The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 223 The Last Ming Dynasty Person
Hoi An, this centuries-old historical city, became increasingly weak after the rise of Mo Zi Bu.

There were still about a thousand combat-ready soldiers in the original Hoi An city.

But in order to support Mo Zibu, Luo Aye and Wei Rikun, the two Chinese leaders in the Ming and Qing dynasties, decided together to give Mo Zibu 400 people and more than a dozen large and small boats.

In this way, Hoi An's strength was basically halved.

Subsequently, Mo Zibu achieved great success in Siam, taking over the Andai region and Little Danasarin, and the angel round of Luo Aye and Wei Rikun received huge returns.

Pattani in Mo Zi Bu's hands is basically another small Hoi An, and the entire Andai area is completely open to the Minh Huong people of Hoi An.

Compared with Hoi An, which had increasing conflicts with the Hue court, Pattani was undoubtedly more attractive.

At the same time, Pattani is a key node in the tin ore trade, and Wu Rang's bird's nest industry in Songcheng is basically shipped through Pattani.

This has led to the gradual prosperity of Pattani's trade and has also made it the most ideal alternative city in the hearts of Hoi An people.

Therefore, in the past three years, Hoi An, which has a population of over 100,000, has seen a net outflow of more than 30,000 people, all of whom went to Pattani.

The core members of the Liu and Chen families of Mingxiang were almost all gone, and foreign merchants like Wei Rikun, who had a braid on his head, had also almost all left. Wei Rikun even became the envoy to Beidan.

So, when Zhang Fuluan's confidant Cai Sheng rushed to Hoi An overnight, he suddenly discovered.

This huge maritime trading city was no longer the bustling and bustling Hoi'an in his mind.

It has completely degraded, and is now somewhat like an ordinary coastal city in Guangnan.

The change was so great that Mr. Cai was stunned for a few seconds outside the north gate of Hoi An.

The one who hurried over to greet him was Old Cai, who had let Mo Zibu into the city last time.

Mr. Cai and Mr. Cai also know each other.

There are not many people with the surname Cai in Annan. There is evidence that Old Cai is an authentic Han Chinese. So a long time ago, Mr. Cai asked his relatives to continue the clan with Old Cai and share the same generation name. He used the clear migration lineage of Old Cai's family to endorse Mr. Cai's family.

Of course, Old Cai’s efforts were not in vain. The lucrative position of the gatekeeper of Hui’an City was arranged for him by Mr. Cai.

"Brother, why is Hui'an so desolate?" Cai Sheng asked with a long sigh outside the city gate without entering.

Old Cai looked around and saw that no one around him noticed, then he said cautiously:

"They all went to Prince Consort Mo's side. I heard from Luo Zhongda that the Qing Dynasty was able to wipe out the White Elephant King this time thanks to Prince Consort Mo's assistance.

With this achievement, King Zheng Guoying of Siam’s request for a title was sure to be successful.

As a reward, the King of Siam gave the entire southern territory to Prince Consort Mo, a total of 800,000 people. Everyone in Hoi An went there to make a fortune.

After hearing this, Mr. Cai couldn't help but take a breath. He knew a little about Mo Zibu, but he never expected that Mo Zibu could become so powerful now.

With a population of 800,000, even the Mingxiang people in Hoi An had to go south for refuge.

"You Fu is knowledgeable and talented, and his ability to govern a country is rare in the world. Unfortunately, he is not good at managing his family. Some of the things he does are still too extreme."

Mr. Cai was quite dissatisfied with Zhang Fuluan's two sons. It can be said that although Zhang Fuluan was greedy, he was still a qualified politician.

But it is no exaggeration to say that his two sons were so notorious that they could be smelled ten miles away. More than half of Zhang Fuluan's bad reputation was caused by his two sons.

In particular, Zhang Fuyue's lack of restraint in dealing with women made Cai Sheng feel that "how can one conduct politics well with such a bug?"

However, he immediately became alert and stared at Lao Cai sternly: "Who told you to say these words? Was it Mo Zibu?"

Old Cai didn't expect that Mr. Cai was so perceptive and could realize the hidden meaning of his words so quickly.

In the past, Lao Cai would have been terrified, but now that he had a way out, Lao Cai was much calmer and he bowed.

"Your Excellency is worrying too much. We are from the same family. It is impossible for Fifth Master Mo to give me more benefits than Your Excellency.

