The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 63: Intimacy cannot defeat the ruthlessness of time
Ayutthaya, the capital of the Ayutthaya Dynasty of Siam, is generally called Ayutthaya by the Chinese, so the Ayutthaya Dynasty is also called the Ayutthaya Dynasty.

This city is located 65 kilometers north of Bangkok, facing the Chao Phraya River plain and surrounded by water on three sides. It has a large number of historical sites and temples.

In Nanyang, its cultural, historical and artistic value is comparable to that of the thousand-year-old city of Hanoi, which was then called Tokyo.

But, tragically, although Ayutthaya is surrounded by water on three sides, the rivers are deep but not wide, and the currents are not fast, making it very easy to swim across.

There are not many high mountains and valleys around to rely on, and there is no strong pass guarding within a radius of fifty miles.

If we put it in the context of Chinese history, the status of this city is similar to that of Kaifeng Prefecture in Tokyo during the Northern Song Dynasty.

They are all cities with highly developed economy, culture and art, and can serve as economic, cultural and artistic centers, but they should not be the capital of the country.

In the east of Ayutthaya, in a large area between the Royal Palace and Wat Yai Chamengkhong, there stand many buildings that are completely different from the Siamese architectural style. This is the Chinatown of Ayutthaya.

The most famous residence in the Tang City is naturally the residence of Zheng Guoying, who served as the Vice Minister of Wu Shamuhan (Deputy Military Minister), commanded an army of 3,000 people, and was granted the title of Kamphaeng Phetphiya, but because he failed to take up the position, he is still known as Phraya Dak.

Of course, this mansion was not actually Zheng Guoying's, but the mansion of his late adoptive father, Phraya Chaksi, the dynasty's finance minister.

There was a convention in the Ayutthaya Dynasty that since around 1600, when King Naresuan the Great defeated Myanmar and restored the country, the Minister of Finance, who held the financial power of the dynasty, was basically a Han Chinese.

Because before Qianlong was awarded the title of the Father of the Nation of Thailand, my long-legged Emperor Wanli, who never attended court, had already been awarded the title of the Father of the Nation of Thailand.

In the tenth year of the Wanli reign, around 1582, after the Toungoo Dynasty conquered the former Ayutthaya Dynasty, it began to harass Yunnan as usual. Emperor Wanli then sent Liu Jing and other generals to suppress them.

Liu Dadao showed his might in Yunnan and beat the Toungoo Dynasty of Burma, which was at its peak, to the point of being on the verge of death. The Siamese people who were enslaved by Burma took the opportunity to successfully restore their country under the leadership of King Naresuan.

After the restoration of the country, Naresuan was well aware of the power of the Ming Dynasty, so he began to accept a large number of Han people into Siam and encouraged Siamese nobles to intermarry with Han people.

At that time, the Siamese aristocracy was proud to marry the Han people, with men marrying Han women and women marrying Han men.

The Han people moved south and focused more on trade, and gradually took control of the finances of the Ayutthaya Dynasty.

For more than a hundred years thereafter, the position of Minister of Finance was held only during the reign of the 31st King, King Songdang, by Channan, the son of the Governor of Phitsanulok.

But this did not last long. The Chinese first gathered 400 people to ambush King Song Dang while he was traveling, attempting to kill King Song Dang and support King Song Dang's brother Prince Naren to ascend the throne to regain financial power. Unfortunately, they failed.

But after the failure, all the Chinese businessmen and the Chinese middle and low-level officials who basically controlled the operation of the Ministry of Finance quickly united and acted in a double-cross manner, and successfully sidelined Zan Nan.

After Zannan lost control of the Ministry of Finance, the dynasty's financial situation deteriorated rapidly, and he had to take the initiative to write to King Song Dang to request to resign as Minister of Finance.

He also recommended his son-in-law, an official of Chinese descent, to succeed him as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

This official of Chinese descent was originally from Chenghai, Chaozhou, and his surname was Zheng.

After he took office as Minister of Finance, he recruited a large number of relatives and friends from the Chenghai Zheng family to Siam to engage in business and politics.

One of his distant cousins, Zheng Yong, was particularly capable. With his support, he soon acquired a substantial family fortune and married the daughter of a noble minister in Siam, thus establishing himself firmly rooted there.

