The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 428 Rebuilding Jiangnan

There was no news from Chen Lian in Guangzhou and Shunde Palace, but news of the incident in Lower Burma came first.

Mo Zibu felt a little unhappy, but his expression remained calm. He did not seem too surprised, because Lower Burma had been able to hold out until now without any incident, which was much longer than he had originally thought.

Mo Zibu originally thought that these places would be out of his control when Lower Burma was exchanged to Siam at least five years ago, but he did not expect that they would persist until Tong rebelled.

"Those who are not of my race must have different hearts!" Uncle Pei Jiannan retired from the position of Prime Minister, but he was not depressed at all, because as Mo Zibu's territory grew larger and larger, he really felt overwhelmed.

The main reason is that he is old. If he were twenty years younger, he would adapt and learn how to govern the country better as quickly as possible and would never step down from the position of Prime Minister easily.

But he is already 63 years old. If he comes to study at this time, he will not have the energy or brain to keep up. His outlook on life and the world have already been formed. There is really no need to waste that energy.

It is better to retire happily and leave your achievements to pave the way for your descendants.

"Your Majesty, we are still too few in number. If there were 300,000 men in Lower Burma, Wu Wen wouldn't dare rebel even if he had a hundred times the courage, and the Burmese King Meng Yun wouldn't be waiting for a price again."

Thinking of the Burmese King Meng Yun, Mo Zibu nodded slightly.

According to Huang Zhen's report, this person was a very clear-headed person. He was able to run hundreds of kilometers to meet Huang Zhen in person and quickly slid down to his knees. He didn't seem like the kind of person who couldn't figure things out.
As a result, he now quickly began to wait for a good price. It was obvious that he discovered that Dayu's strength in Lower Myanmar was weaker than he had imagined.

"Uncle is right." Mo Zibu agreed with Pei Jiannan's words, and then said, "I think there are only two reasons why Meng Yun suddenly took a wait-and-see approach.

First, he knew about the rebellion of Wu Wen and others, which exposed our internal problems.

Secondly, the British increased their aid, which led Meng Yun to misjudge the situation.”

"Your Majesty, I will immediately send the flag bearers from Goa to find out the latest movements of the English." Huo Ran, the pacification envoy of the Southern Pacification Division of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, said immediately.

At this time, the main job of the Jinyiwei of Dayu was to collect intelligence. The Northern Pacification Division was responsible for domestic affairs, the Southern Pacification Division was responsible for foreign affairs, the Criminal Division was responsible for imperial prisons and arrests, and the Experience Division was responsible for logistics, documents, and internal discipline inspections.

As for the imperial ceremony, guards, and stationing, they were the responsibility of the relatively independent Palace Front Office.

Among them, the intelligence personnel in the North and South Pacification Offices were called spies, and the intelligence personnel in secret were called flag bearers.

"Arrange it immediately!" Mo Zibu agreed. If they wanted to get intelligence on the British, of course the Portuguese were the most suitable people, as they were allies of the British.

"Your Majesty, I think the Burmese King Meng Yun is waiting and watching because I, Dayu, lack the power." Grand Secretary and Minister of the Honglu Temple Lin Tong had a different opinion.

"Meng Yun's fickleness stems from his perception of opportunity. Wu Wen was a former general of the White Elephant King, and more than half of Pegu's population is Burmese.

Now that he has taken off the amulet bestowed upon him by His Majesty, and is no longer a vassal of Dayu, the Burmese King Meng Yun can devour him without any worries.

In addition, Meng Yun had forced the Balamindin and his son of Pyin U Muay to surrender some time ago. If he defeated Wu Wen and forced Siam Chu Zhi to withdraw from the Yangon area, he would basically restore the former territory of his father and brother.

The temptation is right in front of him, and Meng Yun will defect on his own without the English encouraging him."

Mo Zibu didn't understand this. He felt that Meng Yun shouldn't be so arrogant. "Even if Meng Yun restored the territory of Yongjiya, why does he think he can fight against our glorious China?

With my national strength a hundred times greater than mine, crushing him would be as easy as crushing a bug!"

Lin Tong smiled bitterly, "The crux of the matter is here, because my Dayu has not yet restored China.

With my current strength, I can indeed send out 10,000 or 20,000 soldiers to defeat the Burmese, but if they don't fight me at all, then I'll be in trouble.

