The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 258 Sir, Times Have Changed (Happy New Year to All Book Friends)
Hue, strictly speaking, this city is not called Hue, but Hue.

The name comes from the two states that the Vietnamese Chen Dynasty exchanged with the Champa people, where Shunzhou and Huazhou were established.

Shunzhou is a little to the north and is the county seat of Han Rinan County.

Huazhou is a little further south and is under the jurisdiction of Xianglin County, which is what the Chinese now call Hue.

The reason why the Chinese call it this is because after the Ming Dynasty regained Annan, it merged Shunzhou and Huazhou to establish Hue Prefecture.

Huazhou City was the seat of Hue Prefecture, and this name has been passed down.

Historically, the rule of the Annan dynasties over Hue was very unstable.

Since the third year of Chuping in the reign of Emperor Xian of Han, when the Champa people killed several officials of the Eastern Han Dynasty and rebelled to establish themselves, Hue City has been the front line of the confrontation between the ancient Annan forces representing Han civilization and the Champa forces representing the South Asian Brahman culture.

It was not until the end of the Chen Dynasty that the Annan court gained a firm foothold here.

If we want to fully digest it, we can even go back to the period of the first Nguyen Lord Nguyen Gan.

On the 22nd day of the twelfth lunar month, Mo Zi Bu began to lead his troops northward and arrived in the area of Phu Loc, only thirty or forty kilometers away from Hue.

As soon as he arrived here, battle reports came from the front. The vanguard officer Chen Guangyao reported that the Wuding Group defeated the Zheng army stationed in Xiangshui County.

At this time, the city of Hue was far smaller than it is today, and even its iconic building, the Hue Royal Palace of Vietnam, had not yet been built.

In later generations, the Perfume River that passed through the city of Hue was just Hue’s moat, and the entire city was shrunk to the north of the Perfume River.

Xiangshui County is located on a low hill south of the Xiangshui River, south of the relatively flat Xiangshui River. It is the only place that can occupy a geographical advantage to block the enemy. However, it was unexpected that the enemy was easily breached.

On the 24th day of the 12th month, after the road from Fulushe to the south of Xiangshui River was completely opened, and the military office and the military corps responsible for logistics and supplies had established supply stations along the way, the army headed north again and arrived south of Xiangshui River.

Mo Zibu set up camp in Xiangshui County, and then led his troops to the Wuding Tuan headquarters in the south of Xiangshui River.

Standing south of the Perfume River, Mo Zibu was already able to see the city of Hue from a high point.

"General, do you remember? After we killed Zhang Fuyue, we climbed over the opposite city wall and arrived at Fulu Society. We encountered a fierce tiger on the way. If it weren't for Chun, we would have almost died."

Chen Guangyao recalled with emotion. He also looked at Mo Zibu in his military uniform and thought about the changes in his brother over the years.

He was shocked to find that because Mo Zibu was so dazzling now, it was as if the bad things that happened before had never happened.

Mo Zibu smiled. When Chen Guangyao talked about Pei Shichun, there was a hint of sweetness in his tone.

In fact, Pei Shichun was not ugly. She was not the kind of fiery woman with a face full of flesh. On the contrary, she had a pretty appearance. It was just because she had been practicing martial arts for many years that her hands and feet became thick, and her waist and legs were also abnormally thick.

In addition, she is over 1.8 meters tall, a little taller than Mo Zibu, so she doesn't look like a woman at all.

This is truly a historical injustice. Although Mo Zibu also wanted to promote it, he did not expect that the two of them would actually succeed.

But it's not a big deal. In this era, no, in any era, it is common for powerful men to have three or four wives.

The same goes for Chen Guangyao. It is impossible for him to marry only Pei Shichun. He should marry a virtuous woman, and appearance is secondary.

Thinking of this, Mo Zibu smiled in relief. He said to his attendants, "General Xianfeng is covering up for me. Actually, we crawled out from a dog hole that time."

When the people around heard that Mo Zibu really didn't care, they all laughed in agreement.

However, Mo Zibu's expression immediately turned serious. "After five years of forbearance and seven years of preparation, I have finally returned here today to restore order to the country and seek justice from Zhang Fuluan for the people of Guangnan.

