The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 252 Why is it bed politics again?

In Hue City, Huang Wufu looked at Nguyen Van Hue in amazement. He was not shocked that Nguyen Van Hue would come to him for help.

What shocked the Xishan Army was that in less than three months, they lost all the territory stretching 800 miles from north to south.

There are millions of people living in this 800-li land, and the Xishan Army alone has about 40,000 soldiers. How did they lose all of them in such a short time?
However, as Ruan Wenhui continued to speak, Huang Wufu began to feel a chill all over his body.

"You said that Mo Wu not only has 10,000 victorious soldiers, all armed with self-propelled muskets, but also has a group of hundreds of elite Western Fan cavalry?"

As a general of Northern Zheng, Huang Wufu was very sensitive to the word cavalry, because this was the weapon that Northern He had always used to suppress Southern Nguyen.

"Sir, everything I say is true. Mo Wu's army is definitely not the army we have seen before.

If we want to compare them, the only ones who can be compared are the Hoi An mercenaries during the Fu Tai era, the Spanish in Luzon today, and the red-haired foreign soldiers in Batavia.

The Phuoc Thai mentioned by Nguyen Van Hue was an era name (1643-1648) owned by Emperor Le Trinh Tong of the Later Le Dynasty.

At that time, the Southern Nguyen Dynasty was extremely prosperous under the leadership of Nguyen Phuc Binh. Hoi An's combined Chinese and Western land and sea mercenaries were extremely powerful, which left a deep impression on Northern Zheng.

Therefore, when Huang Wufu heard Nguyen Van Hue say this, he felt his heart beating faster, because although the soldiers of Northern Zheng at this time were not weak, they could definitely not be compared with the army of King Qingdu during the Futai period.

Emotionally, Huang Wufu was unwilling to believe what Ruan Wenhui said, but his reason told him that it was all true.

Because the Zheng army fought against the Xishan army twice and only had a slight advantage each time, although the Northern Zheng army arrived in a hurry and could not fully exert its combat power.

But Huang Wufu could still estimate the combat effectiveness of the Xishan Army. If he were to be in Mo Zibu's position, Huang Wufu felt that he would most likely not be able to achieve such a result.

So, is it possible that Mo Wu’s Southern Army is stronger than his own elite Northern River troops?

Hoi An, the once prosperous and first commercial city of Guangnan, had almost become a deserted city before Mo Zibu arrived.

Among its hundreds of thousands of residents, tens of thousands of Annamites were either abducted by the Tây Sơn Army or died in the three-way tug-of-war between Northern Zheng, Hue and the Tây Sơn Army over the past year. Only a small number fled to the mountains and forests to hide.

Of the remaining 80,000 to 90,000 people, more than 60,000 Minh Xiang people, who were considered Chinese, suffered thousands of casualties in the turmoil. Most of the others sailed south, and only 5,000 to 6,000 people remained around Hoi An.

More than 10,000 Qing merchants also left, some went to Jiading and Pattani, and some went to Siam.

Five or six thousand Japanese Christian warriors had nowhere to escape, and some of them died along with the Chinese in the successive attacks on Hoi An by the Tây Sơn Army and the Northern Zheng Army.

The remaining 4,000 people, including the elderly, women and children, hid on a nearby island. After seeing Mo Zibu coming back, they ran back under the leadership of their leader Wei Yongxing.

As for the Europeans, the French fled to Ha Tien, and the rest went their separate ways and will not be back for a while.

As a city based on commerce, Hoi An fully embodies the risk-averse side of businessmen.

After it encountered a major crisis, a large "city-state" with 60,000 to 70,000 residents and 70,000 to 80,000 villagers returned to its original state almost overnight.

Therefore, even after the Zheng army in Beihe occupied this place, they only plundered it and then gave up.

King Mo stood on Anyuan Bridge, feeling very sad as he looked at the Mingxiangrenshe Pavilion which had been looted and almost burned to ruins by the Zheng army.

However, if General Mo Da knew the historical situation of Hoi An, he would be even more sad.

Because there was no General Mo Da causing trouble in history, Hoi An became an ally of the Tây Sơn Army. Although the Nguyen brothers drove away Li Ji Dinh and Li Acai, they lacked a navy.

