The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 497 Good Days in Nanyang

Sometimes, the main reason why a pig that is flying in the wind falls is that it cannot see its own weight.

This is the case with Wu Wen. Don’t think he is Chinese just because of his name. No, this guy is Burmese.

Burmese people basically have no surnames. Wu is a respectful title for adult men of status, similar to "Jun" or "Your Excellency".

"Wen" has different meanings in different dialects. In Wu Wen, "Wen" refers to sunlight.

So, he can be called the Sunny Lord.

This sunny gentleman had a very smooth first half of his life. He was born into a middle-class aristocratic family in Pegu. He was tall and handsome, similar to the Chinese.

This is not self-boasting by Chinese people, but this is the way the world is today.

It may be difficult for the Chinese who have experienced a hundred years of suffering in later generations to understand that the important characteristics of the Chinese at that time, in addition to coming from the Celestial Empire, were their tall stature and fair skin.

People with this appearance and body shape are called white people in the West, and Chinese in the East.

In today's Dayu, Westerners often say, "We are all white."

So at this point, if you say a Southeast Asian looks like a Chinese, it does not involve any clan or regional factors, it simply means that he is tall, fair, and good-looking.

Wu Wen benefited from his appearance. This guy, who looked even more like a Han Chinese than the relatively short Han people from the southwest and Lingnan, was quickly selected during Mo Zibu's second expedition to Myanmar.

Wu Wen was also a little clever. His ancestors had an intermarriage with the Min family, and the Min family insisted that they were descendants of the Chinese since the end of the Song Dynasty, so Wu Wen also got the title of Chinese.

In addition, Wu Wen's family had some power, so he was selected by Mo Zibu and trained to become an important pillar of Lower Burma - the Three Marquises of Lower Burma.

If Wu Wen could continue to be so smart and survive the dark period when Mo Zi Bu's focus shifted north and Taksin, out of competition with Mo Zi Bu, did not govern Myanmar according to Mo Zi Bu's established strategy, then his future would be extremely bright.

Because in Lower Burma, apart from the three marquises, Mo Zibu's other most important reliance is Huang Zhen of Tanasarin.

Huang Zhen's daughter is very likely to marry General Suki's grandson, the third prince Ayu.

Then when Mingxin, the head of the Min family, passed away, the Min family was divided into pieces and could no longer form a force, and was gradually absorbed by the Chinese.

Wu Wen, who has some Min family blood and looks more like a Han Chinese than a Han Chinese, will be the most important cornerstone to balance the forces of Huang Zhen and Su Ji.

As a result, he failed the test.

Wu Wen saw that Siam was in chaos and the Konbaung Dynasty was "making a comeback", and Huang Zhen was caught off guard by the sudden hesitation of the Burmese King Meng Yun, and was almost wiped out by Chu Zhi of Siam.

After comprehensively judging various things, he felt that Mo Zibu might not be able to do it. Even if he could stabilize his territory, he could not control Myanmar as he did before.

So in response to Meng Yun's persuasion and the promise to save his Pegu, Wu Wen quickly compromised.

He gave up the title of Marquis of Pegu conferred by Mozibu and became a semi-secessionist ruler dependent on the Konbaung Dynasty.

This is the disadvantage of lack of education. Wu Wen, who had ordinary knowledge, could see Lower Burma, Siam, and even the strength of Guangdong.

But that's all. In his mind, although Guangdong is strong, it is just Siam that is twice as strong. It is still far away and does not have such strong projection ability.

But in fact, Guangdong is only a part of China, and at most it accounts for one-fifteenth of China's power. Today's Dayu is fully capable of projecting the energy of Guangdong Province to the entire Southeast Asia.

So, at this time, when Wu Wen saw the Burmese King Meng Yun serving Chen Lian like his father in the distance in the city of Pegu, and that the Chinese army only sent out 2,000 people, while the Burmese army had 20,000, his Taoist heart was completely shattered.

Only then did Wu Wen realize that he was just a pig that stood on the wind and flew up. He was chosen just because the Chinese Emperor Mo Zhao liked him and pointed at him casually, not because of his strong abilities.

"My Lord, please ask the artillery of the upper country to assist. The rest will be handled by my own men." Meng Yun was very humble and regarded himself as Chen Lian's subordinate.

Chen Lian looked at Meng Yun and smiled faintly, "A mere small town, and a rebellious thief who doesn't know how to live or die. What a pity! Wu Wen had the opportunity to become the emperor's favorite noble of Lower Burma."

After saying that, Chen Lian tilted his head towards the guards beside him, and three 48-pound mortars were pushed over.