This finance minister, whose ancestor was surnamed Zheng, was none other than Phraya Chaksid, the adoptive father of King Thonburi and the finance minister of Siam.

Zheng Yong is Zheng Xin's deceased father.

At the same time, Phraya Chaetis's mother came from the Chakri family, an old Siamese aristocratic family. When he was young, he used Sinmok (Sim?) Chakri as his name.

Rama I, who later killed Taksin and established the Chakri Dynasty, was the cousin of Phraya Chaetis' uncle.

In other words, Taksin's distant cousin and adoptive father was Rama I's cousin.

Rama I's grandmother, mother and wife all had Chinese ancestry, and he himself, like Taksin, was a Najin, a Tang-Siamese mixed race.

The only difference is that Rama I was a maternal Najin descendant and had been mixed-race for many generations, while Taksin was a paternal Najin descendant of just the second generation.

Later records say that Rama I's mother was named Daozhen, but this is actually a rumor, because Daozhen or Nazhen is not a person's name, but an identity.

Taksin and Rama I were both Najins and had been playmates since childhood. They could be considered close relatives.

The relationship between Siam and the Chinese is intertwined with love and hate.

In the mansion, the door of the study was pushed open with a creaky sound, and Tong, covered in dampness, walked in.

He was later Rama I. At that time, he had not yet obtained the title of Luang, which was equivalent to viscount. It is inaccurate for later generations to say that his name was Thong Luang. He was just called Thong, and Luan was a title.

Tong is 29 years old this year. He has very obvious Zhuang-Dai features. His hair is thick, slightly curly with a hint of gray. His skin is more bronze-colored than that of Han people. He has a straight nose and thicker eyebrows.

The few bits of gray hair are probably from the premature graying gene brought by the Han Chinese ancestry in the body.

Tong is not tall, and can even be said to be a little thin, so he does not appear to be very aggressive. He always has a kind smile on his face, so he is very popular.

Among Phraya Tay's companions and confidants, Tong was the most popular.

"Phraya, the king has rejected your request again."

Zheng Guoying smiled bitterly, stood up and handed the towel behind him to Tong, his tone gentle and with some doting for his younger brother.

"Wipe it off. I'll ask Shishi to make a bowl of ginger soup later. Be careful of the cold."

Compared to Tong, who is relatively short, maybe only 1.623 meters tall, Zheng Guoying, who is 1.734 meters tall, is much taller.

The two have similar skin color, or rather, Zheng Guoying, the second generation of Na Jin, is darker than Tong.

"Okay, Dad. I'll cook it right away." A little girl of about eleven or twelve, wearing a traditional Siamese long skirt, poked her head out of the door and answered with a smile.

This long skirt is a classic Tai-Thai costume. After continuous evolution, it has become the most common ethnic attire for women on the streets of Thailand. The little girl peeking out, Shishi, is also a bit dark-skinned, but has a cute and lovely appearance. She is Zheng Guoying's eldest daughter, eleven years old.

After she said this to her father, she looked at Tong who was wiping the rain off his head and said, "Uncle, you must drink a big bowl later!"

"No!" Tong shook his finger, "I want two big bowls!"

When Shishi heard this, her eyes turned into crescent shapes and she happily took small steps back.

As soon as she left, the atmosphere in the study began to freeze. Zheng Guoying looked at the map on the wall and said slowly:

"Ayutthaya is located on a plain with flat terrain all around, so both cavalry and elephants can come and go freely.

If the Burmese come, the cannons can even bombard the palace directly, making it insufficient for defense.

If Ayutthaya is to be saved, Kamphaeng Phet must be defended, and of course it would be best if Takcheng could be defended.

"We have natural defenses but we don't use them. Instead, we try to wait for the enemy to tire themselves out and annihilate them outside the capital. This is simply putting the lives of thousands of warriors at risk."

At this point, Zheng Guoying suddenly stopped and sighed deeply, "Tong, I've been rereading Sun Wu's Art of War recently."

As he spoke, Zheng Guoying switched from Siamese to Chinese, and it was not Teochew, but standard Mandarin.

