The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 353: Mo's Return, Western Guangdong in Motion

Leizhou Prefecture, Haikang County, Dongling Village, Mo's Ancestral Hall.

Tens of thousands of people gathered near this small ancestral temple. A flag with a big black character "Mo" on a red background was flying high. The sound of firecrackers could be heard from miles away. There were at least dozens of lion dance and drum and music teams alone.

Along the way, there were teams transporting pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks. It seemed that all the chefs in Haikang County had gathered here.

When the news spread that the Mo family was going to hold a banquet in Dongling Village and that one could be seated as long as they came to the ancestral temple and said a few nice words, more and more people were on their way.

Mo Zai De, the patriarch of the Mo family of this generation, wore a big hat and tucked his braid inside to prevent it from being exposed. He kept walking back and forth to hide his excitement.

"Have the clan members from Shentang Town arrived? They are the main clan. If they don't come when the Grand Marquis arrives, it would be disrespectful."

"Here he comes, here he comes. Uncle Nine from Shentang Town came here yesterday."

"Have the relatives from Lianzhou and Qinzhou arrived? They are close to Annan. We will go to Annan to become royals in the future, and we will rely on them to pave the way."

"They're here too. They arrived late yesterday. There are ninety of them in all. But they're exhausted from the long journey and are still catching up on some sleep. I'll go get them."

"What about the clan members in Qiongdao? Especially those in Qianhufang."

"I'm here, just coming to pay my respects to my great uncle."

Mo Zai De was overjoyed, "Okay, okay, let's quickly get all the elders of the clan in so we can arrange an audience."

After saying that, Mo Zai De seemed to remember something, and his eyes became sharp. "What did the prefect and the county magistrate say?"

"We've arranged everything. The prefect gave us one thousand taels, and the county magistrate gave us five hundred taels. They both smiled so hard that their faces were broken, and they even said they would help us cover it up."

It is said that a prefect can earn 100,000 taels of silver a year, but it also depends on the location. The prefect of Guangzhou and the magistrates of Nanhai and Panyu naturally have the ability to do so. The magistrate of Nanhai can receive as much as 70,000 taels of silver from various chambers of commerce in a year just in terms of fees.

But don't even think about it in a desolate place like western Guangdong. The magistrate of Leizhou only embezzled a few thousand taels of silver in a year by digging holes in the sky.

The magistrate Haikang, who lived in the same city as the prefecture, was even worse off. He might even lose money, so the two men were quite happy after receiving the money.

"Hmph, they're wise. Otherwise, I'd capture the city right now and make them pay for what they've done."

Mo Zai De looked very proud, as if a commoner like him could threaten the prefect at any time.

Well, actually it is possible. The clan atmosphere in western Guangdong at that time was stronger than that in later generations. The Leizhou Peninsula, including Zhanjiang, had a total population of no more than 600,000, mainly composed of the four major surnames of Mo, Chen, Zhou, and Cai.

These four surnames continued to intermarry, forming a very complex ethnic network.

The surname Mo, in particular, is widely distributed in the Leizhou Peninsula and Hainan Island. Among the more than 600,000 people in Leizhou Prefecture, there are at least 110,000 to 120,000 people with the surname Mo.

These Mo family members are scattered everywhere and do not pose much threat to the government on a normal day. The worst that can happen is that they would just cause some rural fights.

But there is a prerequisite: you must never allow a leader to emerge among them who is recognized and respected by everyone. Once such a leader appears, the local area will be in big trouble.

It would be difficult for such a person to appear, but Mo Zibu suddenly appeared and possessed such ability.

This gave the Leizhou prefect a headache. With Mo Zibu around, he could mobilize the entire Mo family with just one order and could really rush into the Leizhou prefecture and beat him to death.

So, what else can we do? Turn a blind eye, pocket the money, and then find a way to run away.

