The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 162: Maddening Opponent

In Thonburi, with the arrival of grain ships from Bengal and Arakan, Taksin's food crisis was finally temporarily resolved.

In just over twenty days, the early rice planted this year will have a good harvest, and then there will be no worries about food shortages.

During these months, with the careful arrangements of Zheng Xin, a large number of Chaozhou wealthy businessmen and ship owners, and of course the strong support of Mo Zibu.

Most of the Siamese people who flocked to Thonburi City for food survived the food crisis. They were no longer pale and skinny like evil spirits, but finally looked somewhat like human beings.

During this catastrophe, Mo Zi Bu saved at least 30,000 Siamese civilians, which of course made Taksin's prestige higher than in history.

As the sun rose, Zheng Xin inspected along the river surrounded by his guards. Wherever he went, there were cheers. The people still understood who had saved their lives.

A dozen Siamese people caught a Siamese crocodile that was almost four meters long in the swamp. When they saw Zheng Xin's team coming, these people happily presented it to Zheng Xin.

Zheng Xin was very happy because this was clear evidence that the food crisis had been alleviated.

If a few months ago, or even a month ago, a crocodile this big was caught, soldiers would have been dispatched to protect it, otherwise it would have been snatched up on the spot.

Now, although many people are still envious, with a relatively sufficient supply of food, no one will break the law for a crocodile.

Of course, Zheng Xin did not accept their contribution, but he agreed to stay and enjoy the crocodile with the people. By the way, he also transferred salt, sugar and other seasonings that were still in short supply among the people from the palace.

Tong said to Taksin very happily: "Zhao, there are now more than 400,000 people around Thonburi, which is almost half the size of Ayutthaya.

The people were full of admiration for Zhao. As long as the Thepphit tribes in Korat and Buriram were wiped out, Zhao could be officially crowned.

Siam's political system was later summarized into the Mandala system.

That is, a country generally does not have a fixed territory, but only three distinct areas: the core circle, the control circle, and the tributary circle.

Historically, wherever the King of Siam was, that was the core circle. For example, the core circle of the Ayutthaya Dynasty was around the city of Ayutthaya.

The only people that the successive kings of Ayutthaya could fully mobilize and use to suppress the four directions were the 700,000 to 800,000 people around the city of Ayutthaya.

The rest of the places like Phetchaburi, Vientiane, Chanthaburi, Phitsanulok, Tak, etc. belong to the control circle.

The Phraya rulers were appointed by the king and could not inherit the throne without his approval and could be transferred to a fiefdom at any time, but they could establish their own government.

The tributary circle includes the Lanna Kingdom where Chiang Mai is located in northern Thailand, the vassal states on the Malay Peninsula, Cambodia and other places.

Therefore, Tongcai said that now that he has taken down Tiepibi, he can officially become king.

Because while Taksin was feeding the hundreds of thousands of people in Thonburi, he also gained the loyalty of these hundreds of thousands of people.

At the same time, hundreds of thousands of people flocked to the area around Thonburi City, which was not very developed. These people were under the planning of Mo Zi Bu with the assistance of Zheng Xin.

Officials at all levels led them to reclaim wasteland, drain swamps, drive away and kill wild beasts, establish some basic water conservancy projects and build some villages, and the area has begun to become livable.

In other words, the core circle of the mandala system centered on Thonburi has actually been established.

At this point, Taksin had laid the foundation for establishing a new Siamese dynasty - the Thonburi Dynasty.

Zheng Xin nodded. If the name is not right, then the words will not flow. It is indeed time for him to establish a new dynasty.

However, Zheng Xin was very emotional at this time. He looked around and saw the Thonburi City and its satellite cities and fortresses planned for him by Mo Zi Bu, as well as the preliminary water conservancy plan left behind.

Thinking of the contributions of his civil and military subordinates to the resettlement of disaster victims and urban construction before Mo Zibu left, he blurted out without thinking:

"This is all thanks to Zibu! Now that grain has arrived from Bengal, I have nothing to worry about!"

Tong turned his face away quietly, with a look of resentment on his face. Although it was fleeting, he was indeed upset in his heart.

Mo Zibu did a lot of things, but he also did a lot. Tong even thought that he did more than Mo Zibu.

Moreover, although Mo Zibu was going to become the son-in-law of King Zheng, he was still an outsider. How could King Zheng value an outsider so much and ignore the people around him?

