The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 231 There is still a substitute
Amidst the laughter and complicated ceremonies, Mo Zibu was so tired that he almost fainted.

He didn't know how much he had drunk, and he couldn't even remember what he had said.

Mo Zibu staggered into the bridal chamber and saw a slightly dark, thin little girl wearing a bright red bridal gown, looking at him with a smile.

"Where is your phoenix crown? Why did you take it off?" Mo Zibu asked in surprise.

"Hehe!" Shishi rushed over with a smile, "Didn't my husband say that you and I are extraordinary people and shouldn't engage in mundane things?"

Speaking of this, Mo Zi Bu remembered that when Taksin married his daughter, he used the Siamese customs, but was rejected by Mo Zi Bu, so he finally adopted the Chinese style.

At that time, Mo Zibu used this excuse.

Well, Mo Zibu didn’t care anymore and he picked up the little Shishi.

He and Taksin were the most important kings of the Han Chinese in Southeast Asia. Taksin had the Teochew people, the most powerful Han ethnic group in Southeast Asia, under his control.

There are a large number of Hakka people who are willing to farm on Mo Zibu's side, and the Minnan people are basically moving closer to him.

The most important thing for the Chinese in Southeast Asia is for them to be harmonious. And the only sign of their harmony is for Mok Tze Bu and Shi Shi to have children as soon as possible.

Only when this child appears and the relationship between Siam and the two Han Chinese groups in Ha Tien is established, will Siam feel at ease to invest a lot of manpower and material resources to move westward to truly conquer Lower Burma.

Only then could Mo Zibu focus on Siam and go to Annan to participate in this rare chicken-eating competition.

Sure enough, after more than ten minutes, one of the thin new brides could not hold on any longer.

Since I, General Mo Da, entered Jiading City, I have been very busy and have no mood to think about these things at all.

Finally, tonight I felt relieved about the fighting power.

"Wu Qian, Wu Qian!" Shishi poked her head out from the large, swaying bed covered in mosquito netting, and began to cry out in sweat. "Come here quickly, it's your turn."

Mo Zibu also stuck his head out and asked, "What do you mean it's your turn? Is there still a substitute?"

As it turned out, there really was a substitute. As Shishi shouted, a woman wearing a Thai long skirt, with a round figure that was so plump that it seemed like it was about to explode, walked over.

Huh?
Mo Zibu rubbed his eyes. This woman seemed a little familiar.

Shishi crawled on the ground, turned her head and giggled under Mo Zibu, "She looks familiar, right? Do you remember Phraya Rayong? This is his third daughter.

But now she is my cousin. My mother adopted her, and any children she gives birth to in the future will also be mine."

Mo Zibu remembered who it was. Wasn't she one of Phraya Rayong's three beautiful daughters?

The eldest became Taksin's favorite concubine, and the second was given to Zheng Mincheng of Phraya Phetchaburi, whose wife was killed by the Burmese.

The third child was originally given to him by Queen Wu Xuan, but Mo Zibu did not accept it and threw it to Zheng Mosai.

Then for some reason, it was transferred to Wu Xuan's side. It seems that after some training, it changed its surname to Wu.

Mo Zibu thought about it for a moment and understood. Shishi's body did not look like one that would be easy to bear children. In order to give birth to a child as soon as possible, he asked her to bring a substitute.

Maybe Wu Xuan felt that bringing a cousin from the Zheng family or a cousin from the Wu family might weaken Shishi's unique role as the link between Siam and Ha Tien, so she simply chose this woman who had already been destined for Mo Zibu.

Since that was the case, Mo Zibu didn't hesitate. He pulled himself away from Shishi, who then quickly rolled over and hid in the corner as if she had been pardoned.

Then after a while, she crawled over again curiously, her eyes wide open.

"God, this one can feed five children."

. . . .

There was continuous artillery fire on General Mo's side, and there was also continuous artillery fire in Pingshan County, Guangyi Prefecture, thousands of miles away.

After the Tây Sơn army captured Qui Nhon, its military strength began to expand rapidly.

Before the Northern Expedition of Qui Nhon, Nguyen Van Yue changed the military system again, transforming the armies of the original five major village chiefs into five villages: center, front, back, left, and right.

As expected of a student educated by Zhang Wenxian, a poisonous scholar who studied the art of emperorship, Ruan Wenyue transformed the five leaders of the partnership into five generals of the garrison, officially making them his subordinates.

But the way he did it was easy for the local tyrant Ruan Zhuang and others to deal with it, because they were all Yue people and could keep a low profile.

But for Li Guangcai and Li Jiting, this was hard to bear.

Especially Li Jiting, this hot-tempered old man refused to be called the leader when he joined the gang, so how could he bear to be Ruan Wenyue's subordinate now?

Li Guangcai had a mission on his shoulders, so he could only try his best to appease Li Jiting. At the same time, he couldn't help but want to curse in his heart.

