The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 144 The temptation to go home

Guangdong, Guangzhou, Nancheng Maimai Street, Guangdong and Guangxi Governor's Office.

Before the eleventh year of Qianlong's reign, that is, twenty-two years ago, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi was basically stationed in Zhaoqing or Wuzhou. As Guangzhou's position in foreign trade became increasingly important, it was fixed in Guangzhou.

Li Shiyao, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi at that time, could be regarded as a capable minister throughout the Qianlong period.

And even though this man is just a Han army bannerman, in fact his status is higher than that of ordinary Manchus in the banner.

There is no other reason, because this person's fourth generation ancestor was the first traitor in Liaodong - Li Yongfang.

With such a background, Li Shiyao, a Han army bannerman, was able to serve as the deputy governor of Manchuria, a position that only real Manchus could hold, and was almost the same as the real Manchu Eight Banners.

It was the first time that Lin Tong entered this place, which was not much different from the imperial palace for people from Guangdong and Guangxi, and he soon met Li Shiyao.

According to historical records, Li Shiyao had a photographic memory, was short and sharp, and was able to judge people's abilities with just a few words.

The rest cannot be seen for the time being, but it is definitely short.

The Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, dressed in a majestic official uniform and walking steadily, could be considered short even among the relatively short people of Guangdong and Guangxi.

From head to toe, he is about 1.534 meters at most. I really don't know how he, a Northeastern man whose ancestral home is Tieling, Liaodong, can grow to such a height.

However, Lin Tong was very smart. When he saw that Li Shiyao was not tall enough, he immediately lowered his head and dared not stare at him anymore, so as not to anger this local emperor of Guangdong and Guangxi.

He even bent his back as much as possible and shrugged his shoulders to make himself look less tall.

Li Shiyao noticed Lin Tong's movements very keenly, and watched him for about a second. In his heart, he had a slightly higher opinion of this Hexian envoy who was wearing a pre-Ming Dynasty Taoist robe and had an eye-catching hair bun.

With a casual wave of his hand, Gosha naturally asked Lin Tong to come forward to meet him, and then gave him a small square stool to the left of Li Shiyao.

Lin Tong was very good at kung fu. He managed to place half of his butt on the small square stool, leaning forward in a respectful posture, without affecting his appearance at all.

This is not something that can be done casually; it is considered a skill. Even the old servant serving behind Li Shiyao was impressed.

Li Shiyao took the summary of the truth brought back by Li Yulong and read it with fear, especially Mo Zibu's small deduction of the battle situation, which caused a huge wave of anxiety in his heart.

Because Mo Zibu took advantage of knowing the final situation, he deduced Mingrui's battle into Burma in a very detailed and realistic way.

He also asserted that if Mingrui was not careful, he would most likely be defeated by the Burmese's strong defenses and even die.

Even a capable minister like Li Shiyao couldn't help but feel his scalp tingling when he thought that he might very likely take over Yunnan and Guizhou.

If Mingrui really had a problem, then including Mingrui, Liu Zao and Yang Yingju, three governors-general of Yunnan and Guizhou would have all died in a few years.

This is simply the most dangerous official position in the world!
After reading the letter submitted by Lin Tong, Li Shiyao took another look at Lin Tong's hair bun. After hesitating for a moment, he did not choose to use this to intimidate Lin Tong.

Although Li Shiyao considered himself a Manchu and of course said that Taizu's rise outside the Great Wall was the will of heaven, he knew in his heart what was going on.

Therefore, on the mainland, whether it is the Han army bannermen or the Han ministers, they will not easily bring this up as it is likely to ruin their own reputation.

"Your master is in the south. Are you worshipping the Ming or the Qing?"

However, we have to give them a warning. It is impossible to expect overseas Ming Dynasty remnants like the Hexian Ou family to do their job well without putting some pressure on them. Li Shiyao knows this clearly.

"My lord is in the south, and he upholds the righteousness of Boyi and Shuqi, and also has the thoughts of Zhuangzi's Yueyin!" Lin Tong suddenly sat up straight and answered loudly.

