The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 771 Here, the Chinese Empire has the final say
South Asian subcontinent, northeast, south of the Yarlung Zangbo River.

Even as the Gurkha army was punishing the Gurkha Shah dynasty on the plateau, there was no peace on this land.

Among the dozens of large and small states in this land that was later included in the northeast of India, the largest kingdom was the Ahom Kingdom established by the descendants of the Luchuan chieftain. They called themselves Mengdun Shunhan, which means the rich golden country.

However, although the Mengdun Shunhan Kingdom founded by the Dai people has ruled this area for more than four hundred years, it has always had a very big problem.

That is, among the kingdom's population of more than 800,000, the Dai people, who are regarded as the nation and the foundation, never accounted for more than 15% at their largest proportion.

The rest of the people who were ruled were mostly local indigenous peoples such as the Bodos, Kachars, Moyamaris, etc.

The first two are slightly better. They are mountain people of the Tibeto-Burman ethnic group, similar to the indigenous people of southern Tibet in China, and they also exist in large numbers in later generations.

The Bodo people, the Kachar people and the Ahom Dai people do not look that different from each other, and their living habits are relatively similar, so they can get along well with each other.

But the latter, the Moayamaris, are authentic Indian natives, commonly known as Black Asan.

They were different from the Dai people of Mengdun Shunhan in every way, were very prone to causing trouble, and had the largest number of people, making them the biggest source of unrest in the Ahom Kingdom.

Thick smoke drifted over Rangpur, the capital of the Ahom Kingdom, and a large number of people ran out in panic like termites whose nests had been destroyed.

They were carrying their only large and small bags, supporting the elderly and children, stumbling and stumbling. Occasionally, a few women holding children would fall to the ground and let out shrill cries, making the crowd even more panicked.

"Burhagohain, did you see that?"

Wearing the Dayu 1795 style summer military uniform specially made for Lingnan and Nanyang regions, which consists of a European-style shirt and jacket on the upper body, shorts with white stockings to repel mosquitoes, and a sharp steel knife and a big gun (revolver) on his waist, Qin San puffed out his chest and protruded his belly, looking mighty.

He pointed in the direction of Rangpur and shouted to a man in a Tai-Thai tube skirt in a scolding tone:
"This is all due to your ignorance and weakness. You can't let go of your family's small interests and don't understand how wonderful it is to be a subject of a great emperor. This has brought about serious consequences."

"Each of them has lost a loved one because of your selfish desires. Imagine how the people of Ahom will view you when they learn of this!"

The so-called Burhagohain is an Ahom dialect word meaning regent prime minister.

More than 400 years after arriving in the northeast of the South Asian subcontinent, these Dai people actually began to become Indianized in many aspects, and their dialect became more inclined towards the Indian region.

As a result, the Dai soldiers recruited by Dayu from their ancestral land, that is, the Baoshan area of Yunnan, were no longer able to communicate smoothly with the Ahom people.

The same is true in religion. More than two hundred years ago, the ancestors of these people abandoned the original primitive religion of the Dai people or Theravada Buddhism and converted to the Shaktism of Hinduism.

This change was intended to introduce a caste system so that the Ahom people, who were a minority in population, could remain as a high caste for a long time and rule over the indigenous people, who were mainly Moyamariyans.

But there is a BUG in this thing. Although the caste system determines a person's caste based on many aspects such as skin color, address, surname, occupation, etc., the most important means must be skin color.

Because it is impossible for an unfamiliar person to know your address, surname and occupation just by looking at you without any communication.

Moreover, addresses, occupations and even surnames can be falsified, but skin color cannot be whitened.

Therefore, the most intuitive way to roughly determine someone's caste upon meeting them is skin color.

There are many fair-skinned Dai people, but most of them are darker than the Han people. The gap between them and the descendants of the authentic Brahman Aryans in India is even greater.

In addition, the surnames of the Ahom people originated from southwest China and have long lost their early function of identifying occupations by surnames.

This resulted in the fact that although the Ahom Kingdom practiced Brahmanism and had a caste system, the people who were ruled were always dissatisfied. They thought, "We all look about the same color, so why should you be a higher caste?"
The color of you, Brahmin, seems a little off. What is this for? Is this still India?
At this time, the regent prime minister of the Ahom Kingdom, Burhagohain, was called Purnananda. As the name suggests, he had become very Indian.

