destroyed in wars of domestic unification.

Since its establishment, the Ming Dynasty has not acquired as much territory as it has in recent years through external expansion, except for the territory seized from the Mongol Yuan Dynasty during the Northern Expeditions.

As the Ming army in Old Port began preparing for their ambush, a Sri Lankan galley sailing ship that had departed from Temasek was already rowing eastward through the waterway north of Old Port.

They were reconnaissance ships sent by the Portuguese to the Philippines to monitor the military situation in the Philippines and Spain.

The Portuguese had already fought against the Ming Dynasty twice and knew they were no match for it.

However, now that the Ming Dynasty's enemy has changed to the Spanish, they are also curious whether Spain will submit to the Ming Dynasty's coercion.

However, their trip was destined to be in vain, as the three Manila galleons, under the protection of two escort ships, sailed out of Manila Harbor and headed east along the coastline.

Meanwhile, at Tianjin Port, thousands of government troops and supplies had already been loaded onto ships.

As the shadow of the sun on the sundial reached a certain position, cannons on the shore fired in unison, and sailors on the ships began to nervously raise the sails. On the dock, sailors untied the mooring ropes, and dozens of ships swayed and drifted away from the dock.

On the deck, countless soldiers dressed in mandarin duck battle coats climbed onto the railings, looking at the distant land.

It's unclear who started it, but large numbers of Ming soldiers knelt on the deck and kowtowed towards their homeland.

This expedition was different from their previous campaign against Japan. They knew they would have to travel thousands of miles and face countless dangers to reach their destination.

Although there was an imperial decree granting them preferential treatment, no one knew whether they would be able to return alive.

On the upper deck of the sealed boat, Li Chengliang stood at the stern, looking at the distant mainland receding into the distance, his hand resting on the railing trembling slightly.

This trip was truly a tremendous test.

Even though the East China Sea Fleet said they already had nautical charts, there were only two such occasions, and no one knew whether they would be able to reach their destination successfully.

There are thousands of lives on board.

Are you scared?

Li Chengliang suddenly asked a question out of the blue.

Li Rubai and Li Ruzhen, standing behind him, were both taken aback. Li Rubai immediately replied, "Father, we are not afraid. With Father by our side, we are not afraid anywhere."

Yes, we are not afraid.

It's not that the Western barbarians are like us; they have to travel thousands of miles by boat to get there.

I suppose they are just like us.

With their limited manpower, we could probably wipe them out directly.

Li Ruzhen, still young and fearless, began to fantasize about eliminating Spanish forces in the Eastern Continent and completely controlling the entire continent as soon as he set off.

Well, although the title earned through military exploits certainly won't be passed down to him, he still feels deeply honored to be the son of a nobleman.

Although the scions of prominent families in the capital still treated the Li family with indifference, the other young masters were happy to flatter the brothers.

After all, Li Chengliang was someone who earned his title through military merit.

This tradition, which had been broken for a century in the history of the Ming Dynasty, is enough to demonstrate the immense imperial favor bestowed upon the Li family and the high regard that Chief Minister Wei held for Li Chengliang.

Similarly, the Qi family was in a similar situation.

The sons of top-tier wealthy families look down on nouveau riche families like the Li and Qi families, but they are still surrounded by the wealthy families of the capital and want to get closer to them.

If this is the case for just one earl, what would happen if the Li family were to become a hereditary noble family?

OK.

They really couldn't imagine what it would be like back then.

Perhaps, a hundred years from now, their descendants will be just like those scions of top wealthy families.

Meanwhile, in the Ministry of Revenue's office, a group of officials were discussing the charter of a new type of chamber of commerce.

"Your Excellency, I have no objections after these revisions."

Just now, the revised articles of association of the stock exchange, which have been amended three times, were discussed for the first time at a ministry meeting.

Even after repeated revisions, some problems still needed to be addressed. (End of Chapter)