We have been oppressed for more than a decade. Today is the day for revenge. Even if the Northern River soldiers were heavenly soldiers, they would not be able to stop us from retaking Hue and avenging our grievances!"

These words filled the surrounding civil and military officials with great enthusiasm.

At this moment, the surface of the Perfume River was rippling, and a small boat with a white flag on the bow was swaying over.

Chen Guangyao waved his hand, and several soldiers from the Wuding Group rushed over and brought up a blue-robed eunuch and several young eunuchs.

"So it's an old friend meeting. Did the attendant offend Huang Wufu? He was actually sent here to die."

It turned out to be an acquaintance. This leading eunuch was a servant of Ruan Fuchun in the past. He had done many things to marry off the princess and extorted money from the big fool of his predecessor.

At that time, it was rumored that this man had been bribed by Zhang Fuluan and was Zhang Fuluan's spy to monitor Ruan Fuchun. Now it seems to be true, because Ruan Fuchun escaped on a large sea ship without taking him with him.

The eunuch looked at the sneering Mo Zibu and knew that he had offended someone so badly that there was no chance of him surviving, so he was still quite tough. This was also the reason why Huang Wufu let him leave the city.

"Your style remains the same, but you're marching your army north to the capital without receiving any orders. Are you planning a rebellion?"

Lingshisi Shouhe was a minor official awarded to Mo Zibu by the Hue court when he was a hostage in Hue. It was roughly equivalent to a Langzhong in the Ministry of Rites.

The fact that the Minister of Rites brought a large army to the capital without any imperial edict was of course no different from a rebellion.

It’s just that Mo Zibu didn’t quite understand Huang Wufu’s actions. You have already allowed your soldiers to rob and rob, and have completely destroyed your own morality, and you are still trying to do this to me?

So Mo Zibu sneered and took this opportunity to determine Ruan Fuyang's position.

"The attendant was sent by the Beihe bandits, yet he comes to tell me about the decree?
"Wang Sun has submitted to Huang Wufu as a garrison commander and has humiliated us southerners so much. Do you still want to be our lord?"

Mo Zibu shouted loudly, and the surrounding civil and military officials also shouted. Chen Taili's son rushed forward angrily and kicked the eunuch to the ground, still cursing:

"You eunuch, you must have joined Huang Wufu a long time ago. You two are both eunuchs, so you must be like-minded!"

"Your Highness has surrendered to the enemy and is no longer the ruler of Guangnan. How dare you still offer your teachings?"

Mo Zibu looked around and saw that the people who were cursing the loudest were the high-ranking officials in Hue. He knew that his strategy was successful.

However, to completely win these people back, he had to defeat the Zheng army and demonstrate his ability to unify Annan. Then they would cry and shout for his surrender.

What Mo Zibu didn't know was that he was actually the savior of these people.

More than ten years later in history, Nguyen Van Hue's journey north was not so easy.

This guy is the Huang Chao in Vietnamese history. He almost killed all the noble families in Beijing and Han Dynasty in the north, Zheng and Nguyen in the south.

Historically, after Nguyen Phuc Anh came to power, why did the Nguyen Dynasty look so much like a Han dynasty?
It was because Nguyen Van Hue killed almost all of the high-ranking officials in Annan, so the only cultural figures Nguyen Phuc Anh could rely on were the Minh Huong people in Gia Dinh and the high-ranking officials in Gia Dinh who were deeply bound to the Minh Huong people.

And if Mo Zibu had not continued to move north, Nguyen Van Hue's butcher policy would actually be the best solution.

But unfortunately, Mo Zibu couldn't use this option, and couldn't make Annan unable to recover for decades.

"Mo Shouhe, the prince and his clan ministers are all in the city. If you continue to advance, their lives will be in danger. It is better to retreat now. The prince is willing to grant you all the land south of Hue."

The eunuch who was beaten with blood coming out of his mouth and nose shouted loudly, it seems that this is Huang Wufu's real purpose.

Mo Zibu laughed loudly, "This wasn't said by the prince, it was promised by Huang Wufu, right? It's a pity that I, Mo Zibu, didn't come here for my own power and wealth, but for the people."

After saying this, Mo Zibu personally stepped forward, grabbed the eunuch by the collar, pulled out a dagger, and stabbed him to death. The surrounding guards also rushed forward, killing all but one member of the "envoys" holding the white flag.

