The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 273 King Mo of Tang succeeded Han

September 1773, 9, the 30th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty, August , Mid-Autumn Festival.

Mo Zibu convened the annual Republican Congress in advance at the Republican Parliament Palace in Wuding City, Hexian.

This was a successful mobilization meeting and also a very necessary unity meeting.

Many people have overlooked an important situation, that is, the Qing Dynasty has been under the rule since Nurhaci started his rebellion, especially after the Battle of Sarhu.

The Manchu Qing Dynasty had maintained a military and psychological advantage over the Han people for two hundred years.

The reason why Prince Li Jin is remembered by so many people is that he played a big role in overthrowing the two kings of the Eight Banners.

To this day, the combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners Army of the Qing Dynasty still remains, and their tiger skins have not been stripped off.

Not to mention now, even until the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period almost a hundred years later, the invincible majesty of the Eight Banners Heavenly Army was still there.

Until they were defeated by their Hakka brothers in Heaven, the Eight Banners soldiers were the absolute symbol of elite troops on the Eastern Continent.

In the eyes of many people, Mo Zibu's challenge to the Qing Dynasty is no different from challenging the big devil right after leaving the novice village.

Therefore, in order to fight against a demon like the Qing Dynasty, in addition to strengthening one's own strength, people's morale is also an area that needs to be paid attention to.

If we don't prepare ourselves mentally, when the war really starts, many people will be frightened by the Qing Dynasty's pretense.

Therefore, Mo Zibu urgently needs to provide psychological counseling for those who follow him. He sets the trigger condition for the battle as the Qing Dynasty not interfering with his capture of Beihe, which is a very good psychological comfort and suggestion.

When the Qing Dynasty intervenes in the future, all of Mo Zibu's subordinates will feel that it is not that we are overestimating our own capabilities and challenging the Qing Dynasty, but that the Tartars are not giving us a way to survive.

Only in this kind of atmosphere could the Xing Tang Shogunate, from top to bottom, have the courage to fight a desperate battle with the Qing Dynasty.

Of course, if he entered Beihe and the Qing Dynasty really did not interfere, then Mo Zibu would wait.

Qianlong was now sixty-one years old. Although Mo Zibu did not remember how old he was when he died, he was definitely no more than ninety years old.

That meant at most another thirty years, which Mo Zibu could afford to wait. Besides, the Qing dynasty had already collapsed before Qianlong's death.

After completing the communication and psychological preparation between the upper and lower levels, Mo Zibu offered sacrifices to Emperor Yongli, civil officials and military generals in the Martyrs' Shrine with pigs, cows and sheep, and re-drafted posthumous titles for the civil officials and military generals who did not have them.

Mo Zibu first abolished the title of King of Chao given to Guo Xingcheng and Zhu Jinshang by Zheng Keshuang.

The title of king Chao had actually been mentioned long ago, but Guo Xingcheng and Zhu Jin, father and son, both thought it was an insult and were unwilling to accept it.

Even if you use the surname as the title of King Zheng, it is better than the title of King Chao, which has a strong sense of Hong Tianwang's aesthetic.

In Dongning, Zheng Keshuang posthumously conferred the title of King of Chao on his ancestor, and also gave him posthumous titles such as Wu and Wen, which actually meant that Zheng's subordinates had complete control over Dongning.

The title of King of Shangchao was given to him, and Zheng Keshuang did not dare to raise any objection, which meant that the Zheng family had lost power. Feng Xifan, Liu Guoxuan and others were in power and had actually become tyrants.

Giving Koxinga the posthumous title of "Martial" and Zhu Jin the posthumous title of "Civil" completely reduced the Ming Zheng Group, which originally represented the last Han people, to a separatist regime of Dongning maritime merchants.

This is a reflection of the Dongning faction, including Feng Xifan, who wanted to establish their own separatist regime for their own amusement.

So Mo Zibu abolished the title of King Chao, and gave Guoxing Chenggong and his son a new title of king, Min, and restored Guoxing Chenggong's original posthumous title of Zhongwu, calling him King Zhongwu of Min.

The posthumous title and title of King Chaowen proposed by Zheng Keshuang for his father Zhu Jin were also abolished. The posthumous title was changed to "Cheng" (meaning "pacifying the people and establishing government"), and Zhu Jin was called King Wencheng of Min.