Qin San's words made the Regent Prime Minister extremely angry. This was basically like scolding him as a subordinate, but Purnananda did not dare to show it on his face.

Because he knew that this officer of the Chinese Empire, who was only a major, could have great connections.

This Yao man from Guangxi was one of the first group of people from Guangxi to go to Southeast Asia. He followed the first Governor of Nanji, Wuming Earl Liu Dingqun, to pacify Nanji Island, and also followed the Prime Minister of Nanyang, Yue Guogong Chen Lian, to fight in the Sino-British War of Bengal.

Although he did not make any great contributions and his personal abilities were average, his experience was too long and profound, and he was one of the earliest contributors to the empire's outward expansion.

Moreover, many of those who followed Qin Dingyang through life and death in Nanyang and Tianzhu have risen to high positions.

For example, Hu Quanhuan, the King of Shunyi in Guangzhou, Zhang Zhaoquan, the Jiaqing Governor of Nanyang, and Huang Renyong, the commander of the Yaowu Army of the Beijing Camp.

Although these people are not the highest level of the empire, it is easy for them to kill him, the Prime Minister of the Ahom Kingdom who is not even a vassal.

"I know I have failed the late king's trust and the court's expectations, but now that things have come to this, I beg General Tan to send troops to help me quell the rebellion."

Purnananda was really helpless, because the Mayamalia and Naga people under him had basically participated in the rebellion. The Ahom people suffered thousands of casualties, but they could not even defend the capital city of Rangpur. They had completely lost the ability to quell the rebellion.

Upon hearing this, Qin San and Qin Dingyang snorted coldly, "Prime Minister Ahom, God helps those who help themselves. Since the Ahom Kingdom wants independence, you must bear the price of independence.

The six hundred men under my command are all warriors of the empire, each one of them is invaluable. Before the imperial court issues a military order, the Prime Minister should organize his own army to quell the rebellion."

After saying this, Qin San jumped on his horse without waiting for the Ahom Prime Minister Purnananda to speak, and left with thirty riders, leaving Purnananda disheveled in the wind and the Ahom people of Rangpur crying while fleeing.

"Commander, are we really leaving like this? You've even built your home here for Ahom. After ten years of hard work, are you going to give up in one day?"

After running more than ten miles, several passionate subordinates asked Qin San unwillingly, and Qin San smiled and waved at them.

Most of these garrison troops, who were affiliated with the Myitkyina Town in the Upper Sichuan Province (Upper Burma) of the Chinese Empire, were from Yunnan, and were from ethnic minorities such as Miao, Dai, and Yi among the Yunnan people.

There are so many good places in the Chinese Empire now that most Han people are unwilling to come to shabby places like northeastern India. Only ethnic minorities in the mountainous areas of Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi and northern Guangnan are willing to give it a try.

Therefore, these garrison troops attached great importance to the Ahom Kingdom, because in their hometowns, they were just poor mountain people, but in Ahom, they were heavenly soldiers from their parents' country, and each of them was a superior person.

“The court has no interest in this place, and there is nothing we can do to change that.

But the Ahom people only want to take advantage of the imperial court, so let's show them whether they can still occupy such a large territory without us!"

After Qin San finished speaking, he waved his whip and said, "Let's go to Guwahati to meet an important person there!"

In just a few simple words, Qin San pointed out the important reason why the Ahom Kingdom had been nominally under the Chinese Empire for almost ten years, but the kingdom was basically the same as before.

For the imperial court, the Ahom Kingdom was remote and far away. Taking it over would not bring much benefit except for expanding the territory on the map. If they really wanted to bring it under actual control, they would definitely lose money.

Therefore, the imperial court has been unwilling to directly govern Ahom and unwilling to allocate too many resources to it.

As for the Ahom Kingdom, they chose to recognize the Chinese Empire as their parent country, and even sent a delegation of nearly a hundred people to the capital to pay homage every two years. In fact, it was just to use the Chinese Empire's skin to scare the British Indian authorities who coveted the Ahom Kingdom.

Oh, maybe it also has the effect of scaring off the rebellious ethnic groups such as the Moamali people and the Naga people.

They don't really want to make donations, but rather want to have the protection of a big brother so that they can abuse their power without paying anything.

