Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 560: Death of the Burmese King
Buddhism has a long history of development in China. It was first introduced sporadically during the Han Dynasty and reached its peak during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. There is a poem to prove it: There were 480 temples in the Southern Dynasties, and many pavilions were shrouded in mist and rain.

To use modern common language, this is a group of people who do not engage in production and survive by providing emotional value to others.

People will always be confused and need spiritual support. Religion is for this purpose. For example, Christianity tells you that people have original sin. There is another religion that tells believers that you are all celestial beings.

Myanmar is also a country where the whole nation believes in Buddhism. Knowing the power of faith, Jia Lian was quite polite to the monks.

Of course, that’s all. If you don’t know what’s good for you, even the Buddha can’t keep you.

When the monk representative arrived, he first gave a lecture on Zen. Jia Lian listened absent-mindedly, and hummed twice to indicate that he had heard it. He did not hear a single word about sins, reincarnation, or rebirth.

Until the monk representative said: "My Lord, now that Yangon has been conquered, when will the troops withdraw?"

Jia Lian instantly evolved from a lazy state to a Shura in the world, his eyes roaming back and forth on the neck of the monk representative.

"Master, are you asking on your own behalf? Or are you delivering a message for someone else?" Jia Lian asked slowly and rhythmically, his tone stern.

"How about asking yourself, or passing on a message for someone else?" The monk representative shrank his neck slightly and asked back with gritted teeth.

Jia Lian laughed out loud: "Ask yourself. I think you are compassionate and hope that the war will end soon and return to peace. I am telling you that you can decide when the war will start, but you cannot decide when it will end."

The monk representative closed his eyes expressionlessly, remained silent for a while, and then opened his eyes and said, "I understand. Goodbye!"

He left very decisively, letting his actions speak for themselves.

The Zhou army continued to occupy Yangon, waiting for further developments.

The next day, the monk representative came again to ask for a meeting, and Jia Lian still gave him respect out of respect.

"The King of Burma is willing to end the war and restore peace between the two countries. Please ask Your Excellency to set the conditions." The monk representative did not hide anything this time and went straight to the point.

It seems that he is anxious. It can be seen that he is uncomfortable being forced, and it can also be seen that the person who forces the monk is also uncomfortable and even more anxious.

"A tiny country, a tiny piece of land, dares to invade the territory of the Celestial Empire. Its crime is unforgivable. I, Jia, am entrusted with the heavy trust of Your Majesty and the honor of the Celestial Empire. My first priority is to bring back the head of the King of Burma. Otherwise, I will not be able to explain to Your Majesty." Jia Lian came up with a ruthless move. Without talking about anything else, he first wanted to kill the culprit who started the war.

The monk got anxious when he heard this. He was originally sitting calmly, but suddenly stood up and shouted, "Impossible, absolutely impossible! Don't discuss this condition."

Jia Lian smiled and said, "Okay, let's not talk about it. Please come in, Master!" After that, he stood up and made a gesture of invitation. The monk instantly turned into a clay sculpture or wooden statue, with a stiff expression.

"It's a sin, it's a sin, I have violated the precepts!" The monk lowered his head and raised his hands, chanting scriptures in a low voice, slowly backed away, turned around and left.

After watching the monk leave, Jia Lian sneered twice and said, "Send out the troops!"

Jia Lian has not been idle during this period. He used the relationship with the Xue family Chamber of Commerce to bribe some people. Through these people, he has obtained information and found the location of the King of Burma.

Now, under the guidance of the guide, five hundred cavalrymen rushed out urgently and headed straight for the target.

The Burmese king did not run far because he fell off the elephant's back and was injured. It was inconvenient for him to move, so he recuperated in a palace fifty miles away. The conditions there were good and it was convenient for him to recuperate.

Jia Lian did not pursue the enemy later, which gave him the illusion that Zhou's army was simply trying to capture Yangon for revenge.

Because the Zhou army did not take any follow-up action, the Burmese king was not in a hurry to escape. He stayed where he was and waited for news, hoping to start negotiations.

These backward countries, to put it bluntly, the British only needed a few thousand people to conquer a country, Jia Lian brought 15,000 land forces at once, and a navy of equal number. This is not counting transport ships and sailors. These people also have flintlock rifles in their hands, and when necessary, it is not difficult for them to become warriors.

