The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 129: Shooting the first bird

Nanyang, Siam, Samutprakarn.

Mo Zibu still managed to bring most of the Chinese people to their destination safely.

Three thousand four hundred people left the city, and except for more than five hundred people who died of illness on the way, no one starved to death and no one was left behind.

The price they paid was that the navy of Kunlun Mountain Hall was almost exhausted. In the limited time, they had to use fast crab boats to transport supplies, almost day and night.

So much so that Mo Zi Bu even gave up the newly conquered city of Thonburi. He did not dare to take the risk. What if the Burmese army took down Ayutthaya and still had the strength to attack Thonburi?

In fact, Mo Zibu also keenly felt the weakness of the Burmese army. If the top elite of the Burmese army only had that ability, and if 5,000 people could be defeated by more than 1,000 of him, then they would not be worthy of fighting with the Qing Dynasty at its peak for so many years.

Of course, the truth was finally learned from a small number of captured Burmese soldiers.

The 35,000 Burmese troops now besieging the city are the private soldiers of the feudal lords of the Konbaung Dynasty and the garrison troops in various places. They cannot be considered top-level elite troops, but can only be considered as the first-line troops.

Mo Zi Bu even suggested that Zheng Xin go north to recapture Ayutthaya now, but in the end he just gave up the idea.

After all, the Burmese army still has 35,000 people. If anything goes wrong, the blame will be on Mo Zibu.

More importantly, King Agada's misbehavior over the past decade or so has in fact almost completely destroyed the royal power of the Ayutthaya Dynasty.

Now all the local forces in Siam that hold military power are waiting for the fall of Ayutthaya and the death of King Agada.

Just like a group of unfilial sons waiting for their father to die so that they can divide the family property, Zheng Xin is no exception.

Therefore, there is no reason for him to rescue this hot potato now. He is not Emperor Xian of Han.

This was also one of the reasons why Mo Zi Bu did not even defend Thonburi and directly withdrew his troops to Samutprakarn City at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River.

Well, his senses are still very sharp and his decisions are correct.

Shortly after Mozibu withdrew, the Burmese army began to march south in large numbers. They had suffered losses at the hands of Mozibu, and they would be fools if they did not make amends.

At the end of April, the Burmese army, having looted a lot, began to retreat.

They returned to Ava with a large amount of wealth looted from Ayutthaya, said to be as much as four or five million taels, escorted tens of thousands of Siamese captives, and more than 200 Siamese royal ministers.

The Burmese army commander Thihapodi did not break his promise. According to the order of the White Elephant King Mengbo, he retained General Suki as the chief commander to guard Siam and appointed the White Elephant King's confidant Mengye as deputy commander.

But only 6,000 men were given to General Suki and 10,000 Thai traitor servants.

In order to consolidate his rule and also to provide an early warning, General Suki personally led his troops south, occupied the deserted Thonburi, and left the Thai traitor Nai Tong as the governor of Thonburi, stationing 3,000 troops there.

. . . .

When Mo Zibu arrived in Samutprakarn, not only Zheng Mincheng came, but Zheng Xin also rushed to Samutprakarn in person.

Zheng Xin's eyes became moist when he saw Xiao Sanqian, a fellow Chaozhou fellow who was destined to die, appear in front of him alive.

Among these people, there are many who have helped him, some who are close to him, and many who are even his relatives.

When these Chaozhou people saw Zheng Xin coming, they cheered louder and louder. Many people even knelt down in front of Zheng Xin from a distance to thank him for saving their lives.

Mo Zibu came all the way here, so of course he would say that it was Zheng Xin who asked him to rescue these people. First of all, this can be said to be the truth.

Secondly, these Chaozhou people were Zheng Xin's close relatives, so they would be more willing to believe that it was Zheng Xin who sent people to rescue them.

If Mo Zibu tries to take credit forcibly, it might backfire and give people a chance to criticize him.

It would be better to settle for the second best and take a minor credit to consolidate these people's gratitude towards him.

Human hearts are very complicated. It's like in a large company, a capable technician solves a key problem, but it is still inevitable that the leader will take some of the credit, and even your success will become part of the leader's performance.

If you make a fuss about this matter, most people will sympathize with you at first, but after a long time, they will definitely think that you are ignorant of the situation and too selfish.

If you want to make a fuss, it is only when you have gained nothing or gained very little benefit.

Mo Zibu was obviously not one of those people. He gained a lot from this rescue operation.

In addition to his reputation, Luan Zhen had already made it clear that he was going to follow him. This was the first Chaozhou person he had won over.

Moreover, Luan Zhen was not just a Chaozhou native. His family went to Southeast Asia in the early years of Jiajing. Three generations of his ancestors served as finance ministers, and there were more than a dozen high-ranking nobles such as Phraya and Pi.

Although his family has fallen on hard times now, he still has an extraordinary influence among the Chaozhou people, especially the old Chaozhou people, and is a typical representative of the old money of Chaozhou.

Zheng Xin was even more satisfied when he saw Mo Zibu hiding in the back without any arrogance. He waved at Mo Zibu on purpose.

"Today is all thanks to you. These three thousand villagers are alive because of you!"

Here it comes again. Mo Zibu was speechless. Zheng Xin started to talk about his subjects' merits again.

What's the matter? You always say that. Is marrying off one daughter not enough for you? You want to marry off two? "This is the commander's concern, and the soldiers are willing to sacrifice their lives. May Mazu bless you!" Mo Zibu walked over and solemnly reminded him.