There is a saying that there is no harm without comparison. Unlike Ruan Wenyue, who is eager to seize power with only 10,000 or 20,000 soldiers, my General Mo Da is really willing to give up and has a magnanimous character.

Even though Li Guangcai had secretly asked Master Luo for help and really couldn't stand the military discipline, he was still given a lot of money, and was given ships and guns when he asked for them, and was allowed to do as he pleased.

In contrast, Li Guangcai, who originally came to persuade Li Jiting, ended up getting himself angry.

Li Jiting said angrily: "This bastard Hu Piyue is not someone you can work with.

I've fought all these tough battles for him, but instead of quickly demarcating territory for me, he wants to take over my troops. I won't fight Pingshan anymore. Let's see what he can do!"

When Li Guangcai heard this, he also thought it made sense, so the two of them began to watch from the sidelines.

At this time, the Xishan Army had not yet experienced the baptism of a major war, and its combat effectiveness was far from what it would be a few years later.

On the contrary, in the Xishan Army, Li Jiting's men were all tall and strong people from Huizhou, Guangdong. They fought very bravely and often served as vanguards.

Among Li Guangcai's hundreds of pirate weapons, more than 60% were equipped with guns, and he also had a field gun with a gun carriage. He was generally responsible for sieges.

After these two people stopped moving and started slacking off, the combat effectiveness of the Xishan Army dropped a lot.

At the same time, in Pingshan County, Zhang Fuluan transferred 3,000 regular soldiers equivalent to the imperial guards from Hue for defense.

To convince Zhang Fuluan that he was on the side of the Hue court, Luo Aye also sent 200 musketeers and helped the Hue court recruit over 700 European and Japanese mercenaries. Their firepower was far inferior to that of the Tây Sơn army, and with over 2,000 muskets defending the city, they put the Tây Sơn army to shame.

"Brother, we can't fight anymore. The guns on the city walls are too powerful, and our men have suffered heavy casualties." Nguyen Van Huy rode his horse to the general's tent to remind his brother Nguyen Van Yueh.

As the saying goes, gold always shines. Since Xishan Stronghold raised its army, the three brothers Nguyen Van Yue, Nguyen Van Lu and Nguyen Van Hue have each led a unit. Until now, only the left army under Nguyen Van Hue can compare with the troops of Li Guangcai and Li Jiting in terms of combat effectiveness.
Although Nguyen Van Hue was only eighteen years old, he was brave and courageous. He liked to use surprise tactics and was good at ambushes. He always led his troops in battle and was deeply loved by the Tây Sơn army.

Whenever there was a battle, as long as they heard that it was Nguyen Van Hue who was commanding, everyone was willing to fight to the death, so he quickly became a symbol of the three brothers.

When Zhang Wenxian heard what Ruan Wenhui said, he glared at Ruan Wenlu fiercely. It was he who instigated Ruan Wenyue to tighten the supply to Li Guangcai and Li Jiting.

However, when speaking to Ruan Wenyue, Zhang Wenxian was much gentler.

First, Ruan Wenyue’s identity must be respected. Second, Zhang Wenxian knew that Ruan Wenyue had some difficulties in doing this.

Moreover, Zhang Wenxian was not against restricting these northerners, but he felt that the time had not yet come. So after glaring at Ruan Wenlu, he said as gently as possible:
"It seems that now is not the time to capture those foreign soldiers. The great cause has not yet been accomplished. We still need the efforts of these northerners, and the general still needs to appease them."

At this time, Ruan Wenyue had already called himself the General of Peace and the People, and was on par with my General Mo.

Seeing Zhang Wenxian speak, he could only nod and say, "I'll save you the trouble of rations, supplies, laborers, and other things. I'll personally allocate some of them."

Ultimately, it’s all because Annan’s plate is too small.

The situation at this time was that Mo Zibu occupied the area around Jiading. Although he failed to capture the Fu'an and Pingkang camps, he still took away about 900,000 of Guangnan's three million people.

The Tây Sơn army was in the center, occupying the two camps of Pingkang and Phu An, Qui Nhon Prefecture and most of Quang Ngai Prefecture, with a population of about 700,000.

The Hue court of the Nguyen family of Quang Nam occupied the remaining five camps of Quang Nam, Quang Binh, Buzhen, Zheng (Phu Xuan), Jiu (Ai Zi) and the city of Hoi An, with a population of about 1.4 to 1.5 million.

Of these three parties, not only did the Xishan Army occupy the least territory and population, but more seriously, due to their humble origins, Mo Zibu was pursuing a strategy of cooperating with aristocratic families in the south, and the Mo family itself was considered one of the aristocratic families in Guangnan.

This resulted in all the high-ranking Han clans in the Pingkang and Fuan camps running to the mountains and hiding, refusing to cooperate with the Xishan Army.

