The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 384: Even in Nanyang
Penang Island, where Penang Port is located, was originally called Pengjiashan Island. This was the name given by Fei Xin, an important interpreter to the eunuch Sanbao.

But Lin Tonghuo didn't like it, and his surname was not Peng, so he changed the name Bangka, which the locals called, to Penang Port.

The center of Penang Island is naturally Penang City, which is not only the stronghold of Lim Tong Huo, but also the closest stronghold of Dayu to Java Island.

However, Penang Island was not completely controlled by Lin Tonghuo. He only controlled the central part of the island. Wen Island in the north and Gaomu in the south were both under the control of the Dutch.

Moreover, Lin Tonghuo was a latecomer. He was specially placed by Mo Zibu. For this reason, the Xingtang Navy even had a small battle with the Dutch East India Company Navy.

Because Penang Island is currently the world's largest tin producing area, it has been one of the world's major tin production areas throughout history until the 21st century.

The tin ore currently produced here is almost equivalent to 80% of Dayu’s total tin production in Southeast Asia. If Lin Tonghuo really completely controls Penang Island, he will at least start as a marquis and will definitely not be just a viscount.

Seeing the victorious team returning, the soldiers at the city gate immediately cheered. Soon, all the Chinese men and women, especially the children in the city ran out. They greeted their fathers and brothers, chattering and asking all kinds of questions.

Penang Port City is not big, with a total population of only about a thousand people. The city is only surrounded by wooden fences to prevent poisonous snakes and crocodiles.

But even such a castle was not considered too small in Southeast Asia at that time.

Seeing dozens of children laughing and running around in the team, Lin Tonghuo couldn't suppress the smile on his face. Having children means that someone has settled here. With children, his family business can continue.

"Sir, Sultan Muhammad Bahauddin of Palembang has sent people again, claiming that our presence in Penang Port is illegal without his permission." Lin Tonghuo had just returned when the remaining Xuanwei Tongzhi came over and said.

The three positions of Xuanwei Shi, Xuanwei Fu Shi, and Xuanwei Tongzhi were official positions set up under the Xuanwei Shisi and had to be appointed by the court.

This means that Dayu’s governance in Southeast Asia is currently taking two approaches.

All issues in the territory, except those concerning the Chinese, were handled autonomously by the nobility, but at the national level, diplomacy, declaration of ceasefires, and the governance and management of the Chinese were controlled by the imperial court.

In other words, to be granted a title, in addition to his own title, he must also hold an official position in the imperial court.

For example, Lin Tonghuo must serve as the Penang and Hong Kong Envoy in order to have full management authority.

As for smaller titles, there was no title at all, only court official positions such as Xuanweishi and Zhenshoushi.

Because of the importance of Penang Port, the imperial court specially appointed a Xuanwei Tongzhi to serve as Lin Tonghuo's deputy.

"Damn it, let him go back to where he came from. Do you think I'm Dutch?" Lin Tonghuo cursed with contempt.

"Damn Palembang Sultan! This place was originally the location of the Palembang envoy of the Ming Dynasty. Not to mention Penang Island, Palembang is all owned by us Han Chinese. I haven't even charged him with the crime of encroaching on my Dayu territory!"

The Tongzhi laughed. He knew that the biggest wish of this Penang man was to swallow up the Sultan of Palembang and become the Marquis of Palembang, or at least the Earl of Palembang.

"Telling him to get out would be too easy for him. I will have the guards whip Bahadin's envoy and have him kicked out."

Lin Tonghuo also laughed, "You, Old Fang, are the most cautious. You've already sent people to take action. There must be news from the court."

What Lin Tonghuo said makes sense, because the Sultan of Palembang is not a soft persimmon and has more than 300,000 people under his rule.

Although the tribal system was still used and human and financial resources were scattered among several large tribes, they still had a certain mobilization capability because they had the Muslim religion as a glue.

Sultan Muhammad Bahauddin of Palembang had a guard of seven or eight hundred people, and could mobilize three or four thousand people in an emergency. They were equipped with three or four hundred flintlock rifles, and most of them were iron weapons.

There were also several small sloops donated by British troublemakers, with several old six-pound naval guns. They were considered to be the more capable natives of Indonesia in later generations. The Dutch East India Company tried to take them down several times but failed.

Lin Tonghuo had thirty samurai, two hundred contract soldiers, and more than a thousand Chinese farmers. In an emergency, he could mobilize three or four hundred people, with a total force of nearly seven hundred people. He also had three or four hundred flintlock rifles, several small-caliber naval guns and a black warship.

The Sultan of Palembang has the advantage of having more people, while the Chinese have the advantage of strong fighting ability, so the two sides are evenly matched with the Chinese being slightly at a disadvantage.

Therefore, when they wanted to capture miners, they would rather go to the farther land of the Sultan of Jambi than to come into conflict with the Sultan of Palembang.

