The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 183 The Wheel of History (Two in One)

In the city of Ava, the White Elephant King woke up from a terrifying nightmare. He screamed, and the guards and palace servants standing around him quickly knelt down.

Cold sweat trickled down the forehead of this king who had been invincible since he ascended the throne.

He put his hand on his waist, where there was a flintlock pistol inlaid with precious gems, which was already loaded.

Well, he is indeed a true king. Just like me, King Mo, he sleeps with chain mail at the head of his bed and a flintlock pistol within reach.

There was a sound of hurried footsteps, and the Royal Guard General Chevalier Miral ran in quickly.

Seeing a gray-haired former French naval officer appear before him, the White Elephant King breathed a sigh of relief.

This handsome Frenchman not only had an ambiguous relationship with him, but also did not belong to any faction of the Konbaung Dynasty. All his power came from the support of the White Elephant King.

Therefore, he is the person that the White Elephant King considers to be the most trustworthy.

Historically, Chevalier Miral had such a close relationship with the White Elephant King that they slept in the same room and even in the same bed. The White Elephant King could hardly sleep without seeing him.

During the Qing-Myanmar War, Chevalier Mirald successfully persuaded the French governor of local governance to restore trade relations between Myanmar and France in 1770, when the war was about to end. He also allowed the French to land in Yangon and begin building a fleet for the White Elephant King to strengthen coastal defense.

It can be said that after the White Elephant King's mismanagement in history, the Konbaung Dynasty, which had experienced turmoil, was able to revive in the hands of White Elephant King Mengbo's younger brother Bodawpaya Mengyun, and Shevalie Miral made an indelible contribution.

But now, he was facing the hero King Mo who came from heaven, and the road to reconciliation between the Konbaung Dynasty and France was directly blocked, which made the situation of the Konbaung Dynasty much more difficult than in history.

"Your Majesty, what's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?" Chevalier Miral asked softly in Burmese, in which he was already very fluent.

The White Elephant King waved his hand to drive out the guards and palace maids, then shook his head to indicate that he was fine, and let Chevalier Miral wipe the cold sweat off his face with a towel.

Of course the White Elephant King would not tell anyone, because he dreamed that he had turned into Mangyingli of the Toungoo Dynasty and was being attacked by the coalition forces of four countries in the city of Ava.

He knelt on the top of the city wall and cried, begging his father Yong Ji Ya to come and save him, but he was pushed off the wall from behind.

"Balamindin!" The White Elephant King gritted his teeth and called out the traitor's name in a low voice. He could actually forgive Balamindin for being defeated because the enemy was very powerful.

But he could not forgive Balamindin for fleeing for fear of punishment, which left the White Elephant King completely unaware of what was happening in Lower Burma, allowing the Khmer army to invade the hinterland and make things so bad.

Well, King Bai Xiang certainly knew about the Ha Tien Clan, so he concluded that the Ha Tien Clan chose to obey the Qing Dynasty's orders to attack him in order to obtain the title of Khmer King from the Qing Dynasty.

"King, let me intercept him," Chevalier Miral knelt on one knee and pleaded.

“If we gather together all the criminals and slaves of the nobles in the city, as well as the serfs outside the city, and pardon their crimes, slavery, and the taxes they owe, we can get at least 15,000 people.

The Khmer army is not large, certainly not 80,000. I estimate that it is at most 20,000, and the elite soldiers among them will not exceed 6,000.

Although I cannot guarantee that I can defeat them, I can at least prevent them from approaching the royal city."

If someone else said this, the White Elephant King would consider his motives, but Chevalier Miral must have said it sincerely.

But after thinking about it, the White Elephant King directly refused.

"My loyal Miral, this is not the time yet."

The White Elephant King regained consciousness from his nightmare. He walked to the map and pointed at Pyin Uyen.

"These Khmer troops have burned, killed, looted and obtained a lot of money along the way. Now they have been staying in Pyin Oo for more than ten days. I think they can't move on any longer.

When officers and soldiers have too much money, they will only think about shipping it back home and enjoying it, and will not have much time to fight. "

Chevalier Miral showed admiration on his face, "You are right, Your Majesty. It is difficult to drive well-fed hunting dogs to continue hunting. That shrewd Khmer prince should be well aware of this.

Moreover, defeating Pyin Uyen was enough for him to give an account to the Qing Dynasty.

As long as these Khmers don't go any deeper, the impact on us won't be that great."

