The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 29 River Fairy
River Fairy.

Ou Tianci is sixty-three years old this year. He is very tall and strong, but at this age he has a head full of black hair without a single gray hair.

Last month, someone from the Zhang family, who was in charge of Jiading Town, came to question him, but Ou Tianci didn't give them any face and just drove them away with a cold face.

The reason why he is so calm and even arrogant is the rapid development of Hexian in recent years.

At this time, Ha Tien was already the second largest port in the entire Nanyang after Hoi An, with nearly 10,000 cargo ships passing through it every year.

This alone brought Hexian hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in revenue. Adding up all the other things, Hexian’s annual fiscal revenue totaled more than 700,000 taels.

This is a very scary statistic. Looking at the entire Nanyang, it is already higher than the Nguyen family's Guangnan Kingdom, and is only ranked below the Konbaung Dynasty of Myanmar, the Ayutthaya Dynasty of Siam, and the Zheng Shogunate of Annan.

The sufficient income allowed Ou Tianci to continuously bribe the Cham and Chenla tribes around Ha Tien to serve him, and to hire Western wanderers and Chinese pirates in times of emergency.

The only flaw was that among Ou Tianci's four legitimate sons and four illegitimate sons, none of them had military talent.

The same was true for Ou Tianci, who was good at governing, farming, promoting trade and culture and education, but was poor in military strategy.

Originally, he had high expectations for his youngest son, Ou Zibu, because Ou Zibu inherited the strengths of both the Ou and Chen families. The Ou family was long-lived and tall, and the Chen family was knowledgeable about military affairs and had military strategies. Therefore, Ou Tianci carefully cultivated Ou Zibu since he was a child.

The reason why Ou Zibu had a bad impression of his father was actually because Ou Tianci was too strict with Ou Zibu, and the silly Ou Zibu could not understand it.

So what Ou Tianci never expected was that because he repeatedly delayed making Ou Zibu's mother Chen his legal wife, and because he was too harsh and strict in raising her, Ou Zibu's heart gradually became distorted. He felt that his father just didn't like him and wanted to escape from Ou Tianci's control.

This serious rebellious mentality, compounded by adolescence, and the fact that he felt his childhood was frustrating and difficult, led to the fact that after Ngoc Thuy met the top green tea actress Nguyen Thi Yuan a few years after arriving in Hue, he had no resistance to this false tenderness.

Ngo Zi Bu's predecessor wished he would never return to Ha Tien and would live out his days in Hue with the goddess Nguyen who understood him best. Therefore, he almost completely ignored Ngo Tien Ci's orders.

As for Ou Tianci, this separatist leader who has been in power for decades has long developed a character that is self-centered and cannot tolerate rebellion from his subordinates, especially his descendants.

Since Ou Zibu didn't regard him as his father, he could be so cruel as to ignore him.

Ou Zibu's mother, Chen, is 47 years old this year, but she is in very good shape, which is different from the memory Ou Zibu originally had in his mind that his parents had a bad relationship.

In fact, Ou Tianci doted on Chen very much, and Chen could also understand Ou Tianci's intention of not wanting to start a war for the Ou-Chen union and hoping for stable development.

Therefore, the couple had a good relationship, and the only problem was Ou Zibu.

When the two compared the letter brought back by Old Man Pei, Chen frowned.

"What the hell is wrong with Abu? This doesn't look like a letter from a son to his father. Where does he get so much resentment from?"

Having said that, Chen started to become tearful again without waiting for Ou Tianci to react.

"Boo-er was only seventeen years old and he suffered such a great humiliation. He fought his way out of Hue alone. I don't know how he got to Hoi An. He must have suffered a lot."

After hearing what Chen said, Ou Tianci felt a little resentful towards Ou Zibu, but he immediately saw Chen's tears, and his thoughts were drawn to the fact that his son had suffered a lot and Zhang Fuluan had blatantly insulted the Ou family.

Coupled with his love for his wife, it seemed that his resentment dissipated a lot.

"Zhang Fuluan, that bastard! His father, Zhang Fuyong, framed my brother, causing him to die in prison. Now he's insulting my family again. It seems he's still determined to destroy me!"

Unlike what Zou Zibu remembered, that his uncle Chen Dading died suddenly of illness, in fact, Chen Dading was framed by Zhang Fuyong, the governor of Jiading, Guangnan Kingdom, and died in prison due to depression.

This Zhang Fuyong was none other than the father of the current powerful official Zhang Fuluan and the grandfather of Zhang Fuyue, who was burned to charcoal by Ou Zibu. Therefore, the burning of Ou Zibu greatly pleased the people of Mingxiang in Hexian and Jiading, and many people said that the Fifth Master Ou was actually avenging his uncle.

