The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 374 Everything is ready, wholeheartedly support

Ascending the throne and becoming emperor is not an easy task, unless you are willing to set up a makeshift team, just like what Wu Sangui did in Hengyang.

As for Mo Zibu, he was unwilling to set up a makeshift troupe in Guangnan, let alone in Guangzhou.

Moreover, he had a relatively advantageous position, that is, if an ordinary person wanted to proclaim himself emperor in Guangzhou, no matter how grand the ceremony was, it would still be a makeshift team.

Because you only have Lingnan, it is really a joke to declare yourself emperor.

Fortunately, in addition to Guangdong, Mozibu also owned the whole of Annam, most of Cambodia, almost half of the Annam Peninsula (Malay Peninsula), as well as the western part of Borneo and the Greater Tanah Ratan area where Tanah Ratan is located.

In terms of area, Annam is about 330,000 square kilometers, Cambodia is 180,000 square kilometers, Andai region is 150,000 square kilometers, and Gia Sai Province is about 130,000 square kilometers.

All of this adds up to about 790,000 square kilometers, and the Greater Guangdong at that time, which included the later Hainan Province, Qinzhou, Guangxi and Beihai, was less than 250,000 square kilometers.

If you add up all of Mo Zibu's territories, it would be a full 1.04 million square kilometers. Even in the world, it would be considered a big country. Even if it were to become an emperor, there would be nothing wrong with it.

Even with a large enough scale, Mo Zibu still needs the support of everyone.

Since returning to Guangzhou at the end of June, Mo Zibu began to meet with all kinds of people in Guangdong.

. . . .

Guangzhou, the former office of the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi.

This mansion was originally the palace of Emperor Shaowu Zhu Youlang. After Shang Kexi massacred Guangzhou, it became the Pingnan Palace of the Shang family.

After the Three Feudatories Rebellion, the direct descendants of the Shang family moved north. After the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi moved from Zhaoqing to Guangzhou, this place became the office of the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi.

Mo Zibu sat in the middle of the hall, looking to the left and right. A group of gang leaders were looking at him flatteringly.

Mo Zibu took a quick look and found that not only the leaders of the city foxes and rats from the east, west, south and north districts in and outside Guangzhou had come, but also the leaders of the mountain bandits and river robbers from the three main water systems of the Pearl River, namely the West River, the North River and the East River, were there.

These dozens of guys were wearing all kinds of strange costumes, some of them even wore opera robes. Most of them had fat faces and spoke in a vulgar manner. They didn't look like good people at first glance.

But the Xingtang Army can now control most of Guangdong. They have contributed at least half of the effort and are the cornerstone of stabilizing public security in various places.

More importantly, they are Mo Zibu's natural companions, because they are all heroes who are fighting against the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty. Only if these guys are righteous, Mo Zibu will also be righteous.

The secret societies, which generally refer to the Tiandihui, Hongmen, and Hanliu, are not limited to Guangdong. Southern Fujian is the largest birthplace and has extremely deep roots.

It is not difficult for Mo Zibu to take Fujian now, but if he wants to destroy Fujian on a large scale, he still needs these people to take action.

At the same time, thanks to the strong ability of Fujian and Guangdong people to migrate, the secret societies are also very powerful in Hunan, Hubei, Zhejiang and Sichuan, especially Hunan and Sichuan.

From Changsha to the south, there are a large number of Tiandihui members in Hunan. Most of them are responsible for transporting Hunan's goods that can be traded and grain to Guangdong, so they also have to join the Tiandihui and obtain acceptance from the Guangdong and Guangxi parties.

The Gelaohui in Sichuan also appeared a long time ago. It originated from the Hakka people who came to Sichuan during the period of migration from Huguang and brought their organizational methods with them.

After the Manchus reduced Sichuan to a massacre, the remaining Sichuanese and a small number of remnants of the Western Army and Shun Army accepted this form of organization, and gradually formed a secret society with Sichuan characteristics.

Although they have not yet grown to the level of the late Qing Dynasty where they could not move a single step along the Yangtze River without the support of the Pao brothers of the Gelaohui, their influence is still considerable.

Finally, because of their own opposition to the Qing Dynasty, these secret society members can easily infiltrate the various White Lotus branches that are popular in the north, which is also very beneficial to Mo Zibu.

Thinking of this, Mo Zibu had to pretend to be very rough and tumble. "Now that we're in the palace, don't treat yourselves as outsiders. I've asked the imperial kitchen to prepare some food. We won't leave until we're drunk."

