The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 160 The Min Family and the Gui Family

In the royal palace in Mergui City, Mergui Lord Bolin was so anxious that he couldn't sleep well for more than ten days. Others didn't know the truth about the Battle of Ratchaburi, but he knew it.

Because of the appointment of the White Elephant King, the lord of the three cities of Myeik, Toungoo and Mawlamyine that controlled the Greater Tanah Ratan was Manjimaloya.

So according to the rules, Bolin had to obey Mankimaloye's orders.

In addition, just as Manjimaloye imagined, Bolin also thought that this was the White Elephant King rewarding them for their loyalty, so he was very enthusiastic about sending troops.

There are less than 100,000 people in Danlao. 45,000 of them are men. Excluding the old and weak, there are 30,000 male adults. Please note that this data includes male adults aged 14 and above.

And how many troops did Bolin send? More than 2,700.

This is equivalent to drawing one out of ten in Dan Lao. If we take into account that Bolin cannot fully control Dan Lao, the ratio will be even more terrifying.

Such a heavy loss has put his small kingdom of Myeik in danger of collapse.

So Bolin knew in his heart that now was the time to make a choice.

It can be imagined that after this battle, Siam, which has recovered in five or six months at the fastest, or eight or ten months at the slowest, will definitely come to take back Tanassarin.

Logically speaking, he should have been sensible enough to take the initiative to seek refuge with the Siamese at this time, perhaps he could have saved his family property.

But unfortunately, the fog of war made it difficult for him to see the situation clearly.

Like Manjimaloye, he did not know the outcome of the Third Qing-Myanmar War, so in his heart, he still believed that the White Elephant King was extremely powerful.

Therefore, Bolin did not dare to make a rash decision. What if he decided to defect to Siam? The army of the White Elephant King would arrive to punish him.

But soon, he no longer had to worry, because dozens of defeated soldiers suddenly appeared in the north of the city, claiming that the army was not completely destroyed, but was still under siege. Lord Manjimaloye asked Bolin to send troops to rescue.

Well, Bolin had no interest in sending troops to rescue, but he still needed to know the specific situation.

. . . .

"Not much has changed here. After ten years, I, Suki, am finally back."

Watching the gate of the Danlao Palace slowly open, Su Ji sighed and directed Chen Guangzu, Wang Wuchu and others behind him to rush in like a tide.

Just as the Danlao soldiers at the door were about to resist, Chen Guangzu shook his hands and two Haskins pistols fired immediately. With a flash of fire, the two Danlao soldiers immediately fell to the ground.

Then the soldiers advanced in groups according to the terrain map drawn by General Suki. With muskets in one hand and swords in the other, they quickly killed and wounded many of the Dan Lao soldiers, who numbered only a hundred or so.

Bolin didn't expect that he was the one who opened the palace gate and let the "robbers" in. He had no time to hide. Before he ran to the backyard, he was caught by Wang Wuchu.

Then he saw a strange yet familiar figure.

"Bolin, my brother, are you happy to see your brother back?" General Suki had an old and dark face, and his white teeth were very conspicuous when he sneered.

"Suki, aren't you guarding Ayutthaya?" Bolin was struck by lightning and pretended to be calm as he looked at his half-brother Suki.

"I heard that brother has won the favor of King White Elephant. I am really happy for you." When Bolin said this, his tone seemed very happy, but his body began to tremble slightly.

"When you were seven years old, I shouldn't have rescued you from the water. Fortunately, today, I have the chance to make up for that mistake!"

Su Ji said this with gritted teeth, took a long knife from Chen Guangzu, and stabbed it into Bolin's chest, and twisted it cruelly.

It was not until he saw his brother swaying slowly like a dying fish that a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

. . . .

In Tuwa City, the smell of blood filled the air.

Chen Jiansheng and other mine owners suddenly arrived in Tuwa City with hundreds of people under the pretext of purchasing and transporting large amounts of grain, chickens and ducks, attracting a large number of local people to come and sell.

At the same time, the most elite miners and dozens of people including Chen Xu, disguised as miners who were allowed to go to the city, had already ambushed.