"Someone is here, General, the Dancheng Envoy Huang will arrive the day after tomorrow and has a secret order for you, my Lord!"
The Mr. Huang mentioned by the Tongzhi is Huang Zhen, who has been guarding the original Dadanshalin area, now called Dancheng Prefecture.

This person was no ordinary person. He was originally a noble of Siam, known as Luang Jin. He could be considered one of the emperor's attendants. Even his life was saved by the emperor from Ayutthaya.

During these ten years, he has been guarding Dancheng, and twice refused the emperor's offer of nobility, vowing to guard this place for the emperor.

Seeing that Lin Tonghuo still didn't understand, the Tongzhi leaned over and whispered in his ear, "The wife of the General Guarding the Nation has finally given birth to a daughter. She's said to be fair and very lovely. She was born weighing over seven kilograms and is very healthy. Your Majesty's eldest brother, the Duke of Qiong, has already come to see her on behalf of the royal family."

Lin Tonghuo finally understood that General Huang Zhen was certainly not a saint. He refused the emperor's appointment twice, one reason being to repay the emperor for saving his life and cultivating him.

Second, Dancheng is too big. Even if the emperor conferred the title on him, it would be impossible to give him the entire Dancheng.

So Huang Zhen changed his approach. He hoped to hand over Dancheng to his son-in-law. Of course, this son-in-law must be a prince.

With a prince in charge, at least a grand duchy can be granted, and Dancheng will basically not be divided up.

Huang Zhen’s sons could also be granted titles or become officials and become important members of the royal family. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

If you want to marry a daughter to a prince, a daughter born to a Siamese or Mon concubine would definitely not be qualified.

So Huang Zhen and his wife, who were almost seventy years old in total, were still trying hard to have a child. After giving birth to three sons, they finally gave birth to a daughter.

With his daughter, Lord Huang Zhenhuang became more determined to do things. He was finally going to leave Dan City and take on the task assigned to him and Luo Fangbai by His Majesty, which was to make full preparations for the complete capture of Batavia.

Lin Tonghuo laughed and said, "Since the general is coming, I feel relieved. I also have something to report."

. . . .

A few days later, Huang Zhen arrived secretly in Penang, and Lin Tonghuo went to greet him respectfully. Huang Zhen was not only the general who defended the country and the governor of Dancheng, but he also had another identity: he was one of the six dukes of the Republican Parliament.

This is equivalent to a major standing committee in later generations, who is specifically responsible for the work of the Andai Provincial Parliament and has the right to organize the republican elders and republican parliamentarians of Andai Province to hold an extraordinary meeting to coordinate the development and conflicts between the vassals of Andai Province and large companies.

Both Penang Port and Kecheng belong to the province of Andai, so not only did Lin Tonghuo come to greet them respectfully, but Ye Xiancai, a man from Kecheng who rarely goes out, also came to Penang Port in a wheelchair to greet them.

Huang Zhen is not tall. To be precise, he is not a Chinese who went to Southeast Asia in recent decades. His ancestors came to Siam from Chaozhou during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. He is a genuine Siamese paternal lineage Nazhen.

"Your Majesty has ordered me here. There is an urgent matter that requires your cooperation." Huang Zhen said seriously:

"Since Dayu recaptured Guangdong, the tin ore trade with the Qing Dynasty has basically come to a halt, and the demand for tin ore has dropped significantly. Naturally, we have to prioritize ensuring that our tin mines can ship goods.

Therefore, the Dutch will tighten their purchase of tin ore in Penang Island, Perak and Selangor, and among these three places, Penang has the largest tin production.

Mr. Lin, you must continue to closely monitor the movements of the Dutch in Wendao and Takagi. They have suffered such a heavy loss this time, it is hard to guarantee that they will not make some small moves or even contact the Qing Dynasty.

Baron Ye, you too need to keep a close eye on the Dutch's movements and be ready to deal with any emergency at any time. Once the fiefdom of Pengangzi is attacked, you must ensure that you will provide assistance within two days.

At the same time, continue to maintain contact with Jiaqing's Governor, Jiaqing Admiral, and Jiaxi Prefect Luo. He can support you two more conveniently than An Dai's vassal. "

As soon as Huang Zhen finished speaking, others didn't react, but young Ye Mingyue just felt that he had re-recognized the world.

It turned out that his father, Baron Kecheng, and his uncle, Viscount Bingang, were not granted titles here casually, but were specially arranged by His Majesty the Emperor.

The purpose was to drive a nail into the Dutch's most important tin mining area, monitor the Dutch's every move, and even serve as a pioneer in the future occupation of Batavia.

"Sir, with the strength of our two families, we can easily deal with the Palembang Sultan. However, recently the Dutch have been inciting the Jambi Sultan, the Bangal Sultan of Kaqing Island (Kalimantan), and many indigenous people to be hostile to us."

