Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 336 Guangnan Wolong Tao Weici

Tao Weici was a native of Thanhhua and originally lived under the rule of Zheng. However, because his father was a singer and was not allowed to take the imperial examinations, he fled to the south to seek a career.

However, the Nguyen Lord did not hold an imperial examination at that time, and Tao Weici had no connections, so he worked as a cattle herder for the neighbor of the official Chen Dehe.

In order to attract Chen Dehe's attention, Tao Weici wrote a poem "Wolonggang" and compared himself to Zhuge Liang. This trick really attracted Chen Dehe's attention. After talking with him, he was amazed by his beauty and took him home to support him and married his daughter to him.

After Nguyen Phuc Yuan broke openly with the Trinh Lord, Tran Duc Hoa introduced Tao Vici to the former. Tao Vici was able to rise to prominence, and the Trinh Lord felt that he had met Tao Vici too late and was like a fish in water. He almost obeyed Tao Vici's every word, even though Tao Vici was already 55 years old at that time.

Tao Weici did not disappoint and worked tirelessly to plan for the Buddha at both the strategic and tactical levels. In fact, Guangnan's true independence was achieved under his planning.

After receiving Lin Hai's invitation, Tao Weici did not reply immediately, but went to consult Nguyen Phuc Yuan as soon as possible. Although Tao Weici was named Marquis of Luxi by the Buddha, his position was only Nei Zan, equivalent to a staff member, which was a typical case of high title but low position, so he always knew how to put himself in the right position.

Nguyen Phuc Yuan thought it would be a good idea to let Tao Vici test the bottom line of the Jinhe Kingdom, and agreed to let him meet Lin Hai after considering it for a while. After all, Tao Vici was an aide, and Lin Hai was writing in the name of a private visit, so this model might make the conversation more open.

Tao Weici then hosted a banquet at his home to entertain Lin Hai. After three rounds of drinking, Lin Hai pretended to be slightly tipsy and sneered, "I often hear people say that you used to herd cattle in the mountains and always compared yourself to Zhuge Kongming. Is this true?"

Like Nguyen Phuc Yuan, Tao Vici could not speak Chinese. He was of humble origin and could not even speak the Han-Vietnamese dialect of the court language of the Later Le Dynasty, let alone communicate with Lin Hai verbally.

Seeing Lin Hai's expression when he spoke, Tao Weici guessed that the real show was about to begin. After listening to the translation, he smiled leisurely while waving his feather fan, "This is nothing compared to what I have done in my life."

Lin Hai thought that this guy had indeed read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and immediately retorted: "Zhuge Liang's military and literary skills are rare in the world, but he tried to use Shu to fight against the Central Plains. He didn't know the will of heaven. And you urged the Buddha to use Shun and Guang to fight against Zheng in the north, which is even more foolish. Compared with Kong Ming's ignorance of current affairs, you are even worse!"

"Zheng's brat, who pretends to be the Grand Marshal, is actually a traitor to the country. What's the point of talking about him?" Tao Weici laughed. "Last year, the Northern Army was ten times larger than ours. I only used a little trick to wipe them out. I'm afraid that Kong Ming's military tactics may not be better than this!"

"Your Excellency could only defend, while Zhuge Wuhou supported the weak Shu, delivered food over thousands of miles, and marched to Qishan six times, making the Wei army fear Shu like a tiger and could only defend themselves and clear the fields. When the Shu army ran out of food and had no choice but to retreat to Hanzhong, Wuhou was able to return safely every time. With such military strategy, how can you compare to him?"

Lin Hai said, "Besides, victory and defeat are common in the military. Sir, you are so proud of yourself after defeating the enemy in one battle, and you have completely forgotten the disparity in strength between the north and the south of your country. This is really ridiculous. Although Shuzhong is small, it is also a land of abundance. Zhuge Wuhou's ability cannot even rule the Central Plains, and Shun and Guang are poor and barren, so how can they be enemies with Beihe? I hope you can teach me."

Tao Weici continued to wave his fan and said, "Shun and Guang have the dangerous Hengshan and Lingjiang River in the north, and the solid Haiyunbei Mountain in the south. The mountain produces gold and iron, and the sea produces fish and salt. It is indeed a place where heroes can display their military skills. If we can tame the people and train our troops to fight against Zheng, we can build a career that will last for thousands of years. This is something that fools and idiots cannot understand."

