The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 322 King Mo - A Cruel and Cruel Old Man

In fact, the Annan we often talk about only includes the North River in a narrow sense.

The long strip of Vietnamese territory in later generations was created step by step over thousands of years by the Han Dynasty in Nanjing, Vietnam, who called themselves the Little China, and the barbarians.

So if we regard Beihe as the entire southern country.

Then the area located in the northwest of Vietnam, which is close to Dien Bien Phu in Laos and Lao Cai in Yunnan, is the South Central region of Vietnam.

There are many ethnic minorities here, mainly various types of Miao people. It has always been the place where the losers of political struggles in the Red River Plain and peasant uprisings fled and settled.

Huang Gongzhi, the distant nephew of King Mo, is currently entrenched in this area, and together with various Miao and Dai tribes in the mountains, he is rebelling against Beizheng.

To the east and northeast of Hanoi are the three towns of Jingbei, Lang Son and Anguang, which are close to present-day western Guangdong and later Guangxi, equivalent to the line from Shanhaiguan to Liaodong in Vietnam during the Ming Dynasty.

It has always been the front line of defense against the Central Plains dynasties. The territory is not too rich, nor too central, and is located between the core and the buffer zone.

To the southwest and south of Hanoi are the famous towns of Nghe An and Thanh Hoa. These three places, to be precise, Thanh Hoa and Nghe An, are the Hedong region of the Red River Plain, a small Central Plains. Their status is equivalent to the Six Towns of the Northern Wei Dynasty and Hedong in the late Tang Dynasty.

During the Han Dynasty, Nghe An and Thanh Hoa were the front lines against the South Asian culture in the south. The people were tough and the semi-warlord aristocratic families were deeply rooted.

Historically, whenever there was unrest in Annan, it would always start from the unrest in Thanh Hoa and Nghe An, or even it would always be the people of Thanh Hoa and Nghe An who would come out to cause trouble.

Le Loi's family is a typical large family in Thanh Hoa and Nghe An.

This is the most important place in the entire Bac Ha. Once Thanh Hoa and Nghe An are lost, even if the Red River Plain headed by Hanoi is controlled, it will only be a struggle to survive.

The Mac Dynasty of Mac Dengyong was eventually defeated because it could not defend the Thanh Hoa area.

The other towns around Hanoi, such as Shanxi, Shannan, Xinghua, Taiyuan, Haiyang, etc., are the essence of the entire Red River Plain.

The area is rich in resources and has convenient transportation. Farmlands are dotted across the vast plains, rice can be harvested three times a year, and there are endless fish, shrimps, and crabs in the rivers and seas.

There are two to three million people who are mainly of Dongyue descent, supplemented by Han descent, and the middle and upper classes are sinicized.

There are two to three million lower-class people in Beijing who wear black clothes, have milled feet, and wear topknots, but whose moral ethics and rituals are basically the same as those in the Central Plains.

However, this core area is located on the Red River Plain and has various river transportation, making it impossible to defend. It is a replica of Henan, removing the areas west of Luoyang and south of Nanyang, and only retaining the line of Zhengzhou, Kaifeng and Shangqiu.

It is like Wang Shichong who was guarding Luoyang. He was destined to be beaten and served by heroes from all sides in turn. The Red River Plain never guarded Hanoi. There was nothing to defend.

Therefore, Mo Zibu had no plan to use a large ship to attack Tokyo (Hanoi) directly from the mouth of the Red River, because doing so would take over the Beihe River in one go.

You may ask, isn’t it a good thing to be able to deal with Beihe directly?

Well, if King Mo wants to be a southern emperor like Li Gongyun or Chen Shoudu, this is the best solution. It is estimated that within two or three years, he will be able to establish a country and ascend the throne in Tokyo City.

But what I, King Mo, want to do is to be the Hongwu Taizu who revived the Tang Dynasty and succeeded the Han Dynasty to restore the country. So we cannot fight like this.

Because Beihe was taken so quickly, you have no reason to kill people.

If you don't kill people, who will dissolve the atmosphere of South Korean independence that has existed for hundreds of years, and who will kill so many South Korean independence activists?

You have to give them time to make a fuss, then quickly determine the scope, and then slowly kill them off in battle after battle.

In this way, it would neither appear cruel nor wrongly accuse good people, and it would also allow the Qing Dynasty to fill all of its tens of thousands of capable troops into this meat grinder.