To put it bluntly, fighting a war costs so much, you have to make your money back and then make some extra money.

How to make back the money? Of course, rob the local rich people. How to make money? Of course, pay compensation.

Now Jia Lian has no intention of destroying the country, which means he does not intend to provoke the British. Of course, he must have a concession.

By the time the masses in the old revolutionary base of Paris launched the revolution, Europe was too busy to even think about expanding territory and transforming the land into commoners.

After taking over Burma, with their backs to the inland and across the Bay of Bengal from India, the British were destined to be uneasy.

That's right, this is the effect we want. When talking to the Ansa people, we must use a way they can understand.

For example, this sentence: See, this cannon has a caliber, a range, and a rate of fire.

It can be said that once they occupied Burma, the British's road to Asia would stop at India. If they dared to think crookedly and set their sights on the Strait of Malacca, they would have to face threats from three directions.

Why three directions? One is to attack India by land, one is to attack Burma, and one is to attack Penang. There are also two directions on land. With the manpower of Britain, it is impossible to defend.

Since they cannot defend themselves and cannot defeat their opponents head-on, the British will automatically enter a state of compromise.

The most important thing is that in the eyes of Europeans, the current Great Zhou is a symbol of civilization and an ideal country.

As long as the Zhou Empire remains strong and accumulates for a few decades, it will become a beacon. No, the beacon is actually me!

Jia Lian no longer has to work hard to fight for the so-called right to speak. Unlike modern times, even the world's most powerful country is still suppressed in terms of soft power.

The lighthouse can continue to have a voice for a period of time by relying on inertia.

Of course, now no one believes what Golden Retriever says at the national level.

The cavalrymen equipped with two cavalry cannons, with two guns in each hand and two horses each, arrived at the place in half a day and used the two cavalry cannons to fiercely bombard the gate, which seemed simple in the eyes of the Chinese people.

After a chaotic scene, the Burmese king fled with his followers, and the cavalry did not pursue them, but marched into the palace. Resistance? How could there be any resistance?

Before dark, a subsequent battalion of infantry reinforcements arrived and were responsible for cleaning up the battlefield.

Military police wearing red armbands could be seen everywhere, and the officers and soldiers who were addicted to looting suddenly sobered up and their eyes became clear.

These bastards really won't show you any mercy. If they are caught violating military discipline, they will enforce the law strictly.

Many women had their clothes torn, and they only escaped because of the appearance of the military police.

The next morning, the women imprisoned in the palace saw a horrifying scene: a dozen soldiers who were in charge yesterday were lying on benches, and the law enforcement gendarmes were swinging their whips and whipping them again and again.

The clothes were soon torn and covered in blood.

After the execution, the military doctor next to them immediately stepped forward to clean and apply medicine. Alcohol was poured on them, and the killers cried out in pain.

Jia Lian is very strict about military discipline, and the reason is very simple. Once the army is not disciplined, it will become a beast. People cannot have no bottom line.

Punishment is punishment, but the benefits will not be reduced at all, this is called clear distinction between rewards and punishments. This is also the reason why the new officers and soldiers are convinced.

Zhou Jun's actions greatly eased the hatred of the local people. After all, those who bullied them in the past were not as good as these outsiders.

We just don't understand each other's language, but the people can see what you have done.

After severely cracking down on a group of local black forces in terms of public security, some local people were arranged to maintain the local situation. Yangon, which was temporarily without a government, did not become chaotic.

That night, in addition to the naval personnel and auxiliary troops who stayed behind, Jia Lian led three battalions of the main force of the first regiment of the new army to arrive.

Of course we have to talk, but not now. We have to make the other person feel enough pain until he can't bear it anymore.

The new army got up early, broke camp and headed north, sweeping all the way, robbing the wealthy in each town. Domestic merchants followed the team, buying up the spoils at low prices along the way, and normally bringing them back home for five times the price. At the same time, these merchants also solved the military supply problem for the new army, so the officers and soldiers didn't have to eat unpalatable dry food.

Later, a popular saying in the domestic business community was that following Mr. Jia, one could earn three times more than a normal year, and that was the minimum. The maximum could be ten times.