As soon as Chen Jiansheng and others arrived, he suddenly started to exert force from inside and outside.

There were originally more than 50,000 people in Tuva City, with more than 3,000 troops stationed inside and outside the city, but most of them were either killed or captured during Mankimaloye's expedition.

There are only three or four hundred armed forces in Tuva City now, and they cannot withstand the sudden attack of more than a thousand Chinese miners.

Chen Jiansheng and others have extremely high prestige among the miners, who have long been accustomed to cooperating with each other and are familiar with the situation in the city.

They quickly captured the key government offices in the city using mines as units, then sealed the four gates and dispatched elite troops to launch a fierce attack on the Tuwa Royal City.

On the second day, after five or six hours of fighting, the Tuva palace was captured and dozens of Mankimaroye's wives and children were all captured.

Chen Jiansheng took control of the city of Tuwa and killed all the officials sent by the Konbaung Dynasty in the city.

. . . .

On April 1768, , the nd year of Emperor Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty, Mo Zibu brought his father Ou Tianci.

He personally led the elite troops drawn from the Chinese parliamentarians of Songcheng (Ka), Nakhon Si Thammarat, Jeddah, Pattani and Kelantan, plus 1,000 Ha Tien soldiers, a total of 4,500 people, and arrived at Toungoo City by both land and sea.

These manpower are the largest force that Mo Zibu can currently mobilize.

Although their numbers are smaller, their combat effectiveness is not weak. At least their comprehensive combat effectiveness is not inferior to Zheng Xin's 10,000 troops and the five battalions of Guangnan and Jiading soldiers.

The reason why he went to Toungoo instead of Myeik was because the situation in Toungoo needed Mozibu to stabilize it.

Myeik has General Suki on his side now, so there won't be any problems, but the same cannot be said for Toungoo.

. . . .

The Min family was a very complex issue. Even though the Cursed Water Incident had only occurred a hundred years earlier, they themselves couldn't clearly explain it.

The only thing that is certain is that the Min family and the Gui family must be related to Prince Min and Emperor Yongli.

Because in Myanmar at that time, it was very common to add the suffix "jia" after an ethnic group.

It's unlikely that the names Gui and Min appear together in Myanmar, a country with a large number of Ming Dynasty survivors. Meanwhile, some descendants of military commanders under the Yongli Emperor's Li Jinwang still exist in northern Myanmar. The Yang family, who followed the Yongli Emperor, became the chieftains of Kegan and have established themselves firmly in the region.

There are also a large number of people in northern Myanmar who often come forward and claim that they are descendants of Ming officials in order to rally people's support.

In the Maolong silver mines destroyed by the Konbaung Dynasty, there were countless people who claimed to be descendants of Yongli. Most of their claims were even groundless and had their reasons behind them.

But it is true as Chen Jiansheng said, some of them may be true, but most of them are probably fabricated by various ethnic groups in northern Myanmar.

After all, although the Ming remnants were in poverty at that time, it was normal for them to surpass the locals in terms of culture, farming, trades, textiles and even animal husbandry.

It is normal that after they settled in Myanmar, they naturally attracted local people to join them, or were actively absorbed by local tycoons.

Mingxin knelt in front of Ou Tianci and Mo Zibu, he was so excited that he could hardly control himself.

He really didn't expect that with the help of a little legend left by his ancestors, he would have the possibility of turning things around today.

Yes, now even the Min family can’t clearly explain their origins.

The only last trace that could be traced was after the last generation of the Gui family, Gong Liyan, was killed and the Konbaung Dynasty broke the alliance between the Gui family, the Min family and the Mon people.

A large number of people who knew the situation died in the war and cultural relics were lost, which basically means that both human and material evidence are gone.

Perhaps the only basis for this is a golden seal that appears to have been issued by a military commander during the Yongli reign, but due to severe wear and tear, it can only be vaguely identified.
"Made in X month of the third year of Yongli reign, Ministry of Rites, Xin X Luo X Chen General X Defense" and other words, and on the back there is also "Wei Zi No. 1,043"

The father and son exchanged glances. Ou Tianci, who was well versed in these matters, said with emotion after a while:

"This is indeed the seal of the general of the Ming Dynasty. Although it is severely damaged, I can still recognize it."