. . . .

Well, the impact would not be that great, as Li Xianwen sent ships to transport away all useful things including gold, silver, female slaves, cloth, livestock, iron farm tools, etc.

Mo Zibu has roughly completed the rectification movement.

Of course, compared with the rectification movement in history, Mo Zibu’s event is nothing. It can only be regarded as a symposium to unify thoughts and emphasize discipline.

But the effect was still significant. At least the soldiers below did not have much resistance to handing over their property and distributing it according to their military merits.

At the same time, he also expressed his agreement and excitement about Mo Zibu's strategy of conquering Ava and then plundering all the way back from Ava.

After stabilizing the morale and morale of the main force, Mo Zibu quickly painted a rosy picture for the 10,000 auxiliary soldiers and the 20,000 strong civilians and boatmen.

Their treatment, which originally did not receive a penny of spoils, was increased to 50% of the main force.

After individual heroes have made great contributions, they can even receive the same distribution of spoils as the main force, or even be awarded a title.

After settling the accounts with these people, their fighting capacity and morale were improved.

Finally, Mozibu promoted all the Burmese traitors who had colluded with him last time on the spot, and at the same time opened the granary in Pyin Uyen to release grain, attracting a large number of Burmese people.

At this time, the Konbaung Dynasty seemed to be invincible in Southeast Asia, and even the Qing Dynasty could be tripped up several times. Although it was strong, the people were really living a hard life. It is no exaggeration to say that they were barely clothed and had no food to eat.

Therefore, even if an outsider like Mo Zibu, who had a bad reputation, opened his warehouse to distribute grain, a large number of poor people would still risk their lives to come from dozens of miles away.

Some of them were so poor that they didn't even have cloth bags. They carried baskets and baskets woven with palm leaves and rushed to Pyin Oo with their families.

Mo Zibu saw a family of six on the top of the city wall. The man was carrying a rag bag that was bigger than him, and the woman and the children were trying their best to drag the distributed food.

Even a little girl who looked only five or six years old and could barely move was carrying a bag of rice that was almost the same size as her body. Her little face was flushed red as she struggled to keep up with her father and brother.

Mo Zibu pointed at the family and said to Mang Luo beside him, “The sins committed by the White Elephant King are too grave.

Not only did he bring suffering to the Siamese, Mon, and Karen people, he also brought his own people to the brink of death.

That is why I will lead a large army and cooperate with the righteous armies of the Qing Dynasty, Siam and other countries to destroy him.

We are the righteous army that punishes the evildoers and will surely win! "

People are like this. When my King Mo commanded his soldiers to rob the Burmese and captured tens of thousands of female slaves, I didn't see him show any mercy.

But now, seeing this family of six struggling to survive, he suddenly became kind.

What could Mang Luo say? Your guns and cannons are sharp and your army is invincible, that is right, and he clearly heard the future of the White Elephant King from Mo Zibu's mouth.

However, this terrifying king left a deep impression on Manglo. Once upon a time in the palace of Ava, Manglo felt that the White Elephant King was a god and was invincible.

Of course, Mo Zibu at this time also began to have this feeling.

Therefore, he asked in disbelief, "Your Majesty, will Sin Pyusin (King of the White Elephant) really end up like Nanda Boyin (Mang Yingli)?"

"Of course!" Mo Zibu nodded decisively, "Because the Emperor of Qing, the King of Siam, I, your father, General Suki, and all those who have been persecuted by the White Elephant King's aggressive military tactics will not let him live."

As he spoke, Mo Zibu patted Mang Luo's shoulder and looked at the family of six who were already kneeling on the ground and trembling, thinking that disaster was about to happen after being pointed at by Mo Zibu. He said:
"If you and your son can treat people like them well, the city of Pyu will surely become your family's permanent fiefdom."

Mang Luo was overjoyed and caught up with Mo Zibu and asked, "Will the king give us the city of Pyeongchang?"

After discussing with his father Balamindin, he thought that Mozibu could at most give them a small town to settle down. After all, no one would be willing to give a good place to newcomers who were forced to surrender.

"Your father should be not far from here, right?" Mo Zibu turned around and looked at Mang Luo who had caught up with him and said:

“I am not a cruel king like the White Elephant King, and I will not casually kill a famous and virtuous minister.

Let him relax and hurry up to come to Pyin Oo before I leave.

If your family can make merit in the battle to eliminate the White Elephant King, the city of Pyin Uy and the twenty surrounding towns will belong to your family.