Li Shiyao was startled and immediately sat up straight, no longer looking at Lin Tong with contempt and scrutiny.

The story of Boyi and Shuqi refusing to eat Zhou's grain is naturally known to everyone.

Zhuangzi's Yueyin is an allusion from the Warring States Period.

Zhuang Xi, a Yue man, was an important official in the State of Chu and enjoyed all the glory and wealth, but he never forgot his homeland and often hummed Yue tunes. Later generations used "Zhuang Xi's Yue Yin" to represent his never-forgetting homeland.

Lin Tong's answer was very clever.

Preserving the righteousness of Boyi and Shuqi shows the consistent persistence of the people of Mingxiang.

Zhuang Xi's thoughts expressed his longing for his homeland while he was in Southeast Asia.

This longing can refer to the homeland, or of course it can refer to the special feelings towards the Qing Dynasty that ruled the mainland. It depends on what the listener thinks.

After all, even Boyi and Shuqi simply refused to eat Zhou's grain and did not rise up against Zhou.

Zhuang Xi even became a high-ranking official in the State of Chu, but he still missed the State of Yue, which was exactly in line with the feeling that Hexian Mingxiang people had a foundation overseas but still cared about the mainland.

Especially at that time, Chu was in the south and was often called a barbarian. Hexian was also in the south and was also a barbarian land.

After receiving Li Shiyao's attention, the second test came. He stood up with a laugh, looking quite emotional.

“I never thought that in the wild south of Hexiantian, there would be a talent like you, neither humble nor arrogant, knowledgeable and talented. What a pity!
This governor is still in need of a talent like Mr. Lin. Are you willing to return north?"

Hot blood suddenly rushed to Lin Tong's cheeks, and he felt his whole body starting to get hot.

No matter how you look at it, following a high-ranking official like Li Shiyao back to his homeland to serve as an official is far better than serving in Hexian.

But after just a brief hesitation, Lin Tong came to his senses.

Regardless of whether Li Shiyao was sincere or insincere, he just mentioned it, and you betrayed your former master and stuck to him. How much can he respect you?

This is the same as the relationship between men and women. No matter how ordinary your boyfriend/girlfriend is, if they are tall, rich, handsome, or beautiful, you will actively bow down to them just by beckoning them to you. Do you think they think highly of you?
It's just for fun, but I still despise you as a cheap man/woman in my heart.

Lin Tong quickly calmed down and bowed to Li Shiyao, expressing his gratitude, and then said:
"I thank the Governor for his appreciation, but a loyal minister cannot serve two masters, nor a virtuous woman two husbands. As a minister of the Hexian clan, Lin Tong has received great favors from the Ou clan and shoulders a heavy responsibility. How can I change my allegiance overnight? I beg the Governor to forgive me."

In fact, Lin Tong did not say anything definite. He could not change the family overnight, but he could do it over a long period of time.

If you, Li Shiyao, really think that I, Lin Tong, am a great person, it is not impossible to wait for some time and offer better, more specific and more sincere conditions.

And this is exactly Mo Zibu's Achilles' heel now. Even a confidant like Lin Tong couldn't help but be tempted at the thought of being able to get on the path of the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi and return to his homeland to become a high-ranking official, let alone others.

Therefore, Mo Zibu can currently curse the Qing Dynasty in Southeast Asia, but he must never raise the flag of rebellion.

Once a rebellion breaks out, the Qing court won't have to offer very good conditions. It only needs to be willing to enthrone Zheng Xin and give a few naval lieutenant generals and guerrilla positions to a few big pirates, and they will come and kidnap Mo Zi Bu, and even Ha Tien will not be able to protect him.

After hearing Lin Tong's words, Li Shiyao did not respond because he was just testing the waters.

There are now 20 million people on the mainland, and 99% of them are eager to become his disciples, Li Shiyao. There is no shortage of talents, let alone smart people. He has no need to use someone with a complicated background like Lin Tong.

Moreover, Li Shiyao achieved his goal. From the perspective of a minister, he was not a powerful person with means, and he could not control a smart person like Lin Tong.