Therefore, when Major General Fragosse saw the combat plan approved by Mo Zibu, he became depressed.

It seems that you still have no chance to join the navy this time!

"Votre Majesté." The major general coughed and took out a thick stack of battle plans.

"Your loyal admiral has suggested that we could simultaneously advance into the North River and engage in a decisive naval battle in the South China Sea. Here's my plan."

Mo Zibu was a little confused by this tall-nosed French guy, but seeing how serious he looked, he decided to listen to him.

"Through the intelligence gathered by Secretary Holdyk and Major Marco, we have now basically determined the performance and docking locations of all VOC warships throughout the South China Sea.

This is crucial, Your Majesty. Please believe me, your navy is fully capable of launching a successful raid. In three months at most, I can defeat the VOC fleet for you and then incorporate them into our army."

"Recruit them? Hmm." Mo Zibu looked noncommittal, because he believed that this time the Rufa delegation would bring him better options.

Originally, I, King Mo, was somewhat envious of the VOC company's shabby fleet, but now, he is a little disdainful of it.

Well, if this fleet did not require maintenance and the naval officers and soldiers did not need military pay, King Mo would be very happy to get them, but after having to pay high fees, King Mo was a little reluctant.

"Your Majesty, if we recruit them, our fleet will become the most powerful in the entire East." Rear Admiral Fragosse blinked and said in a devilish voice, "It will be even more powerful than the fleet Li Goudan and his men have in India!"

"Li Goudan?" Mo Zibu was a little confused.

"Yes!" Major General Fragosse nodded vigorously and repeated, "Yes, les goddams."

Les goddanms is the most common curse word used by the French to insult the British. It roughly means something like "damn disgusting thing".

"Your Majesty, do you know that Li Goudan and his men levied heavy taxes in Bengal, artificially creating a famine that killed at least a million people, and they made at least two million pounds a year from it."

Speaking of this number, Major General Fragosse's mouth was watering!
"Oh my god, that's 49 million livres a year, and it just goes to those disgusting steak grillers. This world is so unfair!"

"Gudong!" King Mo couldn't help swallowing his saliva. "That's almost seven million taels of silver," he added in his mind.

Of course, neither Mozibu nor Major General Fragosse knew that the British had starved to death at least 1770 million Indians during the Great Bengal Famine, which began in and ended largely the next year.

The two million pounds were just the taxes collected by the British East India Company from the tax farmers in Bengal. The actual income was estimated to be around six million or even ten million pounds a year.

Faced with the immense temptation, King Mo maintained his composure. He hesitated and said, "Should we go to war with the British for 50 million livres? That doesn't seem worthwhile." In reality, what King Mo meant was that he couldn't defeat the British yet. Uh, because he was so good at history, the story of the "Yingri Never Sets" had left a deep impression on Mo Zibu.

Therefore, in the heart of our King Mo, there is actually a little bit of anglophobia and fear of Britain. He is not even as brave as the Sultan of Mysore and the King of the Maratha Alliance, who dare to slap the British in the face.

This... this may be considered as a loss due to being educated.

"Isn't 50 million livres enough?" Major General Fragossels was shocked. In his opinion, with an annual income of 50 million livres, not to mention going to war with the British, even crucifying God again was possible.

"Well, okay, it's indeed worth it." Mo Zibu thought about it and had to admit that it was worth it.

"But how can we face the British retaliation? Their navy is too powerful."

Major General Fragosse blinked twice. He vaguely sensed that Mo Zibu seemed a little afraid of the British, but he did not point it out. Instead, he asked curiously:

"Why should we worry about retaliation from the British navy? Our important cities are all inland. We don't have a major coastal city like Venice or Genoa.

Although Hoi An is the political center, it is not irreplaceable.

If the British navy comes, I will gather the entire fleet in Ha Tien and hide it there so that they cannot find it.

The navy is constantly at sea, which is very tiring. The British don't have a suitable base in the South China Sea. If we just waste a year or two on them, without us even having to fight, the British sailors will revolt and they will be forced to retreat.

If they still don't know what's good for them and want to land, that would be great. The Xingtang Army, with 20,000 regular troops and over 100,000 volunteers, will definitely beat the British infantry into tears.

It's not because we're so powerful, but the British are lucky to send 5,000 troops to the East. 5,000 troops are just a speck of sand in the South China Sea."

"But then the British would use their naval superiority to cut off Java from us and occupy it."