"The Chen clan members from the three prefectures of Gao, Lei and Lian are here to pay us a visit!" Another burst of cannon fire was heard, and a team carrying various Chen clan flags came from afar.

In fact, the Chen and Mo families were not very close originally. There were many bloody fights between the two villages. Even within the Chen family, there were Hakka, Minnan, Native and other branches, and they were not very united.

But by the same token, after Mo Zibu came into being, the Chen and Mo families suddenly became closer, and at the same time, the Chen family also became closer internally.

All I can say is that it was reasonable for all dynasties to strictly prohibit local wealthy and powerful families. Especially in areas where clan concepts are quite strong, if a hero emerges from a family and has slightly bad intentions, it will become a disaster for the entire region.

Mo Zai De went out to greet them with a big laugh and started a cordial conversation with the patriarch elected by the Chen family. These two surnames accounted for almost half of the population of the entire Leizhou Prefecture. As long as they united, if they wanted to suppress them, they would have to transfer Green Camp soldiers from other provinces to fight them.

Mo Zihuang finally set foot on the land of his hometown. At that moment, for no reason, looking at the huge crowds of relatives and fellow villagers, he burst into tears and sobbed.

The Mo and Chen villagers gathered in Dongling Village also cried loudly when they saw Mo Zihuang wearing a dragon robe that extended to his shoulders, a net scarf on his hair, and a team of soldiers behind him wearing mandarin duck battle robes, vermilion lacquered helmets with the word "Yong" on them, and holding a red flag with a golden sun.

Many people followed the old patriarch's example and put their braids into their hats, with a look of shame on their faces.

Mo Zihuang was holding a nanmu box, which was tied with white silk cloth arranged like a flower.

"Brother, my grandmother is here. I will respect her wishes and send her back home to be buried with my great-grandfather."

The grandmother that Mo Zihuang mentioned was the mother of Mo Jiu, the founder of Hexian Port.

After Mo Jiu went to Southeast Asia, his mother fell ill due to missing him, so Mo Jiu took the risk of sending someone back to his hometown to take care of his mother in Hexian.

A hundred years later, Mo's mother left behind a will, hoping that one day she could be buried in her hometown and buried together with Mo Jiu's father, Mo Shiping, and his wife.

Therefore, in order to fulfill this wish, after Mo's mother passed away, Mo Jiu did not choose burial but cremated her to collect the ashes, and then never buried her.

Although Mo Zai De is almost seventy years old, he is indeed the elder brother of Mo Zihuang, who is less than fifty years old. After all, it is still too late for the latter to have children.

Mo Zai De quickly asked a man who looked somewhat honest to come forward. The man looked at Mo Zihuang and bowed, calling him uncle.

When Mo Jiu went south, he left behind a brother and three sisters on the mainland. The honest man who called him uncle was the descendant of Mo Jiu's elder brother.

Afterwards, Mo's mother's ashes were placed in the ancestral hall with a lion dance leading the way, waiting for an auspicious day for burial.

This is the treatment that capable descendants receive. A woman like Mo's mother can now enter the ancestral hall with dignity.

After that, Mo Zihuang entered the ancestral hall to worship his ancestors. He offered pigs, cattle and sheep as blood food to his ancestors, just like the ruler of a country.

The Mo clan members inside and outside the ancestral hall erupted in thunderous cheers. Ordinary, small families didn't have the right to sacrifice pigs, cattle, and goats to their ancestors. The Mo family was considered a relatively minor clan in later generations, with a population of only around two million. However, in western Guangdong, particularly on the Leizhou Peninsula and Hainan Island, it was a relatively prominent clan.

The ancestor of this branch of the Mo family is generally traced back to Mo Xuanqing, who was known as the number one scholar in Lingnan.

This man lived during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. Although his life story has been processed too much and seems a bit weird, he is undoubtedly a symbol of the Lingnan Mo family and even the people of Lingnan.