No matter how great Mo Zibu's contribution was, how could he openly say, "This is all thanks to Zibu"?
Emotions are only temporary, but at that moment, Tong suddenly realized a truth.

The reason why Mo Zibu was accepted by Zheng Xin and the entire Chaoshan Group to a certain extent was not only because he was indeed very capable, but also because of another very important reason.

That is because Mo Zibu became the king's son-in-law, which made him regarded as one of their own by his fellow Chaoshan people and the Nazhen people.

If he could ruin this marriage, the halo of Mo Zibu as a member of his group would quickly fade away.

Given the conflict between the Teochews and the Gao people in western Guangdong, as well as the two countries' competition over Cambodia, as long as Mo Zibu is not regarded as one of their own by the Teochews, his situation will be very difficult.

Because there are sharp contradictions between the Zheng Group in Chaozhou and the Mo Group in western Guangdong.

The peace and tranquility we have now is entirely due to the fact that Mo Zibu is the link that constantly connects and reconciles things.

Thinking of this, Tong was very excited. He had indeed discovered the most vulnerable and unstable points between Mo Zibu and Zheng Xin, and between the Chaozhou Chinese Group and the Western Guangdong Group.

The relationship between two large interest groups that can mobilize tens of thousands of people is all tied to one person. Is there anything more fragile than this?

Tong suddenly thought that this time King Zheng listened to him and did not send troops to attack Tuwa. Mo Zibu relied on Ou Tianci and used the supplies from Hexian to support him in conquering Tuwa.

Now that Toungoo has been taken, would Ou Tianci be willing to hand it over to Siam?

These two places have always been regarded as tributary lands by the kings of Siam. Even if it is Chao Phraya, it is impossible to give them to other countries.

Humph! Tong snorted coldly, but he couldn't come forward now, so he had to find some Nazhen or Siamese to come forward and raise this matter.

However, Zheng Xin's words immediately shattered Tong's fantasy.

Wei Changle, a member of the Chaozhou Wei clan who arrived with the grain ship, brought Taksin a letter from Mo Zi Bu. In it, Ou Tianci relinquished control of Myeik and Toungoo, asking for nothing in return. Mo Zi Bu, in turn, reported on the movements of the British and Dutch East India Companies and the situation in Lower Burma.

"Mr. Shilin's generosity puts me to shame.

I heard that the Cambodian rebel king, Ni Nen Nen, fled to Korat and accepted the protection of Thep Phi Bi. The next day, he was captured and handed over to Ha Tien.

After saying this, Taksin ordered Tong, "Send a message to Chen Lian immediately. Have him lead 2,000 men to Towa. Zibu needs assistance. The matters in Bashu and Chumphon are not urgent for now."

Damn it!
Tong only felt a pain on his face like needles pricking him. Such an opponent was too scary, and it was almost impossible to find any flaws in him.

Moreover, even a greedy old thief like Mo Tianci, under the influence of Mo Zibu, could give up such a huge benefit and sacrifice his interests to maintain the relationship between the Chaozhou people and the Gao people in western Guangdong.

At this moment, Tong even had the idea of not going against such a person, but the moment the thought arose, Tong knew that this was impossible.

The current situation is very clear. In Taksin's group, everyone respects Taksin as king.

One group has a favorable impression of Mo Zi Bu and supports the unity of the Chinese in Southeast Asia and the opening of doors.

For example, Zheng Mincheng of Phraya Phetchaburi, (Luan) Huang Zhen, Zheng Mosai, Chen Lian, etc., have all begun to unite around Mo Zibu consciously or unconsciously.

Around Taksin were Chen Sen and Lin Wu, who had made huge investments in Taksin and hoped that the Chaozhou family would control all the benefits of Siam in the future, as well as a large number of maternal Nazhens, and Thai people such as Nai Sai, Nai Wenma, and Pai Jingyin.

Two factions have basically been formed, and the Tong faction still has the advantage.

If he dared to say no, he would immediately be regarded as a traitor, and his fate would probably be worse than opposing Mo Zibu.

. . . .

In early June, Chen Lian led an army of 2,000 to Tuwa, and Mo Zibu had basically assembled the armed forces in Tuwa and Myeik.

If supplies were not insufficient, Mo Zibu could even gather 8,000 to 10,000 people with good combat effectiveness.

At the same time, the seven Mon tribes and the eleven Keren tribes that allied with Mozibu also assembled more than 7,000 people.

