Jambi, Royal City.
The old king of Srivijaya, who was in his sixties, looked at the rebels outside the city with almost despair.
He was too humble and cowardly in the face of the Ming Dynasty, which caused the Ming Dynasty to gradually control the Straits of Malacca, and the domestic nobles lost a lot of profits.
This is the third rebellion.
In the first two suppressions of rebellion, he killed one son and exiled another.
This time, it was his nephew Charishipala who led the rebels to the royal city. Not only did the local lords join the rebels one after another, but even Prime Minister Srivijaya, who went to suppress it, was persuaded to surrender halfway.
The old king has already deserted his family.
"Uncle, commit suicide!" Chalisapala came to the city with a shield and shouted.
The old king angrily rebuked: "Idiot, do you think you are brave? The vassal states under our control have long been looking forward to the war between Srivijaya and the Ming Dynasty. Many vassal states will not only take the opportunity to become independent, but also join the Ming Dynasty coalition. You will become one of the three
Foqi the last king!”
Charishipala was too lazy to argue. He retreated a distance, drew his sword and shouted: "Attack the city!"
The attack and defense of the royal city lasted for six days, with both sides suffering heavy losses. Finally, a royal guard officer turned against him, led the rebels into the city, and strangled the old king to death.
When the rebels besieged the capital, the merchant ships from various countries docked at the outer port of Jambi left the port one after another to avoid harming the fish in the pond.
The nearest major port to Jambi is the Malacca Port controlled by the Ming Dynasty.
Three explorers and six second-generation officials encountered war as soon as they arrived in Malacca.
While they were still looking for a berth, a small boat arrived. The official of the Ming Dynasty boarded the deck and said: "The Srivijaya fleet may come and kill you, and your ship has been requisitioned!"
Wang Chongdu was surprised and said: "Srivijaya came to attack the Ming Dynasty harbor?"
The official explained: "There is a clan rebellion in Srivijaya and usurping the throne. The old king is probably in danger."
Since there is a war, it is not safe on the ship.
The six officials' sons were all nobles, so Wang Chongdu forcibly sent them ashore and took them to see the Ming Governor of Malacca.
The governor's name is Zhu Song, and he has three sons.
The youngest son is still named Zhu Xi, but it is estimated that he will no longer be able to found Neo-Confucianism.
Zhu Song did not like fighting, he preferred to engage in construction and education. He personally supervised the construction of the Malacca Castle and Harbor, and even built a school outside the castle.
The military here is under the charge of Navy Admiral Yang Yao.
"Alas, although King Srivijaya is a barbarian chief, he is also sensible," Zhu Song sighed. "This king often exchanges letters with me and gives me many gifts every time, but he unexpectedly encounters such unbearable things."
Yang Yao was too lazy to accompany the governor and went straight to the topic: "We occupied Malacca, and there were many complaints from the nobles in Srivijaya. The rebels this time were led by those nobles. The land in Malacca is barren and cannot produce much food, so this battle must be fought
A quick battle is needed. But before the usurper has completely controlled the navy, we send out troops to fight as quickly as possible to kill the Srivijaya warships in various ports."
Zhu Song nodded and said: "Malacca needs to purchase food from outside, and the war really shouldn't drag on for too long. I don't understand military affairs, so I will send troops according to Admiral Yang's strategy."
Yang Yao continued: "Please ask the governor to write letters to the various countries in Southeast Asia, especially the Najava Kingdom. This country has only been independent from Srivijaya for a few decades and has been suppressed by Srivijaya. They will definitely be willing to help us fight the war."
"It should be like this if it is combined vertically and horizontally." Zhu Song followed the good advice.
The two continued to discuss the details, and Yang Yao said goodbye and left to prepare for the war.
Zhu Song wrote more than ten diplomatic letters in one go and sent them to various countries in Nanyang. Ming Dynasty did not have to fight alone in Nanyang. It could lead a group of small countries to attack Srivijaya!
In the countries of Southeast Asia, the three Buddhas have been suffering for a long time.
After writing the diplomatic letter, Zhu Song no longer paid attention to the war, but thought about how to lure Han people to reclaim wasteland.
Although the land in Malacca is barren, rice can still be grown in some places, but the natural environment must be artificially improved.
Starting from scratch is very hard work!
In another time and space, the Portuguese colonized Malacca, and immigrants from all over the world were mainly engaged in business. Only Chinese immigrants were willing to open up wasteland and colonize, and the Chinese quickly became farmers in Malacca.
