The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 302 The Primary Stage of Nationalism

"Everyone, eat quickly. Once you're full, go fight the northerners. As long as you drive them away, you can keep your land, and good days are not far away."

A group of farmers from Xiangyun Society were gathered together in groups of thirty to fifty, eating voraciously. Although the food was not good, it was free and they would miss it if they didn't eat it, so everyone was in high spirits.

A tall and thin farmer looked up blankly, looking at the farmer whose saliva was flying all over the sky, feeling a little confused.

Land, my family has been tenants for generations, how could the land be taken away by the northerners?

Good days? Is it because we drove the northerners away that the masters will give us benefits?

The village head yelled for a long time, but seeing that the people below still showed no emotion, he coughed dryly and changed direction.

"Those northerners are not good at anything. In the north, they are all scum, worse than beggars. Just because they are from the same hometown as the thief King Mo, they have fields and land in our southern country.

We southerners work hard in the fields, working every day without a break, yet King Mo hasn't given us any land. This isn't fair!"

"Yes, this is unfair. Why should our southern land be divided among the northerners? The Chinese people of the Celestial Empire think they are so great. We Han people have also received the teachings of the saints. We should also have a share of the land!"

Sure enough, this trick is still effective. The words of the village head immediately attracted a lot of echoes.

The tall and thin farmer also felt unhappy. When you, King Mo, entered Hue, we all contributed and transported grain. If you have extra land to distribute, why can't you give it to us first?

"And those northerners came south, guess how they got here?" The village head began to incite again.

"They call it 'crossing the border with a stick' when you go to the South Country. Meaning you only need to bring that thing with you. When you get to our South Country, not only will you have a house and land, but you'll also be given a wife straight away. Even if he's a beggar in the North Country, he can still get a beautiful wife!"

Oh my god! The tall and thin farmer stood up suddenly, his eyes starting to become bloodshot.

From ancient times to the present, it has always been a big problem for poor young men in rural areas to find spouses. The same is true around Hue. A tall and thin farmer is 25 years old this year and has not yet married. He is almost going crazy wanting a wife. How can he bear this?

"Where did these women come from? They couldn't have just fallen from the sky. They were all stolen from us. If they have one more, you have one less. Can we agree to that?"

"No, no!" Countless bachelors roared. If Mo Zibu was in front of them now, these Hue bachelors would tear him apart and eat him.

Moreover, the village head was not talking nonsense. The 3,000 male households in the three guards of Hue did indeed have a significant impact on the marriage market in Hue.

Although there are millions of people around Hue, 3,000 people getting married may not seem like a lot, but we have to consider that these 3,000 people all got married suddenly, not by finding wives naturally and slowly.

In addition, when the Northern Zheng Army marched south, it killed many women, resulting in fewer local women of marriageable age. The collective need for three thousand people to find wives actually had a huge impact on the marriage market in Hue.

Originally, the tall and thin farmer was a tenant farmer, but the land he rented was relatively fixed, which was equivalent to having a legitimate job.

For a family like this, as long as they can offer a few pieces of meat, a few pieces of cloth, and one or two hundred kilograms of grain as a betrothal gift, they can still marry a wife of equal status.

But when the men from the three guards of Hue began to enter the marriage market, the starting price had soared to 500 kilograms of grain, which was the net income from two acres of land. The lower-class farmers in Hue, who were already struggling on the survival line, naturally had to remain single.

"Hiss!" Lei Ahu stood at the front of his company, looking at the young men from noble families on the opposite side who were holding javelins, broadswords, bird guns and even bamboo spears. Hearing their waves of obscenities, he felt a strong hatred coming towards him.

Lei Ahu moved his neck uncomfortably. He turned his head to look at the deputy company commander beside him. "Old Zhu, the morale of the other side is very high. I feel like they hate me. What's going on?"

Deputy Central Guard Zhu Lian loosened his collar. He had a younger brother in Hue Central Guard, so he knew something about the situation. He spat with some disdain and said, "What else can we do? It's all the fault of those bastards in the guards!"
"Relying on the rewards bestowed upon us by the King, we are all so wealthy that we are like bulls in heat, marrying off all the beautiful women in Hue and the surrounding area. I don't know how many couples we have broken up. We are committing such evil deeds! Do you think people will not hate us?"

"Damn it, it turns out these guys did it.

But it’s not bad either, at least it proves that the king is really good to me, and after I retire, I can become a wealthy man in the local area.”

Lei Ahu grinned. The Three Guards of Hue were not actually all Chinese who went to Southeast Asia as the Hue nobles claimed. Most of them were either soldiers who retired due to injuries or immediate relatives of active soldiers. Ordinary people did not have this treatment.

Therefore, this can be regarded as a touchstone for Mo Zibu's retirement system. As long as the soldiers in service see the treatment of the Three Guards of Hue, they will have a basic understanding of their treatment after retirement, and their morale will be higher.

