The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 619 They Are Not Han Chinese

As early as the Tang Dynasty, when the country was still ruled by Srivijaya, the eminent monk Yijing visited Sumatra Island.

It was called Sumandana in the Yuan Dynasty and was renamed Sumatra in the Ming Dynasty, and it has been passed down to this day.

In fact, no country has ever ruled the entire island of Sumatra. The only country that left its name was the most powerful country on the island.

In the past it was Srivijaya, Srivijaya, and Sumatra, and now it is the Sultanate of Aceh.

"Master Zhongtang, the Aceh rebels have gathered forces from the Shaik Sultanate, the Jambi Sultanate, and other tribes, raising an army of over 100,000.

Now, except for Medan City and its surrounding areas, most of the newly colonized strongholds have been captured, and more than two thousand civilians have been killed. Please, Lord Zhongtang, avenge us!"

As soon as he arrived at the Sahara domain, the relative domain that was replaced by the Sadohara domain of the Shimazu clan, Sahara domain leader Qin (Shimazu) Tadamichi came to Zheng Miao and cried.

"What? More than two thousand people were killed!" Zheng Miao was furious when he heard it.

He really wanted to whip him, but this man was now a vassal state governor, so even if he couldn't give him face, he had to give him some face for his status.
Restraining the urge to strike, Zheng Miao said viciously, "Zuo Yuanbo, you're so bold! Didn't you report to the court that only over 300 Han people died?"

"You concealed the truth, lied, and delayed military operations. Even if you had ten heads, they wouldn't be enough to chop off!"

Although Zuoyuanbo Qin Zhongchi was also a member of parliament, and a member of the upper house, the Council of Lords, if he really delayed military affairs and caused heavy losses, it would be easy to strip him of his parliamentary status with a majority vote.

However, Qin Zhongchi looked at Zheng Miao with a puzzled expression: "Master Zhongtang, how dare this humble official conceal or lie? Only a little over 300 Han people died. The rest were contract workers, not Han people!"

What the hell!

Zheng Miao almost stumbled because of choking. He forgot that the He people, Chao people and Yue people cared most about the definition of Han people, which was very clear and strict.

You can call these guys who have obtained Chinese identity as Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese, or you can call people from both Japanese and Korean areas as Orientals.

They can also be called Silla people, Penglai people, Guangnan people, Rinan people, etc. according to the different provinces they come from.

Because now these names are no different from those used by people from Guangdong and Henan.

But you can never call them Japanese, Koreans and Annamites.

The latter three are the names of those ethnic groups who have not obtained Chinese identity and are treated as contract workers in Southeast Asia.

Those in these three places who already have Chinese identity do not recognize that those who originally belong to the same ethnic group as them but have not obtained Chinese identity are the same group of people.

Therefore, what Qin Zhongchi said is 100% correct, and it is also politically correct that Zheng Miao must uphold.

So the Nanyang Prime Minister, who was filled with anger, could only swallow his anger and said to Qin Zhongchi:
"How can we report to the military without details? Not only the thousands of contract workers who died, but even the thousands of natives who took refuge there must be reported.

Now, you must report all the facts immediately. After the war, the most you will be fined is a few manors. If you dare to conceal anything, this minister will immediately report to His Majesty and remove you from your parliamentary status! "

Qin Zhongchi agreed repeatedly because he was actually a little afraid and did not dare to report the news of Aceh's complete collapse. As a result, the longer he delayed, the more out of control the situation became.

Now we have only been fined a few estates, which is completely acceptable.

Don't even mention confiscating a few manors. Even if you confiscate a county from him, Qin Zhongchi will stay here and won't leave.

Because although the land of Sumatra Island is not as fertile as that of Nanji Island, it is much better than his hometown Penglai Province (Kyushu Island).

When the fiefdom was first established, it was said that 500,000 shi would be given, but after arriving in Aceh, I realized that the yield per mu here was three times that of my hometown.

Now, including the wasteland that has been vigorously reclaimed, the entire Zuoyuan Fangbo governs three counties, which is equivalent to at least 1.7 million shi of land.

This is also the reason why Qin Zhongchi and others persisted no matter how unruly the Acehnese natives were.

. . . .

The island of Sumatra is oriented northwest-southeast, and is long and narrow, with the Barisan Mountains cutting it in half in the middle.

The southern half, close to the deep sea, has narrow coastal plains and a relatively sparse population.

This half close to Andai Province is densely populated and has fertile land, especially in the area of Palembang Prefecture controlled by the imperial court, where the land is the flattest and most suitable for agricultural production.

The area next to Palembang Prefecture is the area around Medan City, which is mainly ruled by Zuoyuan Fangbo.

The remaining land occupied by the Acehnese rebels is near the western end of India. It is a land of rolling hills and mountains, with only interspersed plains, and cannot support many people.