I am a prince of the Khmer and Mon people, not a Burmese prince. These places that belong to the Burmese will eventually be left to you Burmese to rule.”

A look of shame appeared on Manglu's face. His father, Balamindin, was indeed hiding in a village more than 30 kilometers away from Pyay.

He understood the hidden meaning of Mo Zi Bu's words even more clearly. The Khmer prince had only two goals to achieve.

One was to kill the White Elephant King so that he would no longer be a threat to him, and the other was to steal enough gold and silver to reward the army.

As for the land, he had no intention of occupying it. He would give it to anyone. As long as their family was willing to submit on the surface, they could get a large piece of land.

As he spoke, Mo Zibu walked up to the family. He pointed again and the guards picked up one of the sons of the family.

The kid is not very dark, his face looks more like a Chinese, and he may have Dai ancestry.

Mo Zibu nodded with satisfaction. Appearance has been very important since ancient times.

Suddenly being lifted into the air, the kid, although only about ten years old, was very scared, but he still resisted fiercely.

He punched, kicked, and bit, struggling non-stop. Even though he was slapped twice and pressed into the dust, he still resisted desperately like a wild beast.

The mother cried loudly, and the father looked at the other children around him, his eyes gradually changing from fierce to begging.

The Burmese people who came to collect rice were also frightened and knelt on the roadside, praying silently.

Mo Zibu walked over, pushed away the guard's hand, and handed a piece of glutinous rice cake to the little guy in the dust.

The little boy stopped struggling frantically, and with his face covered in dust, he looked up at Mo Zibu in surprise.

Soon, his attention was attracted by a piece of snow-white rice cake that was the size of his palm, covered with syrup and looked extremely delicious.

He hesitated and slowly got up, as if he was afraid of disturbing Mo Zibu and causing the delicious rice cake to be taken away.

"Eat it, this is for you." Mo Zibu's face showed an impeccable and gentle smile, like a loving father looking at his son. Mo Zibu was not very fluent in Burmese, but he had no problem communicating with simple things. The kid understood what Mo Zibu said, opened his mouth, and was about to put the food in, but suddenly stopped.

He crawled over carefully, tore off a large piece of it, and stuffed it into the mouth of his youngest sister, then his mother, father, brother, and younger brother.

When it was his turn, all that was left was the honey on his fingers to lick.

He sucked each finger quickly twice, then quickly crawled back and knelt in front of Mo Zibu, his eyes full of desire.

Mo Zibu was even more satisfied. He laughed loudly, walked up to the male host of the house, and threw a handful of Anfa Dabao copper coins on the ground, about four or five hundred coins.

"Your son is destined to be with me. From this day forward, he will be my servant and guard!"

After hearing this, the man immediately knelt down and spoke a lot of words rapidly. Mo Zibu was a little confused. Mang Luo quickly came over to translate:
"He said it was not easy for him to raise a nine-year-old son, and asked the king to add a little more."

Mo Zibu nodded and said, "Then give me one or two taels. I want two hundred children."

"Achu, cooperate with Mang Luo to choose."

Wang Wuchu responded loudly. He knew what Mo Zibu meant. He meant choosing those who were not too dark and looked more like Chinese people.

The reason why Mo Zibu wanted to recruit two hundred children in Myanmar was not a sudden decision, but something he had prepared long ago.

In Southeast Asia, if we want to control the South Seas, we must have actual control over the Chao Phraya Plain and the Mekong Plain. This way we can have sufficient population and materials to deploy, and we don’t have to rush thousands of miles from the mainland for everything.

To control the Indian Ocean, influence and contain India, Myanmar needs to have actual control.

But there are too few Chinese people in Myanmar, and there are no conditions like the Chao Phraya River and the Mekong River, so we have to lay the foundation slowly, selecting hundreds of children every year to bring back for training.

Behind this child is a family. Their parents and brothers will easily become guides in the future. It will be much easier for them to control Myanmar after the country is restored.

Maybe if we bring out the idea of the ancient Qiang people, we can slowly assimilate them.

. . . .

In Chiang Mai, Mo Zi Bu's side made smooth progress, but the looted property was so great that he had to launch war rectification and hold seminars to stabilize the morale of the army. Zheng Xin's side suffered so much loss that he was about to cry.

As a country that could not be firmly controlled, the Lanna Kingdom was like a dog that could not be tamed in the hands of the Burmese.