As long as they can make a lot of money, these businessmen are really willing to risk their lives. They hire their own men and horses, buy their own equipment, and take responsibility for their own life and death, without the officers and soldiers having to worry about them.

Revolvers are such expensive weapons, and these merchants have bought thousands of them, and countless ammunition. Since the opening of Nanyang, the arms industry created by Jia Lian has been mainly bought by immigrants from all over Nanyang. They are all armed immigrants, and every adult man has a flintlock rifle, and they also buy a lot of revolvers. It is because of these that heavy industry can survive, otherwise what do you think. Heavy industry has always been a loss-making business for a country, but without this, there is no talk of industrialization. No country's industrialization has been developed by light industry.

As for the management of firearms among civilians in Southeast Asia, Jia Lian really doesn't care. In the mainland, it is naturally strictly prohibited.

Otherwise, in the fights between villages, everyone else is using cold weapons, but you take out a revolver. Is that fair?
In fact, Jia Lian also has a difficult life. For the survival of heavy industry, he can only turn a blind eye to many things.

As we pushed forward northward, the resistance of the Burmese army along the way was negligible. It was not until we reached Myitkyina that the situation changed. The vanguard encountered a large-scale Burmese army, including elephant soldiers.

Jia Lian immediately ordered the troops to retreat and set up camp, prepare for field battles, and make preparations for fire prevention.

The new army had been too relaxed during this period and was inevitably a little lax. For this reason, Jia Lian personally led his entourage to patrol everywhere. If he found anyone slacking off, he would scold them for the minor offenses, and if the offense was serious, he would dismiss the officer and make amends for his crime.

After the reorganization, the new army's appearance improved and they became more vigilant.

It's not that Jia Lian is unkind, it's just that he is in a foreign country, surrounded by hateful eyes, and he can't be careless at all.

Jia Lian didn’t know about others, but he couldn’t afford to lose, at least not on the battlefield.

That night, the Burmese army launched a night attack relying on their familiarity with the terrain.

The newly-armed officers and soldiers, who had been prepared in advance, fired rifles at long range and shotguns at close range. After a fierce battle for half the night, they pushed back the enemy.

At dawn, Jia Lian, who had not slept all night, walked out of the tent calmly and looked around. He saw corpses hanging on the obstacles outside the camp.

When cleaning up the battlefield, there were nearly two thousand corpses alone. All they had to do was pile them up and burn them to prevent an epidemic.

The cavalry went out to investigate and brought back news that Myitkyina ahead was in chaos and countless people were fleeing.

Jia Lian ordered a battalion to stay behind to cooperate with the merchants to defend the camp, and the main force immediately moved forward to capture Myitkyina.

Because there was no organized resistance, the town, which was not big to begin with, was easily captured. At this time, Jia Lian could understand the ease of the British and French forces at Baliqiao.

Of course Jia Lian will not be soft-hearted. We are people of high morals, but you took action first.

As they continued to move north, the terrain became more and more complicated, so Jia Lian ordered the troops to stop moving north and rest for three days.

Because he kept leaving troops to garrison in the conquered towns along the way, Jia Lian only had two batches of troops left. After fighting for half a month, it was time to take a break.

Also, Jia Lian felt that the time had come, but he didn't know which monk would come to talk this time.

Three days later, the monk representative from last time appeared again. After meeting Jia Lian, he bowed and spoke in a low voice: "Your Excellency, the King of Burma has passed away."

Jia Lian remained calm and looked at the monk with a smile.

"A monk does not tell lies. After the heavenly soldiers attacked the palace, the Burmese king was frightened and his condition worsened. He died ten days ago."

Jia Lian sat up straighter and looked at the monk who was speaking on his behalf: "So, Master, are you delivering a message for someone else this time?"

The monk was silent for a while before he whispered, "Master Tianchao is right. Now no one wants to continue fighting. Everyone is willing to sit down and talk."

Jia Lian had analyzed this a long time ago. Now that the King of Burma was gone, the people below would certainly be leaderless, and a new round of civil strife would begin.

Isn't it because of the external enemy that there is no chaos yet? Fortunately, this external enemy will not stay for long, and will leave after getting enough benefits. Therefore, everyone should sit down and talk calmly about how to send the external enemy away, which is the internal struggle. Until a new leader emerges, the internal struggle will not end.