Therefore, if you ask the king and nobles of the Ahom Kingdom to pay tribute of one or two thousand silver dollars worth of specialties to the emperor every year, they will definitely be willing to do so.

However, they were unwilling to come under the direct rule of the imperial court and open the door to allow the imperial power to enter completely.

Therefore, in the past ten years, only marginal people like Qin San were willing to take root here.

When he arrived in Ahom ten years ago, his military rank was second lieutenant, but ten years later he was still only a major. This shows that in the Ahom Kingdom, he was a man who was neither loved by his grandmother nor his uncle.

. . . . .

Guwahati is the largest city in the westernmost part of the Ahom Kingdom, adjacent to Bangladesh. Less than a hundred kilometers to the north is Yadong County of the later Republic of China's Qiangtang. Its geographical location is extremely important.

Historically, after the English took control of Ahom, they moved the royal city of Ahom here for easier control.

But in this time and space, Guwahati was not that important, because according to the secret agreement that the British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger personally negotiated in China, the northeast of India was the sphere of influence of the Chinese Empire, and British India, mainly based in Bengal, could not expand here.

Having lost its usefulness in spying on the Ahom Kingdom, the English naturally lost interest in Guwahati.

After Qin San and Qin Dingyang arrived in Guwahati, they immediately met the assistant commercial agent of Fuxing Company in Bangladesh who had been waiting there.

At this time, China was like other powers. Many of its diplomats and even intelligence personnel were local Chinese businessmen.

This is the most economical and affordable way. At the same time, if something goes wrong, there is much more room for maneuver because there is no official background.

"Major Qin, by order of the Privy Council's Army Department, your unit is required to dispatch 300 cavalrymen to Bengal to serve as an escort. Can you send them now?"

Fuxing Company has a general commercial office and two assistant managers in Bangladesh. The general manager and the first assistant manager, who is the one in front of us, are in Kolkata, and the second assistant manager is in Chittagong. They have great power, almost like officials.

So when Qin San heard the assistant manager's question, he saluted and said, "Report, all 600 soldiers of the Southern Tibet Special Independent Battalion in Mi La Town, Shangchuan Province, are ready to deploy at any time!"

The assistant agent saw Qin San's behavior and laughed, "Major, I'm just a businessman, not a major. I can't afford you to do this."

After more than a decade of experience, Qin San had become accustomed to the ups and downs of life, and he could speak politely without hesitation. "The Assistant General holds the transfer order from the Privy Council's Army Department. I am a general officer in the Army Department. Hearing the order is like addressing a superior officer, so I naturally have to perform a military salute."

As he spoke, Qin San lowered his voice a few degrees, "General Huang, the commander-in-chief of the Yaowu Army, was my former captain. He wrote to me specifically, asking me to obey the assistant manager's command completely. Naturally, Qin San dared not slack off." The assistant manager's eyes lit up and a smile immediately appeared on his face, because Huang Renyong was from Haiyang County, Chaozhou Prefecture (Chao'an District, Chaozhou). When he was able to study at the Jingkou Army Officers Academy, the Queen's family, Zheng, made great efforts. He was a typical Chaoshan general.

The assistant agent himself is also from Chaozhou, so in Tianzhu, both sides can barely be considered as family members.

"So that's how it is. Huang Pinglu and Mr. Li are from the same hometown, and our two families are even related by marriage. Last New Year's Day, they returned home together to worship their ancestors."

The assistant agent lowered his voice, a mysterious and solemn expression on his face. "Since he's one of us, I can tell the major a little bit now. The distinguished person the major is escorting in Calcutta this time is none other than the Fourth Young Master!"

The so-called Four Young Masters must be the fourth son of Emperor Mo Da. No one else has such a great honor, and can mobilize hundreds of cavalry guards at will, or have the assistant agent or even the general manager of Bangladesh arrange it personally.

"Ah!" Qin Sanda was shocked. It turned out to be the fourth prince, Mo Zhouzhe, the Prince of Wanxiang. No wonder Huang Renyong wrote to him personally, telling him to be careful in his actions.

New Fort William, Kolkata.

The fourth prince Mo Zhouzhe arrived outside the New William Fort in Kolkata under the escort of three steam sailing warships of the Outer South China Sea Fleet.

In order to welcome the prince, almost all the senior civil and military officials of British India, including the Governor-General of British India, Lieutenant General Eliud Clarke, came.

