The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 559: The Great Empire Where Rivers Flow
Nanjing Yingtianfu, Xiaguan Wharf.

Gongs and drums blared, firecrackers exploded, and all merchant and passenger ships stopped docking, giving the right to disembark early to the returning Indian soldiers.

Asen adjusted the honorary uniform of the Divine Lightning Guards on his body. This was something his mother, the younger cousin of the Chen family, had fought hard for him.

Because in my cousin's cognition, the fellow villagers from Pei County, the fellow villagers from Nanyang, and the brothers from Huaishang are still popular, so she regards the Divine Electric Guards, which are mainly composed of Jiaojilang from western Guangdong, as extremely important.

Well, it did work. When Asen, who was eleven years old but already nearly 1.7 meters tall, appeared in front of the soldiers of the Indian Expedition Army, wearing a vermilion lacquered helmet of the Honor Guard, a Shu brocade robe with auspicious cloud pattern and mandarin ducks, and the emblem of the Divine Lightning Guard embroidered on his chest - a lion hidden in thunder and lightning, thunderous cheers resounded throughout the dock.

However, Asen immediately discovered that wearing only the uniform of the Shindian Guards seemed to be a mistake, because there were actually not many officers and soldiers belonging to the Shindian Guards who returned this time.

Because they were the second group to return, most of them were injured. They rushed to Nanjing after recuperating in Ha Tien, Mong Kok (Bangkok), Hoi An, Guangzhou and other places.

The Shindian Guards suffered heavy losses in this battle. They were at the front line and fired volleys at the most elite troops of British India at a distance of 30 meters. In addition, there was no way to treat lead poisoning at that time, so most of the wounded died one after another.

And if the first group really came back led by Chen Lian, it would not be Asen's business to welcome them. Mo Zibu had already done it. He personally welcomed them to the Xiaguan Wharf and brought them back to the city surrounded by a large army.

Fortunately, in the awkward situation, Chen Guangdong, the deputy commander of the Shendian Guards, came over. Although he was my cousin, he was also my uncle, so he was very responsible.

"Your Highness, the wounded soldiers of the Shendian Guards, Yulin Guards, and Jingying Zhenwu Army have been ordered by His Majesty to return to the capital to report. Please review them, Your Highness!"

As he spoke, Chen Guangdong placed a large flag next to Asen, which was the flag with a white background, a golden sun and moon, and a swastika pattern embroidered around it, which the emperor had given to all the Indian expeditionary forces before they set out. This flag relieved most of his embarrassment.

Asen immediately breathed a sigh of relief, but he found that although these soldiers responded very enthusiastically to his arrival, not many of them came up to him to show their closeness.

After all, he was just an eleven-year-old boy. It was wishful thinking for him to gain the admiration of these battle-hardened warriors just based on his status.

Therefore, the eagerness just now was just the high-level excitement of the soldiers of the Indian Expedition Army that they were greeted by the future crown prince sent by the emperor.

However, since he was three years old, he had been forced by his mother's little cousin to learn the ways of the emperor, and Arsen himself was also very talented. After a brief hesitation, Arsen immediately chose to activate his exclusive skill as a child - crying.

After calming down for a while, Asen held the banner and recalled the time when his mother pushed him hard and even insulted him.

As for the ways his mother had forced him to do PUA, two lines of hot tears naturally flowed from Arsen's eyes.

The so-called crying before speaking is often the most sincere expression of human emotions, but in Arsen's case, he acted perfectly. He waited until the tears came out before he curled his lips and burst into tears.

This time, everyone was confused.

What's going on? How come the future Crown Prince, who is said to be intelligent and virtuous, is actually a tall, crybaby kid?

Chen Guangdong was also shocked. "My dear little ancestor, how can you cry in this occasion? More than two thousand wounded soldiers who survived hundreds of battles, the meritorious officials and brave men of the empire are watching you!"

"Your Highness, why are you crying? Is it because you rarely see people with disabilities like me?"

Li Tai, the former deputy commander of the Shendian Guards, who had lost half of his left palm and left ear in a life-and-death duel and had personally killed Lieutenant Colonel Zeppelin of the 1st European Infantry Regiment of England's Bengal with a sword, stepped forward and asked loudly and somewhat rudely.

Asen looked at Lieutenant Colonel Li Tai with tears in his eyes. He knew why this guy looked so evil.

Because everyone knows that Li Tai personally "pulled" his sister down from the throne of Imperial Noble Consort.

Fortunately, he personally ruined his sister's future. Otherwise, with Li Tai's sister's beauty, it is unlikely that she would have the bad luck of giving birth to three daughters like Concubine Ye De. The most important thing is that the Hakka people had a strong influence in the new dynasty. Mo Sen's position might not be as stable as it is now.

However, at the moment when his anger rose, Asen suddenly saw Li Tai's appearance clearly.

