Chapter 450 - The End of the Second Year of Apocalypse - In the Battle
During the conversation with the Siamese defenders, the Chinese Navy envoy found out that Siam had not made any preparations for the war with the Chinese army and the Chinese company. It did not even remind the Siamese border guards guarding the river mouth to pay attention to the enemy's movements. .
Finally, the unpleasant plot had to be staged. The envoys took out the ultimatum written in Chinese and the message between the Chinese army and the Siamese defenders. The Siamese soldiers who did not know Chinese characters were puzzled. The envoys patiently translated it for them. While exhorting, an unexpectedly tense situation emerged. Dozens of Siamese defenders immediately surrendered on the spot.
The Chinese army took control of several Siamese army strongholds at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River without any effort. They also captured more than ten navy warships. The so-called warships are just armed sailboats converted from fishing boats. Their load capacity is not as good as that of the Chinese army in Taiwan. It is the smallest gunboat in the fleet.
In the dry season, the Chao Phraya River is very shallow. It cannot pass the huge battleships and three-masted cruisers of the Chinese army. Only a dozen schooners and gunboats can go upstream and attack the city of Ayutthaya.
Along the way, after hearing the news, a military intelligence officer from the Chinese Company stationed in Siam Commercial Center came over. Mai De asked someone to bring him over.
This officer of the Military Intelligence Agency in Siam looked like a fat-bellied businessman. He bowed to everyone he saw and kept bowing. He said he was a relative of Lin Songtao, the general manager of the Chinese Commercial Office in Siam. His name was Wang You. After asking the Military Intelligence personnel who came with the fleet to confirm, he told him confidently and boldly: "We, the Chinese Army, do not want to go to war with Siam. We are going to Ayutthaya this time to negotiate with their king."
The fat businessman Wang You smiled bitterly: "This matter has nothing to do with me. I just took you to the place. You have to sneak away. My wealth, life, and family are all here..."
Mad shook his hand and interrupted him: "You just need to lead us. When we get to the place, others will naturally come to help us. However, do you know what the defense situation of Ayutthaya is like."
Wang You immediately started talking. Although this person seemed a bit timid and unscrupulous, he was actually very smart in doing things. Many situations could only be understood after a lot of effort in advance.
"...The walls of Ayutthaya are tall, but many places were rebuilt after being abandoned. Before being defeated by Burma, the former king of Siam, King Maha Chakrapat, believed that the ancient method of building forts on the outskirts of Ayutthaya was inadequate. Reliable. Once the fort was lost, it would be used by the enemy. He then ordered the demolition of the three forts in Suphan, Lopburi and Nakhon Nayok. Only the Phra Patan fort was left, which could still withstand the enemy from the waterway. He also strengthened the defense. Strength. Heightened and strengthened the walls of Ayutthaya. Added wooden pillars to the original earthen city walls, and imitated Western forts. Instead, they used gray bricks to build the walls and strengthened the base. After that, the Burmese broke into the city. Many walls of Ayutthaya were destroyed. Now Many parts of the city wall were repaired later. Our army attacked from the waterway and happened to face the re-reinforced Pabadan artillery fortress.
Now, on this fort there are five thousand-jin cannons sold by the Dutch to Siam, and more than ten bronze cannons of various types, which the Francois sold to them decades ago. There are also nearly thirty self-made cannons made by Siam. The gate is guarded by more than 1,000 palace guards."
When the detachment led by Mai De arrived at the Prapadan Fort, it happened to be the day when the news of the Battle of Kelantan reached the palace of King Songtan. The news of the defeat soon had an effect. Mai De ordered the fleet to head towards Prapadan. It had only been half a day since the fort opened fire. The court of King Songtan had already sent an envoy to discuss peace. Along with the envoy from the King of Siam, there was also Lin Songtao, the general manager of the Siamese Chinese Merchant House. This man was originally a minor official in the Guangdong government. He later went to sea. Doing business. After cooperating with the Chinese company, he took root in Siam. He has been running his own small world in Siam for more than ten years. With this person who is well versed in Siam's internal affairs as an intermediary, the Chinese army quickly stopped combat operations and set sail. We set sail and retreated from Ayutthaya City to the mouth of the Chao Phraya River.
Yin Feng's order to Zheng Zhilong and Mai De required them to try to maintain a peaceful state with Siam. This country is too big. Its main ethnic groups are from southern China. It has always been relatively independent and is inconvenient to control directly. It is better to let the current Ayu The Toya royal family continued to rule. The Chinese could develop stably here. In another historical process of time and space, Siam was the only country in Southeast Asia that could maintain its independence in the face of Western colonists. Although Siam had been destroyed many times. But the restoration of the country was successful every time. Its national independence was a major factor.
However, the current ruler of the Ayutthaya Dynasty, King Songtan, is just a leader who is incapable of pioneering and defending. He does not have the spirit of his grandfather, Naresuan the Great, to fight against repeated defeats.
Under Lin Songtao's efforts, the peace negotiations between Siam and the Chinese army went smoothly. King Songtan originally sent troops to Pattani under domestic and foreign pressure. At this time, Siam had very few elite troops left. Those who were originally eager to The nobles who wanted to fight also died down. They no longer had the will to fight. The Dutch and the British had no strength to support Siam in continuing the war. Moreover, they also faced retaliation from the Chinese. Before returning, the Maitre fleet bombarded the Dutch immigrant village. Therefore. They also tended to cease the war temporarily and strive to retain some interests in the negotiations. Therefore, the two parties in the peace negotiations reached a consensus smoothly.