Mo Zibu also gave the posthumous title of Ai to Zheng Kezang, the eldest son of Zhu Jin who was killed just after he succeeded to the throne and the son-in-law of Chen Yonghua, and called him King Ai of Min. The name was derived from the meaning of "Ai" for a respectful and benevolent man who died young, and "Ai" for a man who suffered great misfortune.

Later, King Li Jin was given the posthumous title of Wu Mu. Since Yue Wu Mu, every Chinese knows what this posthumous title means.

Although Prince Li Jin failed to turn the tide and stabilize his half of the country like Yue Wumu did, this was not his responsibility, or the main responsibility did not lie with Prince Li Jin.

Mo Zibu could do nothing but give Prince Li Jin a better posthumous title.

After drafting the posthumous titles for these two most important figures, Mo Zibu completed the posthumous titles for the rest of the people.

The last of the Three Heroes of West Lake, Zhang Huangyan, was posthumously named Wen Zhong.

King Liu Wenxiu of Shu was Wuzhong.

Chen Bangyan, the leader of the Three Loyalists of Lingnan, was a loyal hero.

Guo Zhiqi, a great loyal minister of Chaozhou, was a man of integrity.

Li Laiheng, the Little Li King who persisted on Maolu Mountain deep in the mainland until the third year of the Kangxi reign, was also posthumously honored. Even if he was not Li Xianwen's ancestor, he should be posthumously honored based on his heroic deeds.

On the grounds that Mizhi County, the hometown of the Li family, was once part of Xiazhou, Mo Zibu posthumously conferred the title of King of Xia on Li Laiheng, and gave him the posthumous title of Wulie, calling him King Wulie of Xia.

Of course, Mo Zibu gave his grandfather the posthumous title of Zhongzhen, finally finalizing the private posthumous title that the Chen family had privately decided on for Chen Shangchuan.

At the same time, his great-grandfather Mo Shiping, who was only the magistrate of Xuwen County, was also given the posthumous title of Wenjian as an exception.

Don’t think that posthumous titles seem too cumbersome and complicated. In fact, Chinese people are very particular about them.

The higher the status and the more achievements a person has made, the more he or she hopes to be evaluated by future generations after his or her death. This is a kind of cultural sustenance and inheritance.

After Mo Zibu posthumously conferred titles on the loyal martyrs of the Ming Dynasty on the top of Haxianping Mountain, everyone felt differently about Mo Zibu.

It seemed as if in an instant, their makeshift team from Tiannan immediately got on the right track and became an orthodox dynasty.

After deciding on the posthumous title, Mo Zibu ordered Zheng Xiu, a trusted adviser to Zou Tianci, to write an essay to record it.

Several Mo family members who were skilled in carving were asked to start carving the stele on the spot, so the names of all the participants would be recorded on it.

I, King Mo, am becoming more and more knowledgeable about how to deal with the Qing Dynasty.

After this kind of thing was recorded on a monument, if it happened in the Song or Ming dynasty, the accomplice might be exiled if he confessed his crime, but in the Qing dynasty, which was more ruthless in guarding against Han people than against thieves, the first step was to exterminate the entire clan.

This completely blocked everyone's escape route.

Among them, the one who felt the most innocent was Zheng Mincheng.

He was Chao Phraya of Siam and Prime Minister, but he came to congratulate Taksin only on his orders.

And because Mo Zibu had done him a great favor, he inexplicably followed him to Pingshan, and as a result, he became a member of the alliance.

Zheng Mincheng wiped the sweat from his head and found that it was actually cold. It turned out that this was not because the South Seas were too hot in the eighth month of the lunar calendar, but because he was scared!

Seeing the look in Mo Dawang's eyes, always glancing at him from time to time, Zheng Mincheng knew that he was being targeted.

So he now has two choices, one of course is to join.

But if he chose not to join, then there would only be the second option, which was to report to the Qing Dynasty after returning to Siam, or at least to Taksin, so as to wash away his "crime".

Siam is not Ha Tien, it is a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty. If it participates in such a gathering and the Qing Dynasty finds out, it will definitely not be able to escape.

However, Zheng Mincheng was more worried about whether Mo Zibu would let him go if he didn't make a statement now.

At the same time, what worries Zheng Mincheng is that the current situation in Siam is actually somewhat unfavorable to him.

After Moses Chan handed Lower Burma to Taksin, Siam's focus has been on digesting Lower Burma.