"War is a matter of great importance to a nation; it is a matter of life and death, a matter of survival and destruction. It must be carefully considered. Since ancient times, those who have treated war as a joke will eventually die in battle."

Tong also switched to Mandarin, which was a little secret between them. In Siam, Mandarin with a slight Jianghuai accent was almost equivalent to a coded language.

Not only Siamese people can't understand you, most Chinese people also have difficulty understanding you if you speak a little faster.

"Phraya, you only see the weapons, but I see something else.

We Nazims have too much power. Not only do we monopolize the financial sector, but in recent years, the number of armies commanded by Nazims has also increased.

Ever since Song became king, the royal family has not trusted us very much.

It's not that they don't see the importance of Dalcheng or Kamphaeng Phet, but they are worried about you, the most outstanding Najin who can be called a military genius, becoming a frontier general with a lot of military power.

King Agada is more wary of you than he is of the Burmese!"

Zheng Guoying stopped talking. How could he not know all this?

he knows.

But even though he knew it, Zheng Guoying was still anxious.

Mong Bo, the White Elephant King of the Burmese, was a wise ruler of the Konbaung Dynasty, and the Burmese army under his command was invincible.

The Siamese army had long been plagued by corruption and its combat effectiveness was extremely low. There were probably less than 5,000 elite soldiers in the country, and the rest were garbage.

Once the Burmese reached the outskirts of Ayutthaya, the Siamese army would be no match for them.

"Please make some arrangements tomorrow. I'm going to Yacha Mengkong Temple to worship Buddha." After a while, Zheng Guoying said in a low voice.

Tong understood immediately that going to Wat Yaicha Mongkol to worship Buddha was just a cover-up. Phraya's real intention was to meet Luang Chatuchak.

This third-generation Chaozhou Nazhen controlled the most important fortress in the southwest of the city and had four hundred elite soldiers under his command.

If the Burmese army really arrives outside Ayutthaya, the fortress controlled by Luang Chatuchak will be the most important nail.

But just as Tong was about to leave, Zheng Guoying suddenly remembered something. He opened the drawer and handed a letter to Tong.

"Look, this is a secret letter from Luo Kun, sent by Zhao Meng Wang Chun to Hexian."

Tong quickly took it. The more he looked at it, the more he felt that the operation of the fifth son of the Hexian Mo family was very familiar.

Zheng Guoying looked at Tong's strange eyes and laughed out loud, which was rare for him.

"Looks familiar, doesn't it? When I first saw it, I thought I had just gone to Luokun and played this trick. Hahahaha!"

Tong also laughed. Indeed, this operation was almost exactly the same as that of Phraya who climbed up step by step back then. They were both particularly good at dividing and winning over people, and were also very generous in making many friends.

After seeing Zheng Guoying's mood improve, Tong suppressed this strange feeling and said:
"Phaya, aren't you worried at all? The Wang family is from Chaozhou and has been making preparations to support you."

Zheng Guoying stood up, took two slow steps, and shook his head, "Wang Chunfa went to Hexian, perhaps because he was afraid of the upcoming war.

I have met Wang Runzhi. He knows his limits and will definitely continue to stand with us, his fellow Chaozhou people.

Besides, if Mo Zibu was ten years older than me and was the undisputed heir to the Hexian Mo family, I might have to worry a little.

But he is too young and has no advantage in terms of legal legitimacy, so he cannot get the support of the old foxes in the Hexian Mo family.

Moreover, I, Zheng Guoying, only thought about uniting the Chaozhou people. He is a person from western Guangdong and Mingxiang, but he actually had the delusion that he could unite all Chinese people.

Well, maybe when this young man is beaten hard by reality, he will realize the cruelty of this world.

However, he is indeed a talent, and we can show some goodwill to him. After all, he is Chinese, and in the future, perhaps we can communicate more with the Ha Tien Mo family through him."

Well, at this time, Zheng Guoying and Zheng Xin certainly could not have imagined that he would become the King of Siam in a few years, so he still had some admiration for Mo Zibu.

The Ha Tien Mok family was a thorn in the throat for the King of Siam, but not for a Chinese Siamese minister for the time being.

(End of this chapter)