In order to cater to the appreciation level of these vulgar guys, Mo Zibu even said words like royal palace and imperial kitchen.

Of course, the effect was very good, and the gang leaders were obviously relieved.

Big pieces of meat, big ducks, and big bowls of wine.

This severely shattered the stereotype that Cantonese people couldn't eat spicy food or drink alcohol that Mo Zibu had before he traveled through time. These guys were so good at drinking that even Mo Zibu couldn't handle it. Of course, they were also completely drunk.

The next morning, Mo Zibu forced himself to get up. As soon as he walked out of the palace, he saw a group of people kneeling outside the door. They were the big guys who had partied with him yesterday.

These guys were all wilted, and Li Xianwen and Huang Zhongtong were teaching them a lesson.

Seeing Mo Zibu come out, Li Xianwen fell to his knees and cried out in tears, "Your Majesty, you dote on them too much. Do you know what they did?"

"They actually ran to sleep on your dragon bed."

What a bullshit dragon bed! It’s just a guest room in the Governor-General’s Office of Guangdong and Guangxi. In the past, even the minor clerks in the Governor-General’s Office could sleep on it.

"He also molested the palace maids and defiled the harem!"

Well, this one is a little more serious, but it's just a bit of flirting and some frivolous behavior.

Moreover, these so-called palace maids were nothing more than the palace maids of the former Beihe Li and Zheng families brought by Mo Zibu from Annan. Mo Zibu had no intention of using them and was about to dismiss them.

Thanks to the brutal rule of the Qing Dynasty, these secret society leaders' fear of the regime was deeply rooted in their bones.

When they thought about how they had not only slept in the dragon bed last night but also defiled the harem, they were terrified and kowtowed to the ground one after another.

At the same time, they felt so miserable that they wanted to die when they thought about doing such a foolish thing when they were about to be rewarded for their merits and get great benefits.

"Forget it!" Mo Zibu pretended to think for a moment, then waved his hand. "We're all brothers. Just don't do this next time."

But Li Xianwen was like a firecracker. He stepped forward and said loudly: "Without rules, there will be no order. The king is about to ascend the throne. They are the ministers and the king is the king. How can we be brothers?

If Your Majesty does not punish them now, you will harm them tomorrow. Today's punishment is just exile to Jiaxi Road and Dancheng Prefecture, but future punishments will inevitably result in the loss of their heads."

Li Xianwen's words scared the group of bigwigs out of their wits, and some of them even began to look at Li Xianwen with resentment.

You are so good, Li Shanzhang. The king said that he could forgive us, but you still want us to die, right? Mo Zibu waved his hand firmly, "This is just this once, it will not happen again. Brother-in-law, there is no need to say anything more."

As soon as these words were spoken, all the bigwigs immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Xianwen was stunned for a moment, then angrily looked at the group of people on the ground, "You really have no rules. If you were in the Qing court, your whole family would have their heads chopped off!"

Then he turned to Mo Zibu and said, "Since the king has even called me brother-in-law for their sake, I will not say anything else. You can forgive me this time, but the hierarchy must be established."

Hearing that Li Xianwen's attitude had softened, the leaders kowtowed on the ground as if they had been pardoned, and shouted: "We understand, and we will never dare to do it again. Please forgive us, Your Majesty."

"Get up, get up, get up quickly!" Mo Zibu held his hands up, "Since you admit your mistakes, then this matter is over. You have also made many contributions over the years, so today is a good day to reckon with them all."

As he spoke, Mo Zibu took the initiative to lead these people into the hall.

What do these people say? Since Mo Zibu sent Huang Zhongtong to the mainland five years ago, Kunlun Mountain has gradually unified the secret societies in Guangdong.

In the past five years, they have done a lot of things, including spying, assassinating important figures, and promoting anti-Qing ideas, and their contributions are indeed not small.

But the main reason why Mo Zibu wanted to act with Li Xianwen was that these people in the underworld were too unruly.

Mo Zibu entered Guangzhou, and local governance had not yet been arranged, but they dared to bring thirty or fifty brothers to occupy the county town and become county lords, which made Mo Zibu very angry.

You said that we should punish them directly, but I really can't do it. But if you don't punish them, then I, King Mo, will be working for them.

So Li Xianwen had to work hard to cooperate, but Mo Zibu still looked at Li Xianwen with admiration. His sworn brother and brother-in-law was a really good person.

Li Xianwen could have chosen a gentler approach to play a double act with Mo Zibu, but he still chose to use force by involving Huang Zhongtong.