Ye Xiancai said in a low voice, his eyes a little gloomy, obviously he felt the pressure from the Dutch.

“The most important thing is that if the Dutch were to go all out and deploy the army in Batavia, we would not be able to resist.

Penang and Tanjung have a population of 3,000 to 4,000 Chinese. Losing our two countries is not a big deal, but these compatriots must not be harmed," Lin Tonghuo continued.

Huang Zhen nodded, "Don't worry about this, His Majesty has already made arrangements. Recently, the Xing Tang Army on the mainland is fighting the Qing Dynasty in southern Jiangxi, and it is said that they have made good gains.

Your Majesty is planning to recruit another group of Hakka people from southern Jiangxi to come south. We will also select the strongest Green Camp soldiers captured in southern Jiangxi to provide you with supplies. We estimate there will be around a thousand of them. Their salaries will all be covered by the Fuxing Company, so you don't have to worry about them.

Lin Tonghuo nodded and said, "If we can get another thousand soldiers and a certain number of Hakka civilians to reinforce us, our foothold will be more stable.

But Mr. Huang, what use are these Green Camp soldiers? Do they really have the guts to fight the Dutch? "

Huang Zhen laughed, "Do you think they can still enjoy the treatment of Chinese people when they go to Southeast Asia?

They have to fight for it with their lives. Once they arrive in Southeast Asia, if they don't want to be driven out of the Chinese circle and have to eat raw meat and drink blood with the natives, they have to rely on their real abilities.

After all, they are a disciplined army. Even if they only drill once every ten days, they will still be more familiar with muskets and battle formations than ordinary people. If you reward and punish them appropriately, they will be more useful than ordinary young men."

Lin Tonghuo thought about it and it made sense. If you don’t want to become a native or hang out with the red-haired people in Southeast Asia, you can’t just act like a bad person like you did on the mainland.

It is true that there is no need to starve in Nanyang and the future is not bad, but the only bad thing is that you have to constantly play tricks and fight with the natives and the Taixi people.

Anyone who really wants to lie down here will die without knowing how.

. . . .

Huang Zhen came quickly and left quickly because he couldn't let the Dutch be alert. As soon as he left, Lin Tonghuo looked at Ye Mingyue and laughed.

"You understand now, kid. Your father and I are both protected by the Emperor, so don't be afraid. Hurry up and prepare. Get more people here. You never know if you'll become an earl, a marquis, or even a duke in the future."

"You bastard, you are the one who would bring disaster to my son." Ye Xiancai cursed very unhappily.

"My son is a graduate of the Imperial College in Paris. He plans to be a high-ranking official in the imperial court in the future. If you let him get involved in something like this, how can he still work in the imperial court in the future?"

"But..." Lin Tonghuo spread his hands, "Migrate tens of thousands of people a year, and go to Korea and Japan. Not everyone can do this!
Neither you nor I have the ability, and my son is still young. If I don't let my nephew do it, who should I let do it?"

"Then you have to marry your eldest daughter to my son." Ye Xiancai suddenly said.

Lin Tonghuo's eldest daughter is fourteen years old and is currently in mainland China. She was born in Houguan Lin family. After she became rich, Houguan Lin family took the initiative to recognize her and placed the tablets of her father and grandfather in the ancestral hall. Their daughter was also sent to the eldest branch of Lin family to receive education.

This is no ordinary education. In the Houguan Lin family's era, as a family of scholars and officials, the eldest son's daughter was deliberately taught not to learn music, chess, calligraphy or painting.

Instead, you need to learn how to control a large family, including personnel, finance and other means.

In today's world, women are basically appendages of men. In such an environment, having a hostess in the inner house who understands personnel management, financial planning, and can educate the next generation is simply the most capable helper for a title holder and the patriarch of a large family.

"Fuck you!" Lin Tonghuo glared at Ye Xiancai with gritted teeth, "You old dog, you've been thinking about this for a long time, haven't you?"

"Father, father." Lin Tonghuo was a little unwilling. He was planning to train his daughter to marry her to be the mistress of a vassal family of an earl like Songcheng or Jeddah, but he really couldn't bear to give up this once-in-a-lifetime development opportunity.

Moreover, Lin Tonghuo understood that this kind of thing, that is, deceiving people from Zhili, Shandong, and Lianghuai to go to Southeast Asia, although it was not against the law at present, was still somewhat taboo.

Without someone who is very capable and knows how to act in moderation, you can definitely make money and expand your territory, but it is not worth it if you become hated by the emperor and ruin your reputation.

"Okay! I promise you, fuck you!" Lin Tonghuo felt more and more uncomfortable the more he thought about it, and cursed out loud.

　I often receive comments from book friends saying that the protagonist is too compromising to a certain group and that the Nanyang policy is too soft. Well, we have to consider the current situation. Tiger is actually on the verge of not being able to write anymore. We can't let the book run dry. Some places feel a little weak, so let's make up for it.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)