This prompted Li Shiyao to hand him the letter, which provided a penetrating analysis of the Burmese situation and Mo Zibu's unwavering conviction that Mingrui was doomed to defeat. It matched his image of Mo Zibu. However, Li Shiyao didn't follow up after hearing this.

On the one hand, he ordered Li Yulong to send the letter presented by Mo Zibu to Beijing at an urgent distance of 800 miles, and on the other hand, he arranged for Lin Tong to stay temporarily.

Because he still has to wait for news from Mingrui.

If this matter can be confirmed in a few months, it will completely prove that the Hexian Mo family can give some benefits to allow them to participate in the siege of the Burmese.

If Mo Zibu's prediction is completely wrong, there is no need to drive him away. Just give him some money and use him as a source of reference information in the future.

. . . .

On the fifth day of the second month of the 1768rd year of the Qianlong reign ( AD), little Meng Yu was born.

The specific address is no longer traceable, but it is most likely near present-day Gunnong, Kokang, less than 100 kilometers away from Wanting (Wanding).

But Mingrui's army could no longer move forward. After retreating hundreds of kilometers, the entire army was extremely exhausted, their rations were almost gone, and their guns and bullets were basically used up.

The Eight Banners and Green Camp officers and soldiers who were strong and sturdy when they went abroad became skinny after wandering around Myanmar for eight or nine hundred kilometers, and their combat effectiveness was greatly weakened.

What’s more important is that since the small amount of food they carried had to be fed to people, there was an extreme shortage of fodder for the war horses.

Most of the Qing army's war horses were brought from the north. In Myanmar, the horses were also from a foreign country.

Therefore, these northern war horses were unable to recognize the wild grasses in Myanmar, resulting in them eating a large amount of slightly poisonous grass.

By the time they arrived at Xiaomengyu, almost all of the Qing army's war horses were unable to fight due to poisoning.

Without war horses, the Eight Banners cavalry lost almost half of their combat capability.

In the south of the Burmese army, the three generals Maha Xixiu, Maha Xihaxiuya and Chevalier Miral had already arrived with an army of 20,000 that had been repaired and replenished.

In the north, Generals Tihabodi and Mangnie Miaozhe also led 15,000 troops to block Mingrui's return journey.

On the seventh day of February, the Burmese army cheered greatly. White Elephant King Mengbo personally led the army and led 20,000 soldiers from Dengjia Minkang, Balaminding and other units to arrive, only a few dozen miles away from Xiaomengyu.

By this point, the Burmese army had assembled 55,000 elite troops around Xiaomengyu.

In the afternoon, chieftains loyal to the Burmese from all over the country came to help. The number of Burmese troops in Xiaomengyu reached an astonishing 66,000 to 67,000, more than six times the number of Qing troops.

Mingrui climbed to the top of the mountain around Xiaomengyu to investigate and saw that the Burmese army tents were endless and flags were flying everywhere. The spies also reported that there were fences everywhere and that their side was in a desperate situation.

At this critical moment, Mingrui fully demonstrated all his abilities. He immediately convened a military meeting and quickly formulated a strategy.

It was decided to use 200 elite Manchurian soldiers, 100 Solon soldiers and more than 30 imperial guards as the rear guard, while the remaining 2,000 Eight Banners soldiers and elite Guizhou Green Camp soldiers would serve as the vanguard to break out.

Mingrui said to his generals, "It is all my fault that the army has come this far.

However, the Ava rebellion remains a grave threat to the nation. The enemy now knows we are exhausted, yet they will fight to the death.

I want the enemy to know that our country's orders are strict and our officers and soldiers obey orders. Even though we are in such a desperate situation, everyone is doing their best. This will make the enemy know what to fear, and it will be easier for those who come later to take over."

At the last moment, this Manchu warrior was not thinking about how to survive, but how to rescue these elite soldiers who had followed him across thousands of miles in Burma.

Although he died in battle, the later comers still had elite soldiers at their disposal and knew the strengths and weaknesses of the Burmese. Even if they could not capture Ava, they could at least defend the border.