"Then we will send troops from Burma and attack Bangladesh directly!"

"But they can still rely on the princely sultans of the Andai Peninsula to cause trouble for us." Mo Zibu said somewhat weakly. He himself knew how pale his words were.

"Then we will send troops from the land and fight until no one dares to help the British!" Major General Fragosse waved his fist fiercely.

"Your Majesty will then only have to bear the cost of coastal towns being harassed or even looted, but the British will face the possibility of continuously losing India.

They will come and kneel down to beg your majesty not to harass their wallets.

Then, wouldn't it be perfectly reasonable for us to collect some protection fees every year and, when the time is right, to fully colonize India?"

Wow, Mo Zibu couldn't help but give a thumbs up to Major General Fragosse. It was indeed the confidence of the old powers. You actually want to collect protection fees from the British, and it is really possible to do it.

Major General Fragosse chuckled, “Your Majesty, and the situations you listed are actually the most extreme ones.

It is more likely that we would have to occupy Bengal for a year or two, or even longer, before the British could spare enough troops to counterattack. By then, we would have made a fortune."

Mo Zibu rubbed his face fiercely. Major General Fragosse wasn't at this level! Damn it, some powerful figure must have recently arrived from mainland France, and he must have a deep understanding of the East to come up with such an awesome, completely feasible plan.

It seems that Louis XVI, or more precisely, the group of nobles and ministers who truly control the operation of France, want to completely tie Xing Tang to the chariot of a bloody battle with the British.

Damn, maybe my third brother has already written a clause in the treaty that is about to be signed that states that we will fight India for the French.

It's too far away and there's no telegraph, so it's really that troublesome.

In a flash, Mo Zibu immediately figured out the key point. He must not reveal his intention of not wanting to provoke Britain for the time being, because this would be a disguised token of allegiance.

With the conflict between Britain and France so acute, if Mo Zibu tried to sit on the fence between Britain and France, the result would certainly be that the French would withdraw their generous aid conditions.

So, the moment he figured it out, Mo Zibu pretended to be greedy and reluctantly read through the naval combat plan handed over by Major General Fragosse.

"Karl, your plan is so perfect that I can't help but want to implement it immediately!

Go gather all the officers above the rank of Lieutenant Commander to Hoi An. We will discuss this matter thoroughly. When the new round of alliance documents arrives in the East, we can begin planning our operations accordingly."

As Mo Zibu said this, his right hand gently patted his left thigh.

Zheng Jinshui, who was standing behind Mo Zibu, saw it immediately. He glanced at Wu Xing, who was standing in the distance and in charge of security, in a very covert manner.

Wu Xing immediately withdrew, and soon another young attendant, civil servant Li Guangding, walked in.

"Your Majesty, the Guangping Garrison Commander, the Bandit-Suppressing General, the Thousand Commander of the Central and Southern Righteous Corps, and the Earl of Haiyang, Wu Wenyong, have come on horseback to report urgently.

The rebel Le puppet king Le Dui appointed Huang Dinh Bao as the chief commander of Thanh Hoa and Nguyen Ke Zun, the governor of northern Beijing, as the commander of Nghe An, and stationed 20,000 troops from three prefectures.

Huang Tingti and his group created a lot of publicity and started recruiting soldiers. Almost all the Han, Fan, Jing and Mang tribes in Nghe An and Thanh Hoa responded to their call. It is said that they already have 100,000 soldiers!

"What a thief!" Mo Zibu shouted exaggeratedly, "You have an army of 100,000 in such a short time.

Orders were issued to all the regiments gathered in Jiading and Guiren for drill to march north immediately, and Chen Lian was ordered to lead 1,500 men of the Yulin Guards to the north to support Wu Wenyong.

Command General Chen Guangyao to garrison Shunzhou and transport the grain and supplies stored in Shunzhou to Guangping for storage. Prepare for a major battle, as I will personally lead the Northern Expedition."

He gave a long series of orders, making it seem as if Huang Tingbao really had 100,000 people under his command. Then Mo Zibu looked at Major General Fragose.

"I'll leave the naval battle plan to you, Carl. When the time is right, we will achieve a decisive victory on both land and sea."

Major General Fragosse had no idea that this was a delaying tactic by Mo Zibu, and he immediately went down to prepare with great joy.

Well, who doesn’t want Bengal? But we haven’t even taken over Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian yet, and we can’t be dragged into a bloody battle with the British by the French.

(End of this chapter)