The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 27: Sorrow
Grandpa Luo sat upright in the community pavilion of the Mingxiang people.

Compared to the magnificent Mazu Temple and Guandi Temple in the distance, which are worshipped and revered by all Southeast Asian Chinese, this place, called Sheting, but actually the ancestral hall and family temple of all Mingxiang people, is the final resting place of Grandpa Luo's soul.

Seeing Ou Zibu striding towards him wearing a dark blue yisa and a wingless black gauze hat, Grandpa Luo looked dazed for a moment.

He felt as if he were in the Dongguan Guarding Thousand Households Unit in his hometown, watching his victorious descendants reporting the good news to him.

The older people get, the more nostalgic they become, the more they miss their hometown, and the more likely they are to feel sad.

"Grandpa, the fifth son of the Leizhou Zho family comes to pay his respects."

According to the rules of the Mingxiang people, they cannot regard the place where they live in Annan as their hometown, so Ou Zibu cannot say Hexian Ou family, but must say Leizhou Ou family.

"I heard that He Xiwen is the descendant of a bandit?"

Hmm! Ou Zibu raised his head in shock, and then realized that someone in He Xiwen's inner circle was tipping off Grandpa Luo.

So, who was this person? Huang Zhongtong and the others couldn't be him, so he could only be the pirate leader who was recaptured later.

Tanka No. 2 doesn't seem like someone who can keep secrets, then.

"No need to guess, it's Li Acai. He owes a large sum of money to a big shot in the Thirteen Hongs and can't go back." Grandpa Luo gave the answer directly.

"Grandpa, aren't you afraid that I will tell He Xiwen about this?" Ou Zibu found it hard to accept Grandpa Luo's frankness for a while.

At the same time, Ou Zibu also remembered who Li Guangcai was. This guy did not return to the mainland in the end, but he also separated from He Xiwen. With the support of the Mingxiang people in Hoi An, he occupied several mountain strongholds.

When the Tây Sơn uprising led by Nguyen Hue and Nguyen Hue began to grow, Li Guangcai also formed a righteous army to respond. Together with the loyal and righteous army led by another Cantonese, Li Jiting, they became the vanguard and main force relied on by the Tây Sơn army.

Later, Li Guangcai, who called himself Li Cai, and Li Jiting fell out with the Tây Sơn army. Li Jiting fled back to the mainland, while Li Guangcai retreated to Jiading and, together with the Minh Hương people, supported Nguyễn Phuc Anh in restoring his country.

Well, it seems that although this person is a bit two-timing, he still has the ability to lead troops in battle and cultivate land.

Over there, Grandpa Luo looked at Ou Zibu, then slowly shook his head.

"Whether to say it or not is not important. Li Guangcai has no way out, and neither does He Xiwen. And you, Ou Zibu, wouldn't do that either."

"Grandpa, do you trust me so much? I was known for being stupid when I was in Hue."

Grandpa Luo's attitude made Ou Zibu feel relaxed. At least for now, Grandpa Luo gave Ou Zibu the feeling of being a respected elder in the family.

Grandpa Luo smiled faintly, and he admired Ou Zibu's attitude of facing the tragedy of the past.

"It is understandable that young people are lustful and cannot see through the skeleton of a beautiful woman.

As long as he steps out of it, realizes the responsibilities a man must shoulder, and breaks away from the shackles of simple love, it means he has grown up and become a good man that his family and country can rely on!

I heard that when you were at the Wei family, you sighed and lamented that the Mingxiang people would die out if they didn't change, and you also said you didn't want your descendants to become Yue people?"

"Boy, thank you for the advice, Grandpa." Ou Zibu's heart trembled. Damn, there must be Grandpa Luo's spies in the Wei family.

As expected, the strong man who was able to build Hoi An into a merchant-autonomous city was by no means simple, even though he was old.

"We Mingxiang people have been here for over a hundred years, and our situation is no better than before. Jiading and Zhenbian are controlled by the Yue people, and Ha Tien and Hoi An are thousands of miles apart, making it impossible for us to help each other.

Grandpa, have you ever thought about this problem? The north and south of Annan have been in conflict for more than a hundred years. The Zheng Dynasty in the north and the Nguyen Dynasty in the south have been in the flames of war for more than a hundred years, and the people there are living in dire straits. They are extremely eager for peace and tranquility, just like our Southern and Northern Dynasties period.

If a figure like Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty emerges in Annan, and the north and the south are unified, will we Mingxiang people still be able to live in peace and security as we do now? Can the status of Hui'an still be maintained? "

Upon hearing this, Grandpa Luo closed his eyes and said, "I'm old. I'm exhausted just trying to protect Hoi An. I don't have the energy to think about so much." For some reason, Ou Zibu was immediately angered by Grandpa Luo's attitude.

You believe in the wisdom of future generations, don't you? If you hold so much power and don't change, what can future generations do?
No wonder Hoi An was easily controlled by the Nguyen Dynasty in later generations. After the French came, they treated it as a laying hen and cruelly sucked away all its nutrients.

