The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 315: We still have to rely on our own people

Just as Mo Zirong and others ignited another round of Oriental fever in Europe, and made King Mo famous in the West as a dramatist, pharmacist, and restorer of the Seris Empire, pre-war preparations in the East had already begun in full swing.

But the first thing that happened was a big blow to Mo Zibu.

After constant lobbying and persuasion by Ye Xianyang, almost one-third of the Hakka officers above the rank of Zhongwei were still not in agreement with taking over their parents and brothers.

This is not to say that they all oppose Mo Zibu's attitude towards the Qing Dynasty, but that these people do have some doubts about bringing their entire family to Southeast Asia.

They were thinking that if something happened to me, King Mo, and I failed to gain a foothold in Southeast Asia, then they would have no way to retreat in their hometown, and the whole family, or even the whole clan, would be trapped and die in the wilderness of Southeast Asia.

Mo Zibu quickly realized that this time when he went north, he could not rely on the Hakka people as he did before. He had originally planned to recruit An Dai's Hakka army on a large scale, but now it seems that he can no longer do so.

This doesn't mean they will definitely go wrong, but it's certainly a possibility.

After locking himself in his study and pondering for two days, Mo Zibu finally determined that if he wanted to break the myth of the invincibility of the Qing Dynasty in Beihe, he could only rely on two types of people.

The first category is mercenaries from Europe. Some of these people were brought back by Mo Zibu from Myanmar and India, and some were poached from the Dutch East Indies.

The main officers were brought back by the first European mission, including Reinstein, Louis Coulon and other main officers and elite artillery and cavalry.

Not only did they receive huge benefits from Mo Zibu, but given the organizational strength and acumen of the rigid and corrupt Qing Dynasty system, the officials of the Eight Banners might have thought of instigating the Hakka people to rebel, but they would never have thought of instigating the French to rebel, and they couldn't even find a channel of communication.

Apart from these people, the people he can rely on most in the end are the people of Mingxiang.

Whether it is the Mo family’s fellow villagers from western Guangdong, the Chen family’s people from Jiading Mingxiang, or the people from Hui’an Mingxiang such as Luo Aye and Liu Zhisan.

These talents have absolutely no way out and will rise and fall together with Mo Zibu.

In addition, the First Regiment of the Republic, organized by the vassals in the Andai region, can also be fully trusted. These guys come from vassal families of all sizes, and their family members have basically gone to Southeast Asia to enjoy a good life. The Qing Dynasty cannot provide enough capital to instigate them to rebel.

Thinking of this, Mo Zibu immediately took his little cousin Chen Yizhen and his two-year-old eldest son Asen and returned to Jiading again after two years.

Gia Dinh at this time was completely different from the period when it was controlled by the Nguyen family.

As Mo Zibu headed up from the mouth of the Saigon River, all he saw along the way were fertile fields with crisscrossing paths. Among these fertile fields, there was usually a production team consisting of a dozen or so houses gathered together.

Mo Zibu took a quick look and found that each team controlled nearly a thousand acres of fertile farmland.

He casually walked into a production team, and on the faces of the men, women, young and old who ran out to greet him, one could clearly see the greasy glow and heartfelt smiles that came from a stable and affluent life.

"My king, since you returned, life has been better for us Ming people."

The production team leader was a dark and thin old man who had received a few years of education and was a good farmer. His ancestral home was Zhangzhou, and his ancestors followed Yang Yandi, one of the two kings of Mingxiang, south to Jiading.

"Now in Xihe Village where I live, there are 37 Ming Dynasty households, 117 adults, 84 healthy women, and 104 elderly and infirm people.

They were all distributed based on 35 mu for males, 25 mu for healthy women, 10 mu for the elderly, and 5 mu for children.

In recent years, the Supreme Lord has led the government to build canals, water carts, dig ponds, and level roads for everyone. He also rents out oxen to help with farming during the busy farming season.

Therefore, these years have been plentiful, and everyone is living a good life. We are all wondering when the king will return to Jiading, so we can come and express our gratitude."

Mo Zibu calculated carefully and found that there were 37 households with a total population of 305 people, with almost more than eight people in each household. It seemed that with a stable environment and land, the population of Mingxiang people increased rapidly.

