The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 417: Dawn of Thonburi
Thonburi, Wat Arun.

Amidst the smoke, bursts of Buddhist chanting could be heard. Dozens of monks, centered around a man in a golden robe, were chanting scriptures continuously.

And this man was none other than Taksin, King of the Thonburi Dynasty of Siam.

"Master, thank you for your blessings. I feel that my Buddhist practice has improved. This makes me believe even more that my soul must be a manifestation of the future Buddha."

After saying this, Taksin changed out of his golden monk robe and put on the clothes of a king in the world. He walked towards the Grand Palace in Thonburi City under the escort of his nephew Taksin Congli (Chao Narasoriyawong) and fifty royal guards.

Taksin, who is 45 years old this year, has not lived a happy life in recent years. Compared with the history when he independently saved Siam, in this time and space, his limelight was completely overshadowed by his son-in-law Mo Zi Bu.

Many people even say that Taksin was able to drive out the Burmese and establish the Thonburi Dynasty all because he had a good son-in-law.

For a proud person like Zheng Xin, this statement was totally unacceptable to him.

What made Zheng Xin even more depressed was that the emergence of Mo Zi Bu blocked Siam's expansion space to the Malay Peninsula in the south and Cambodia and Laos in the east.

Although after negotiations, Mo Chit-un gave Lower Burma except the Greater Tanah Ratan area to Siam, Taksin found that he had been deceived.

Because Lower Burma has never been Siam's traditional sphere of influence, the Burmese in Lower Burma are very resistant to Siamese rule.

The thirteen Karen tribes of the Mon people were won over by Mo Zi Bu who had appointed a large number of lords (the Three Marquises of Lower Burma) in advance.

The result was that Taksin spent a lot of manpower and resources, but still could not deal with Burma unless he was willing to leave Thonburi and guard it personally.

However, due to his status as a second-generation Chinese, Taksin could not leave Thonburi and go to Lower Burma. If he did so, he might even lose his homeland.

Upon returning to the palace, the court attendant immediately brought two important reports, "Your Majesty, a messenger from Mr. Warren Hastings, the Governor-General of India, has delivered the final notice.

If Siam still refuses to promise not to attack India from Lower Burma, they will treat Siam as an enemy country."

"Pounce!" Even though Zheng Xin had just come out of the temple and finished chanting, he couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Anyone can act so unruly in front of me? If I don't respond, I'll see what tricks the English can play!"

"Your Majesty, Chao Phraya Chakri has sent another memorial, requesting to come to Thonburi in person to celebrate your birthday."

Taksin was silent for a moment. He had very complicated feelings towards Chao Phraya Chakri, also known as Thong.

Zheng Xin knew that the influx of a large number of Chinese into Siam in recent years had caused the status of Thai people in Siam to decline rapidly.

The solution proposed by Taksin was to let the Thais who felt that their status had been lowered follow Tong to Lower Burma. For this, Taksin gave them a large amount of supplies and conferred many titles on them, and even all of them were Chao Phraya.

But soon, Taksin felt something was not right because he received many reports that Tong was not trying his best to suppress the Burmese in Lower Burma. Instead, he was making peace with the Burmese king Mengyun, as if he wanted to establish another Siam in Lower Burma.

or..

Zheng Xin shook his head. Tong's mother's Chinese name was Du Yu (literally, it could also be Du Jinhua, the information has been hidden and is no longer clear). She was born in the family of the president of the Quanzhou Association in Dacheng.

The two grew up together and have a very deep relationship. Although they have been a little distant over the years, he shouldn't be the one to completely betray me.

"Let him stay in Toungoo City and don't come back. I have already received his loyalty."

After thinking about it, Zheng Xin decided not to let Tong come back, because Zheng Xin also felt that the dissatisfaction of the Thai people below was increasing, and the leader of these dissatisfied people was the family of Tong's relative Wen Na.

The ancestors of the Wenna family came from Persia. One hundred and eighty years ago, the Persian merchant Sheikh Ahmad moved to Siam. His descendants became lords of the Phetchaburi area and converted to Theravada Buddhism.

Wenna married Tong's sister-in-law, a Siamese noblewoman named Nuan, and the two had a very close relationship.

Zheng Xin is currently hesitating whether to arrest the Wenna family, so he naturally will not let Tong come back at this time.

After making two quick decisions, Zheng Xin walked into the palace. His wife Wu Xuan was reading a letter with a frown on her face.

"Shishi still hasn't gotten pregnant. I originally thought that Wu Qian's son would provide some security for Shishi, but now it seems that it's still not enough."

Wu Xuan looked at Zheng Xin and said, "King, it would be very dangerous for our Chinese queen to have no son. Shishi needs your support as a father."

Mentioning this, Zheng Xin became even more annoyed. Even if the son born by Wu Qian, the concubine, could become the future crown prince of Dayu, he would still feel uncomfortable, after all, he was not his grandson.

At this time, a small figure flashed outside the door. This was Zheng Xin’s eighth daughter, thirteen years old this year. Her Siamese title was Chao Suwan and her Chinese name was Zheng Susu.

Wu Xuan's expression suddenly became unnatural again. Zheng Susu's mother was the daughter of Chen Sen, a wealthy Chinese businessman.

In the 1767nd year of the Qianlong reign (), when Taksin was established in Rayong Prefecture, Chen Sen came to place bets and had a good relationship with Mo Zi Bu.