So, under the strong advocacy of Nguyen Van Hue, the Tây Sơn army recruited and lured a large number of South China Sea pirates and fishermen from the Chinese in Hoi An to serve as naval officers and soldiers of the Tây Sơn Dynasty.

The most famous ones were Chen Tianbao, who was appointed as the Grand Commander of the Tongshan Canal by the Xishan Dynasty and was equivalent to a naval marshal, and Mo Guanfu, the King of Donghai, who came later.

They have hundreds of warships and tens of thousands of people, and have always been the maritime backbone of the Xishan Army.

It can be said that in the original history, Hoi An was not only not destroyed, but also got along better thanks to its relationship with the Tây Sơn Dynasty.

Seeing the tragedy in Hoi An, and thinking of the tragic deaths of Luo Zhongda and others, you should know that on the ship where Nguyen Phuc Chun was, except for about a hundred people from Guangnan, the rest were Minh Xiang people from Hoi An, and they became buried with him for no apparent reason.

One general's success will lead to thousands of bones drying up!
My General Mo Da burst into tears in front of the ruins of the Mingxiang people's community pavilion, and the Mingxiang people following him also sobbed.

"Daf, allocate five hundred taels from the military budget and hire the best craftsmen to repair our community pavilion."

After saying that, Mo Zibu turned to look at Grandpa Luo's second son, Luo Zhongan, and said, "Hang out our flag and let everyone know that we Mingxiang people are back.

From now on, this city will forever belong to the people of Ming Dynasty!"

Luo Zhongan nodded excitedly, and then hung flags on important buildings throughout Hoi An, which had been commonly used by the Chinese since the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, but which Mo Zibu found a bit annoying to see.

This is a red sun flag on a white background, which is basically the same as the Japanese plaster flag of later generations.

No, I should say that the Japanese flag is exactly the same as this.

Because this thing has been commonly used by the Chinese in history, but it was not until around the time of the Tokugawa shogunate movement that it gradually became the Japanese national flag.

Historically, China has used a red sun flag on a white background since the Tang Dynasty. The Japanese later fabricated history, claiming that this flag had long represented the emperor, hence the name "Emperor Flag" or "Rising Sun Flag." This is completely fabricated, as they cannot produce any evidence from before the 15th century.

Therefore, at this time, Mo Zibu ordered the flags representing the Han people and the Mingxiang people to be hung up, and the whole city began to fly the white flag with a red sun, which made him feel annoyed.

However, there are still some other red sun flags with green backgrounds mixed in, which at least makes it less eye-catching.

After raising the flag to declare sovereignty, Mo Zibu abandoned most of the northern part of the city, which was almost in ruins, and withdrew his troops to the south of the city, relying on the Qiuben River for defense.

At the same time, Wu Wenyong's Central and Southern Yicong Tuan was sent forward to occupy the high hills north of Hoi An as an outpost to guard against the army of Northern Zheng.

After ensuring safety, Mo Zi Bu publicly paid tribute to King Dinh Nguyen Phuc Tuan and Luo Aye's son Luo Zhongda who died at sea in Hoi An City.

This is the attitude that Mo Zi Bu needs to show, that is, to continue to strengthen his image as King Dinh Nguyen Phuc Tuan and a loyal minister, and refuse to recognize Nguyen Phuc Duong who succeeded the Nguyen Lord at the last moment.

And this makes sense, because Nguyen Phuc Duong's succession to the throne was against the rules of propriety.

Zheng Qing, the Left Registrar, said to Mo Zibu, "Now that Prince Ding and Zuo Jin have both perished, there is no solid evidence as to whether the throne will be passed on to Prince Sun Yang.

Moreover, after Wang Sun ascended the throne, he had no honorific title, no honorific title, and no ceremony. I believe that Wang Sun Yang is truly unfit to be the ruler of Guangnan."

Hearing Zheng Qing's words, Right Clerk Wu Hanzhu also said, "When King Wu passed away, he left behind a will ordering the second prince to succeed him. I never thought that the traitor Zhang Fuluan would dare to tamper with his will.

Now that the great general and his wife are leading a loyal and righteous army to restore the imperial court, it is time to restore order. Yang Shi cannot be a prince, and a prince should be chosen from the descendants of the second prince."

Mo Zibu and the other two were the registrars equivalent to the Grand Secretaries. One was a talented and wise man from Mingxiang, and the other was a high-ranking Chinese from Beijing among the Southern Eight Camps.