In order to absorb the territory of the former enemy, force is a necessary and even the most important means, but Zheng Mincheng's faction has no qualified generals at all.

He himself was not good at commanding battles, and the only qualified one, Chen Lian, had left with Mo Zi Bu. This left only Khun A Phrayabuddhi and Phraya Samkhalok. Khun A Phrayabuddhi was a pure Thai and had been basically won over by Thong, while Phraya Samkhalok was not very favored by King Taksin.

In addition, in Siam, nearly 220,000 to 230,000 new Teochew people arrived in Siam over the past five years. They were deeply trusted by Taksin and were called Royal Chinese by the Thais and the Najins.

This would have been a good thing, but it was a pity that the quality of these royal Chinese was generally not high.

They were poor people in their hometown, but when they arrived in Siam, they found that their king, relatives and fellow villagers were unwilling to work honestly and do business like previous immigrants.

At least 30% to 40% of these royal Chinese were busy trying to find opportunities to become officials or masters, making Siam a chaotic place.

Not only did they seize the benefits that originally belonged to the Thais, they even began to exclude Na Jin.

Even Zheng Mincheng's power was challenged by the new royal family headed by Zheng Congli, Zheng Xin's nephew.

Thinking of this, Zheng Mincheng, who originally thought that after Mo Zibu's death, he would be able to smoothly take over Mo Zibu's political legacy and become a big boss in Siam, gritted his teeth.

Place your bets! Last time, King Mo won big, so now I want to win again, a win-win situation.

"Your Majesty, I have heard from my ancestors that when the Mongols occupied our Han territory, Emperor Hongwu swore an oath with all the heroes on the 15th day of the eighth month.

They vowed to expel the Tartars together and restore the Song Dynasty. They also made round moon cakes to share with everyone, with the intention of eating Yuan.

Today is so similar to the past. Although we are not as great as the founding heroes of the Ming Dynasty, we also have to fight to see the Ming Dynasty in the south again.

I see that today is also the 15th day of the eighth month, and all the heroes have gathered here as well. Why not make mooncakes in front of the loyal and brave ancestors at the Martyrs' Shrine, swear an oath of blood, and revive the Tang Dynasty and succeed the Han Dynasty in the south of the sky, and build a land of peace and prosperity for the kings?"

I am!

As soon as Zheng Mincheng finished speaking, countless people looked at him with complicated expressions, and some even glared at him angrily.

You Siamese silver coin, you think that locking up the big guys is not enough, and killing three tribes is not exciting enough, so you must kill all nine tribes, right?

After hearing this, Mo Zibu burst into laughter. Without waiting for anyone else to speak, he immediately ran over and held Zheng Mincheng's arms.

"The Prime Minister's words are very much in line with my opinion. Let us swear an oath of blood here!"

General Mo Da has agreed, so what can others do?

So before Zheng Xiu finished her article, a new blood oath began.

Mo Zibu led the crowd to the square of the Martyrs' Shrine, where they knelt three times and kowtowed nine times towards the main hall, bowed three times to the Hall of Loyal Military Merits, and bowed three times to the Hall of Loyal Civil Officials. Then, according to the customs of the coastal areas of Fujian and Guangdong, they cut off the head of a chicken, burned yellow paper, took a collective oath, and ate mooncakes together.

He vowed to restore the Tang Dynasty and succeed the Han Dynasty in the south of the country, and to rebuild the Ming Dynasty, a land of peace and prosperity for the Han people.

After dealing with these, or after bringing the most core people together, Mo Zibu immediately set off north.

. . . .

In Hue City, Chen Guangyao and Luo Zhongan, who have been in charge of guarding this place, have prepared everything, even the city walls of Hue have been repaired.

The ninth of September.

With the support of all Guangnan people, Mo Zibu officially established a royal temple in the south of Hue City to worship his ancestors, proclaimed himself king, and still called himself Xing Tang and the Great King Xing Tang. The next year, 1774, was the first year of Xing Tang.

The Hexian Mo family officially restored the surname Mo, and posthumously awarded the grandfather Mo Jiu the title of "King Xuan of Divine Merit and Holy Virtue for Founding the Foundation and Establishing the Career".

His maternal grandfather Chen Shangchuan was posthumously awarded the title of "Kaiji Dingyuan Zhaowu Xu State Loyal King"

Respect his father Mo Tianci as the Supreme Lord.

The three elder brothers were all granted the title of marquis, and the three elder sisters were all granted the title of princess.