"Go back and tell Huang Wufu to stop dreaming and either retreat to Beihe or prepare for a decisive battle!"

Mo Zi Bu stopped the eunuch's last words with determination and sternness, because there was not only Nguyen Phuc Duong in Hue City, but also a large number of ministers from the Southern Nguyen Dynasty, many of whom were elders from the high-ranking families of Hue who followed Mo Zi Bu.

In addition to these people, there are about 20,000 people in the city who have been detained by Huang Wufu. It seems that Huang Wufu will definitely use them.

This matter cannot be avoided from a moral and ethical point of view, so let's just avoid talking about it.

. . . .

Although the city walls of Hue were not very tall, they were easy to defend thanks to the Perfume River.

Because Hue City is right next to the Perfume River, and to take advantage of the abundant water flow of the Perfume River, there is another moat on the side closest to the city wall.

In this way, Hue City has two moats. The first moat is the Perfume River, and the second is an artificial canal formed by diverting water from the Perfume River.

The land area between the first and second moats was very narrow, and the army could not spread out at all.

Moreover, this piece of land is within the bombardment range of the old-fashioned naval guns on the top of Hue City. If you really want to attack the city from here, it will be extremely difficult and the casualties will be very high.
Therefore, after Mo Zibu convened a military meeting, he decided to bypass Nancheng, cross the Xiangshui River from other places, and then find a suitable position to attack.

On the second day, Chen Guangyao led the Yulin Guards and Wuding Regiments south along the Xiangshui River. They walked about eight kilometers before finding a place to cross the river.

Then, on the other side of the river where it was possible to cross, the Zheng army had used more than a year to build seven or eight mutually dependent fortress groups.

Chen Guangyao smiled faintly and pointed at the fortresses in the distance and said to Chen Chengji, "Huang Wufu is indeed a veteran general. He had already calculated where we would cross the river. However, due to his limited experience, he misjudged our firepower."

Chen Chengji laughed, "The era of powerful ships and cannons has arrived, but Huang Wufu still seems to be living in the era of heavy armor and longbows.

Vanguard, ask the general for help from the navy. Use the naval guns to knock down all these fortresses built on the shore!"

In Hue City, Huang Wufu's face was not very good, because he suddenly found that in the face of huge interests, the things he once thought were as stable as Mount Tai had changed.

For example, Huang Wufu once thought that his control over the Sanfu Army was very strong.

But after he actually issued the order to raise food and fodder, he discovered that his control over the Three Prefectures Army was far less strong than he thought.

According to Huang Wufu's plan, since Zhang Fuluan had already agreed to provide 40,000 shi of military rations, he only needed to find some wealthy families to pool their money together.

Of course he knew that the people below were already having a hard time, so in order not to push all of them to Mo Zibu's side, Huang Wufu specially summoned more than 300 officers in the team and personally made arrangements and advised them not to harass the countryside.

But as soon as these people left Hue City, they threw all military orders behind their backs, and acted like they were competing with each other, each one more ruthless than the other, and they directly destroyed Hue from north to south.

As a result, the first line of defense set up by Huang Wufu, namely Xiangshui County, could not be defended.

Seeing Huang Wufu still struggling with the military order, Ruan Youzheng came over and advised, "My Lord, the Three Prefectures Army has always been so unruly. With a powerful enemy at the door, it is not appropriate to rectify the military discipline.

Fortunately, the fortress complex outside the city has been completed. Let's repel Mo Wu's Southern Army first, and then we can make detailed plans later."

Huang Wufu could only nod when he heard this. He knew that Ruan Youzheng was actually just comforting him. This time, the three-prefecture army looted the people, and everyone from top to bottom was involved, so there was no way to hold anyone accountable.

"Take my sword and warn the troops east of the city. If they hold the fortress and repel the southern bandits, I will personally go to the king to commend them. If they lose the position, they will be punished for all their crimes!"

Huang Wufu thought about it and realized that there was only one way to go: raise it high and put it down gently. It would be best if he could turn this pressure into motivation for the three government soldiers to fight for their lives.

Seeing that Huang Wufu had come to his senses, Ruan Youzheng immediately smiled. He was afraid that Huang Wufu would get stuck in a dead end and insist on enforcing military discipline, which would cause serious trouble.