When my Dayu Tianbing went there, he retreated to Upper Burma. When my Dayu Tianbing left, he went downstream to regain his territory. At the same time, he had the support of the British behind him, so he was invincible.

As it stands, unless we have half a million Chinese in Lower Burma, we will certainly not be able to occupy this place."

Mo Zibu was silent for a while, and suddenly thought of another thing. He looked at Jinyiwei Commander Chen Xu and said:

"Chen Xu, I have specially approved for you a special fund of 500 taels. Take the money from my treasury and go directly to the Yunnan-Guizhou Governor's Office to bribe the middle and lower-level officials. I suspect that the Manchu Yunnan-Guizhou Governor Mingde has contacted Meng Yun again."

Chen Xu's eyes suddenly widened as he realized something. "Your Majesty, are you saying that the Tartar Mingde might cede the land and people of Yunnan near Upper Burma to Meng Yun?"

Mo Zibu nodded. The more he thought about it, the more possible it seemed. The chieftains in Upper Burma and Yunnan were actually at loggerheads, and many of them were wavering under the strategy of the Central Father and the Burmese Mother.

Since the Qing Dynasty was definitely unable to hold on to Yunnan and Guizhou, they would most likely sell Yunnan, or at least southwestern Yunnan, to create a huge trouble for Mo Zibu.

The Governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, Mingde, did not have this vision, but the Governor of Yunnan, the big traitor Zhu Gui, definitely had this vision and this cruelty.

The reason for all this is exactly what Lin Tong said. Dayu has not yet completed the task of restoring China. It lacks prestige and cannot spare too much strength to control Myanmar.

Originally, Lower Burma was able to live in peace, and even the Burmese King Meng Yun was not optimistic about the British instigation. In fact, Siam had borne a considerable part of the pressure.

After all, Siam today is a great Southeast Asian country with a population of four million, including at least 300,000 Chinese, and it borders Myanmar.

With Siam's help in suppressing the rebellion, the Burmese naturally could not resist.

But the Chaoshan people were not very helpful and did not help Taksin suppress the Thais. Of course, there were also some problems with Taksin's administration, which resulted in Tong's rebellion.

Without the Siamese, and with the sincere support of the British and the Qing Dynasty, the direction of Lower Burma immediately changed.

"Your Majesty, the Burmese King Meng Yun has not yet chosen a side. You should pretend that you don't know and issue an imperial decree to exempt the Burmese King from coming to Beijing for an audience. Immediately enthrone him as the King of Burma and assign Rangoon and Pegu to the Burmese territory, leaving only Mawlamyine.

At the same time, only this one imperial edict of enthronement was issued; the rest of the golden and jade certificates, imperial edicts bestowing clothing, and the grand ceremony of enthronement were all postponed for a period of time due to the war."

Zheng Jinshui, the Minister of Civil Affairs of Luantai and the trusted secretary of Emperor Mo Da, suddenly said that this guy who had been following Mo Zibu since he was fourteen years old is already twenty-one years old this year.

After years of training under Mo Zibu, in Mo Zibu's own words, except for not having the bearing of a prime minister, he has become fully proficient in the affairs of the court.

Since he was trained by himself, Mo Zibu naturally knew what kind of character he had. This kid must be trying to trick someone by saying this.

"We must hold Meng Yun back and prevent him from joining forces with Chu Zhi, otherwise there will be no peace in Lower Burma.

Even at present, even if Meng Yun does not retreat to Upper Burma, with the support of the British and the Qing Dynasty, it will take at least three to five years for us to completely pacify Meng Yun and Chu Zhi with our current strength.

Your Majesty, we don't have the time, so we can only make concessions temporarily and use huge benefits to hold Meng Yun back.

Once we have basically defeated the Qing Dynasty and the number of Chinese in Southeast Asia has doubled to over three million, we can then think of ways to deal with Burma."

"Will Meng Yun be fooled?" Mo Zibu thought about it and there was really no good way. Although he couldn't deal with the guy who was fickle, this should be the best option.

"Yes!" Zheng Jinshui said affirmatively: "Because although Meng Yun is not sure about His Majesty, he definitely knows what kind of people the British are. If he has a choice, he will not choose the British over us.

"We are at a disadvantage, but we still want Mawlamyine. In Meng Yun's opinion, this means that His Majesty has compromised and is not interested in occupying all of Myanmar. He will definitely think that Mawlamyine is our bottom line."