At the same time, a large number of Indian princely states that had come under the jurisdiction of British India, including Nizam Ali Khan of Hyderabad, came in person.

Although Dayu did not have many troops in India at this time, its deterrent power was quite sufficient, and all the princes and nobles of the Indian states had to curry favor with it.

Look, the Sultan of the Kingdom of Mysore, thinking that he had the support of the French, treated the Seres Empire in a perfunctory manner.

As a result, just as Seris expelled the Mysore business representatives in Newport, the Third Anglo-Mysore War broke out. The Mysore Kingdom, which had lost the support of Seris, was badly defeated by the English.

If the Seres Empire had not made any statement about the English annexation of the Mysore Kingdom, the Mysore Kingdom might have been destroyed.

Mo Zhouzhe was the fourth child. His mother was Princess Nguyen Ngoc Xiu of the Nguyen clan of Guangnan. Her fiefdom was in Vientiane, which was later known as Lao Wo plus the northern part of Cambodia and Thailand.

However, this Mo Lao Si did not like his vassal state very much, and was not very concerned about its governance. Instead, he was very fond of colonization and diplomacy.

He has a somewhat sinister personality. Except for his father Mo Zibu and elder brother Mo Zhousen, he seems to be unable to get close to anyone. He is even more ruthless in his actions, and his heart is hard enough to be compared with the most standard politician.

However, seeing that the dock was full of people coming to greet him, Mo Zhouzhe behaved very warmly and generously. He chatted cordially with British Indian officials and princes of various princely states, as if he was here for vacation.

After the grand welcome dinner, Mo Zhouzhe still looked very enthusiastic and kind, because the purpose of his visit was to appease the British Indian authorities.

As the fourth Governor-General of India, Eliud Clarke had not yet been awarded the title of Knight.

Even this lieutenant general who had been stationed in New England and served as Lieutenant Governor-General of Canada had never been promoted to a full-time position in history. His title was Acting Governor-General of India until he returned to London.

However, this does not mean that Lieutenant General Eliuled Clark is incompetent. On the contrary, it means that he is very capable. Otherwise, he would not have been able to stand out among a group of marquises, earls, and viscounts and become the Governor-General of India.

"Your Highness, are you here because of the Mysore Kingdom?" In the study of the Governor-General of British India, Lieutenant General Clark asked knowingly.

Mo Zhouzhe shook his head and said, "The conflict between the Kingdom of Mysore and England is a matter between you two.

As an outsider, the Chinese Empire sincerely hopes that both sides can sit down and fully exchange views and reach a consensus on peace, so that the people on both sides will suffer less."

Governor Clark clenched his fists unconsciously. These damn Seres always said things that were very obscure and needed to be understood slowly.

They clearly did not want England to annex Mysore, yet they spoke so righteously, as if a father was helplessly persuading his two sons not to fight.

"I have come here to discuss the Nepali issue. The Gurkhas are trying to shake a tree with their own strength. Their fate is sealed, just as the fate of Bengal and even the Ganges basin was sealed years ago."

Mo Zhouzhe said gently that the most stressful thing for British India at this time was that they were afraid that Dayu would send troops from the Ahom Kingdom and attack the Sikkim Kingdom occupied by the Gorkha Shah Dynasty from the east.

Although it sounds like Sikkim and Bangladesh are not in the same dimension, they are actually very close to each other, and it can even be said that they are bordering each other at this time.

If Dayu sent troops from the Ahom Kingdom to Sikkim, not to mention how great the threat would be to Bangladesh after occupying Sikkim, what if after occupying Sikkim, they suddenly went south to attack Bangladesh?

This army was not even going to attack Sikkim, but was heading straight for Bangladesh.

Governor Clark breathed a sigh of relief. He understood what Mo Zhouzhe said. The Seris Empire's attitude towards India had not changed, and they had no intention of changing the status quo.

Of course, the Kingdom of Sikkim must be taken away, and the English cannot change this status quo.

So, when Governor Clark mentioned the matter of the Kingdom of Sikkim in a vague way, Mo Zhouzhe interrupted him with a wave of his hand.

"Sikkim, Bhutan, Ladakh, and Nepal have always been part of the Changtang region. This is our internal issue and there is no room for bargaining."

Mo Zhouzhe waved his hand, inadvertently revealing the domineering aura of a prince of the world's first industrial power.