Mo Zibu looked back and saw that behind those strong men and women of Mingxiang who were looking at him with sparkling eyes, there were indeed a bunch of little ones. Some of the women even looked to be at least 35 or 36 years old and were pregnant.

The captain chuckled, "Nowadays, if you give birth to a cub, the king will give you five acres of land to raise a cub. When you turn sixteen, you can get dozens of acres of land for a cub. This is not just giving birth to a child, it's creating property. Naturally, everyone wants to raise more cubs."

Mo Zibu laughed heartily. The Mekong Plain is vast, with flat terrain and fertile soil. Now, there are only a few hundred thousand people living there. Even if there are ten times more people, there will be no shortage of places to divide the land. As long as these people are willing to live, he will be willing to share.

"Is there enough labor? With so many strong women taking care of the children, it must be very hard for the men!"

The captain nodded, then quickly shook his head, "Life is always hard for farmers, and besides, we can always buy people from Chaozhou people.

They sold their domestic slaves to us, and we sold Champa and Khmer slaves to them.

Now, every Ming household has two or three Siamese serfs, and with plenty of oxen to work with, we can hire people during busy farming seasons. Farming is no problem, and we're also doing quite well in the ten-day drills mandated by the king for the local soldiers."

As he spoke, the captain pointed into the distance. Outside the houses of the Mingxiang people were some simple bamboo houses. Some dark-skinned men and women, whose clothes were different from those of the Mingxiang people, were kneeling on the ground and dared not look up. I guess these were the serfs bought from Siam.

At this time, the Mingxiang people in Xing Tang bought serfs from the Chaozhou people in Siam, and an industry had already been formed.

Some of these Teochew people had their paternal lineage Najins who had lived in Siam for four or five generations, and they were quite adept at taming serfs under the Sakdina system.

Generally speaking, the disobedient Khmers and Champas in Xing Tang would be packed up and sent to Siam, and then the difference in price would be paid in exchange for obedient serfs.

Those disobedient serfs from Chenla and Champa were trained by Chaozhou people who specialized in this business and then sold to the nobles in Siam.

In this way, if we disperse them in foreign countries and kill the unruly ones among them, the remaining ones will be much more useful.

Even in recent years, the Chaozhou nobles in Siam have captured Burmese people in Upper Burma, trained the obedient ones among them, and then sold them back to various places in Xing Tang.

Mo Zibu suddenly remembered that before leaving Hoi An, the Japanese leader in Hoi An, Wei Yongxing from Fuqing, had suggested to him that he send large ships to the coasts of Japan and Korea to capture farmers. This was because the farmers in these two places were more hardworking, had better farming skills, and looked more like Han Chinese.

Wei Yongxing's fourth-generation ancestor Wei Zhiyan was a major sea merchant in the late Ming Dynasty. After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, he specialized in maritime trade from Vietnam to Japan.

Eighty years ago, the Wei family obtained permission from the shogunate to reside in Nagasaki, and they were one of the few families that could still send red seal ships to sea. It is said that they had close contacts with the Ong family and the Tagawa family, Koxinga's maternal grandfather.

This is indeed a way. If we want to expand Nanyang as quickly as possible, human trafficking is inevitable.

However, Mo Zibu returned to Jiading this time not to engage in slave trade, but to seek help.

So after chatting with these people for a while, Mo Zibu suddenly let out a long sigh.

"What a good life! We have worked hard for generations and finally have the current situation. It's a pity that the Tartars don't want us to live a good life.

These bastards occupied our hometown, and we put aside our past grudges and helped them fight the White Elephant King. But now, they refuse to give us the North River. This is outrageous.

Without the Bei River, we Mingxiang people would always have a knife hanging over our heads, and how could we live in peace? "

As soon as Mo Zibu said this, the captain and the young men behind him were furious. "The Tartars are the worst kind of people! Your Majesty, are you going to start a war? Give the orders! We have guns and cannons now. We are not afraid of them. Let's fight them!"

"Yes, fight them and let them see that we Ming people are not to be trifled with!"

Mo Zibu was overjoyed. Although these Mingxiang people were just ordinary farmers who only trained once every ten days, their fighting spirit was undoubtedly a huge transformation compared to their previous selves.