Zhu Song didn't understand what a tropical monsoon climate was. He only knew that it had the same rainy and hot weather here.
Those dense forests can be cut down, and the wood can be sold for money. The forests can be cut down, and canals can be dug to facilitate drainage and fertilizer preservation during rainy seasons.
Those swamps can also be drained of stagnant water, and rice can also be grown.
Zhu Song even personally visited dozens of miles of surrounding land and had already spotted several areas of land that could be cultivated.
This approach is different from normal overseas governors.
He had no interest in opening up new territories or fighting wars. He only wanted to cultivate land and build things.
"Governor, there are several scholars outside, all of whom are from famous families..."
After Zhu Song heard the origins of those second-generation officials, his scalp went numb and he prayed in his heart that nothing would happen in his jurisdiction.
Wang Chongdu led six people to pay homage, and Zhu Song went out to greet him personally.
The two sides had a brief exchange, and Zhu Song said: "There is going to be a war here. Please stay in the city."
Lu You said: "Governor, don't worry, we are not powerless."
"I've been very good at bow and horse since I was a child!" Bai Shihou said in a very awesome voice.
Wang Chongdu quickly and quietly gave Zhu Song a wink.
Zhu Song politely stopped him: "Conquests at sea are different from those on land. The young gentleman is proficient in bow and horse, but it is difficult to display all kinds of skills on a ship."
The six people still wanted to ask for a fight, but Zhu Song changed the subject and stopped discussing the matter with them.
…
Yang Yao led the fleet to take the initiative and attack Langya Xiuguo next to Malacca (Kedah and surrounding areas).
It was a country established by South Indians, but the people at the bottom belonged to the Malay aborigines. After the decline of the Chola dynasty, Langyaxiu first broke away from the Cholas and established itself, and then became a vassal state of Srivijaya.
Killing the Langyaxiu fleet will solve Malacca's worries.
Although Yang Yao was the admiral of the Malacca Navy, he only had twelve large and small warships in his hands. He temporarily recruited some armed merchant ships, and a total of more than forty ships rushed towards Langya Xiu.
No fight!
When King Lang Yaxiu heard that the old king of Srivijaya was killed and saw the Ming fleet coming towards him, he immediately declared independence from Srivijaya and requested to become a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.
It dropped directly.
Yang Yao accepted Langya Xiu's surrender and took Langya Xiu's shabby fleet to the outer port of Jambi in Srivijaya.
He underestimated the hatred of the Srivijaya nobles and the army towards the Ming Dynasty!
The usurper Tsalisapala unexpectedly won the support of most of the nobles and the army.
The Srivijaya navy quickly assembled and did not attack Malacca directly, but raided the neighboring country of Chapo!
The navy of the Chapo Kingdom hurriedly responded to the challenge and was beaten to a pulp.
Having solved his worries, Srivijaya immediately sent his troops to attack Malacca, and collided with Yang Yao's fleet which had returned from Lang Yaxiu.
…
Bai Shihou stood on the Malacca Castle and observed the battle within the strait with a telescope.
The huge disparity in the number of warships between the two sides made Bai Shihou worried: "Srivijaya probably has hundreds of warships, but the Ming Dynasty only has a hundred or so warships (including the merchant ships and the Langya repair army). This fight is really difficult.
.”
"The Chinese warships are bigger." Lu You said.
Fan Chengda said: "There are so many ants that they can kill an elephant."
While a few people were talking, the battle had already begun.
On the Ming fleet side, only fifteen warships actively responded to the challenge. That is, the warships under Yang Yao and the three ships of the treasure-hunting trio.
Other temporarily recruited merchant ships, as well as the newly surrendered Langya water repairmen, all acted timid. They began to slow down all the way, and then cruised outside the battlefield, obviously ready to escape at any time.
The ocean current at this time flows from southeast to northwest, but the average flow speed is only 2 knots. The Sriwijaya Navy is in a downstream position.
However, the monsoon wind blows from northwest to southeast, and the Ming Navy is in the downwind position.
"Boom boom boom boom!"
The fifteen Ming warships lined up in the battle line had already started firing their cannons.
The Srivijaya navy could only take the beating passively. They furled their sails, rowed their oars frantically, and rushed along with the ocean current. The method of attack was very obvious. They took advantage of their large number of ships and rushed close to engage in a boarding battle.
To be continued...