When the White Elephant King attacked Siam, he naturally wanted to plunder this place and make the Lanna people work hard for the Konbaung Dynasty.

Therefore, what Taksin took over was a poor and dilapidated Lanna Kingdom that was even more in need of reconstruction than his Thonburi Dynasty, and it could even be said that there were starving people everywhere.

Seeing this situation, Zheng Xin, who wanted to win over the hearts of the Lanna people and integrate them into Siam, had no choice but to grit his teeth and transfer a large amount of supplies from Thonburi to rescue the victims of the Lanna disaster.

At the same time, he had to start forming an elite force because the Qing envoys were waiting in the army.

Mo Zibu may not care about requesting a title, because it is difficult and he himself does not want to receive one.

But Taksin thought that as a Chinese who could not even be considered a Najin, strictly speaking, support from his motherland was extremely important for him to secure his position as the King of Siam.

Then, as the current central court of the Qing Dynasty, enthroning him as the King of Siam was the most clear way of support.

Zheng Xin now misses Mo Zibu very much, and he needs someone to help him out.

Because as long as Taksin stayed in Lanna, he would have to be responsible for the current poverty of Lanna, and would have to continuously transfer the already limited resources to Chiang Mai, Lamphun and other places.

If Taksin was not here but in Thonburi, then we could just harden our hearts and rescue selectively.

If there is a problem, it is the people below who have done bad things. He, the king, is still a good person.

Similarly, if Taksin was in Thonburi, he could lead his army to the Shan Plateau to attack the Konbaung Dynasty and cooperate with the Qing army's strategic military operations by letting his generals go.

If it is not completed, it is because the people below are not doing their job well. He, the King of Siam, has tried his best and is loyal to the Qing Dynasty!

Especially at the moment, almost all generals are opposed to sending troops to the Shan Plateau.

This piece of land became famous in later generations. Wa State, Xiaomengla, Kokang, Lashio, Daqili, etc. are all located in this place.

At this time, the situation in the Shan Plateau was very chaotic. There were a large number of Dai (Shan) and Wa local kings living there. They were swayed by the wind and their positions were extremely unstable.

At the same time, because they had already suffered from the four Qing-Myanmar Wars, they were very xenophobic at this time and strongly opposed the Siamese army's crossing of the border. Zheng Xin sent several groups of envoys but failed to reach an agreement.

At the same time, there are still a large number of Chinese forces remaining here. Some of them are descendants of the generals of King Li Jin who refused to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, and some are Chinese miners and businessmen working in the silver and tin mines in the Shan Plateau.

What sounds like black humor is that the name Li Dingguo is almost unknown in the mainland controlled by the Qing Dynasty. Even if people remember it, the impression it has is mostly bad.

However, in the Shan Plateau, whether it is the Dai, Wa and other major ethnic groups, or the Kachin, De'ang, Miao and other ethnic groups, in addition to the gods worshipped by their own ethnic groups, the people they admire the most are Zhuge Liang and Li Dingguo.

It is said that the "crossing the Lu River in May and going deep into the barren land" mentioned in Prime Minister Zhuge Liang's "The Memorial to the Emperor on Starting the War" does not refer to the barren land, but Bamao, which is near Xinjie and Laoguantun where the Qing army and the Burmese army are now confronting each other.

Today, temples dedicated to Prime Minister Zhuge Liang, as well as Wangxiangtai and temples commemorating King Li Jin, can be seen everywhere in the Shan Plateau.

Liu Bin, who wrote "After reading the broken stele, I call out to the heroic ghost, life and death all come from King Li Jin", returned north from this place. The custom of worshipping King Li Jin has been preserved here.

When the British invaded this place later, the local Wa kings also issued manifestos in the name of Prime Minister Zhuge Liang to express their stance and rally the people.

At present, Mo Zibu likes such people the most because he can easily turn them into like-minded comrades.

But for Taksin, firstly, he did not want to have too much interaction with the anti-Qing forces, and secondly, the main Shan people in Shan State are actually the Dai people.

They were extremely wary of the Konbaung Dynasty and the Thai Kingdom of Siam formed by the Dai people's migration to the south. They were afraid that Zheng Xin's plan to borrow the road was fake and that he was really going to attack Guo.

Under such circumstances, Zheng Xin did not dare to send his troops out of Chiang Mai. If he did, he would most likely go to war with the local kings of the Dai, Wa and other ethnic groups.