After Zheng Jinshui finished speaking, Lin Tong's frown relaxed, and he said to Mo Zibu, "I think Minister Zheng's strategy is feasible.

King Mengyun of Burma believed that China had never controlled Lower Burma, and His Majesty had long since given up on it. Now that we only wanted Mawlamyine, he would likely believe it. Furthermore, Mengyun was the King of Burma, and the Siamese, including Chu Zhi, currently occupied Toungoo and Pegu, with Yangon also involved. He must be extremely dissatisfied.

So as long as we are willing to give in, Meng Yun will actively move closer to us. He may even hope to get some support from us to deal with the Siamese led by Chu Zhi.

As long as Meng Yun fights with Wu Wen and Chu Zhi, the chaos in Lower Burma can be temporarily stabilized. Although we suffered a loss, we did not let the British achieve their goal.

Time is on our side, and there will be plenty of opportunities to deal with them in the future."

"Alas!" Mo Zibu sighed, pretending to be somewhat distressed. "Then let's follow this plan. After I defeat the Qing Dynasty, I will deal with the Burmese King Meng Yun."

Seeing the emperor looking somewhat disappointed, Cardinal Left Minister Liang Guozhi, contrary to his usual behavior, said to Mo Zibu with great joy, "Your Majesty, congratulations, your Majesty!"

"Cardinal, where does your joy come from?" Mo Zibu was stunned for a moment.

"This Burmese King Meng Yun can take advantage of the situation and quickly make the most advantageous choice for himself. He is also a shameless person who can humble himself. Among the barbarians in all directions, he is already considered a wise leader.

If he had not defected this time, but pretended to submit and gained the trust of Your Majesty, then with his ability, and with the three million Burmese in Lower Burma as a base, he could have hidden himself in our great China and learned and absorbed our strengths. In just ten years, he would have become a serious threat to Southeast Asia.

But now Meng Yun can only see the immediate benefits and is waiting for a good price. Then Your Majesty and the people of Dayu will be wary of him and will definitely be on guard against him. I don’t know how much slower the Burmese’s development will be.

Moreover, this fickle behavior will give Your Majesty a legitimate reason to attack him in the future. That is why I congratulate Your Majesty. If you can endure your anger today, you will be able to eliminate this evil and punish the traitor in the future!"

Regardless of whether this statement made sense or not, it at least sounded encouraging now. Mo Zibu felt proud and in a good mood.

Moreover, Mo Zibu actually thought that if Meng Yun was obedient, he would be willing to assimilate the Burmese.

After all, judging from their ancestors, the descendants of the Bailang Qiang are distant relatives of the Chinese. But now, there is no need to consider whether they are distant relatives or not.

. . . .

After the court meeting ended, Mo Zibu immediately went to fool the "cultural tycoons" in the four provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Anhui in the south of the Yangtze River.

These days, Yuan Mei, Yao Nai and others lived directly in Mo Zibu's palace, and their treatment was maximized.

After a few casual words between the monarch and his ministers, Mo Zibu deliberately sighed and said, "My Great Yu is truly different from all the dynasties in ancient times.

Before me, every change of dynasties would bring decades of turmoil to the country. You killed me, I killed you, the bones of the people were exposed in the wild, and no roosters crowed for thousands of miles.

Therefore, after the establishment of the Xin Dynasty, the land was vast and the population was sparse. There was no worry about a lack of arable land, but only a worry about a lack of people to arable land.

But since I came from Southeast Asia, expelled the Tartars and recovered our territory, in addition to being strict with the Tartars, I have always tried my best to restrain my subordinates. Therefore, although I have barely recovered half of the territory, the loss of population is not great.

This has led to the fact that the population of China is now growing rapidly, but the arable land has long been developed. At the beginning of the new dynasty, hundreds of millions of people have no land to farm. My dear ministers, what can we do? "

Yuan Mei and others were stunned. This... this seems to be true!

Even in such a big war as the conquest of Jiangnan, except for some deaths in Yingtian Prefecture, there were not many casualties in other places.

If this continues, even if the number of deaths in other provinces is slightly higher, it will not be that much. It is indeed possible that as soon as the country is founded, it will be like the late dynasty with a large population and limited land.

People in the literary and artistic circles have a lot of problems as officials, but they are also very emotional and political. When they heard what Mo Zibu said, they really got anxious and looked worried about the country and the people.