This was a short and strong man. The ear on the left side of his military cap was obviously missing and was wrapped with cloth. His left hand, which he habitually tucked into his sleeve, was obviously damaged even when only a little of it was exposed.

The rest of his hands and arms were also covered with scars like old tree bark, and his face was a dark purple color from being washed by the strong sea breeze for a long time.

This is a hero who is the pillar of the country. Perhaps he is feeling a little inferior about being a disabled person.

Asen then thought about what he had heard about Li Tai's bravery and the heavy sacrifices made by the Shindian Guards. A total of 3,000 people were killed, and 900 of them were killed or wounded.

At this moment, Asen suddenly felt that even if Li Tai pointed at his nose and scolded him, it didn't seem like a big deal. Compared with the sacrifices of others, these little details he suffered could be completely ignored.

Because it is these living people who make up the heroic team that colonizes the world.

He is not only a guarantee for their father and son, but also the defender of the Dayu Dynasty and a hero for the entire China.

A string of more dense tears flowed from Arsen's eyes. Unlike his previous ones which were purely acting, this time it was a true expression of his true feelings.

"I heard that my uncle lost his hands and ears in a bloody battle with the British. I feel really bad."

After all, the emotions between people are connected and can resonate with each other. It is still difficult to psychologically shock the person you are talking to by relying solely on acting skills.

So when Arsen started crying, Li Tai didn't feel anything at all, but now that he started crying and was called "Uncle", his heart trembled violently.

"Your Highness, I fought for my country, which is a great honor. A few flesh wounds are nothing compared to this!" Li Tai's attitude softened instantly.

Asen pulled up his left hand, which was always tucked into his sleeve, and gently lifted the cotton cloth covering Li Tai's wound. Seeing the tragic condition of the wound, he burst into tears.

"These damned British barbarians caused my uncle to lose his hand, and caused many of my uncles and brothers to be loyal but not filial, and even died in a foreign land.

Sen only regretted that he was young and useless, and could not join his uncles and brothers in the battle to drink the blood of the British and expand the territory thousands of miles away.

So today, seeing all my uncles and brothers return safely, I am both happy and sad.

I am happy to meet heroes like Uncle, but I am sad that there are many more Chinese heroes who are buried in foreign countries.

Today, I, Mo Sen, am not a prince, nor an envoy of His Majesty. I am just an ordinary Chinese boy. Please forgive my youth and my inability to hold back my tears.

These words were spoken with sincerity and were very consistent with his childish identity.

The two or three hundred people who heard it in the front row burst into tears.

What I heard later was that he didn't even cry out in pain when he was shot by the British with muskets at a distance of 30 meters, but now he also started to sob with tears in his eyes.

"Envoy Li, please return to Nanjing City immediately. I heard that all the students from the Imperial College, the High School, and the various elementary schools are here today. Tell them that I, Mo Sen, invite them to come out of the city to welcome the heroes of China."

Li, the palace envoy of the Nanjing Imperial City, glanced at Asen, then nodded, and immediately took a few people and rode back to Nanjing City.

After he left, Asen pulled the flag out of the ground and held it high. "Uncles, please follow me into the city."

"Your Highness, this is at least sixteen miles away. It's not easy to carry such a large flag at such a distance." Chen Guangdong hurried over to dissuade him.

A smile appeared on Asen's face. "Uncle, someone will come to help me. I don't think I'm the only one in the huge city of Nanjing who worships heroes."

Qianyuan Hall, Forbidden City, Nanjing.

When Mo Zibu heard the report from the Imperial Envoy, he burst into laughter. "As expected, he is my son. He knows what one of the emperor's most powerful weapons is." Mo Zibu waved his hand and said to Sun Xingyan, a Hanlin scholar from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, who was on duty today.
"Notify Qian Yue, the Imperial College's chief academic officer, and have him organize all the students from the Tai, Gao, and Xiao academies in Nanjing's Yingtian Prefecture."

"By the way, notify the Minister of War, Chen Shaochang, and have him gather all the cadets from the Nanjing Infantry Officers Academy and the Langshan Cavalry Academy and go there together."

Eight kilometers.

Seven kilometers.

Three kilometers.

The city of Nanjing was already in sight. Asen walked for more than an hour carrying the flag. He was soaked in sweat and almost couldn't hold on any longer.

Beside him, Wu Wenyao and a few other sons of meritorious officials gathered around him, almost supporting Asen as he walked forward.

Just when Chen Guangdong was most worried, he heard the sound of wheels in the distance, and a group of young men in various military uniforms appeared in their sight.

Among the crowd was Qian Yi, who was competing with Wu Wenyao for the invention of an improved steam engine. All of these people were the children of Nanjing's meritorious officials and even wealthy merchants. They drove their family carriages and rushed here.

"Your Highness, we are here, we are here." These teenagers in their teens shouted happily and announced their homes.