In November of the second year of the Apocalypse, the Kingdom of Siam was forced to sign with the Chinese army what was later called "the first unequal treaty in the history of Siam." The treaty stipulated that: Chinese Company's overseas Chinese in Siam enjoyed extraterritoriality; Chinese Company merchants Free trade can be carried out anywhere within the jurisdiction of the King of Siam without restriction; Siam is not allowed to arbitrarily increase import and export tariffs on Chinese companies' goods; Siam merchant ships are not allowed to employ sailors other than Chinese. Once discovered, the ship's cargo will be confiscated The Chinese Company monopolized Siam’s cowhide, deerskin, and white cloth export trade. Except for the Portuguese merchant houses, the Dutch and other foreign merchant houses were all expelled from Ayutthaya. From then on, Siam’s interactions with Western powers mostly You have to rely on Chinese intermediaries.
The Chinese army fought three wars in Southeast Asia in more than ten years. This time, it broke out a short but fierce war with the Kingdom of Siam, which greatly shocked the princely states of the Malay Peninsula and the Kingdom of Siam. The Chinese company and the Chinese army were the same as the Ming Dynasty. It comes from a source, but it is completely different. It behaves so powerfully and domineeringly. For Siam and the surrounding Ming vassal states, the actual influence of this Chinese army has far exceeded that of the Ming Dynasty.
Countries are worried about one issue: whether at some point they need to choose between Ming Dynasty and China Corporation.
They don't need to think about this for the time being. After the war, a large number of goods and personnel from Chinese companies entered Southeast Asia. The commercial energy accumulated by businessmen from various countries for a year was also released. In a short period of time, the Southeast Asian order led by the Chinese army brought great benefits to Siam and other countries. Mainly due to prosperous trade and growing Chinese immigration and taxation.
From Yin Feng's point of view, the outcome of the Nanyang War is not something to be happy about.
One day at the end of November. After welcoming the return of the Taiwan fleet, receiving a large number of hostages from the Malay kingdoms in Southeast Asia, and holding talks with the envoys of Siam, Yin Feng wiped the sweat from his head and twisted. Holding his neck, he asked Li Lihua and the maids to change his clothes.
He is now very accustomed to this comfortable and luxurious life. There are already many maids and maids around him. But Li Lihua still tries her best to insist on serving him personally.
While soaking his feet in the hot water basin, Yin Feng said to Li Lihua: "All Nanyang's tax revenue has been wasted this year. Trade revenue is expected to drop a lot. We will have a hard time at the beginning of next year."
Li Lihua smiled faintly: "I'm going to Nanyang. I also spent a lot of money on your behalf. Those immigrants who arrived this year were too late for the company to resettle. I arranged them all to work for various landlords in your name."
"There is nothing we can do about it. The war has just ended. Central and southern Java is not yet stable. The company's immigration village promotion plan has been temporarily stopped. What I am most worried about is that last year, this year there has been continuous war. The expenditure on arms is too high. .Moreover, Nanyang has just stabilized, and Liaodong has not yet been completely pacified. The war in the south of the Yangtze River is about to begin. There are signs of instability on the main island of Taiwan and the indigenous people in Luzon. Troops are needed everywhere. Immigrants need to be resettled to develop the land... In short, we have never been to Wanli. Since the beginning of the year, we have been constantly expanding our territory and starting wars everywhere... Now, we most need some time to digest the territory we have occupied."
"So, what about the plan to conquer Ming Dynasty at the end of next year?" Li Lihua said while serving him tea and water: "There are many generals in the army who are eager to make achievements. Only you can pour cold water on them."
"Yes..." Yin Feng frowned and said in distress: "To untie the bell, you still need someone to tie it. I underestimated the Nanyang rebellion and the situation in Liaodong at the beginning. Now it seems that it will take several years to calm down these places. At the end of the year On the board of directors, we will come up with a five-year plan.”
"five year Plan."
"Yes. Make overall plans for political, economic and military development within five years. During these five years, try to avoid major wars. Make every effort to digest Nanyang, Luzon, Ryukyu, Liaodong and other places. Accumulate grain and build more ships... In short. Want to Haste makes waste. The mainland of the Ming Dynasty is simply too vast..."
Indeed, the land of the Ming Dynasty was too large and the population was too large. Years of natural and man-made disasters had made this mess close to unmanageable. However, the Zhu Ming Dynasty had adhered to the three no's of "no money, no land, no marriage" from the early days. Principle: To deal with the surrounding ethnic groups and various internal resistance forces, the attitude is generally to use force to suppress them. When it is really impossible, use both suppression and pacification.
Even in the current situation of internal and external difficulties, officials of the Ming Dynasty still plan to launch an attack on the Chinese army's Jiangnan occupation area to regain the territory where Zhu Yuanzhang made his fortune.
This was the cause and result of the internal struggle in the Tianqi Dynasty. It was also one of the consequences of the New Army's rebellion.
The New Army was originally founded under the initiative of Xu Guangqi. The Donglin Party members had much support in the DPRK and China. The gentry in the south of the Yangtze River provided money and people. However, after Xu Guangqi was deprived of the leadership of the New Army, the Donglin Party members fought for the leadership of this army. The Donglin Party members were constantly quarreling over power, which led to the gradual marginalization of the new army. They competed with the Eunuch Party and the Chu Party for power. The Donglin Party members, who were also constantly fighting for power within themselves, ignored the reason for the initial quarrel. This was just like the debates in Internet forums in later generations. It's always the same as being thousands of miles off topic.
The New Army eventually rebelled due to military pay issues, leading to chaos in northern Zhejiang. The rebellion ended with the rebels besieging the city of Hangzhou for three months. They were then encircled and defeated by officers and soldiers from Fujian, Jiangxi, Sichuan and other places mobilized by the imperial court. Nearly half of the rebel army moved northward. Fleeed to the Jiangnan area controlled by the Chinese Army.