Zheng Xin didn't say anything after hearing this, but patted Mo Zibu's shoulders twice to show that he was very satisfied, and then said:
"Your soldiers in Shantang have suffered heavy casualties. Report your merits in a list and I will double your reward.

Also, Kun Apayebudi's five hundred musketeers will be under your management from now on."

This is not bad. Mo Zibu quickly accepted the order and thanked him. Although the musketeers under Kun A Paiyebudi were still a little immature, they were still very good if they were placed directly in the middle of the square formation to output firepower.

Zheng Xin may have had some intention of adding insult to injury, or maybe not, but Mo Zibu didn't care.

Because he was not going to deal with Zheng Xin, on the contrary, he was very happy to have Zheng Xin to provide help when he attacked the North Zheng and the South Nguyen.
The people that Mo Zi Bu had to be careful of and target were actually the Siamese natives like Tong.

Before Zheng Xin left, Pijaya Raja Zheng Mincheng, with red eyes from crying, also came over. When he saw Mo Zibu, he bowed deeply to the ground, and Mo Zibu didn't have time to pull him away.

Zheng Xin even grabbed Mo Zibu's hand and told him not to help.

Zheng Mincheng respectfully brought the surviving sons of the Zheng family of Phraya Phetchaburi and kowtowed three times to Mo Zibu.

Retrieving his father's body that fell in the war is a great favor to the Chinese people, no matter when, where or who they are.

"This favor is as great as the heavens and the seas, and is like a rebirth. If the leader needs anything in the future, I will do it even if it means death!"

. . . .

In Rayong City, Taksin settled most of his Chaozhou fellow villagers in Wansui Buddha and Rayong. Among them, dozens of orphans were all adopted directly by Taksin, which immediately earned him a lot of reputation.

Mo Zibu immediately kept a low profile until Zheng Xin came to him in person. The father-in-law and son-in-law drank together in Mo Zibu's house.

"Sir, the soldiers I left behind have sent back news. They saw the Burmese escorting the Thai traitor Nai Tongyin to Thonburi. They estimate that Ayutthaya has already fallen. You must make preparations early."

Mo Zibu really didn't know how to address Zheng Xin, so he simply omitted the two words "Taishan" and called Zheng Xin "Sir". After all, before the Tang and Song dynasties, "Sir" also meant father.

Zheng Xin took a deep breath. "I know, but the exact news hasn't come yet. This Phraya from Chanthaburi has been playing dumb with me. As soon as the news comes, I'll deal with him immediately!"

Before this, Taksin had no known origin, so he had been trying to win over Chanthaburi Phraya under the pretext of joining forces to fight the enemy.

Even Nai Buntong, Phraya Chanthaburi's brother-in-law who came to Rayong to investigate, was not harmed after being arrested but released directly.

At the same time, after Phraya Chanthaburi accepted Khun Rama, Mong Song and others who escaped from Klang Village, its military strength was enhanced. Under their instigation, Phraya Chanthaburi began to have the idea of fighting against Taksin.

Even a few days ago, Phraya Chanthaburi sent four senior monks from Chanthaburi to Rayong City, under the pretext of inviting Taksin to Chanthaburi for negotiations, intending to arrest Taksin as soon as he arrived in Chanthaburi City.

Taksin naturally would not fall for such a trick, so he turned the tables and made an appointment with Phraya Chanthaburi to swear an oath of blood alliance outside the city.

If Mo Zi Bu had not made such a big move, Zheng Xin would have arrived in Chanthaburi by now.

"Zi Bu, you should send 500 soldiers this time and come with me to Chanthaburi. After we take it, I will claim the throne." Zheng Xin suggested.

It seems that he is planning to put all his belongings in Chanthaburi.

Rayong is too small, and the Buddha is facing the threat of another powerful faction, Phraya Korat. Only Chanthaburi, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack, is most suitable as the rear base.

However, Mo Zibu refused Zheng Xin's request to send troops. What does Mo Zibu look like in Zheng Xin's camp now? He looks like a bird that sticks its head out.

And he is not the first one to speak out among the core members.

From the beginning of the expansion of the Taksin Group to the present, the three largest battles, the Battle of Pattaya, the Battle to Recapture Vihamanatha, and the Rescue of Ayutthaya, were all fought by Mo Zi Bu.

This has created an impression within the Zheng Xin Group that Mo Zibu is taking over the reins, and countless people have slandered and defamed Mo Zibu in front of Zheng Xin.

Tong is not the only one doing this; on the contrary, he is the most secretive one.

As for Mo Zibu, his non-Teochew identity meant that he was destined to never get the full support of the Teochew people, who were the absolute majority of the Chinese in Siam.

If he continues to show off like this, he will only be attacked more.

So Mo Zibu decided that he would not go after he took over Chanthaburi. There were only two things he had to do now.

The first is to recall the chemistry knowledge he learned before traveling through time.

The second was to wait for Taksin to proclaim himself King, confer a title on him, and then return to consolidate the territories of Nakhon Si Thammarat and Pattani.

Mo Zibu estimated that Zheng Xin did not have as much courage as him, nor was he as sure as he was that the Burmese army would mobilize most of its elite troops to northern Myanmar to fight against the Qing Dynasty.

If Zheng Xin had estimated the size of the Ayutthaya Burmese army based on the time when King Mongol of the White Elephant was in power.

Including the time it takes to capture Chanthaburi, it will take at least four or five months, which means it will be between September and October.

After such a long period of preparation, Mo Zibu can take a break.

(End of this chapter)