At Mozibu's request, Taksin released a group of captured Tuva people, who were part of Mankimaloya's army, further strengthening the strength of Tuva and Myeik.

Subsequently, after several consultations, the British East India Company sent 200 troops from Fort William and the Dutch East India Company sent 400 troops to Lower Burma.

Seeing this wave of resistance, the White Elephant King finally responded. He mobilized more than 3,000 elite soldiers, plus 4,000 to 5,000 troops from vassal states, and led them to Pegu under the leadership of General Balamindin.

At this time, Mo Zibu also led his troops to Mawlamyine. Although the coalition forces had the advantage in numbers, with a total of 13,000 people.

However, they were under different leaderships. The Mon and Karen leaders within the group had their own plans and did not really obey Mo Zibu's command.

Mo Zibu didn't think about commanding them, and more importantly, Mo Zibu didn't think about attacking Pegu.

So he allowed this loose alliance to continue without making any effort to adjust it.

At the end of June, the two sides engaged in a small-scale confrontation at the mouth of the Salween River on the north bank of Mawlamyine.

Both sides won and lost alternately. Balamindin, who had Mon ancestry, was extremely calm, and Mozibu did not reveal his full strength.

After fighting on and off for more than ten days, Mo Zibu figured out the situation.

The White Elephant King has indeed become much weaker, but he is still very powerful at the moment, and I probably can't defeat him in person.

But if the Fourth Qing-Myanmar War breaks out again, Mo Zibu can send elite troops into the inland to burn, kill, loot, capture some cities large and small, and pretend to cooperate with the Qing Dynasty to attack the Konbaung Dynasty. There is no problem at all.

Balamindin also felt that he had figured out Mozibu's background. He judged that Mozibu could not launch a large-scale attack and seize all of Lower Burma.

The Mon and Karen people in Lower Burma were also unwilling to completely obey Mo Zi Bu's command.

Therefore, Balamindin regarded Mozibul's actions as an attempt by Siam to retake the Greater Tanah Ratan area. They had no intention and ability to attack all of Lower Burma.

Based on this understanding, Balamindin asked the White Elephant King to grant him full authority to bring back the Mon and Karen people who had been instigated by Mo Zibu. At most, he could temporarily recognize that the Mon and Karen people had a certain degree of autonomy.

No action will be taken for the time being regarding the Siamese occupation of the Lesser Tanah Rai areas of Myeik and Dawei.

After receiving Balamindin's report, the White Elephant King of Ava immediately agreed to this strategy.

Because the upcoming Fourth Qing-Myanmar War will determine the fate of the White Elephant King and even the Konbaung Dynasty.

Therefore, the White Elephant King quickly showed goodwill to the Mon people in Lower Burma. As long as these Mon people did not surrender to Mozibu, they would gain greater autonomy than before.

At the same time, he instructed Bala Mindin to establish a defense line on the west bank of the Salween River, and to find ways to repair the artillery batteries in Shalian, Pegu and other places to guard against Mozibu's navy.

After seeing this situation and after careful analysis, Mo Zibu quickly drew the situation of the entire Upper and Lower Burma in the form of a topographic map, and ordered his men to return to Guangdong to open up the connection with Wu Shiying, and give this map and a handwritten letter to Lin Tong.

He also strictly instructed Lin Tong that the topographic map and the handwritten letter could only be shown to Li Shiyao, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, and that they should be handed over to Fu Heng, the Grand Secretary.

Mo Zibu, who was familiar with Qianlong's temper, knew that if he handed this over, the arrogant and sensitive Qianlong would definitely think that Mo Zibu was using his achievements to gain benefits.

When dealing with such people, don't shout loudly when you have achieved something. You must keep a low profile and act as if you are fortunate to serve the emperor.

The more you do this, the more Qianlong will want to treat you well and show the generosity of the Celestial Empire. On the contrary, showing off your achievements everywhere may backfire.

It can be said that Mo Zibu followed a large number of history bloggers, making him one of the people who knew Qianlong best in this time and space.

Therefore, Mo Zibu simply gave the credit to Fu Heng, who was about to take on the hot potato, and asked for benefits from Qianlong through Fu Heng, and told Qianlong who was serving him through Fu Heng.

Of course, the main reason for doing this is that Mo Zibu's current demands and strength are not enough to support him to bargain directly with Qianlong.

(End of this chapter)