Fortunately, although Zuoyuanbo Qin Zhongchi is unreliable, the Jinyiwei's Northern Pacification Division's Jinyiwei spy on Sumatra Island is still reliable.

Qin Zhongchi could conceal the losses in his territory, but he could not hide the large-scale uprising of the indigenous people on the island of Sumatra.

After hearing the report from the Jinyiwei Sumatra Hundred Household, Zheng Miao spread his hands and said to Cai Qian, Dong Jinfeng and other naval and land officers:
"As for military affairs, this Prime Minister is truly ignorant. I believe that the Nanyang region has always been dominated by the navy. General Cai, you will be in charge of this military meeting.

You all just need to focus on military affairs. As for logistics and other matters, they will naturally be handled by this High Court and the Republican Council, and they will be arranged perfectly."

Cai Qian is the most rapidly emerging general in the Chinese Navy in recent years. He is the only one among the nine lieutenant generals of the Navy who has no background.

He climbed the ranks of lieutenant general from an orphan whose parents had both died in eight years, and this was definitely achieved through hard work.

In history, this man was the only and last big pirate from Fujian who appeared after Zheng Zhilong and could collect protection fees from Western ships in the Taiwan Strait.

Although its scale was not as large as Zheng Zhilong's, it was able to maintain its combat effectiveness when the Opium War was about to break out, and its strength was definitely not low.

"Cai Louchuan is a veteran naval commander, renowned for his military prowess and his military acumen. Furthermore, our Yang Wu army is here to assist us, so General Cai should be the one to support us."

Although Dong Jinfeng, the commander of Yangwu Army, was also a lieutenant general, he did not compete with Cai Qian.

Because this is the tacit understanding between the navy and the army. The South Seas is the navy's home ground, and the navy must be the main force when going there.

Therefore, Dong Jinfeng did not feel dissatisfied at all, and even addressed Cai Qian by his title of Lieutenant General - General of the Tower Ship - with some respect.

Cai Qian walked forward, saluted Zheng Miao first, then saluted Dong Jinfeng, who was also a lieutenant general, and then saluted everyone around him before taking the baton from Zheng Miao.

"The Barisan Mountains are majestic and steep, with tall trees and dense forests. They are sparsely populated and prone to miasma. A strong attack is not the best option.

Therefore, I suggest that we focus on attacking Palembang and Medan provinces on the north side of the Barisan Mountains and take over the rich areas first.

Then the navy used large steamships and ships to sail around to the south of the island and occupy all the coastal plains on the south, such as British Bencoolen, Marlborough, and all other southern ports.

At this time, the English actually still had a small area in Southeast Asia, which was the Mingcoolen area in the south of Sumatra Island. There were three or four hundred Europeans here, who controlled more than ten thousand indigenous people who mined and planted spices here.

Cai Qian continued, "As for Banda Aceh, the Acehnese stronghold to the west, we will remain inactive, pretending to be short of troops and ignoring them.

After doing all this, I will control Palembang, Medan, the plains and ports in the south of the island.

Without the supplies from the plains, the natives of the Barisan Mountains would surely be unable to hold out. They would have only one place to go, and that was Banda Aceh."

"Very venomous. Uh, what a brilliant plan!" Dong Jinfeng understood. "At the western end of Sumatra, the only plain is the alluvial plain at the mouth of the estuary, and Banda Aceh is being built right here.

When most of the natives in the mountains have gone to Banda Aceh, we will block all the roads in the mountains so that they cannot return to the mountains or come to the east.

Finally, a large number of natives gathered in Banda Aceh, and Banda Aceh is right on the coast. We can easily arrive by sea using warships and then wipe out all the gathered natives! "

Dong Jinfeng almost blurted out that it was a vicious plan, because this operational aspect seemed perfect, but if they really wanted to take over Palembang and Medan in a short time, and completely cut off the supply of resources from the plains to the mountains and forests, there was no other way, only one word.

kill!

If all the young and middle-aged people were killed, there would be no labor force, and naturally no one would be able to transport supplies to the mountains.

So Dong Jinfeng turned her attention to Zheng Miao, a native of Hefei. He relied on the merits he had accumulated in Daibei. Although he came from a family of military generals, he also climbed up step by step.

He couldn't make the decision on such a massacre, nor could he take the blame. Only someone like Zheng Miao, the son of a Buddha, the brother of the Queen, and someone who had made great contributions to the country, could bear the consequences.

"With nearly two million natives on Sumatra, it would be impossible to achieve this with only 15,000 navy and army troops, and 20,000 provincial garrison troops and volunteers.

We must deploy more manpower, at least 40,000 combat soldiers and 80,000 civilians." Zheng Miao looked at Cai Qian. The battle plan was indeed a good one. When it came to killing people, his big head could handle it.