After Mingrui finished speaking, all the Manchu and Han officers around him cried.

Inspired by Mingrui, the leading ministers Guanyinbao and Zarafeng'a, the imperial guards Changqing and Defu, the Hui general Ha Guoxing and others were all willing to stay and die with Mingrui to cover the army's breakout.

On the morning of the eighth day of the second month, the Qing army, led by Daxing'a, Ben Jinzhong, and Wang Lian, a Guizhou soldier who had just been promoted to guerrilla warfare the year before, rushed through the wooden fence set up by Tihabodi, Mangnie Miaozhe and others.

At this moment, the Qing army erupted with extremely strong combat effectiveness. Two thousand vanguards broke through more than ten fences of the Burmese army and killed hundreds of Burmese soldiers.

Tihabodi and others were unable to stop the Qing army at all, and their formation was broken by the Qing army. They could only watch the Qing army leave.

What is extremely exaggerated is that the Qing army rushed for nearly a hundred miles, killed hundreds of enemies, but only lost dozens of people themselves.

In the south, after receiving the news that the Qing army had broken through, King Baixiang urgently ordered tens of thousands of troops to pursue them.

Mingrui and others occupied the hills and blocked the Burmese army's pursuit. They hid on the hills and did not fight with the Burmese army. They just waited for the Burmese army to approach before swooping down from the hills and killing them.

The two sides fought until ten o'clock in the morning. Mingrui and his men charged more than ten times, and were as vigorous as dragons and tigers. The Burmese army could not advance an inch, and suffered more than 200 casualties.

When the White Elephant King saw that the Qing army was about to escape, he was furious and ordered members of the royal family to go and supervise the battle with his sword. He also ordered the Burmese army to attack with war elephants in formation.

Mingrui was well prepared. He ordered the Sauron soldiers to wear tiger skins, hold tiger-patterned shields, imitate tiger roars in the mountains and forests, and then jump out unexpectedly.

The Burmese war elephants thought they had encountered a group of tigers, and in panic they turned around and ran away, charging back into the Burmese army formation, killing and injuring dozens of people.

The Burmese army had no choice but to attack by force. The two sides fought until three o'clock in the afternoon. The Qing army had run out of ammunition, broken arrows, and had not eaten for half a day. They were exhausted.

Most of the Sauron soldiers and the Eight Banners soldiers were killed and basically unable to fight again.

The Burmese army approached again.

The leading minister, Zarafeng'a, charged desperately with a spear in hand, but was shot and killed by the Burmese army.

The leading minister Guanyinbao shot arrows like locusts in the forest and killed more than ten Burmese soldiers. Although his arms were sore, he did not stop.

After shooting and killing a small Burmese leader, Guanyinbao reached into his quiver, but after searching for a long time, he only found the last arrow, and the Burmese army had already caught up with him.

Upon seeing this, Guanyinbao broke his ancestral bow, returned to the forest, and committed suicide by piercing his throat with the last arrow.

Mingrui fought bloody battle for half a day, with more than ten wounds and bleeding profusely. After he led Ha Guoxing and others to break through the encirclement for more than 20 miles, he was no longer able to move forward.

Mingrui sat under a big tree, cut off his braid and handed it to the imperial guard Defu, saying:
"I am too proud to face His Majesty. You must take my braid back to the capital and present it to the master. Tell him that Mingrui has failed to live up to his expectations and would rather die than refuse!"

Mingrui then hanged himself on a big tree. Defu, Ha Guoxing and Mingrui's confidant Goshaha cried and buried him hastily, then broke through and returned north.

Although Mingrui died in the battle, the terrifying combat power of more than 300 real Manchu soldiers frightened the Burmese army.

The 300 of them killed more than 500 enemies and injured more than 1,000 in the blocking battle. The Burmese army was afraid and did not dare to advance further. It was not until the second day that they dared to surround the Qing army from all sides, but the Qing army had already broken through and returned north.

The Third Qing-Myanmar War ended.

(End of this chapter)