These were actually the last words of Nguyen Phuc Yuan's father Nguyen Hoang. However, the so-called "gold and iron in the mountains" is complete nonsense. Guangnan's metal resources are almost entirely dependent on overseas trade.

"Does Shunguang really produce gold and iron? I'm afraid that's not true! Let alone gold and iron, your country doesn't even have saltpeter and yellow. It has to import everything from overseas. As long as overseas trade is cut off, all your guns and cannons will become scrap copper and rotten iron. How can you still compete with Zheng?" Lin Hai stood up and said to Tao Weici in a stern voice: "The Buddha only relies on the navy. If Zheng borrows a more powerful navy and blockades the ports of Shunguang for a long time, how will you deal with it?"

This was already a naked threat, almost pointing out that the more powerful navy came from Jinhe. After all, for the Queen of Jinhe, if she could not reach an agreement with Guangnan to divide the Mekong Delta, it would be better to help Zheng instead of Nguyen, as the latter not only had more abundant resources but was also closer.

Tao Weici was a smart man, he just stopped when he was right, and sure enough, his face changed after he heard the translation. In fact, he knew the comprehensive strength comparison between Zheng and Nguyen better than anyone else. He originally had no intention of serving the Nguyen Lord, and later came to the south because he was frustrated in Beihe.

When he was introduced to the Buddha, it happened that the Zheng Lord had completed the conquest of the Cao Bang Mo clan and sent people south to ask Nguyen Phuc Yuan to resume paying taxes to the central government.

Nguyen Phuc Yuan was somewhat hesitant about this, but Tao Viet Tzu urged him to refuse and proposed to build a long wall in the north to resist the enemy with strong fortresses and powerful artillery. At the same time, he should maintain the naval superiority at sea and continue to vigorously develop overseas trade, so that he could be self-reliant.

Neither Nguyen Phuc Nguyen nor Tao Viet Tzu thought about pushing back to the Bac Ho River. Their biggest goal was to protect themselves. If the advantage of the navy no longer existed, then this goal would be nothing more than a foolish dream.

After all, the population and army under Zheng were more than three times that of Nguyen, and there was surplus food, so a large amount of rice could be exported every year.

In addition, Beihe Kingdom's mineral resources rank first among Southeast Asian countries, and its talents are far superior to Guangnan. After all, Shunguang was still Champa territory more than a hundred years ago. How can it be compared with Jiaozhi, which has been ruled by the Celestial Empire for thousands of years?
Not only Tao Weici, the chief military advisor, but also Nguyen Phuc Yuan's top general Nguyen Huu I came from the north, and even Nguyen Phuc Yuan's father Nguyen Hoang came from the north.

Tao Weici knew that this was not the time to show off his words. After all, he was already at an age where he knew his destiny, so he quickly calmed down.

"Prime Minister, please sit down, please sit down." Tao Weici also stood up and asked Lin Hai to sit down, then asked: "There are many ports in Shun and Guang. Whoever wants to blockade them will need the whole country's strength, and it will take years to achieve results. Once the wind is high in the open sea, there is a risk of annihilation. May I ask, Prime Minister, what bargaining chips does Zheng have to invite such strong support?"

The meaning of this statement is very clear. The Guangnan Navy is not weak. It is extremely difficult for Jinhe to annihilate it in the inland sea. The most he can do is to block the port.

Tao Weici didn't believe that Queen Jinhe would act so impulsively that she would pay a huge price just because she failed to reach an agreement. She would also take considerable risks to do this.

Lin Hai smiled after hearing this: "In fact, Zheng doesn't necessarily have to invite reinforcements, they just need to introduce some foreign craftsmen. Beihe has no shortage of wood, gold, iron, or people. Once they introduce advanced cannon-making technology and then fully develop the navy, I wonder how your country will respond?"

What this means is that the Jinhe Kingdom will certainly not do this thankless business, but if Lord Zheng has the ability to blockade the Guangnan port, do you think he will do it?

Tao Weici was so stunned after hearing this that he even forgot to continue waving his folding fan...

(End of this chapter)