Not to mention anything else, just because the Zheng family gave up the entire Siam for the country, as long as they don't plot to usurp the throne, they won't lose their heads.

But is it really necessary to mobilize such a large force at this time?

"Master Zhongtang, this opportunity is truly rare, because the Sultan of Aceh, Alauddin Muhammad Sayyid, is a rare and wise ruler.

Only he had the appeal and means to gather all the indigenous people on the island of Sumatra.

If we only attack Aceh this time and kill the Sultan, it will be difficult to rally the indigenous people in such a united way in the future."

Uh, Zheng Miao was speechless for a moment, then after thinking about it, it seemed that this was really the case!
Well, originally, because Zuoyuanbo Qin Zhongchi concealed the news, I thought I was coming here just to quell the rebellion, but now the rebellion has become so big, it suddenly became a good opportunity to wipe out the natives in one go.

As for killing people, Zheng Miao doesn't care at all.

He is one-quarter Thai and grew up in Southeast Asia before returning to Tangshan at the age of eleven. Therefore, he is very familiar with this typical Southeast Asian way of fighting for the right to survive and has no psychological burden.

However, to achieve such a combat goal, it would definitely be too late to transfer troops and supplies from Tangshan. We can only continue to mobilize the vassal states in Nanyang and use the forces of the provinces in Nanyang.

However, it is easy to mobilize these people, including the provincial garrison troops and the volunteers who have migrated overseas, but it is a bit problematic for the vassal states in Southeast Asia.

However, Zheng Miao thought about it and decided that he couldn't let this opportunity go. He waved his hand and shouted, "Liu Buyuan, Sima Liu, you and Cai Louchuan seem to agree on something.

I authorize the two of you to quickly draft and refine a combat plan. Within three days, provide a rough estimate of the materials and personnel required to expand into a full-scale war."

After receiving the task, Zheng Miao left quickly because he had to rush to Xingang immediately to discuss with the major vassals, mainly the vassals in the Andai area.

Soon, watching the sails looming on the sea and listening to the rumbling sound of the steam engine, Zheng Miao looked at his most important staff member, Chen Guan, a native of Xincheng County (Lichuan County), Jiangxi Province, who was ranked ninth in the second class of the special examination in 1782 to celebrate the th birthday of the Empress Dowager.

"Binwo, do you think His Majesty will allow me to mobilize the forces of Andai's vassals to carry out this expanded operation?"

Chen Guan shook his head. This person was very capable. Historically, he was one of the top three Jinshi and achieved the high position of Cabinet Scholar. He was an excellent official who could handle both government affairs and political affairs.

"Master Zhongtang, even without your humble servant telling me, you already know why His Majesty is unwilling to use An Dai's vassals.

In my humble opinion, unless this unrest occurs in Nanji Province, Your Majesty might agree, but if it occurs in Sumatra, it is not urgent enough to mobilize the vassal of An Dai.

Zheng Miao fell silent. One of the reasons why his brother-in-law, the emperor, was unwilling to use the power of An Dai's five vassals was to prevent them from continuously expanding their territory.

There is another important reason, that is, as the princes grew up and increased in number, many of them needed to be enfeoffed. If the good places were occupied by these vassals, the princes would have no place to go.

Even if you force your way through, you won't be able to keep your position.

"Is there really no way out? This opportunity is indeed rare." Zheng Miao still had some vision, so he asked unwillingly.

"The vassal states of Andai are mostly old officials who followed Your Majesty in the uprising, and they occupy almost the entire province of Andai.

In addition, industries such as tin mining, gold mining, and bird's nest mining are basically monopolized by them. These people have a lot of money and a lot of people."

Chen Guanxian muttered a few words about the superficial situation of these powerful vassals, while his brain was working rapidly.

Then he suddenly thought of Liu Tai traveling 20,000 miles to Nanji Province to serve as governor, and he suddenly felt enlightened.

. . . .

New Port (Singapore), Governor-General Andai's Office.

The five relatives of the Yuan Dynasty, known as Wu Rang, Marquis of Songcheng, Ye Xianyang, Marquis of Taogong, Wei Rikun (Pattani), Earl of Zunyi, Zhuang Lishan, Earl of Gaozhou, and Ye Fengchang, Earl of Jida, were all there.

There are only ten prefectures in the province of Andai, and they occupy five of them. In addition, Mo Zirong's Lu Fan is also in Andai. The only four prefectures that the court can directly control are Nakhon Si Thammarat, Perak, Selangor and Johor.

These are the real local tyrants. In any case, Governor Ande Hawke (Secretary Holdyke) understands very well the emperor's unspoken rule of not allowing them to continue going out to expand their fiefdoms.

Even without expansion, we are already rich enough to rival a country. What will happen if we expand again?

When Zheng Miao arrived, of course he didn't talk about business right away, but instead had a meal first and then slowly talked over the wine table, which is also an old custom of the Chinese.