"Boom, boom, boom!" Waves of war drum sounds were heard, and more than 10,000 men from high-ranking families formed their battle formations and slowly began to approach the Xing Tang army.

Relying on their numbers, they concentrated their main force to attack from the front, while their flanks clamped down like crab claws, apparently intending to devour the two thousand-plus Xing Tang troops in one fell swoop. "Hate it, alright? Once we kill them all, there'll be less hatred!" Lei Ahu knew the enemy were just poor farmers, but he showed no mercy. On the battlefield, one had to fight to the death, no mercy allowed.

The tall and thin farmers were mixed in the crowd. They were cursing and howling loudly, holding the javelins in their hands, with veins bulging on their necks and red flushes on their faces.

When many people gather together and hold sharp blades, everyone feels like they are invincible. In a group, the fear of death is sometimes overwhelmed by courage.

But after walking forward a few dozen steps, it was no longer the case.

The village leaders were not officers and had no ability to control the soldiers. Before the attack, it was agreed that the musketeers would be in the front. After they fired the muskets, they would rush forward with swords and spears and kill all the northerners one by one, ten at a time.

But in this fanatical atmosphere, the young men from the noble families shouted and cursed, and soon became confused. They could not distinguish between the musketeers and the hand-to-hand combatants, and everyone was squeezed together.

The village leaders tried to correct him at first, but the battlefield was noisy and people were very nervous, so few people listened to him.

The tall and thin farmer also mixed in with the crowd. He cursed all the way until his throat felt dry and he could hardly curse anymore. Just as he was considering asking the people next to him for some water, he heard a crackling sound.

He quickly stood on tiptoe to look ahead, and saw that not far away from him, the thugs in the village who usually showed off their power with dogs were holding their bird guns and firing them.

"Wow, that's really loud! I heard from Bao that this gun can kill wild boars!" The tall and thin farmer was very excited. Seeing so many bird guns being fired at the same time was as interesting to him as watching a fireworks show.

When the smoke from the black powder rose, the enemies that seemed to be there on the opposite side suddenly disappeared. Everyone cheered. Although they didn't know why they were cheering, everyone knew that the enemies were just invisible, not disappeared, but they couldn't help but feel excited and happy.

Several village leaders were also infected by the excitement of the young men below. Seeing that most of the bird-gunners had finished firing, although some had not yet reached the front row, they didn't care and just went ahead!

"Charge, kill!" Everyone shouted, they stepped through the smoke and ran forward fearlessly.

The tall and thin farmer was holding a javelin, and countless pairs of big feet around him were stomping on the ground, making a deafening "pu pu" sound. It seemed that the only sounds in the world were their footsteps and shouts of killing.

The enemy was right in front of him. The tall and thin farmer could even see their appearance. Hey, why were they not afraid, but instead had a bit of mocking look in their eyes?

The tall and thin farmer couldn't help but hesitate for a moment, and it was this hesitation that saved his life. In an instant, the volleys of gunfire from the Imperial Guards suddenly rang out like a tidal wave.

The entire battlefield was illuminated by orange-red flames. The dense volleys of gunfire formed white air waves, and the bullets sprayed out like a barrage.

After three rounds of volleys, bombs began to fly over. Although the lethality was probably not as great as that of volleys, the intimidation it caused was countless times greater.

In extreme fear, the tall and thin farmer had no idea where the javelin in his hand had disappeared. He had forgotten everything and the only thing he remembered was to escape.

Those northerners were so terrifying that even those "masters" who were so high and mighty in the eyes of the tall and thin farmers were either shot through the chest and abdomen or blown into rotten meat before they even had a chance to fight.

Run, run quickly. If the northerners want land, give them that. If they want women, marry them first. As long as you can go home, even if you have to rent a few acres of thin land, you can at least save your life.

Waves of roars with strange accents were heard, and the tall and thin farmer who had been running away in fear regained his consciousness a little. He looked to the left in surprise.

I saw that on the hill on the left, those monks were surrounded. Countless northerners' artillery roared and fired shells bigger than human heads at them, and the broken limbs flew high and high.

"Everyone, this is the true fighting power of a young man. You may not have fought against an opponent with such poor fighting power, but I have seen it many times.

They are generally only brave enough for a short while; if you inflict a crushing blow on them during their first charge, they will be routed.”

Wu Wenchu was talking to Wang Wuchu and Chen Guangdong with a flattering look. On the battlefield in the distance, all the young men from noble families who had attacked the Xing Tang army had been defeated.

It is just as Wu Wenchu said, they only have the courage to fight once, and once they are defeated, they will soon be in a rout.

Wang Wuchu and Chen Guangdong looked at each other and nodded slightly at the same time.

Since he won the battle and made such a great contribution, this person's life should be saved. It also proves that he really has no ulterior motives and can be trusted for the time being.

(End of this chapter)