As a result, the following he had gained over the past year immediately faded a lot.

He is not afraid of power and knows when to advance and retreat. He is worthy of being praised as the number one military honor.

Li Xianwen in history was such a person. He knew when to advance and when to retreat. Ruan Fuying and Ruan Xiaoqiang, who were always stingy and liked to eliminate meritorious officials after their achievements, still missed Li Xianwen after his death and called him a true important minister.

When they arrived at the hall, Mo Zibu gave them three choices.

"First, I want to follow the Ming Dynasty system and establish the Jinyiwei to spy on intelligence and assassinate Tartar generals.

Secondly, you are all my brothers and sisters, and those who are willing to be the emperor's guards and make a fortune on the battlefield will be given priority.

Thirdly, I am ready to develop industry in Beihe. This is a business that is sure to make money. If you are willing to invest after being rewarded according to your merits, your descendants will definitely benefit.

After you go down today, discuss it with the brothers below. No matter which one you choose, you won't regret it later."

Everyone then understood that King Ren De was going to take their power, but the conditions he offered were still good.

It's time to quit now. The benefits are huge. If they don't stop, they may be charged with crimes such as sleeping in the dragon bed overnight.

After seeing these gang leaders leave, Li Xianwen approached with some concern and asked:

"Does Your Majesty really want to rebuild the Imperial Guard? If the Imperial Guards are still staffed entirely by members of secret societies, there's no guarantee that a few Ji Gangs won't appear."

Mo Zibu shook his head. "Don't worry, second brother. We won't rebuild it completely according to the Jinyiwei organization. The world is in a turbulent time these days. How can we just follow the old system?"

Mo Zibu didn't tell Li Xianwen in detail because he hadn't made up his mind yet.

But this is an era of global hegemony. If the power of spies is still in the hands of a Jinyiwei commander as before, God knows what kind of monster will be nurtured.

Mo Zibu's idea was to disperse the powers of the secret service department among several agencies.

For example, the economic aspect was established by him, and is currently only in the hands of the Fuxing Company of Jiaxidao Mobile Counter. Internal supervision is done by one department, and external spying is done by another department.

It's pretty much the same set you see in later generations' A-mei, with just a few differences in details.

After dealing with the problem of secret society leaders occupying prefectures and counties, Mo Zibu immediately summoned the Hakka talent Song Xiang and the decisive Jiaying Prefecture magistrate Chen Renmao, and asked them to immediately start identifying and mobilizing Guangdong candidates to participate in the imperial examination for King Mo.

It would be funny if the imperial examination was held and few people came to take the exam.

For Mo Zibu, the current governance of Guangdong still depends on these Confucian scholars. Although they have some flaws and need to be reformed, that is a matter for the future.

In this Qing Dynasty, where the people are largely illiterate, Mo Zibu can't find many alternative classes. If you don't rely on them to govern now, I'm afraid you won't be able to govern at all. You can only let them fill in the gaps temporarily.

In early July, Mo Zibu's mother Chen, Queen Zheng Shishi and others, under the escort of the naval fleet, headed north to Guangzhou together with the republican parliamentarians of Xing Tang.

At the same time, the elders of the village in western Guangdong also arrived in Guangzhou under the leadership of Mo Zihuang.

The most important thing was that Mo Zi Bu's father-in-law, representing the Chaozhou people, King Taksin of Thonburi, ordered Prime Minister Taksin to take the Crown Prince Taksin on a Siamese warship north to Guangzhou.

This indicated that Zheng Xin chose to express his support for Mo Zibu at the last moment.

At this point, all the conditions for Mo Zibu to become emperor were met.

On July 10, except for Shaozhou, Lianzhou, Nanxiong and other prefectures in northern Guangdong, representatives of gentry from all over Guangdong gathered in Guangzhou. Even some Li chieftains from Hainan Island and Zhuang, Miao and Yao chieftains from Guangxi came.

They surrounded the former Guangdong and Guangxi Governor's Office, which served as a temporary palace, and began to plead, begging Mo Zibu to ascend the throne in Chengtian.

Because the old Cantonese people know very well that regardless of the benefits now, they have been rebelling for years and their ancestors fought to the death with the Qing Dynasty.

If the rebellion of Mo Zibu, a Cantonese, was suppressed by the Qing Dynasty, would it be good for them if the Qing Dynasty returned to Guangdong?

Everyone in Guangdong must be killed!
So they had no choice but to support Mo Zibu.

(End of this chapter)