As he spoke, Ou Tianci looked at Mingxin, who was kneeling on the ground, and asked, "Is this Chen Zongzhen your ancestor?"

Mingxin can still speak a little Chinese, but his accent has begun to lean towards the Mindong dialect. After all, the largest number of Chinese people here in recent years are the Fu Lao people from Mindong.

He stammered, "Maybe, maybe not. Before my father died in battle, he kept all the golden seals, and he was the only one who knew about it.

It’s a pity that I was killed by the Burmese before I could tell them, and now I don’t know which one belongs to my ancestors.”

"My grandfather said that we are the descendants of the Great Ming King!" Behind Mingxin was a silly kid of twelve or thirteen years old.

No, this era should be called young people, he raised his head and shouted proudly.

When Mingxin heard his son say this, he slammed his head to the ground and said, "Wang, the child knows nothing and is talking nonsense."

"He does have some brains, and seems to have some Han blood." Ou Tianci said with a laugh.

Now the facts are out there. The ancestor of the Hexian Mo family who came to flatter them was just a county magistrate of the Ming Dynasty. If Mingxin dares to say that he is a descendant of Zhu YongX, the last King of Min, what's the point? Do you want the Mo family to serve you as their master?

It is obviously impossible.

Therefore, even if Mingxin confirmed that he was a descendant of King Min, he could not say it at this time.

What's more, he himself was not sure, but he thought so because he was the head of the Tuwamin family.

But in the end it cannot be brought to the table.

Mo Zibu did not dwell on this issue. Now was not the time to bring up the issue of the descendants of King Min.

After unifying Annan in the future, he would have to slowly start a struggle with the Qing Dynasty. Perhaps this could be used to increase his legitimacy from the south to the north, but it was not necessary at the moment.

So after Mo Zibu and Ou Tianci confirmed that the Min family did have Han blood, they immediately started the next step.

. . . .

In mid-May, Mozibu advanced again by land and sea, and reached the Mawlamyine area.

This can be said to be the White Elephant King's Achilles' heel so far, because his extreme vigilance against the Mon people resulted in the Konbaung Dynasty not having a strong navy.

Once someone starts causing trouble along the coast of Myanmar, he has no way of controlling it.

In addition, the Mon people were already unwilling to submit, and the Arakan Kingdom of the Rakhine people was also causing trouble.

The White Elephant King is in big trouble.

On May 23, Mozibu ordered the Lucky and other warships to rush into the port of Mawlamyine, forcibly land, and then remove the ship's guns to bombard the city of Mawlamyine.

At this time, all the Meng people inside and outside the city received the heroic invitation sent by Mo Zibu. When they saw that Mawlamyine was about to be captured, they all responded.

On May 27, the governor of the Konbaung Dynasty in Mawlamyine set himself on fire in the governor's office, and the Burmese rule in the Greater Tanah Ratan area collapsed.

Ngo Tien-chi and his son, Mok Tsi-bu, went to Mawlamyine in person to meet with the lords of the seven Mon tribes and the eleven Karen tribes to form an offensive and defensive alliance.

At the same time, Prince Puran of Arakan, oh no, now he should be called King Puran, who was informed by Mozibu, also sent a delegation of about a hundred people to participate in the alliance.

An alliance against the Burmese was once again formed in Lower Burma.

But Mo Zibu did not take the next step. It was enough to take over Mawlamyine. If he tried to touch Thanlyin and Yangon, it would not be a stab in the back of the White Elephant King, but a direct stab in his heart.

In that case, the White Elephant King, who was enraged and overwhelmed by reality, would most likely choose to make real concessions to the Qing Dynasty and then turn around to attack Mo Zibu.

Mo Zibu can't bear this, and it might turn out to be another Shalian tragedy.

Therefore, this degree must be carefully grasped.

At the end of May, thirty large ships carrying grain set sail from Bengal and Arakan.

Mo Zibu arranged for half of the troops to go to Siam for emergency assistance by land, and the other half by sea, thus fulfilling his promise to Taksin.

The next step is to see how the White Elephant King reacts.

(End of this chapter)