As he spoke, Ou Tianci took the letter written by Ou Zibu to Chen from her hand and read it carefully, and a smile appeared on his face.

"It's not that he hasn't changed at all. He's finally become more intelligent. Not only did he know to go find A Yao and subdue the three Pei family members, he also knew to use his status to hide in Patani for a while."

"My Lord, I am very worried! Although the Sultan of Pattani is not very powerful, those Chaozhou people in Siam have been planning to take over Pattani for a long time. Will they allow Bu'er to lead the Hoi An Mingxiang people to interfere?"

Of course, Ou Zibu did not tell the complete truth in the letter. He Xiwen downplayed the situation, but the development of the situation still made Chen a little frightened.

Ou Tianci was also a little frightened. The sea was full of dangers. Once he got off the boat, he would have to risk his life again. If things went wrong, he would have to see his loved ones off.

But after all, he was the ruler of a country, so Ou Tianci hardened his heart and replied, "My Ou family has always been in need of military generals. Bu'er has this potential, so he should train more. It will be good for the future."

Ou Tianci seemed to want to say something but stopped himself, and Chen was also tactful enough to remain silent at this time.

Now, Ou Tianci's sons are clearly divided into three factions. The eldest son Ou Zihuang and the second son Ou Zitang were both born to his deceased wife, the respected Nguyen family of Guangnan Kingdom. It seems that they have support from within and strong aid from outside.

However, in view of the experiences of Qinghe Society and Mingxiang Society, the people of Ha Tien were very wary of their identities, and Ou Zihuang and others could not truly win the hearts of the people of Ha Tien.

There were also Ou Ziliang and Ou Zijun, who were born to concubines. Among them, the fourth son Ou Ziliang had great ambitions since he was young and was good at adapting. He was quite similar to Ou Tianci. He was successful in business and literature, and was deeply loved by Ou Tianci.

Historically, he was the one who inherited the legacy of Ha Tien and became the third generation ruler.

The last faction is naturally Ou Zibu, the grandson of Chen Shangchuan, a great hero of Mingxiang people. He is a typical person with a good family background and is most accepted by the Han people in Hexian and Mingxiang. But unfortunately, he is stupid and narrow-minded, making it difficult for him to take on important tasks.

Ou Tianci did not say anything either. There was too much resistance to promoting the Ou Chen Heyi plan.

Moreover, there are actually only 40,000 to 50,000 Han people in Hexian, and the rest are Zhenla, Champa and Yue people. However, there are 80,000 to 90,000 Ming Xiang people in Chenjia, Jiading.

Once the Lu and Chen families merge, it is very likely that the Chen family will become a major in-law and take over the reins of power.

As for Ou Zibu, although Chen had good intentions, he had four older brothers. Even if Ou Tianci liked him, he would not ask him to succeed to the throne. What's more, Ou Tianci's favorite was not Ou Zibu, but Ou Ziliang.

After a moment's silence, Ou Tianci smiled and said to Chen: "My dear, please grind the ink for me. I will write a written order to transfer Ou Long to lead 300 elite soldiers and two large ships to support Bu'er.

Go home and find Brother Dasheng, and ask him to give you as many as possible of the 100 Red Coat and Silver Sword Soldiers as you can."

The military forces of the Ou family in Hexian are divided into five camps, named after the dragon, phoenix, tiger, Kun and Peng. The officers are all family generals of the Ou family. They are named after the camp they command. Ou Long is the commander of the Dragon Camp and is considered one of the elite soldiers of Hexian.

The Red Coat and Silver Knife Soldiers are composed of the descendants of Chen Shangchuan's personal guards. They are the backbone of the Mingxiang people in Jiading. They got their name because they wear Ming-style red battle jackets and use silver steel knives.

Chen was a little worried. "Now that Zhang Fuluan has repeatedly sent people to cause trouble, Hexian needs to be more vigilant. He has withdrawn Ou Long and 300 elite soldiers. I'm afraid there will be some unrest in Jiading!"

The standing military force of Ha Tien is similar to that of Hoi An, with only 700 to 800 regular troops, and the expansion of the army is basically based on temporary hiring and conscription.

In order to swallow up the Minh Huong people and Ha Tien, the Nguyen Dynasty of Quang Nam established five battalions of regular troops in Gia Dinh, totaling about 6,000 people, led by Nguyen Kui Duc, the governor of Gia Dinh and the commander of the five battalions.

"Ruan Kuide is a greedy man, and he is a respected member of the Ruan family. He has long been dissatisfied with Zhang Fuluan's control of the government. If I send him more gold and silver, I will definitely be able to make him stay put. Don't worry, my dear. Let Brother Dasheng know as soon as possible."

Chen nodded. Although Ou Tianci was not good at fighting, he was very good at these aspects. If he said it was okay, then it would definitely work.

(End of this chapter)