It seems that after a few years of good times, their sense of ownership has finally been greatly enhanced. After everyone has permanent property, their determination to protect it with their lives has also arisen.

"Okay, I'm Mo Zhao, a good man. On the ninth day of this month, the Double Ninth Festival, I will gather my fellow villagers in Jiading and get drunk with you all. Everyone come."

. . . .

On the ninth day of the ninth month, the Double Ninth Festival, Mo Zibu arrived in Jiading to meet his father Mo Tianci, his uncle Chen Dasheng, and his cousin Chen Dali.

At this time in history, Mo Tianci had just stabilized Ha Tien, which had been destroyed by Zheng Xin, but the Tây Sơn Uprising was already in full swing, and King Nguyen Phuc Tuan of Nguyen Lord Dinh, who had fled to the south, was summoning Mo Tianci to protect him.

My uncle Chen Dasheng died of depression a few years ago because the Chen family was forced to leave Jiading.

Two years ago, my cousin Chen Dali, despite being the descendant of a famous general, failed to defeat Chanthaburi, which was defended by Chen Lian's 3,000 men, when he led 50,000 men. He died of illness and fatigue.

Even I, the master, either died on the way to escape south with Nguyen Phuc Tuan, or died in the battle where Zheng Xin defeated Ha Tien.

But this time and place is their best time.

My father Mo Tianci even looks a few years younger, not like a 74-year-old man at all. His face is rosy, his hair is black, and he walks with vigor and energy, full of vigor and vitality.

My uncle Chen Dasheng's chronic illness seemed to have improved a lot, and his food and clothing became better. His previously thin face began to gain weight.

As for my cousin Chen Dali, he has at least become a lot rounder.

Seeing Mo Zibu looking at him, Chen Dali smiled very embarrassedly. Thinking that he had handed over all the affairs of governing Longmen Prefecture to his subordinates, while he just followed the ordinary literati in reciting poems and songs every day, his face felt a little embarrassed.

"Your Majesty has been toiling away in the north, while I, in Jiading, am enjoying myself. I deserve the death penalty!"

Mo Zibu laughed, "There are no outsiders here, why are you meeting me as an outsider, and why are you calling me the king?

I've always known that my cousin loves to be a carefree and idle king. Now that his wish has come true, I'm so happy for you that I wouldn't blame you. "

"Well, the moral principles between the ruler and his subjects, and between father and son, must still be maintained. We are the king's closest relatives, but we are also his subjects." Chen Dasheng gave Mo Tianci a scornful look and actually wanted to bow down.

Mo Tianci rolled his eyes and said uncomfortably, "Now I understand that Mr. Liu was helpless and that Tenth Uncle's debauchery had its reasons."

Mo Zibu couldn't help but laugh. "Grandpa Liu is getting old, and Father Chai is a bad man. Father, you should learn from Emperor Gaozu of Tang and enjoy life more."

Everyone laughed, and the awkwardness that had been there for a long time disappeared instantly.

After laughing, Mo Tianci's expression hardened. "Going into Beihe is truly dangerous. If the Tartars really refuse to allow us to fight, how confident are you?"

Mo Zibu shook his head and said, "Warfare is dangerous and has always been an uncertain matter. If we had been confident, Fu Jian's million-strong army would not have been defeated by Xie An if he had just thrown a whip to stop the flow of the river.

But the land of Beihe is fertile, and it is the birthplace of the Anjing people. We are always outsiders. If we cannot enter Beihe and strangle the lineage of the Jing people and force them to follow in our footsteps, then in the future, under the instigation of the Qing Dynasty, Guangnan will have no peace.

Moreover, there is a huge gap in strength between the enemy and us. If I didn't have these tens of thousands of troops now, it would be the Lord of Zheng who came to attack us.

Therefore, for us, this battle must be fought, otherwise we will not be able to gain a foothold."

Mo Tianci and Chen Dasheng exchanged a glance and said, "Let's fight. This is the moment of life and death for us Mingxiang people. If we win, we will rule the Southern Kingdom. If we lose, we will become slaves again."

Chen Dali also said: "Then let's go down and mobilize all the Mingxiang people in the three states of Gao, Lei and Lian.

My king, please give us a plan, and we will fight the Qing Dynasty."

(End of this chapter)