"Your Majesty has driven out the Tartar invaders, restored our homeland, and shown benevolence to the people of the world. You are truly a model of a benevolent monarch throughout history. However, times are different now. Nanyang is vast, with its own territory stretching thousands of miles, more than enough to support the people."

This was exactly what Mo Zibu was waiting for, so he told him about the changes in Lower Burma.

"Lower Burma is as large as Zhejiang Province, just like the Jiangnan region before the Sui and Tang dynasties, with a dense network of waterways and numerous rivers.

Rice can be harvested three times a year, with an output of five to six dan per mu. Aquatic products are abundant, and a single cast of a net can yield more than ten kilograms of fish and shrimp. Even the fruit trees are treasures, and the fruits of a few banana trees can feed a child for ten days.

This is fertile land bestowed by God so that everyone can have enough food and clothing. It should belong to those who have the ability to make it richer. It should belong to us, rather than being ruined by the Western Barbarians and the Southern Barbarians.

Mr. Jianzhai, if we just watch this fertile land slip away from us, our descendants in the future will be left with nothing to eat and no clothes to wear, and they will definitely curse us and make us restless in hell!

Yuan Mei stood up with a tingling sensation all over his body. If an old bureaucrat were here, he might not be moved by Mo Zibu's words.

But Yuan Mei was not an old bureaucrat. He was a great writer and capable of scholarship, but he was a complete mess as an official.

He was a pure literati. Such a person could not resist the Four Lines of Hengqu, nor could he resist the temptation of being remembered and missed.

"Mr. Xibao." After provoking Yuan Mei, Mo Zibu began to provoke Yao Nai, "I, Mo Zhao, came from the south of the sky and have seen all the sufferings in the world. I have experienced hardships that many people have never experienced.

Especially the suffering of us Han people. We are obviously Chinese citizens of a superior country, but we are bullied and humiliated because we have no motherland. We have finally taken root, but the Western barbarians incite the natives to rise up and kill us just because they cannot beat us in farming and trade.

When I, Mo Zhao, first rose up, I wanted to build a new sky for the Han people in the world, so that they would no longer be oppressed by anyone.

Mr. Xibao, although I, Mo Zhao, am the emperor now, I do not have three heads, six arms, and a hundred mouths. The number of descendants I leave behind is at most a hundred people.

After conquering such a vast empire, how much can they enjoy? This empire was jointly built for the Han people all over the world.

"Now, just having the people of Fujian and Guangdong go to Southeast Asia is not enough for us to stabilize this rich and beautiful Southeast Asia. Mr. Xi Bao, are you willing to lend a hand and mobilize the people of Jiangnan to go south, so that we can go down in history together?"

Yao Nai was so moved that he trembled all over. He was born in the Qing Dynasty when the Tartar emperor was high and mighty. In his almost fifty years of life, he had never been treated like this by the emperor.

Considering that he, a commoner, could live and work in the temporary palace these days and was served by palace servants and eunuchs, the retired emperor treated him as a literary friend and a commoner.

Life is like this. When you meet such a wise ruler, why wouldn’t you be loyal to him?
Yao Nai knelt down with a thud, "I am grateful for your majesty's favor. I, Yao Nai, am willing to follow your majesty and dedicate myself to the eternal prosperity of the Han Dynasty."

Yuan Mei also knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, if you look at it this way, Nanyang is the Jiangnan region before the Yongjia migration southward!

After we Han people migrated south during the Yongjia period, we gained a prosperous Jiangnan. Now, after our large-scale migration to Southeast Asia, we will surely be able to gain a second Jiangnan. This is an achievement that will be remembered for generations to come!

Although I, Yuan Mei, do not have the talent of Yi Yin, I hope to emulate the loyalty of Chao Cuo!

Yuan Mei was so excited that he even cited the example of Chao Cuo.

So Mo Zibu hurried over to help them both up, and acted as if he was very moved.

"With the help of Mr. Jianzhai and Mr. Xibao, there is hope for a vast paradise for future generations." Mo Zibu thought for a moment before continuing:

"However, although both of you are Emperor Wenzong, you are still commoners. Official positions in the outer court are public tools and should not be given or taken privately. How about I invite you to serve two terms as members of the Republican Parliament?"

Yuan Mei and Yao Nai were overjoyed, as they had longed for it.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your gift. We have been longing for it."

(End of this chapter)