The city of Pegu is not high. Its foundation is paved with long stones. The city wall is built with a small number of stacked stones. The top is simply a combination of earth walls and wooden walls. A watchtower is built behind the earth wall for soldiers to shoot from a high vantage point.

This was the standard configuration in Southeast Asian cities before cement was widely used, and only large cities had it. The rest of the cities basically only had wooden fences.

The casting technique of the 48-pound mortar was approved by the recently deceased Queen Theresa four years ago. The Austrian Royal Artillery Academy provided technology and craftsmen to assist in the casting, and it is considered to be at the top level today.

As for Meng Yun's Burmese army, not to mention big guns like the 48-pound mortar, there were only more than 30 artillery pieces in the whole country, and many of them were old cannons installed on the city walls that were difficult to move.

So, under Meng Yun's envious gaze, a dozen naval sharpshooters quickly killed the Pegu musketeers on the watchtower near the main gate, and then there was a loud bang.

A solid bullet from a 48-pound mortar suddenly hit the wooden gate of the village. With a click, a huge hole was smashed in the wooden door, which was made of solid wood and reinforced with iron nails and crossbeams.

Boom, another loud noise, a 48-pound bomb exploded in the air. The terrifying amount of explosion formed a huge mushroom cloud above the heads of the Pegu people. Amidst the screams of terror, the Pegu soldiers guarding the city began to flee frantically.

Boom, with a final loud bang, the second solid bullet hit a watchtower, which immediately broke in the middle, and the soldier on top fell down with a scream.

The sound of falling wood and stones was so clear, as if it was collapsing in Meng Yun's heart.

Three shots, just three shots, directly blasted a big hole in the outer city of Pegu, which Meng Yun thought was quite solid, and killed more than a dozen soldiers.

Even the Burmese army under Yong Jiya back then did not possess such terrifying firepower.

At this time, Chen Lian did not forget to deliberately say something like, "It's a pity that the navy's guns are still too heavy, and they are too lazy to pull a few over.

This indirect fire is obviously less destructive than direct fire on the city wall. Otherwise, a single 36-pound cannon would be enough to bring the wall down."

After saying this, Chen Lian gave Meng Yun a strange look and said, "King of Burma, the city gate has been broken open, why don't you let your people go in?"

Meng Yun seemed to have just woken up from a dream. He raised his hand to give an order, but Chen Lian said leisurely at the right time: "The king should remind your soldiers that the entire Pegu City is the property of the expeditionary force. You are only here to assist in the siege."

"My Lord, I understand. My Lord, I understand. Everything in this city belongs to the Heavenly Soldiers of the Supreme Kingdom."

Although Pegu was a major city in Lower Burma, it only had a population of tens of thousands. Under Wu Wen's rule, there were only around 350,000 men, and with two hundred vassal families, they managed to gather a force of 4,000 to 5,000. With such defensive strength, a walled city could hold its ground for a while, but without it, it was completely untenable. No wonder Meng Yun had thought it would be easy to capture before Chen Lian arrived.

In the city of Pegu, seeing Meng Yun's Burmese army coming in, the desperate Pegu defenders broke out in a "big war" with the Burmese army on the main road in the city, which was in line with the Southeast Asian matching mechanism.

The two sides first fired one or two hundred shots at each other with muskets, causing some damage, and then rushed towards each other in the smoke produced by black powder.

They howled and used their sharp swords and javelins with broken iron pieces to poke holes in each other's armorless bodies.

Half an hour later, after the two or three hundred strongest soldiers in the front row were killed or wounded, the Pegu defenders were defeated and the city officially fell.

But Chen Lian still did not move. He ordered two thousand marines to block the four corners of Pegu City. All the Pegu defenders and civilians who rushed out of the city were fired at, and then those who were not injured were pulled out and tied up.

Since Chen Lian is here today, he must make sure that none of these people can escape. Do they really think that the emperor is so easy to betray?

. . . .

In Wu Wen's palace, tears were flowing freely on the face of the tall man. He held the long knife in his hand, but did not dare to cut his neck. In front of him, his six wives and concubines and more than a dozen children were frightened and crying loudly.

"Meng, please follow me. I found a small path that can take you out of the city." Just when Wu Wen wanted to die but didn't dare to die, his personal bodyguard, who was also a member of his tribe, walked over quickly.

Wu Wen was overjoyed and put down the knife in his hand. It was better to live than to die, and it was certainly better to run away than to slit his own throat.

But just as he put down the knife, the guard suddenly hugged his neck and hit him with his knee.

Wu Wen only felt a sharp pain in his crotch. He screamed involuntarily and bent down, then was pressed to the ground.

"Hurry up, come up and hold them down, otherwise we will all die!" The guards couldn't hold down the tall Wu Wen alone, so they started howling loudly.