"In addition, I would like to give the Governor a suggestion: don't invest too much energy in those who you cannot control well.

According to the agreement reached between our two countries in the past, you can take what is yours, and if it is not yours, please do not get involved.

Mo Zhouzhe's words directly pointed out the core reason why the Gurkhas were so bold this time, that is, they obtained a large number of English weapons, and only after their strength and confidence expanded did they dare to invade Qiangtang.

It is even difficult to say whether the English were behind the Gurkhas' invasion.

Governor Clark was also a little nervous and did not dare to dwell on this issue, because the Gurkhas were so bold, partly because the English wanted to test Dayu's strength on the plateau.

"On behalf of the Kingdom of England's Indian authorities, I would like to thank the Seris Empire for its rigorous approach to the treaty. In return, the government of England and India will strictly abide by the terms of the treaty."

"Hmph!" Mo Zhouzhe was waiting for Governor Clark to make such a statement. Suddenly, his face changed and he sneered, throwing out a thick book of various documents and letters.

"Abide by it? Your Excellency, Governor, I don't think so. Can you please take a look and see if there are any omissions?"

Governor Clark broke out in a cold sweat. He flipped through the document and read less than one-fifth of it, and his voice began to tremble.

Because these documents and letters are all documents of the transactions of various important strategic materials such as arms between the British Indian authorities and the Gorkha Shah dynasty in recent years, and a large part of them are correspondence between the two sides.

Logically speaking, the Kingdom of England is an independent country and one of the great powers, and they are fully qualified to do so.

But in reality, or in terms of strength, their problems are very big.

"I strongly disagree with what Baronet Sir John Shaw has done." Faced with overwhelming evidence, Governor Clark, in panic, could only throw the blame on the previous governor, John Shaw.

"Even if I agree with what Your Excellency the Governor said, I don't know whether the Emperor would agree, or whether His Majesty the King of England would agree?" Mo Zhouzhe stood up and looked at Governor Clark, who was obviously panicking in his seat.

"Even if His Majesty the Emperor and His Majesty the King agree, someone still needs to be held accountable. Sir John Shaw will definitely be court-martialed, but can he alone bear the responsibility for such a heinous crime?"

Governor Clark has been in India for more than two years, and there are many things that cannot be avoided with just a few words.

"Your Excellency, Governor-General, please understand that only with the recognition of the Chinese Empire can the interests of the Kingdom of England in India be protected.

If we do not recognize it, even the lowest untouchable will not submit to the administration of Calcutta.

Governor John Shaw will pay the price for his actions. I hope you can learn from this!"

This was simply a reprimand for a subordinate, but facing Mo Zhouzhe, the prince of the great empire, even though Governor Clark was not a weak man, he could not bring himself to resist.

Because everything in front of us is true, and Mo Zhouzhe is not exaggerating to scare people. If the Seres Empire does not agree, England will not be able to rule effectively in India.

"Your Excellency, Governor, I believe that now is a very good opportunity for you to express your position and attitude to the Great Emperor of China, my father, His Majesty."

Mo Zhouzhe said, letting Qin San, who had been on guard outside, come in. "The Chinese Empire hopes to obtain assistance from the Kingdom of England's army to reclaim the Kingdom of Sikkim and quell the rebellion in the Kingdom of Ahom."

"This Major Qin will assist the noble army in completing this mission!"

Governor Clark was stunned. They really regarded the English army in India as the thugs of the Seres Empire.

Moreover, if troops were to be sent to help the Chinese Empire recover the Kingdom of Sikkim and quell the rebellion of the Ahom Kingdom, the ongoing Third Anglo-Malay War would have to be stopped.

Because even if only a thousand Europeans were withdrawn, the British Indian authorities would not have enough troops to capture the capital of Mysore, and would not be able to force Tipu Sultan of Mysore to kneel down and beg for mercy.

"What's the matter, Governor? Don't you want to accept this kindness from the Chinese Empire?" Mo Zhouzhe looked at Governor Clark with a stern face.

Damn it, you want to use the Gurkhas to cause trouble, right? Then I'll let you swallow the bitter fruit of your own making.

You should deal with it in the same way as the assistance was provided.

If you can't handle it, the navy and army of the Chinese Empire will come to handle you!

(End of this chapter)