Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 333 Overseas Children
The reason why Lin Hai brought the Dingyuan to Guangnan was, firstly, to protect his own safety, and secondly, to show off his muscles. Therefore, he readily agreed to Ruan Siqi's request to visit the ship.

Unexpectedly, after Ruan Siqi boarded the ship, he had no intention of visiting. Instead, he whispered to Lin Hai, "Prime Minister, please excuse me for a moment and talk."

Lin Hai then took him to the captain's room and asked, "What advice do you have, Lord Ruan?"

But Ruan Siqi took out a map from his sleeve and asked, "Prime Minister, do you know the geography of Cambodia?"

Lin Hai took a look at the map. Although it was roughly drawn, it was easy to tell that it was a map of the Kingdom of Cambodia because the Tonle Sap Lake and the Mekong River system were so obvious.

Cambodian King Kit Chetha II passed away last year. He was Nguyen Phuc Yuan's son-in-law and had borrowed troops from his father-in-law to repel Siamese invasions twice.

As a price, Cambodia allowed Guangnan to migrate to the Priangkor region in the Mekong Delta. Guangnan immigrants called this place Chaigun, while overseas Chinese called it Zhaigun. Later, the official place name went through many changes, such as Gia Dinh, Saigon, and Ho Chi Minh City.

After the death of King Chettha II, the pro-Quangnam prince Benha Tho ascended the throne, but the government fell into the hands of his uncle, the regent Udie. Udie was the leader of the pro-Siam faction in the Cambodian court, and the Kingdom of Quangnam was absolutely unwilling to see him in power.

When Li Guozhu set out for Goa and Surat, Lin Hai entrusted him to stop in Guangnan and formally proposed to the Nguyen Lord that the Kingdom of Jinhe wanted to join forces with it, send troops to kill Prince Wudie, and support Benha Tho to rule the country.

At this time, Ruan Siqi suddenly asked Lin Hai if he was familiar with Cambodia's geography. Lin Hai didn't know what he was thinking, so he just replied vaguely: "I'd like to hear more about it."

Ruan Siqi gestured on the map: "The southwest of Cambodia is full of mountains, and the east and north are hilly. There are two main plains in the country, one is in the Tonle Sap Lake area in the northwest, and the other is in the lower reaches of the Mekong River in the southeast..."

Lin Hai nodded as he listened. He was of course familiar with the geography of Cambodia. The two plains that Ruan Siqi mentioned were what later generations called Upper Khmer and Lower Khmer.

Upper Khmer was once the core area of ​​the Angkor Dynasty, while Lower Khmer was the core area of ​​Cambodia hundreds of years later. Although most of the Mekong Delta had been occupied by Vietnam at that time, Cambodia only retained a small part with Phnom Penh as the core.

At this time, Lin Hai still didn't know what Ruan Siqi was up to, but he guessed that it was probably to find out the demands of the Jinhe Kingdom. After all, if the two sides wanted to reach an agreement to send troops together, they had to first work out the distribution of benefits after the war.

"Thank you for your guidance, Lord Ruan, but I know the geography of Cambodia very well." Lin Hai didn't want Guangnan to think that he was easy to fool, so he opened the drawer on his desk and took out a more accurate map. He smiled and said to Ruan Siqi, "Lord Ruan, what do you think of this map of mine?"

Ruan Siqi couldn't tell which map was more accurate, but he was surprised that Lin Hai also had a map of Cambodia. He asked immediately, "May I ask, Prime Minister, if Jinhe is going to send troops to Cambodia, where will it take?"

"From what Lord Ruan said, your country is planning to accept the proposal of Jinhe Kingdom?" Lin Hai didn't expect him to ask so directly. Is he planning to start negotiations here and now?
"Of course, the Buddha is also salivating over the lower reaches of the Mekong River." Ruan Siqi answered more bluntly.