"Boom! Boom!" Unfortunately, just when Nguyen You Zheng took over Huang Wufu's sword, a huge roar suddenly came from outside the city, so much so that both of them in the inner city of Hue could hear it clearly.

Ruan Youzheng and Huang Wufu exchanged panicked glances. Suddenly, Ruan Youzheng, who came from a wealthy merchant family in Nghe An, shouted, "Oh no! Oh no! The southern pirates' large ships are coming!"

Huang Wufu was still confused, but Ruan Youzheng was sweating profusely.

"My Lord, I have been wondering why the southern thief Mo Wu did not use his navy. Now I think he has been holding back for this very moment. The eastern fortress is in danger!"

Nguyen Youzheng still guessed wrong a little. Mo Zibu had originally planned to give these Annamites some surprises when they entered Tokyo (Hanoi).

But who can blame Huang Wufu for being so capable? He built the fortress next to the Xiangshui River, which was simply the best target for the navy's warships. Mo Zibu felt he would be sorry for not using the navy.

To the east of Hue City, the Zheng army's fortresses in the Northern River Delta, built with loess and stones and only one or two hundred meters away from the Perfume River, became the best targets.

Of course, since the water volume of the Xiangshui River was not very large, the 1,400-ton Jingning could not enter, but another fourth-level battleship Zhongzheng could enter.

Although the Zhongzheng also had a displacement of more than 1,400 tons, Mo Zibu had the small-caliber artillery on the ship removed, and the ammunition it carried was transported by other ships, successfully reducing its own weight to less than 1,000 tons.

At the same time, the giant 36-pound naval gun on the Jingning was installed on the Zhongzheng, making the Zhongzheng a strange warship equipped with only twenty-six 36-pound naval guns.

This would definitely cause big problems at sea, but at this moment, it is very useful.

The whistling shells hit the Zheng army's fortress like meteors. More than a dozen Zheng soldiers hid behind an earthen fort and dared not raise their heads, but suddenly, they felt like they were flying.

It turned out that a huge projectile fired from a 36-pound cannon hit their earthen fort very accurately. In an instant, the huge energy directly cut off one third of the earthen fort.

Three or four of the dozen or so Zheng soldiers inside were blown away on the spot, and the rest were bleeding from their mouths and noses and were unrecognizable.

Huang Tingbao stared in amazement at the huge ship as tall as a city wall on the Xiangshui River, while his deputy general came over with a little blood on his face to plead.

"My Lord, our thousand-jin cannons can't even reach the southern pirates' large ships. Even if we were lucky enough to hit them, we wouldn't be able to penetrate the hull."

"Where is the 3,000-jin General Cannon?" Huang Tingbao asked angrily.

The deputy general's expression turned even uglier. "It's difficult to adjust the firing direction of a 3,000-jin cannon. Often, just as we start aiming, the large ship is already far away."

Huang Tingbao was so anxious that his eyes bulged out, but he had no choice but to watch as the Xingtang Army warships, led by the Zhongzheng, fired fiercely and continuously destroyed the Zheng Army's fortresses.

Three hours later, the sky had completely darkened, with only a little bit of the sun's afterglow stubbornly shining on the earth.

The Xing Tang Army beat the war drums, and under the cover of the navy battleships, the Xing Tang Army began to cross the river with four companies of the Yulin Guards Regiment and the Jiading Town Wuding Regiment.

While they were crossing the river, the Zhongzheng had almost destroyed the Zheng army fortress near the Xiangshui River.

Chinese warships like the Lucky, which were only over 400 tons or even smaller, stayed close to the river and used their eight-pound cannons to continuously bombard the Zheng army that tried to stop the Xing Tang army from landing.

Huang Tingbao's eyes were bloodshot, and he held a long sword and ordered the officers under him to go out to intercept the landing Xingtang Army, but these officers of the Three Prefectures Army were not fools.

Well, there are still some fools, but they have all been blown into pieces by cannons, and the only ones left are the smart ones.

Therefore, even if Huang Tingbao threatened or bribed them, none of these people were willing to go.

Just when Huang Tingbao was getting angry, Ruan Youzheng arrived holding Huang Wufu's sword and said, "The Lord has ordered us to retreat back to the city and wait for Prince Jing's army to arrive."

(End of this chapter)