I am just reminding the Prime Minister that the Han people in Hoi An, whether they are Mingxiang people or Qing merchants, all have large sea vessels and have a way to retreat.

If you ask them to help fight the bandits in the Western Mountains, they probably won't fight resolutely, because if they can't hold on, they will choose to move south."

Cai Sheng was slightly stunned, and without saying anything, he walked towards Hoi An through the city gate.

In the city, Uncle Luo first offered a stick of incense to Guan Erye in the Guandi Temple, knelt quietly for a quarter of an hour, and then came to the community pavilion of the Mingxiang people's ancestral hall to offer tributes to the ancestors of all the Mingxiang people in Hoi An.

After finishing all this, Grandpa Luo walked to the side room of the ancestral hall, where a table full of food was set out. His three sons, Luo Zhongda, Luo Zhongan, and Luo Zhongping were standing there waiting for him.

When they saw Grandpa Luo come in, his sons hurried to pour him wine and serve him some food.

Faced with the plate full of delicacies, Grandpa Luo, who is over 70 years old, had a big appetite. He ate the fat and tender poached chicken, the sweet and half-fat and half-lean barbecued pork, and drank glass after glass of fine wine.

The three sons just stood there without eating a single bite. The second son Luo Zhongan and the third son Luo Zhongping even had tears in their eyes.

Only the eldest brother Luo Zhongda had a particularly complicated expression, as if he was hesitating about something.

Grandpa Luo took a few big bites of the food, but he was old after all, and he couldn't handle it if he ate too fast, and he felt sick of it.

So he slowly put down his chopsticks and slightly turned his body towards the direction where the altar was placed in the main hall of the ancestral hall. This direction was north, and further north was his distant hometown.

"I must be dying because I often dream about my hometown.

Forty years ago, I went back secretly with someone. Because I hadn’t shaved my head, I could only take a peek from afar on the mountain in the dark of night.

"Forty years have passed, and my hair is almost gone, and I have very few teeth left. In the past, I was known as Luo Xingmu, or Xingmu Zai, because of my sharp eyesight and cleverness. But now, my eyesight is blurry, and I still see flies in front of my eyes at dusk."

The three sons couldn't bear to hear these last words, so they started to change the subject and try to persuade him, but Grandpa Luo ignored them and continued talking.

"But even after just one glimpse from afar, forty years later, I can no longer forget the appearance of my hometown. In the past ten years, I have even often seen our ancestors in my dreams at night.

I saw them wearing red battle jackets, under the command of a Flying Tiger flag, following Zhang Wenlie in a life-threatening fight."

At this point, Grandpa Luo suddenly burst into tears, "I am about to die, but in the afterlife, my great-grandfather, Duke Wen Ding, will ask me what I have done for my country. How should I answer?"

After crying, Grandpa Luo raised his head and drank a large bowl of wine. "I thought that I, Luo Xingmu, was the only one in the world who still remembered the Ming Dynasty. I didn't expect that I could find a confidant at the age of seventy."

"Ada, Aer, Asan, I've made up my mind. I'm going to do this for the fifth son of the Mo family!"

“Remember, our ancestor, whose surname was Luo and whose name was Dingwen, was a registered captain of the Dongguan Guarding Thousand Households of the Ming Dynasty. His wife, Peng, was a sister of Zhang Wenlie’s wife, Peng.

On March 1647, the first year of the Yongli reign (), my grandmother Peng and my elder sister Peng were captured by the Eastern Tartars. They refused to surrender and died cursing the invaders.

On the tenth day of the tenth month of the same year, Duke Dingwen led forty-three warriors of the Luo family to guard Duke Zhang Wenlie in Zengcheng. They fought bloody battles with the Eastern Tartars for ten days. Their guns were broken and their cannons were shattered. They were unable to kill the enemy and all died in battle on the banks of the Dongjiang River.

You must not forget to tell Mo Wu that after he enters Hue, he must build a temple for Zhang Wenliegong and never let him accept the title from the Eastern Tartars!

Seeing their father crying loudly, the three sons also burst into tears.

At that time, Zhang Jiayu was fighting against the Qing Dynasty in Dongguan, but he only had one county under his control. He relied entirely on his fellow Dongguan people to follow him unwaveringly. The Zhang family was the largest family in Dongguan, but in the end, almost all of them were killed or injured.

