The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 336: Horses Trampling Tokyo (bushi)

May 1775, 5, the 8th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty, the ninth day of the fourth month.

The battle of Qinghua Neizhen ended. The commander of the Beihe Zheng army, Huang Tingbao, was killed by his rebellious subordinates, and the deputy commander, Huang Tingti, died in battle outside the city of Xijing.

In addition, a large number of senior ministers and military officers also lost their lives, including General Huang Fengji, Commander of Nghe An Nguyen Kezun, General of the Three Prefectures Army Nguyen Yin, etc.

This time, Huang Tingbao recruited a total of nearly 60,000 combat soldiers and about 100,000 auxiliary soldiers and civilian laborers, claiming to have a total of 300,000.

A post-war inventory revealed that 8,000 Beihe soldiers were killed, more than 4,000 were seriously injured, more than 20,000 were moderately or slightly injured, more than 20,000 were captured, and less than 10,000 escaped. Basically, the entire army was wiped out.

There were not many casualties among the auxiliary soldiers and civilian laborers, only a few thousand, but they were basically captured.

The Xing Tang army seized 1,500 war horses, 6,000 mules, donkeys and cattle, 2,000 sets of various iron and leather armor, and more than 5,000 sets of bamboo armor, paper armor and other strange things.

In addition, there are more than 3,000 muskets and more than 80 cannons of various types cast by the Qing Dynasty and Beihe, but most of them have very small ammunition and are not very useful.

The most important gain was that the Xingtang Army seized a total of 650,000 dan of grain from the three cities of Tianguanfu, Qinghua Inner Town and Outer Town in Shannan.

This is so damn exciting! King Mo was so happy that he couldn't sleep the whole night. The food problem that he was most worried about was actually solved. This food is enough for the entire army to eat for half a year if they save a little.

Of course, what Mo Zibu didn't know was that seven years later in history, Nguyen Van Hue's invasion of Bac Ha was even more outrageous. When he reached the outer town of Thanh Hoa, he seized a total of 1.1 million dan of grain, and even had to burn it because he couldn't take it away.

The Red River Plain where the Beihe River is located was a rather deformed economy at that time.

At this time, the coal, iron, copper and other resources in Beihe were all occupied by Qing merchants, and the Zheng Lord could not collect much tax at all.

At the same time, due to the blockade of successive central dynasties, Beihe had almost no knowledge of tea planting and tea frying, and no good tea varieties. The output of ceramics and silk was not only low, but also of poor quality.

It can be said that at this time, Beihe was short of everything except food, and was completely economically sucked dry by the Qing Dynasty, or more precisely, by Guangzhou.

What has happened? Three hundred kilograms of grain can only be exchanged for a set of foreign trade ceramic tea sets of quite average quality.

So at that time in Beihe, the least valuable thing was food, but it was also the most abundant thing. Lord Zheng and his group of noble families were all landlords and wealthy people in the mountains. They had no shortage of food, but they lacked everything else.

After the food problem was solved, Mo Zibu felt relieved. From then on, even if the rainy season came, he would not have to worry about having to walk 400 to 500 kilometers to transport food from Hue to the north.

As for the casualties of the Xing Tang army, they were surprisingly low. There were only more than 200 people killed in battle, and the total number of wounded and seriously injured was only more than 800. Compared with the Zheng army's nearly 10,000 killed and more than 100,000 wounded and captured, it can be said that there was no loss at all.

Mo Zibu felt that the purpose of training the team had not been achieved, but the soldiers under him were very happy. They hoped that the enemies that would appear later would be of the same level as Zheng's army.

"Boring." Mo Zibu smacked his lips. Northern Zheng was already corrupt, and the main force of the Zheng army was basically destroyed by him in the last Shunzhou raid and the later Hue siege.

Now these Zheng troops seem to have a lot of people, but in fact there are only three to four thousand veterans who are truly combat-ready. As for the rest, well, it’s hard to describe. I can only say that they are better than the civilians, and their combat effectiveness is probably not as good as the Green Camp in Guangdong.

"Your Majesty, we have sent people to conduct a thorough search, but we have not found the bodies of Nguyen Van Hue, Pham Van Hung, and others."

Zheng Jinshui came in to report. Seeing Mo Zibu's unhappy expression, he thought King Mo was very dissatisfied, so he quickly explained:
"According to Colonel Zhou Yuanquan's report, Nguyen Van Hue handed command to Huang Fengji. He himself did not participate in the battle at all. It's already very impressive that Haiyang Bo was able to track him down in Shannan Town and kill most of his men."