It would be a lot of fun if he, the founding king of the Thonburi Dynasty, got himself trapped in the Shan Plateau for the sake of enthronement.

To put it another way, the situation in the Thonburi Dynasty was not peaceful. Zheng Xin's risky expedition outside the country was also handing a knife to those with ulterior motives.

So, now Zheng Xin is in a dilemma. He cannot lead his troops into Myanmar either in the present or in the future.

But if he didn't go, the Qing envoys were already in the army, leaving him no room to maneuver.

So Zheng Xin really wanted Mo Zibu to be by his side. If Mo Zibu was there, whether he was really there or pretending to be there, he could solve the problem for him.

However, Mo Zi Bu was far away in Pyin U Lwin at the moment and certainly could not help Zheng Xin solve his problems, so another person with ulterior motives appeared.

Tong, who had been sent by Taksin to guard the town of Korat, relied on his younger brother Chuzhi, who was Taksin's personal guard, to accurately grasp Taksin's difficulties.

So he first ordered someone to rush to Chiang Mai to report to Taksin, creating the illusion that there was a rebellion in the country, and he did it in a big way, reporting every three days, as if it was very urgent.

Zheng Xin was in a dilemma and knew what was going on as soon as he read the report.

Because if there really was a disturbance, it should have been Zheng Mincheng who was in charge of staying behind, or Zheng Mosai, an elder of the royal family, who came to report it, not Tong who was guarding the east.

So Zheng Xin began to hype up the domestic unrest and act as if he had to return.

The Qing envoy was dumbfounded. You can't stop Zheng Xin from returning to the country to deal with the rebellion, but if Zheng Xin goes back, who will help the army to attack the Burmese?

In the eyes of the Qing envoys at that time, Siam was a big country in Southeast Asia, and Taksin's Siamese army was the main force to attack the Burmese army. Mo Zibu could only make small moves and pretend to do so.

Otherwise, Li Yulong would not have followed Mo Zibu, while Fu Heng's confidant Goshaha followed Zheng Xin.

Therefore, under the half-threat and half-pleading of the Qing envoys blocking the door, Taksin "bit his teeth" and immediately left 8,000 troops in Chiang Mai, and transferred his own brave general Phraya Korat Thong to lead 3,000 troops north.

He sent these 11,000 men to Burma to support the Qing army, while he himself led the main force of about 10,000 men back to Thonburi.

Sure enough, the wheel of history will continue to roll forward.

Around Zheng Xin, except for Mo Zibu, no one can compare with Tong, whether in terms of ability, connections or other aspects.

Therefore, after Mo Zibu left, Tong's status would continue to rise, because he was one of the very few people who could unilaterally and comprehensively solve problems for Zheng Xin.

Similarly, the wheel of history began to turn in the Qing camp, and the god of plague suddenly attacked at its destined time.

At first, it was just an outbreak of diarrhea in the Sauron barracks.

After Fuheng found out, he immediately isolated them. This was simple common sense that the Qing commanders still had.

But, it's too late.

Shortly after quarantining hundreds of Sauron soldiers, an epidemic suddenly broke out in the Fujian Navy Barracks, which was not connected to the Sauron Barracks, followed by the Yunnan Green Camp, causing panic among the entire army.

More than ten days later, it was the 1769th year of Qianlong's reign, the end of AD.

Wu Shisheng, Fuheng's confidant, had just been promoted to the general of Lijiang Town in Yunnan.

Ye Xiangde, who had just been promoted from the general of Taiwan Town to the admiral of Fujian Navy for his merits.

They died one after another because of the rapid diarrhea that could not be stopped.

At the same time, more than ten generals and officers, including the Manchu general Wu Santai, the commander of the guards, and Ben Jinzhong, who held the title of admiral, also fell ill.

At this point, the Qing army had completely lost its ability to attack, and the generals in the army kept hinting to Fuheng and even explicitly asked him to withdraw.

Fuheng knew Qianlong's temper very well. If he wanted to withdraw the troops at this point, it would undoubtedly be a slap in Qianlong's face, so he firmly stated that he could not withdraw the troops.

But Fuheng also knew that the Qing army could no longer fight, so he placed all his hopes on the two reinforcements from Mo Zibu and Zheng Xin.

He sent local people from the Wa, Kachin and other ethnic groups who had defected to the Qing Dynasty to search for the movements of these two reinforcements through the Shan Plateau.

(End of this chapter)