However, Grandpa Luo's great-grandfather was just a nominal captain of a thousand households, which was nothing in peacetime, during the late Ming Dynasty when official hats were everywhere.

I think he just dragged a few dozen brothers of the same clan to fight with broken swords and guns. It is hard to say that he is very brave, nor does he have much power.

But to the entire nation and to the Luo family, he is a great hero!
Luo Zhongda looked at his father crying, and his expression finally changed from hesitation to determination. He suddenly sat down and started eating and drinking with his old father.

This time, not only the two younger brothers were stunned, but their father, Grandpa Luo, also stopped sobbing and looked at his eldest son in shock.

Luo Zhongda also drank a large bowl of wine and grinned at his father and two younger brothers.

"Father, there are quite a few members of the Ruan family. For safety reasons, they will never all board the same boat."

"If you want to do this, you have to do it absolutely perfectly. Then you can hold your head high when you meet your ancestors in the afterlife."

"An, Ping, I am unlucky. I only have three daughters, and I don't even have any descendants. This is the biggest regret in my life.

You must tell Mo Wu to find an obedient son-in-law for my young mother. If he has a grandson in the future, he must be named Luo and be considered my grandson."

. . . .

Not far from the community pavilion where the Mingxiang people held joint worship, Liu Zhisan of the Liu family also bid farewell to his family from a distance and prepared to leave.

He was one of the first Mingxiang people to follow Mo Zibu, and he was trusted by Mo Zibu. To what extent?

Mo Zibu brought back nearly two million taels of gold, silver and jewelry from Ava, Myanmar, all of which are now managed by Liu Zhisan.

In order to prevent inflation caused by a sudden influx of large amounts of silver into the market, Liu Zhisan, under the instruction of Mo Zibu, stored the money cellar and used it to secretly prepare for the mint and Xingtang Imperial Academy.

The former was to prepare to implement a new currency and exchange policy in Nanyang, collect seigniorage from the entire Nanyang, and even issue treasure notes (paper money) like in Europe.

Of course, this is still in the initial stage and is far from the time to issue treasure notes, but such an important matter is presided over by Liu Zhisan, which shows his status in Mo Zibu.

As for the latter, it is also very important. This university is divided into two categories, the School of Psychology and the School of Engineering.

The School of Psychology does not teach psychology, but means psychology and science.

To conquer Annan, both civil and military forces must be prepared, and the civil side is even more important.

So Mo Zibu prepared to launch a great cultural debate in Annan. On the surface, it was a debate between Neo-Confucianism and the School of Mind, but in fact it was laying the groundwork for public opinion to bring Annan back into the central court.

Tiangong Academy is the top priority in Mo Zibu's heart. As soon as the situation stabilizes, the physics and chemistry knowledge that I, King Mo, can still remember will begin to be sown here.

Industrialization requires not only capital and demand, but also talent. Although Mozibu has not yet entered the Red River Plain, preparations can be made first to reserve talent, which will be able to play a role in three to five years.

However, Liu Zhisan, who was so trusted, still felt shocked at this moment, because he knew what Grandpa Luo was going to do.

This leader of the Minh Xiang people in Hoi An, who always talks about the Ming Dynasty, is preparing to transport the Nguyen clan members to Gia Dinh by sea at the last moment.

Then, the close relatives of the Nguyen family would encounter big trouble at sea. It would be that either their ships were damaged and flooded, or they were drifted away in the strong wind.

Anyway, at least the close relatives of the Ruan family will not be alive.

However, this kind of thing can easily be involved in conspiracy theories, but there is a way to solve it, that is, Mingxiang leaders like Grandpa Luo are also buried in the sea.

In this way, no matter who it is, they cannot attribute this matter to Xiang Yu drowning King Huai of Chu or Hongwu Taizu drowning King Ming.

To put it simply, Grandpa Luo is willing to use his life to clear the biggest obstacle for his close friend who is much older than him.

　Luo Aye was a real person in history. He was the leader of the Mingxiang people in Hoi An. His name is unknown, but since we are writing a novel, we won’t delve into the details of whether he has the same personality as described in this book.

　　As for his ancestors, there were only scattered records in the memorial to Zhang Wenlie. At that time, in Huang Village, hundreds of his fellow clansmen and Jiayu died, and all the children of his in-laws, fellow villagers Ye, Luo and others died.

　　(The second update may be later. I have no inspiration recently and I am a little depressed.)
　　
　
(End of this chapter)