Mo Zibu nodded. "It's a bit regrettable, but you're right. To catch Ruan Wenhui, this cunning fox, we still need a little patience."

On April 11, Mo Zibu left Chen Guangyao to guard the inner town of Thanh Hoa and appointed him as the garrison commander of the two towns of Thanh Nghiem. He led 5,000 soldiers, auxiliary troops and 10,000 civilians back to Chengrong City in Nghe An Town.

Wu Wenchu was the deputy garrison commander of Thanh Hoa Inner Town, leading 2,000 soldiers from his own army and 5,000 auxiliary soldiers and civilians to garrison Thanh Hoa Outer Town.

After summoning the two men, Mo Zi Bu gave a clear order: "Nghe An and Thanh Hoa, these three towns, have always been the most restless places in Annan. Dinh Bo Ling and Le Loi are both from this place.

Even the main force of Zheng's army this time is mostly composed of people from these three towns. Therefore, whether Annan is stable depends entirely on whether these three towns are stable.

After you go down, don't be afraid of any repercussions, and don't be afraid of someone suing you for brutality in front of me.

Because I don't care how many people died in these three towns, how much land was abandoned, I just want to see that no one dares to cause trouble here anymore."

Chen Guangyao and Wu Wenchu looked at each other and both knew what Mo Zibu was going to do, which was to completely eradicate the martial arts base in Nghe An Town and Thanh Hoa Inner and Outer Towns.

For this reason, the king has actually authorized the two of them to go on a killing spree!

The two men quickly accepted the order and walked out of the temporary royal tent. Wu Wenchu bowed to Chen Guangyao. He was Pei Shichun's senior brother, so he had a close relationship with Chen Guangyao.

"My Lord, I see there is one thing the King has not said just now, that is, there are more Muong people in these three towns than in Kinh, and Le Loi is a Muong. In the past, he was able to raise an army and defeat the Ming Dynasty because of the Muong people here.

Now, the king's elite troops come from the northern country and the western part of the country, so he no longer needs the Muong people in the inner and outer towns of Nghe An and Thanh Hoa.

It can even be said that not only are they not needed, but they are also regarded as thorns in the eye. Therefore, after I follow the Marquis to take office this time, I will go on a killing spree!"

Chen Guangyao was a little surprised. He had not read much and had never thought about this aspect. After hearing what Wu Wenchu said, he felt that it might indeed be the case.

His cousin was the king after all, so it seemed a bit awkward for him to directly order the killing, so he could only hint at them to do it. "Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother. So, in your opinion, what should we do to satisfy the king?"

"It's very simple!" Wu Wenchu chuckled, "My Lord, work with me to pick out the captured people from Nghe An, Thanh Hoa and other towns, and have them deliver messages to their relatives themselves.

Those who can call their own relatives will be exempted from punishment as appropriate. Anyone who cannot bring their relatives to the city will be killed first, and then their entire family will be killed according to the map."

Chen Guangyao laughed heartily, "This is a very good plan. Let's follow the map and kill him!"

Wu Wenchu's guess was correct. This is what I, King Mo, thought. The Annan rulers before him needed Nghe An and Thanh Hoa because most of them were from here, and they also needed Nghe An and Thanh Hoa, the two Annan martial arts highlands, to fight wars in the south and the north.

But Mo Zibu had no need for that. In fact, to him, the large number of Mang people here were the source of chaos.

Therefore, Mo Zibu planned to basically clear out these three towns. There were only 800,000 people. He could kill tens or hundreds of thousands of them first, and then relocate 200,000 or 300,000. The problem would be solved, which would be more effective than any other method.

On April 15th, Mo Zibu gathered the army and marched north, ordering Wu Wenyong to lead 10,000 men as a detachment, marching north from Hezhong Prefecture in the east to capture the prefectures east of Dongjing Prefecture.

Mo Zibu personally led the main force of 40,000 troops, marched north from Qinghuawai Town, and headed straight for Tokyo City.

On April 22, Mo Zibu captured Yingtian Prefecture, and the next day he captured Shangzhen in Shannan. Wherever he went, the people either surrendered or fled at the sight of him, and he encountered no resistance.

After conquering Shannanshang Town, they were only 20 to 30 kilometers away from Dongjing City, the political and economic center of Beihe.