On the way here, Zheng Miao had asked Chen Guan to clearly write down how to talk to these people, so Zheng Miao was still confident.

"My fellow uncles and brothers are all heroes who followed the emperor and founded the country. We are also from Fujian and Guangdong, so I will speak frankly.

Sumatra and Andai are across the sea from each other, separated by the narrow Strait of Malacca. This is the only way to enter and exit the Inner and Outer South China Seas. It is the most important waterway in the empire.

Do you think that even if His Majesty agrees, can the court allow a vassal to have fiefdoms on both sides of the Strait of Malacca, and if they get angry, can they directly cut off this important passage?"

The Strait of Malacca is only 30 kilometers at its narrowest point and 270 kilometers at its widest point.

It is just as Zheng Miao said, if there really were a vassal state with land on both sides of Malacca, it would be able to strangle the imperial court.

This statement is simply irrefutable.

After a while, Wei Rikun, the emperor's sworn brother and the leader of the Hui'an Mingxiang people, slowly said, "That's true. We old brothers only know how to be loyal to the emperor and love our country, and we obey His Majesty's orders the most.

But we are all vassal states. We can contribute to the country according to our moral principles and laws, but it is impossible for us to make great efforts and not get any benefits at all."

Wei Rikun seemed to be complaining, but he was actually conveying a message, because Zheng Miao had already informed him before coming.

Without waiting for the others to interrupt, Zheng Miao immediately replied, "Uncle is right. Therefore, for the sake of all my uncles and brothers, I am willing to write to His Majesty and reward you according to your merits. I will find a fiefdom in Zhanzhou for each of you."

In fact, few people know what Zhanzhou is like now. From the information obtained from the English and the Dutch, we only know that Zhanzhou is very large and the climate is quite pleasant.

Well, the places that Europeans are exploring now are all in the southeast of Australia, in the Sydney and Melbourne generation of later generations.

At most, you can go a little further west along the coastline and stop near Adelaide, where the climate is naturally pleasant.

As for Mo Zibu, he certainly knew that Australia was mostly desert, but he wouldn't say that. If he said that Australia was all Gobi desert, who would want to colonize it?

"Is this His Majesty's intention, or your idea?" Ye Fengchang touched his nose and said slowly:

"This Nanyang is already the southernmost part of the sky, and Zhanzhou is even further south than this!
Besides, there are still 10 to 20 million indigenous people in Nanyang, while Zhanzhou is said to only have a few cave dwellers. It is extremely difficult to develop. Forget about making a profit, but if you can see a return in 20 years, it would be considered good.

"Uncle, all of us vassal states are rich enough to rival a country. We built gardens for ourselves and our ancestors, but I don't see how much we feel sorry for them.

I heard that many sons of the royal family spent a fortune in Chengtian Guangzhou Prefecture and Nanjing Yingtian Prefecture, spending hundreds or even thousands of silver dollars for a prostitute in the Qinhuai River.

So much so that An Daiyuan, a relative of the vassal, is regarded with awe throughout the world, and is no less wealthy than the pseudo-Qing Yangzhou salt merchants. With so much money, why not consider the country? Does it really have to wait for Your Majesty to come and make a clear suggestion?"

This is a bit impolite. Ye Fengchang has been mining everywhere in recent years and has made a lot of money. The ancestral tomb in his hometown of Tong'an, Xiamen, was built according to the etiquette of a prince. This item alone cost more than 400,000 silver dollars.

Moreover, the playboy Ye Gongzi, who was famous throughout the country for spending lavishly on the Qinhuai River, was his son.

When Ye Fengchang was named like this and thought of Zheng Miao's identity, he suddenly felt a little sweaty.

Wu Rangze chuckled, and as the head of the vassal state, he quickly came out to smooth things over.

“Zhanzhou is indeed a bit desolate and far away, but wasn’t our current territory also desolate and far away back then?

These golden things cannot be brought into this world and cannot be taken away from this world. Zheng Zhongtang is willing to give us some benefits. We can contribute hundreds of thousands of silver dollars a year and organize some people. If we succeed, it will be a good inheritance for our descendants in the future."

"That's right. If we keep this money, we'll have to pay a storage fee to deposit it in Fuxing Bank. It's better to use it now to help the court and explore the way to Zhanzhou than to lose it in vain."

Ye Xianyang, Duke of Tao, also spoke. He was quite in favor of it because he had many sons, and one more title would provide an extra layer of security for each son.

"Let's do it!" Wei Rikun, the Earl of Zunyi and the most senior person and the emperor's sworn brother, made the final decision.

"Ah Shui, quickly give us the amount of troops and food we need to send, and we'll quickly go back and mobilize them. Don't be so fussy about haggling over conditions when it comes to serving the country."

(End of this chapter)