But once they ran away, the Xishan Army didn't even have anyone to pull back.

Because you can't let the army go to the countryside to recruit people. They are incapable of doing such a thing. Letting them do it is no different from letting them rob, not to mention that the people will run away.

Guiren Prefecture, where the Tây Sơn Army launched its uprising, was already a region prone to frequent disturbances, and was also the site of the fiercest fighting this time. Many areas had been destroyed.

This made it extremely difficult to supply the Xishan Army, as they only had so much food, equipment, laborers, and even land.

Ruan Wenyue naturally tended to give most of it to his own people, leaving only leftovers to Li Guangcai and Li Jiting.

"Master, now we still have to rely on you to step in and persuade them." Ruan Wenyue thought about it and felt a little embarrassed, so he began to beg Zhang Wenxian again.

Zhang Wenxian was silent for a while, then took the order and went out, but he knew in his heart that even at this point, Ruan Wenyue was still unwilling to give much benefit.

Now they asked me to go without telling me how much I would be given. It was obvious that they were still trying to fool me first.

In this case, we must find a way to get rid of the two Lis from the north as soon as possible, otherwise if they are forced into a corner by Ruan Wenyue, it will be quite troublesome if they cause trouble.

As he was thinking, Zhang Wenxian glanced at Ruan Wenhui who was talking to Ruan Wenyue in the tent.

Originally, Nguyen Van Yue was considered the most suitable candidate among the three brothers to start a business, but now it seems that the eighteen-year-old Nguyen Van Hue will have to rely on him.

. . . .

At the end of April, the Battle of Pingshan between the Tây Sơn Army and the Hue court came to an end, although Zhang Wenxian had tried his best to deceive.

But Li Guangcai and Li Jiting were not stupid either. They were determined not to do anything until they saw the rabbit. They kept agreeing with each other but did nothing.

As a result, the Battle of Pingshan ended with the Tây Sơn army failing to capture Pingshan County. In early May, Nguyen Van Yue returned to Qui Nhon with more than 10,000 defeated soldiers.

Under Zhang Wenxian's earnest persuasion, Nguyen Van Yue also began to try to take some measures to reassure the people. Even if he could not win the support of the Han nobles in Pingkang Camp and Phu An Camp, he had to manage Qui Nhon Prefecture well.

At the same time, Ruan Wenyue also realized the role of Li Guangcai and Li Jiting. He finally shed tears and bleed heavily, and took out a large amount of resources to supply the two Lis, successfully uniting the people again.

And in Hue, Zhang Fuluan's bold move came.

Before the Battle of Pingshan, the Hue court did not have much surplus because the finances had been embezzled too much by Zhang Fuluan and his accomplices over the years.

Therefore, when the main camp troops set out for Pingshan this time, the court only gave them a "down payment", and the rest was promised by Zhang Fuluan. If they won the battle, they would not only receive three times the salary, but also a huge reward.

As for the thousand people from Hoi An, Zhang Fuluan, in accordance with the principle of treating everyone equally, also verbally gave them free rides.

Now that they had won the battle, and had calculated the military pay and rewards, they had to pay at least 50,000 taels, and Zhang Fuluan immediately felt reluctant to spend the money.

This is already very little. There are at least 5,000 defenders in Pingshan, and the average amount of silver per person is only ten taels.

Moreover, the officers will definitely take the lion's share, and the soldiers may only get an average of six or seven taels of silver, which includes pensions.

As a result, Zhang Fuluan looked at the almost empty treasury of Hue, and when he thought that he would have to pay almost all of the 50,000 taels himself, he immediately gave up.

This old man was reluctant to give away money even when he was about to die. He announced in a high-profile manner that he would donate five thousand taels, and then hoped that others would follow suit and donate together.

But since he is like this, how responsible can other people be? Prince Ding Ruan Fuchun still has more than 100,000 taels in his treasury, but he is only willing to pay 5,000 taels.

The rest of Zhang Fuluan's followers, such as Mr. Cai, were only willing to contribute 20 taels at the least, and Mr. Cai contributed the most, only 1,000 taels. After a month of arguing, they only managed to collect less than 20,000 taels.

This completely ignited the anger of the soldiers in the main camp. The families of the soldiers who died in the battle made trouble everywhere, and even stormed the palace gate and came to the outside of the royal city to mourn.

Under such circumstances, Zhang Fuluan finally gritted his teeth and added a little more money, showing his cards everywhere, and collected 30,000 taels. He paid military salaries based on the number of people, and the rewards were almost zero, which was considered to be a barely able way to suppress the matter.

But the morale of the army in Hue was completely gone. This was the foundation of the Nguyen Dynasty's Guangnan Kingdom, and it was like the regular soldiers of the imperial guards!

At the same time, next time something happens, the European mercenaries and Japanese Christian ronin in Hoi An will definitely not take action again.

(End of this chapter)