This time Jia Lian didn't waste any words and directly put forward the conditions: "In this case, then give the master a favor and I will tell you the conditions. If they can accept them, they can withdraw their troops. If they don't accept them, I will fight all the way back to Yunnan."

The monk was silent for a while before he said, "Master Tianchao, please speak."

Jia Lian's conditions were few. The first was a compensation of 10 million yuan. The second was to release the people looted by Yunnan. The third was to lease Yangon for 200 years. The fourth was to open a trading port with a tax rate of no more than 5%. The fifth was extraterritoriality. Finally, he emphasized that this was the bottom line and no bargaining was allowed.

The condition was excessive, but the monk did not refute Jia Lian this time. He just said he understood and then stood up to leave.

Jia Lian was very considerate and personally escorted him to the door before returning.

To express his sincerity, Jia Lian ordered his troops to retreat all the way back to Rangoon.

As soon as we settled in, we were greeted by the official negotiating representatives, the so-called royal family members, a total of four people.

Jia Lian found that the monk did not follow him, and said rudely: "The conditions have been made. If you accept them, then everything is over. If you do not accept them, then wait for the destruction of the country."

The four of them were silent, and no one dared to agree. Jia Lian was not in a hurry either. He waited patiently with a smile on his face.

Until one person stood up and said, "My Lord, I can accept all your conditions, but I need to add one more condition, which is to get your country's support."

The other three people became anxious and stood up to scold this person. Jia Lian leaned back and watched the drama of the four people scolding each other with a smile.

Through the interpretation, we learned that the first person to stand up was the weakest. He wanted to be the boss, but he was not strong enough, so he had to ask Jia Lian for support.

In response to this, Jia Lian couldn't help but squint his eyes. After a while, the four of them were tired of arguing, and Jia Lian asked them if they wanted to continue.

There's no point in continuing this, let's go back and divide the king into big and small.

Three of them stood up and left, and the remaining person hesitated for a while and then followed them out.

Not long after, the man came back, knelt in front of Jia Lian and said, "My Lord, I am willing to do anything for you as long as you let me be the King of Burma."

Jia Lian smiled at the person kneeling in front of him and said, "I don't even remember your name. If I'm not mistaken, you'll die if I don't help you, right?"

This man, who was in his twenties, had a panic-stricken expression on his face. When he looked up at Jia Lian, it was as if he was looking at a devil from hell, his eyes filled with fear.

All I can say is that this person is still too young and has not read much. If he had read a few history books, he wouldn't have been so panicked.

There have been too many cases of fighting for the throne in history. Killing a few rivals is also a big deal? You have never seen the Xuanwu Gate in Chang'an, right?

This person is indeed a little clever, but not much. But it's okay this way, because if you are too smart, you will have many ideas and it will be difficult to control.

"Cha Pa, is this your name?" Jia Lian asked with a smile, and the man nodded repeatedly.

"I will send someone to escort you back. You will be in charge of leading the way. Whoever I say to kill will be killed. All those who compete with you will be killed. You will be the only heir. Remember, you asked me for this."

Chapa nodded repeatedly, with a look of surprise and joy on his face.

Jia Lian called Fan Ping and asked him to take a group of people to escort Cha Pa back and then send away everyone who needed to be sent away.

Although the total number of new troops in three battalions of a battalion is only more than 2,000, but in terms of combat effectiveness, it is definitely a dimensionality reduction attack.

In order to save his life, Chapa led the new army straight to the home of the opponent who wanted to kill him the most. He rushed into the village and killed all his enemies in a rush.

Then they worked non-stop, coordinated their operations, and did not stop until they killed all three main competitors in one go.

From then on, Chapa was the only heir by bloodline.

In order to prove his legitimacy, Chapa also invited the big monk to come and accompany him to sign the contract with Jia Lian.

Of course, Chapa did not come empty-handed. When he learned that Jia Lian still had a group of nobles and a group of female relatives imprisoned, Chapa said that he could pay another sum of money to have them killed. There was no need to kill the female relatives either, as they were all spoils of the Zhou army and could be dealt with by the Zhou army as they pleased.

To be honest, Jia Lian could accept the previous logic. After all, those people were potential competitors, and it was no problem to kill them with money. He didn't even redeem the female relatives, which really forced him to become a human trafficker.

(End of this chapter)