Not only the Mo family in Leizhou Peninsula and Hainan Island regard him as their ancestor, but also the Annan Mo family of Mo Tingzhi, the top scholar of the Chen Dynasty in Vietnam, regards him as their ancestor.

So, Mo Dengyong claimed to be a descendant of Mo Tingzhi, so the distance between them is not too far.

At this time, the Mo family had three main branches. One of them was the Mo family in Dongling Village where Mo Zibu was located. Their ancestor was Mo Xuanqing, who was considered a native Mo family.

The second group is the majority of people in Shentang Town. They are immigrants from Xianyou, Putian. Their ancestors served as officials in Leizhou during the Yuan Dynasty and gradually migrated here.

The third branch is the Mo family on Hainan Island. This branch also originated from Mo Xuanqing. The founder went to Hainan Island as an official in the Song Dynasty. By the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, he gradually became a chieftain and became a local official who controlled the local Li people.

In the Yuan Dynasty, he was granted the title of Thousand Households of Li Soldiers and became a chieftain of the Li ethnic group. His title was hereditary and he has become half-Li by now. He enjoys a very high prestige among the Li people on Hainan Island. That is why Mo Zai De specifically asked whether any relatives of the Thousand Households clan from Qiong Island had come.

The branch of Dongling Village to which Mo Zibu belongs is even more complicated. Their ancestors were centurions under He Zhen, the separatist leader who controlled Lingnan in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty.

He Zhen was unwilling to be Zhao Tuo, so after he surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Taizu felt that He Zhen had deep roots in the local area, so he made him the Earl of Dongguan and ordered him to recruit heroes from Lingnan. He got more than 10,600 people and went north together.

Mo Zibu's ancestors were among them. Later, they were arranged to serve as garrison troops around Nanjing to protect the capital. This is why Mo Zibu initially thought that their family was from Anhui.

Because some of his ancestors were born and raised in Anhui, so although it cannot be said that his ancestral home is in Anhui, he can be said to be from Caishiji, that is, Ma'anshan.

But later, He Zhen was ordered to assist Mu Ying in conquering Yunnan, and He Zhen's son was ordered to assist in the conquest of Annan, etc. The Mo family moved back with the army and continued to return to their ancestral homeland.

This is also the reason why Mo Zibu's family speaks Cantonese in western Guangdong, where most people speak Minnan dialect. This is because the Mo family can basically be regarded as natives of Lingnan. They lived in Lingnan before the Tang Dynasty. They are real Cantonese immigrants who made a living by following the Cantonese leader He Zhen. They are not Minnan people who came from Putian during the Song and Yuan Dynasties.

After worshipping their ancestors, the clan members outside began to attend the banquet, eating large chunks of meat and drinking large bowls of wine. Mo Zihuang entered the clan hall and discussed matters with the elders of the Mo, Chen, Zhou, Cai and other major families.

Mo Zihuang took out an ebony box with two brushes wrapped in red silk cloth inside. Mo Zihuang solemnly handed it to the patriarch of the Wuchuan Chen family.

The Wuchuan Chen family is the clan of Chen Shangchuan.

"This is a brush made from the hair of the Xingtang prince's 100th day old baby. The king and princess asked me to bring it to my uncle's family."

Ye Xiaomei still lost the competition with her cousin from the Chen family. The reason was not that she was not liked by Mo Zibu, but that she had given birth to two daughters in succession and could not compete.

When the head of the Chen family heard this, his face flushed with excitement and he insisted on kneeling down to take the two brushes. The other members of the Chen family were also all smiling happily.

"The king is the grandson of our Chen family, and he still remembers his uncle's family thousands of miles away. Don't worry, my Lord. From now on, as long as the king says a word, the uncle's children of our three prefectures of Gao, Lei and Lian will take up swords and guns to fight him against the Tartars."

These people, these extremely clique-like and xenophobic relatives in western Guangdong, were the foundation on which Chen Shangchuan was able to gain a foothold back then, and were also the reason why Mo Jiu, a seventeen-year-old boy, was able to have thousands of people follow him south to Southeast Asia.