Wu Wen was furious and struggled violently, but more and more people rushed in. He was pinned down by three strong men and could not move at all.

"Kill all the men, keep the women, and offer them to the Duke of Chen. Then we should be able to survive."

During the violent struggle, Wu Wen, who was pinned to the ground, saw his beautiful wives and concubines, and his grown-up daughter all pinned to the ground and tied up.

His sons were caught and their slender necks were cut off with knives.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!" Wu Wen could only howl miserably, and endless regret rushed into his heart.

An hour later, the city was basically cleared, thousands of Pegu warriors were killed, and the rest were all pinned down by the Burmese.

Huang Renyong walked in front, and the team members followed behind him. This was their third time entering the native city as victors, and the feeling was still wonderful.

In the city of Pegu, all the men were tied up with ropes and tied together like animals.

In front of the short houses, all women were required to tie their hair in a knot on top of their heads and leave their upper bodies almost naked, because this would allow people to see their appearance and figure more clearly.

Qin Da could only walk a dozen steps before he could not move anymore because he found a better alternative than the Indian white woman.

There were four women in the family, each of them was quite fair, and they looked like a mother and three daughters.

The 'mother' looked to be almost thirty years old. Although her waist was a bit thick, her appearance was surprisingly the best among the four. More importantly, her breasts were magnificent.

Of the remaining three, two were sixteen or seventeen years old, and the younger one was only about nine or ten years old.

Qin Da was so itchy that he couldn't help but touch Hu Quan's shoulder. "Boss, you know the Burmese dialect. Can you help me ask if this is one mother and three daughters or four sisters?"

Hu Quan looked Qin Da up and down with his narrow eyes. "You want all four? With your body, can you handle it?"

Huang Renyong also walked over and glared at Qin Da. "Sending a white girl like this to Andai Peninsula, Jiaqing Island, or Nanji Island would cost a minimum of fifty silver dollars each. How can you squander your hard-earned military merit like this? Just pick two."

Huang Renyong was right. These indigenous women with fair skin and similar appearance to Chinese women are very popular.

Because now if you want to marry a Han woman in Nanyang, the bride price, travel expenses and wedding banquet together will cost at least two hundred silver dollars, but buying a native white woman only costs fifty silver dollars and she is obedient, which is really a great deal.

This is also the reason why Chen Lian demanded that the entire city of Pegu be the property of the Indian Expedition Army. The men could be sold to the coal and iron mines in Hainan Island and Guangnan. Now the coal and iron industry in Dayu is changing every day, the ore is extremely scarce, and there is a severe shortage of manpower.

Women could be sold to Nanji Island (Java Island) and Jiaqing Island (Borneo). The best quality ones could be sold for eighty silver dollars, and the worse ones could be worth fifteen to twenty silver dollars.

With this huge income, the soldiers below will work harder and have more reason to ask the court for reinforcements.

The main goal of this expedition, to capture Fort William, was not achieved, and Chen Lian was always worried about it. He still wanted to take Fort William, which represented endless wealth and supreme glory.

"You are lucky, kid. You have not one mother and three daughters, but four sisters." Although he doubted Qin Da's ability, Hu Quan still went to ask him.

Upon hearing this, Qin Da breathed a sigh of relief. Although he had killed many people, he still had a lot of ethics and morals.

The younger brother, Qin San, looked at his elder brother with some reluctance, "Brother, are you planning to go back to Burma? Didn't you say you would go back to Nanji? There are all our fellow Guangxi people there."

Qin Da thought for a moment and waved his hand, "This place is still better. Nanji Island won't be leveled for at least twenty years. The land here is flat and there are many paddy fields. Let's settle down here."

Huang Renyong gave a thumbs up to Qin Da. Qin Da had lost his left wrist, so there was no better place to go than Nanji Island where the situation was complicated.

"Leave the oldest and youngest with you. The older one can give birth to your child right away, and it would be more appropriate to raise the younger one for four or five years to develop a good relationship before taking him in.

Your military exploits are enough to earn you a few hundred acres of land and a few fishing grounds. Live a good life from now on."

"A few hundred acres of land won't kill him." Luo Asheng chuckled and patted Qin Da on the shoulder. "Come on, everyone call me boss. In a few days, we'll go and wipe out Chu Zhi in Toungoo. Bring a few Siamese serfs with you."

"Oh, that's great. Not only call me boss, I'd even accept calling you dad!" Qin jumped up with a big laugh.

This poor man from northern Guangxi had barely had enough to eat in the first thirty years of his life, but after being soaked in blood and sweat and losing a hand, he is finally about to have a good day.

(End of this chapter)