A smile finally appeared on Asen's sweaty face. He seemed to see his father smiling at him in the imperial city. The soldiers behind him should have smiled as well.

"Let the soldiers get on the carriages, and we will hold the flag and clear the way for them!" Asen shouted loudly.

The first person to come to his side was the nine-year-old second prince Axu, born to the queen's maid Wu Qian, who was once regarded as Asen's rival.

"Brother, let me help you!" Ah Xu shouted in a clear voice.

"Okay, Ah Xu, come here, let's move forward together." Asen was extremely surprised, and a moved look appeared on his face.

"Come too, all of you!" Asen waved to the nobles, high-ranking officials and the sons of wealthy families around him.

In an instant, cheers broke out everywhere. Dozens or even hundreds of young people surrounded Asen, taking turns carrying the flag of the Indian Expedition Army, and walked towards the imperial city.

The wounded soldiers of the Indian Expedition Army, with red faces and tears in their eyes, got into the carriages of the homes of meritorious officials.

When they reached the outside of Nanjing, the cheers became even louder.

After several years of decline, this ancient city finally bursts into glory today.

The temperament of Nanjing Yingtian Prefecture today is completely different from that of later generations.

At that time, Nanjing was surrounded by a large number of military academies, including infantry, cavalry, and navy, and the three levels of civilian education were extremely complete.

A large number of Nanjing natives joined the army and were proud to become the emperor's guards. They were so full of martial ethics that it seemed as if they had returned to the Jiangnan area during the Wu Yue period.

At Jubao Gate, nearly a thousand student soldiers were dressed in school uniforms, white, green, and red, in a colorful and neat arrangement.

Under the command of the military instructors who are required in every school, they marched in extremely orderly steps towards the wounded soldiers of the Indian Expedition Army.

The primary school student at the front is only about ten years old, but he already looks quite decent.

They were lined up in rows, even their steps were in sync. The bayonets on their well-made wooden guns were specially painted white, making them look extremely conspicuous.

Seeing the wounded soldiers of the Indian Expedition Army arriving, they suddenly stopped and put down the wooden spears on their shoulders under the command of the military instructor.

"Salute!" the instructor shouted.

Swish! Hundreds of hands were raised in unison, as if a lush forest had suddenly grown out of the plain.

"Welcome home, heroes of the Indian Expedition Army!"

"Welcome home, heroes of the Indian Expedition Army!"

In the carriage, the wounded soldiers, who were already blushing, felt even more numb. They hurriedly stood up from the carriage and raised their hands in various gestures to return the greeting.

"For His Majesty, for the Empire!"

Someone took the lead in shouting loudly, and soon it became the shouting of the whole nation. Even the vendors and porters who were watching the excitement at the city gate joined in shouting.

If this scene happened in the future, it would definitely cause exclamations of extreme nationalism, militarism, and even Nazism, but in this era, it is actually the most advanced means of mobilizing ethnic groups.

"The territory stretches thousands of miles, the borders of the country. Exposed to frost, dew, and snow, it was given to us by our ancestors."

I don't know who started singing the navy song "China's Thousand Miles of Sea Borders", but they replaced "Thousand Miles of Waves" with "Thousand Miles of Territory".

The melody of this song is very catchy at this time, and the lyrics are also pretty good. It is the most popular military song at present, and almost everyone can sing it.

When one person starts, thousands of people will follow and sing.

When he sang "Alas! All under heaven is the king's land, and all the people in the world are the king's subjects!", he sang it many times in a row without any intention of stopping.

The people of Jubaomen were all fascinated, and they put all their firm belief in the new country and their determination to expand the territory into the singing.

Tian Numa's face turned pale with fright. From the song, he suddenly thought of Ban Dingyuan's Dinghu inscription.

"Everywhere the sun and moon shine is Han territory, and wherever the rivers flow, all are Han's subjects!"

The Land of the Rising Sun can no longer be saved! The Land of the Rising Sun can no longer be saved!
This thought grew wildly in his mind, and he wanted to confide in the people around him.

But when he turned around, he saw two hatamoto warriors from the Hino school of the Fujiwara Kita family of the Taka family, and stars almost came out of his eyes.

"Yoshi, only a great emperor like this is worth following, only a country like this has hope, and this is the country that true warriors are willing to protect with their lives."

Oh, damn!

Tanuma became even more frightened. He turned his head to the right and almost screamed out loud.

It turned out that Matsudaira Norihira (Lin Shusai) had already rushed to the side of the eldest prince Mori, and the short man just used his head to support the eldest prince Mori's armpit.

Like a macaque trying to please its master, it works very hard.

In the imperial city, Mo Zibu watched all this calmly. He had carefully planned to give Arsen a push. He wanted to see if there were any fools in the country who were not in their right minds at this time.

(End of this chapter)