"The king has prepared more than one million acres of land around the eastern capital of Annan. Any relatives of the Chen and Mo families who go there will be given 30 acres for men and 10 acres for women." Mo Zihuang continued.

Of course, Mo Zibu would not distribute all the land to the Annamites. Instead, he reserved the best 1.3 million acres of land, which was located around Hanoi and had convenient irrigation and fertile soil, for his own relatives.

These 300,000 mu of land are intended to house approximately 40,000 people, including at least 30,000 men.

With so much land, it is enough to support these clansmen to equip themselves with muskets, swords and guns, etc. They are the last insurance for Mo Zibu to ensure his own safety.

"Great! The king is truly one of our own!" The elders from each clan immediately erupted in enthusiastic cheers. Everyone knew how fertile the land in Annan's Eastern Capital was.

"We're not sending girls. What girls are we sending? We're sending all the able-bodied men. Count all the men who can fight. Give each man 30 mu of land. Let them go to Beihe and marry Han women from Annan to protect the king."

An elder of the clan proposed loudly, and immediately other elders began to agree.

"Yes, we will leave our own girls at home, and give the land to those who leave. Then we will recruit strong and well-behaved poor boys from northern Guangdong, Zhangzhou and Quanzhou to marry into our families. This way we will have a group of capable men."

"This is a good idea, this is a good idea!" Mo Zihuang nodded repeatedly after hearing it. It really made sense, and this was the way to do it.

Anyway, Beihe has been in chaos for decades, there are more women than men, and it is easy to find a wife. But in my hometown, it is difficult for the poor men in the village to find a wife.

"My Lord, has the King said what to do with our clansmen on Qiong Island? Should we raise an army now to drive out the Tartars?"

The Mo clan member who came from Li Bing Qianhu asked loudly, but he didn't really want to ask what to do, but wanted to ask what benefits Mo Zibu would give them.

Because settling in Hanoi has limited appeal to the clan members who have already become half-Li people and become local chieftains.

"Don't worry, please ask the relatives of the Li Bing Qianhu to prepare for us to recruit Li soldiers, especially to control the Changhua River area. Your Majesty has heard that there are copper and iron mines there, which will be useful in the future.

As for my clan members, the king has decided that after we succeed, we will set up garrison posts of a thousand households in Le'an, Yazhou, Lingshui, and Wanzhou, and let my clan members stay here permanently."

If industrialization is to be achieved, it is impossible not to find the Shilu Iron Mine, because the Shilu Iron Mine is not only an extremely rare rich iron ore in China, but also has the Changhua River as a waterway to the sea, making it very suitable for mining.

At the same time, the Shilu Iron Mine had not been discovered at this time. Even the name Shilu was given after its discovery. Therefore, local relatives had to survey the mine first and then start digging after finding the location.

It sounds like he is the garrison commander, but he is most likely a hereditary local official. The relatives of Li Bing Qianhu were also satisfied and laughed as they expressed their loyalty to Mo Zihuang to Mo Zibu.

Afterwards, Mo Zihuang stayed in Leizhou for more than ten days. After winning over the relatives of the Mo and Chen families, he also offered a lot of gifts to win over the Zhou, Cai and other big families.

During this period, they also transported 900 flintlock rifles, more than 20,000 swords and guns, and 1,000 sets of various armors captured from the Beihe soldiers. They began to frantically arm the clansmen throughout western Guangdong in preparation for the future conquest of Guangdong and Guangxi.

Especially the relatives on Hainan Island. After they got weapons, they went back and mobilized the Li people to make trouble with them. The Qing Dynasty’s garrison on Hainan Island could not withstand them at all.

At the very least, the Shilu Iron Mine will be stable in the future, which will be a great help to the industrial development of Beihe.

(End of this chapter)