The huge Hoi An city eventually became a small town, and the Hoi An Minh Huong people disappeared.

"Grandpa has led Hoi An for twenty years, yet instead of addressing the impending crisis, he's trying to escape. If you're running away, what will happen to your descendants? Do you deserve the trust of your two hundred thousand fellow Minh Xiang people in Hoi An?"

"I've said before, I'm old and might die at any time. If you, the younger generations, don't work hard, do you expect a sixty-year-old man like me to risk his life?" Grandpa Luo suddenly became furious.

Ou Zibu was so angry that his rage shot up to his head. He took a few steps forward angrily, "Who says that the younger generations won't work hard? But they have no influence, so how can they go down with just their own lives?"

"Is Grandpa trying to provoke the younger generation?" Ou Zibu suddenly realized.

Grandpa Luo laughed at Ou Zibu a few times, then said, "Come with me."

Behind the community pavilion was the ancestral hall filled with ancestral portraits and tablets. Grandpa Luo pointed to the top portrait and asked, "Child, do you know who he is?"

Memories of the past flooded back to him. Looking at the thin figure in Taoist robes in the portrait, Ou Zibu said softly, "Of course I know. This is our great hero of the Cantonese people, Zhang Jiayu, also known as Zhang Wenlie."

Grandpa Luo's eyes were filled with tears. "Mr. Peng, the wife of Lord Zhang Wenlie, was my grandfather's aunt. My great-grandfather, Lord Luo Dingwen, was the deputy commander of the Dongguan Guarding Thousand Households of the Ming Dynasty, and he was a close relative of Lord Zhang Wenlie.

In the first year of the Yongli reign (1647), the Qing army approached Guangzhou. My great-grandfather, grandfather and Zhang Wenlie fought together to protect the country. In the Battle of Daojiao, my great-grandfather's six brothers and my grandfather's cousins all died in the national disaster.

My family originally had over forty males, but when we fled to Southeast Asia, only a few remained."

Speaking of this, Grandpa Luo shook with excitement, "As soon as I close my eyes, the hatred of the country and family floats before my eyes. I have never met their faces, but I know it is their great-grandfather and grandfather, their faces covered in blood, silently roaring at me.

But we, the descendants, are not only unable to avenge them, but have almost forgotten them."

Zhang Jiayu is the leader of the Three Loyalists of Lingnan. He is from Dongguan and is a Jinshi. He traveled all the way back to Guangdong from Beijing.

When the Qing army approached Guangzhou, Zhang Jiayu called on his fellow villagers in his hometown to protect the country and the people. He fought more than ten battles, big and small, but was eventually killed in Zengcheng because he was outnumbered.

Before his death, he kowtowed to the north and cried out: "The arrows are exhausted and the cannons are broken. I have no weapons to fight. The generals are wounded and the soldiers are dead. I have no one to fight with. I am exhausted and can only die to serve my country!"

The most brutal battle was the Battle of Daojiao, in which Zhang Jiayu's entire family was captured. His grandmother Chen died after cursing the enemy, his mother Li, his wife Peng, and more than 40 close relatives were killed by Qing soldiers, and more than 2,000 villagers died with Zhang Jiayu. The Daojiao mass grave of 10,000 people still exists in later generations.

Inspired by Zhang Jiayu's deeds, during the Qing Dynasty, the area with the most intense anti-Qing sentiment was Zhang Jiayu's hometown, surrounding Guangzhou, from Xiangshan County in the north to Xin'an County (Shenzhen) in the south.

They dared to hold a grand memorial ceremony for Zhang Jiayu in the third year of Jiaqing (1798), which shows that there was a reason why the anti-Manchu revolution in later generations started from this place.

Grandpa Luo looked at Ou Zibu and said, "I, Luo Da Chong, have waited half my life for someone from Mingxiang who truly remembers his homeland. I know what you want to do.

Although I can't give you much, as long as you, Ou Zibu, can swear in front of the tablet of Zhang Wenlie, you, Ou Zibu, will definitely rebuild the Ming Dynasty and preserve its dignity for us Mingxiang people in Southeast Asia in the future.

I will give you two hundred elite soldiers, two hundred muskets, and a two-thousand-ton red single-boat. I will also help you recruit Japanese and Westerners from the south of the city."

The red single ship is a type of Guangdong ship, painted red, very suitable for sea battles. It weighs about 2,000 tons, which is about 130 to 140 tons. At that time, it was already very large.

At this time, the Mingxiang people's military force in Hoi An consisted of only 300 to 400 regular soldiers and 2,000 small-scale conscription soldiers.

Grandpa Luo gave them two hundred elite soldiers and a large ship, which was almost the limit of what he could afford.

Ou Zibu didn't expect that Grandpa Luo would be so straightforward. He immediately knelt down in front of Zhang Jiayu's shrine and swore a vow loudly.

(End of this chapter)