The so-called "Buddha Lord" is what the people of Guangnan call Nguyen Phuc Yuan. Because Guangnan still respects the monarch of the Later Le Dynasty on the surface and has not established a kingdom, each generation of Nguyen Lord has a specific title, such as Nguyen Phuc Yuan's father is called "Immortal Lord". "What a coincidence, the Queen of Jinhe also values ​​the lower reaches of the Mekong River." Lin Hai simply made his attitude clear. He was sure that Nguyen Phuc Yuan would not refuse the proposal of Jinhe Kingdom. This time he came mainly to negotiate the division of spoils.

"The queen is wise." Ruan Siqi's next words shocked Lin Hai, "The Buddha wants to cede the prefectures northwest of Tonle Sap Lake to Jinhe. This place was the capital of Zhenla when it was at its most prosperous. It is the most fertile land in Cambodia. The Prime Minister must not be fooled by his clever words."

Lin Hai was a little stunned when he heard this, and then he heard Ruan Siqi continue: "The Tonle Sap Lake area is rich in resources and has a lot of people. There are also mountains and rivers. It is a place where heroes can show their skills. Hundreds of years ago, Zhenla became the overlord of Central and South China because of this. However, today, the lake area has been through wars for a long time and has long been in ruins. In addition, the northwest of the lake is right in the path of Siam's army. This is a plan to divert disaster to the east. I hope the Prime Minister will take a closer look..."

"On the other hand, the lower reaches of the Mekong River are full of swamps and sparsely populated, and only the area around Phnom Penh can be called prosperous. However, this area has a crisscross network of rivers and fertile land. If we can drain the swamps and build water conservancy projects, it will surely become a land of abundance in the future..."

Everything Nguyen Si Qi said was true. The Mekong Delta at that time was indeed a wild land, because the delta plains were often full of swamps and overgrown vegetation. It required a large amount of manpower to continuously invest in infrastructure construction such as water conservancy before it could be turned into fertile land.

For example, the Yangtze River Delta and the Red River Delta were not fully developed until the Northern Song Dynasty, and the Pearl River Delta was not developed until the middle of the Ming Dynasty. The Mekong Delta has a tropical monsoon climate, which is compounded by the problem of flooding during the rainy season, and is even more geographically isolated from the center of East Asian civilization, so it was still a wilderness until this time.

However, the potential of the delta plain is enormous. Once fully developed, it can accommodate a huge population. Ruan Siqi's recognition of this shows that he has extraordinary vision.

He went on to say, "Besides, the Jinhe Kingdom was founded on the sea. The Tonle Sap Lake area is surrounded by mountains and has no access to the sea. Prime Minister, please do not seek faraway opportunities and covet small gains in the short term, which will delay your long-term strategy!"

After hearing these words, Lin Hai was stunned. Which side was Ruan Siqi on? As a royal businessman favored by Ruan Fuyuan, how could he betray his own people?

Could it be that Nguyen Phuc Yuan wanted the Tonle Sap Lake area himself, so he sent Nguyen Si Qi to fool him? After all, the Angkor Dynasty had built a huge water conservancy system here, and the population of the Kingdom of Cambodia is mainly concentrated in this area...

This thought flashed through Lin Hai's mind, but he quickly dismissed it.

Because Guangnan is also a country based on sea power to some extent, although the Tonle Sap Lake area has a strong foundation, it is not close to the sea and has inconvenient transportation to Guangnan. In addition, the west and north sides of the Tonle Sap Lake area are all Siamese territories, which also covets this place and has a comprehensive national strength comparable to Guangnan.

The number one enemy of Quang Nam has always been the Zheng Lords who occupied the Red River Delta, whose population was more than three times that of the Nguyen Lords. Nguyen Phuc Yuan could not be so stupid as to put himself in a situation of fighting on two fronts for a long time...

"May I ask, Brother Ruan, why did you say these to me?" Lin Hai couldn't help but ask.

"Confucius once said that it is better for the barbarians to have a king than for the Chinese to lose one!" Ruan Siqi said solemnly, "Let Brother Lin know that I am a descendant of the remnants of the Song Dynasty. My ancestors have been stranded in Champa since the Battle of Yashan. It has been 349 years since then. Although I was born overseas, I have never forgotten that I am a descendant of Yan and Huang!"

(End of this chapter)