With such a close relationship, Zheng Xin was of course willing, but Wu Xuan was not so happy about it. It would be better to train the son born to concubine Wu Qian well.

"Your Majesty!" The two men and women were still arguing when a eunuch ran over in panic and shouted miserably, "Zhao Hua Qin Ai is in danger. The baby came out feet first!" Zheng Xin was so scared that his whole body went numb and he ran towards Zhao Hua Qin Ai's bedroom.

Not only Zheng Xin was panicked, but Queen Wu Xuan was also frightened.

Because Zhaohua Qin'ai was none other than Tong's daughter, the Princess Daqi in history.

When Zheng Xin rushed to the door of Zhaohua Qinai's palace, he heard bursts of shrill and painful crying from inside. A palace maid fell to the ground in tears and said to Zheng Xin:
"Your Majesty, the doctors saved the prince, but Zhaohua Qin'ai has passed away at the call of the Buddha."

Zheng Xin shook himself twice when he heard this, tears streaming down his face. This was his favorite concubine. Because Princess Daqi was not only beautiful, but he also watched her grow up.

For some people, it may be difficult to accept that he marries the most beautiful daughter of his childhood friend after becoming successful.

But for some people, this is the biggest proof of his success. Otherwise, why would a childhood friend be willing to marry his daughter to you?

Taksin is the latter. The death of Queen Daqi in history dealt a huge blow to Taksin. From then on, he became somewhat tyrannical and cruel, and his mental state was extremely poor.

It is not known whether it was out of a compensatory mentality in history, but after the death of Queen Daqi, Taksin married one of his daughters to Tong and gave Tong the highest level of trust.

"Bring back the messenger and have Chao Phraya Chakri come to Thonburi. He deserves to know this bad news!"

. . . .

"No!" In Toungoo City, Chao Phraya Chakri, also known as Tong, woke up from a nightmare.

He dreamed of a very terrifying scene. Countless giant demons came out of the fog and killed all his family members one by one.

After a scream, Tong took out his pocket watch and took a look, only to find that it was almost seven o'clock in the evening. He felt that he had only slept for a short while, but he didn't expect that three or four hours had passed.

"Brother, I'm back." Tong put on his clothes and just walked out the door when he ran into his younger brother Chu Zhi who was probably looking for him.

"What did the Burmese king say?" Tong forced himself to calm down and put aside the strange images in his mind. "What did the English say?"

Chu Zhi was very excited. "Not only are the English here, but the Qing Empire in the north has also sent envoys."

Chu Zhi made a huge circle with his hands, indicating that there were a lot of things, and said, "The Qing Dynasty and England are very supportive of us.

The English will send no fewer than twenty frigates to join us.

The Qing Empire is willing to spend 100,000 taels of silver to help us purchase 10,000 flintlock rifles and 30 cannons from the English."

"Oh, and the Dutch. The Dutch Governor-General's envoy in Batavia also promised that as long as we take Thonburi, they will immediately send troops to support us."

Chu Zhi was very excited, but Tong was also frightened the more he listened. "Why are they willing to provide guns and cannons? Aren't they planning to send out the army? And what about the Burmese king? How many people can he send out?"

A strange look appeared on Chu Zhi's face. "Myanmar King Meng Yun's behavior is very strange. He seems a little worried. No matter how much the English envoy, Mr. White, tried to persuade him, he ultimately refused to agree to call up the army immediately."

Tong was silent. He looked towards the distant temple and began to pray. After a while, he said, "Chu Zhi, my brother. I am very uneasy. I have been having nightmares recently. Our enemies are too powerful.

Ten years ago, he was just an ordinary lord's son, and we couldn't do anything to him. Now he has become the emperor of the Celestial Empire, so can we resist him? "

His words made Chu Zhi silent, and after a while he continued, "Yes, Mo Zhao is very powerful, but our allies are also very powerful.

England provided a fleet. The Qing provided weapons and would launch an attack on Mozhao in China. The Dutch in Batavia also promised to deploy their entire army.

And the Burmese King Meng Yun has no choice. If he wants to take back his former land, he must act with us.

Brother, you are not reluctant to leave these lands in Myanmar, right? They do not belong to us Thais. No matter how much energy we spend here, the Burmese will always resist.

We can only return to Siam, which is our homeland. It is now being occupied by the Chinese. If we don’t drive these Chinese away, we will lose our homeland forever.”

Tong knew that his younger brother Chuzhi was right, but he still felt terrified. He didn't know if those nightmares were the Buddha's warning to him.

Chu Zhi looked at his silent brother, the jealousy in his heart burning rapidly.

Princess Shishi should have married him, and a beauty like Wu Qian should have been enjoyed by him. Even without Mo Zhao, they could have helped Taksin drive out the Burmese.

"Brother, we don't have any other choice. Wenna and the others are determined to take action. Phraya San has also been instigated by us. The whole of Siam is now like a frying pan. Every Thai is thinking about driving away the Chinese.

They have been waiting for you for ten years, hoping that your brother will return to lead them to restore the Thai people's own country. If we retreat now, the Chakri family will lose everything!"

Hearing his brother say this, Tong knelt down in pain, completely unsure of what to choose.

He really wanted to fight back and restore the Thai country as his brother said, rather than let Siam be occupied by a large number of Chinese.

But the enemy is too powerful!
(End of this chapter)