Zheng Sen, the ruler of Zheng, was so frightened that he opened the treasury and exhausted the gold and silver accumulated by more than ten generations of the Zheng family, and barely recruited 40,000 to 50,000 people.

Zheng Sen then led the army in person and stationed it at Van Xuan Lake east of Hanoi, which is a major transportation route in and out of Hanoi.

At the same time, the Beihe River's only navy of more than 10,000 people was stationed at Xilongjin, an important ferry crossing on the Red River more than ten miles away from Wanchun Lake.

There was nothing wrong with the arrangement, and it could even be said to be quite clever, but he could not change the fate of the Zheng family's impending destruction, because there were no soldiers left in Beihe who could fight, and these motley crowds could not stop the Xing Tang army at all.

On April 27, Mo Zibu led his troops to Wanchun Lake, unfurled his red flag with a golden sun and moon, and wore golden armor to the front line to boost morale.

Seeing that the king was personally present at the front line and victory was imminent, the morale of the Xing Tang army was extremely high. The officers and soldiers were united and were ready to fight ten enemies with one.

Although Zheng Sen personally came on an elephant to boost morale upon seeing this, his prestige was no match for Mo Zibu's. The farmers and fishermen who were forcibly conscripted by him also hated him deeply and refused to work for him.

The Xing Tang army cheered loudly and launched an attack. It took only half an hour to defeat the Zheng army's infantry. Even Zheng Sen's elephants were shot into sieves.

Under the protection of his personal followers, Zheng Sen led hundreds of people to Xilongjin. The Xing Tang army chased him hard and chased him all the way to Xilongjin. The officers and soldiers occupied the high mountains west of Xilongjin and set up cannons to bombard the port.

The morale of the defenders completely collapsed. The one who controlled these navy was Pei Shida. This Pei family boss was indecisive in Shunzhou and was soon regarded by Mo Zibu as someone who could not cooperate. But now that he was at the end of his rope, he realized how powerful he was.

On the first day of May, Pei Shida launched a mutiny, captured Zheng Sen and dozens of civil and military officials from the Zheng government, and surrendered to Mo Zibu.

At this point, all of Zheng's military power was completely lost.

. . . .

In the chaotic city of Tokyo, Nguyen Van Hue and Nguyen Huu Trieng grabbed a young man in his twenties and tried to persuade him. This man was none other than Crown Prince Le Vie Kin, the eldest son of King Le Vie Tou of the Later Le Dynasty.

"My father is still alive, how can I abandon him?" Li Weijin shook his head like a rattle.

Nguyen Van Hue looked at the crown prince and shouted angrily, "The thief Mo has already issued a manifesto. He came north to undermine the roots of our southerners.

For us southerners, this five thousand li territory, our ethnic roots, filial piety to parents is the smallest, loyalty to the country and the people is the greatest. Prince, you must not hesitate any longer."

Ruan Wenhui is extremely anxious now. After escaping from Tianguan Mansion, he and Ruan Youzheng did not dare to see Zheng Sen at all, for fear of being used as a punching bag.

So Nguyen Van Hue took Nguyen You Zheng with him and waited until Nguyen You Zheng had escaped from Hezhong Prefecture over the mountains and rivers with more than a thousand of his confidants, and Li Guangcai's eight hundred brave pirates arrived, and then they took advantage of the chaos to come to Tokyo City.

His purpose was to bring an influential person to retreat to the Qing Dynasty, so that he could use this person's name to deal with the Qing Dynasty and mobilize the people.

While King Jingxing Li Weiyu was too prominent, the unpopular 25-year-old Crown Prince Li Weijin did not attract as much attention.

Li Weijin was about to say something else when he suddenly heard screams of terror coming from outside. People were shouting everywhere that the southern bandits had entered the city, and a large number of ruffians were taking advantage of the situation to loot and create chaos.

"Prince, if you don't make a decision now, you won't be able to leave. The princesses, the princes, and the princesses will all become captives of the southern bandits."

Ruan Youzheng shouted loudly, then looked at Ruan Wenhui. If Li Weijing didn't know what was going on, he would have to use force.

Fortunately, Li Weijin was just talking big. When he heard that I, King Mo, was about to enter the city, he was so scared that he almost peed his pants.

So he quickly agreed with the opinions of Nguyen Van Hue and Nguyen Huu Trieng, and under their cover, fled to the Qing Dynasty for help.

(End of this chapter)