Their speeches basically represent the opinions of the entire Mozibu faction.

The whale oil torch in the room flickered twice. Ruan Fuhui, a member of the Ruan family who was sitting on Mo Zibu's left, gritted his teeth. He naturally knew what this meant.

Although the second prince Nguyen Phuc had six sons, four of them died young, and the eldest and second sons were killed together on the boat of Prince Dinh Nguyen Phuc Chun.

The third son, Nguyen Phuc Chung, also fell into the water and died in the storm. The fifth son was nowhere to be found. Only the sixth son, Nguyen Phuc Chu, was left. However, after being greatly shocked, he had become a little crazy.

Now these people are refusing to recognize the prince Ruan Fuyang, who is already thirteen years old and has ascended the throne, and instead want to enthrone a crazy child of six or seven years old. What they are thinking is already obvious.

As the closest member of the royal family outside of Hue City, Nguyen Phuc Huy has actually thought about the future many times.

Along the way, the high-ranking families in Beijing and Han Dynasty of the Southern Eighth Battalion had hinted to him more than once, and Ruan Fuhui knew in his heart that after these disasters, the Guangnan Ruan family had run out of luck.

"What the two registrars said makes sense. If we want to establish a successor, we should appoint the descendant of the second prince according to the rules. We, the royal family, will not recognize Wang Sunyang of Hue City."

Ruan Fuhui almost used up all his strength to say these words. He just felt his nose was very sore and tears were almost welling up in his eyes.

"It's rare that a clan member is so understanding of justice. This has spared us the humiliation of Huang Wufu capturing our lord. Zheng and Ruan have been at odds for two hundred years. How could we, as subjects, endure such a great humiliation?"

After saying this, Mo Zila took Nguyen Phuc Hui's hand and said, "Hue has not yet been recovered, and many places need to be rebuilt. Quang Ngai Prefecture is in need of a garrison commander. Why not ask you to take on the challenge and share the burden for the country? Please don't refuse."

Ruan Fuhui knew in his heart that this was the meat bun thrown at him to bribe him, but...but it smelled so good!
Over the years, Zhang Fuluan has monopolized power, slaughtering members of the Ruan clan like slaughtering pigs. Under such circumstances, you still want to be in power? Humph! Those who can survive are all servile and trembling with fear.

Quang Ngai Prefecture is located between Hoi An and Qui Nhon, and is considered a large prefecture with a population of less than 100,000. Serving as the garrison commander for a few years will make all the hardships I have endured over the years worthwhile, and I can also let my wife and children enjoy a good life.

Thinking of this, Ruan Fuhui gritted his teeth and said, "The general and I have all suffered greatly at the hands of Zhang Fuluan.

No! The general has suffered a hundred times more than us, his clan members, and he also carries a bad reputation.

We clan members still feel very guilty when we think about it. Fortunately, the Second Prince still has a legitimate daughter. Why don't we marry her and make her the Prince Consort?"

The legitimate daughter that Nguyen Phuc Huy was talking about was named Nguyen Thi Ngoc Xiu, who was thirteen years old this year. She was the elder sister of Nguyen Phuc Chu, whom Moch Thuy pretended to support.

After Ruan Fuhui said this, the other members of the Ruan family suddenly understood and nodded in agreement.

The situation is now very clear. The Ruan family is going to fail, but these marginal members of the royal family still have to survive.

If they could confirm General Mo's identity as the Ruan family's son-in-law, with such a bond, at least they could still live a good life.

At this time, Mo Zibu was no longer reserved and did not say whether he agreed or disagreed.

However, in recognition of their meritorious service in protecting the people along the way, he rewarded these impoverished members of the Ruan family with about 100 taels of silver each, and promoted a few of the marginally capable ones to official positions.

When Lin Tong, Zheng Qing and others saw it, they immediately began to congratulate loudly and immediately helped to confirm this identity.

Mo Zibu smiled faintly. Now there is only one last step left.

That is, let Wu Shizun, Huang Zhongxin and others help build momentum among the literati and completely dethrone Nguyen Phuc Duong of Hue, so that all obstacles for him to enter Hue will be completely cleared.

Moreover, there is another advantage to carrying the name of the Ruan family at this time, which is that it can temporarily divert the attention of the Qing Dynasty and take advantage of this gap to make the general plan to deal with Beizheng.

(End of this chapter)