Zheng Shishi, the daughter of King Taksin of Siam, was appointed as the queen, Chen Zhen, the younger cousin of the Chen family who gave birth to the only son of Mo Zi Bu, was selected as the concubine, and Ye Yizhen, the younger cousin of the Ye family, was selected as the talented person.

Li Xianwen was conferred the title of Marquis of Yinchuan, Chen Guangyao the title of Marquis of Longmen, Chen Lian the title of Marquis of Chenghai, Rear Admiral Fragosse the title of Marquis of Guiyi, and Brigadier General Reinstein the title of Earl of Guizhong.

Wu Shizun, a nobleman from the Jiading Jinghan clan, wanted to maintain his status as a hermit, so Mo Zibu appointed his eldest son Wu Gong Wu Changzhu as the Earl of Bianhe.

Chen Taili, a high-ranking official from the Jinghan family in Hue, was granted the title of Earl of Xiangcha.

The rest of the high-ranking families in Beijing and Han were all granted titles.

At the imperial court, Mo Zibu's secretaries, military advisors, and the Nei Si Cheng Yamen where the Internal Treasury Management Office was located remained unchanged.

The two chief secretaries, four registrars, and six military officers were transferred to the outer court, all according to the Ming system.

The two chief secretaries and four registrars were changed into the Grand Secretary's Office, with the chief assistant and the second assistant. The six military assistants were changed into the six ministries, but the highest position was only the vice minister, with the left being the most respected.

The post of Marching Sima was changed to the Five Military Commandery.

Others such as the Dali Temple and the Imperial College were established one by one.

On the former territory of Guangnan, three provinces, namely Hue, Qui Nhon and Gia Dinh, as well as a separate Ha Tien Prefecture were established, with the word Xing Tang added to it, making it called Xing Tang Ha Tien Prefecture.

The Andai region remained the same, with the Andai Dao established, and the four vassal states of Gaozhou (Gaotoulang), Songcheng (Songkhla), Taogong, and Jida were all marquises.

Nakhon Si Thammarat, Pattani, Tancheng (Tanasarin) and other places were directly governed as prefectures, and the official in charge was not called the prefect, but the garrison commander, who was in charge of military, political and legal affairs. In fact, he should be called the Jiedushi.

The rest of An Dai's vassals, both large and small, were successively granted the titles of viscount, baron, envoy of peace, and pacification envoy according to their strength.

After the system reform was completed, Mo Zibu issued a general amnesty, releasing all criminals who were not guilty of crimes such as murder, serious injury, disobedience, and robbery.

All taxes owed by non-industrial and commercial people over the years were exempted, that is, new taxes would be collected again from the first year of Xing Tang, and all taxes previously owed by the people to the Nguyen Dynasty of Guangnan were exempted.

The taxes in 1773 were also reduced by half, which meant that the people of Guangnan would be exempted from the autumn tax as long as they paid the spring tax.

As soon as this decree was issued, there was thunderous applause.

All the oppressed and overwhelmed people felt that the burdens on them were suddenly lifted, and they were full of hope for their future lives.

The people soon forgot about the Nguyen family of Quang Nam and only knew King Mo of Xing Tang.

This is a favor, just like in later generations, if during the transfer of power, it is announced that the world will be given a favor and everyone’s mortgage and rent will be exempted for the year, it will immediately win great support from the people.

Didn’t Emperor Mei Xizong use student loans to show favors when he slept with Emperor Lao Dengzi? This has always happened since ancient times.

Finally, Mo Zibu changed his name. It was not appropriate for him to be called Zi like his brothers after becoming a king.

Originally, Mo Zibu's name was Ren De Gong. He wanted to change it to Mo Ren De, but after pronouncing it twice, he immediately gave up.

This damn surname, it seems to have a kind of beauty that should never be mentioned or talked about again.

But if he was just called Mo Ren or Mo De, it would be too obvious, and the name Mo De is even more nonsensical than Mo Zai Ti.

Damn, absolutely amazing!
So after thinking about it, King Mo remembered that in Sanskrit, Zhao means king, and his father-in-law Zheng Xin was also called Zheng Zhao.

So King Mo made up his mind and changed his name to Zhao, which implies the sun and the moon are bright and announced to the world. From then on, he used benevolence as his name.

His full name is Mo Zhao, the King of Benevolence and Prosperity of Tang.

(End of this chapter)