Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 362: Domineering Governor Bear
May 11, 1618.
Just as Zhu Youdong ascended the throne and quickly got into shape, in the far south, in the city of Hue in central Annan, a military meeting was being held.
Compared with later Vietnam, Annan was smaller and not unified. The main part of Annan was now called Dai Viet, and the monarch was named Le, a descendant of Le Loi.
To the Ming Dynasty, Le Loi was a cunning, treacherous and extremely vicious person. But to the Kinh people, Le Loi was a national hero. This hero spent ten years, using all means, and finally forced the Ming Dynasty to give up its rule in Annan (1427, the second year of Xuande in the Ming Dynasty), thus achieving national independence. The country he established was called Dai Viet. In Vietnamese history books, it is called the Later Le Dynasty.
In 1527, the powerful minister of the Later Le Dynasty, Mac Dang Dung, usurped the throne, and the country's name remained Dai Viet, which was called the Mac Dynasty in Vietnamese history books.
In 1592 , the descendants of the Later Le Dynasty were supported by the Zheng family to successfully restore the throne. However, the power of the Mo family was not completely eliminated. They occupied the northwest region of today's Vietnam and survived by relying on the protection of the Ming Dynasty.
After the Zheng family supported the descendants of the Li family to successfully restore the throne, they soon fell into the challenge of the Nguyen family in the south, and were therefore unable to completely eliminate the remaining forces of the Mo family.
The ancestors of the Zheng family and the Nguyen family (the real surname of this family is actually "Nguyen Phuc", a compound surname) were all capable generals under Le Loi. First they were comrades-in-arms, then colleagues and in-laws. Then, as their respective forces grew stronger, the two families naturally clashed in order to control the country alone. At this time, the Zheng family controlled the royal family of the Le family and controlled the northern part of Annan. The Nguyen family dominated the south (today's south-central Vietnam). In name, they still respected the royal family of the Le family, but in reality they were an independent country.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the population and arable land in Annan were all dominated by the north. Therefore, during this period, the Zheng family was on the offensive. Although the Nguyen family was always on the defensive, they were able to resolve the Zheng family's attacks several times.
This situation of Zheng attacking and Nguyen defending lasted for decades. During this process, as both sides were exhausted, in order to strengthen their own strength and have more population, Zheng family conquered Mo family in the north (1677) and Nguyen Phuc family conquered Mekong Delta in the south. Thus, the territory of modern Vietnam was formed.
However, this is all later, and it is basically impossible to happen in this plane. Because, at this time, the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi of the Ming Dynasty, Xiong Tingbi, was sitting on the main seat in the hall, and the puppet King Li, as well as the current head of the Zheng family, Zheng Song, and the head of the Nguyen family, Nguyen Phuc Yuan, were all sitting obediently on the left side below Xiong Tingbi. Even the Mo family, which is still struggling in Cao Ping, has sent representatives to Hanoi to sit at the bottom.
On the right side of Xiong Tingbi were Ming generals such as Liu Zhaosun, Xu Xianchun, Yan Siqi, Ma Shilong, and Du Hongyu.
If Sun Chengzong was the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi , he would probably be polite and offer Prince Li to the main seat as a mascot. But a guy like Xiong Manzi would not even do this kind of honor.
He sat high up in the main seat, glanced majestically to his left, and then nodded: "Well, everyone is here, let's start the meeting now."
Xu Xianchun, who received the signal, quickly unfolded a map on the long table in the middle of the meeting room: "Ladies and gentlemen, according to the intelligence of our Ming Dynasty Jinyiwei and Annan friendly forces, it is clear that the Siamese bandits have stationed 60,000 land forces at the mouth of the Mekong River. Well, the Siamese call this place Saigon. Among them, 40,000 are new troops equipped with flintlock rifles, and 20,000 are old-style troops mainly equipped with cold weapons. The Siamese have fortified this place, built huge bastions, and all of them have been hardened with cement. There are cannons on the top of the city and trenches outside the city.
In terms of the navy, the Siamese have stationed a fleet here. It has been found that there are ten 1,000-ton sailing warships. Currently, this fleet has been blocked in the port by Yan Shuai's fleet. If they dare to come out, they will sink.
As for the food in the city, our spy did not find out the specific number. Although our fleet has blocked this place, the enemy will not receive any aid from the sea. However, judging from the continuous food shipments from the country in the past year, this fortress will not fall due to lack of food within three to six months. "
After Xu Xianchun finished reporting the battle situation, Liu Zhaosun stood up and said, "General, at present, the three regiments of our Ming New Army, totaling 45,000 people, have all moved to the north of the so-called Saigon Fortress for 15 miles. In addition, the Beijing Camp and the Four Tengxiang Guards have provided support of 10,000 people, and the guards in Guangdong and Guangxi have also provided support of 10,000 people. These 20,000 people have also been deployed to the northwest of Saigon."
"In terms of the navy." Yan Siqi also stood up: "This time I brought fifteen Beizhili-class ships and thirty Jinling-class ships. We have established a base on Kunshan Island, thirty kilometers south of Saigon. We have completely blockaded the port of Saigon."
"Good!" After a loud high-five, Governor Xiong turned his gaze over with an unfriendly expression.
At this time, the Later Le Dynasty had just completed the throne change, and the new King of Yue was called Le Duy Tan. He was a puppet himself, and he was still young at that time. So when he saw Xiong Tingbi's eyes, he instinctively shrank his neck back!
However, Zheng Song, a powerful official of the Later Le Dynasty, dared to confront Xiong Tingbi at this time: "Governor Xiong, my Dai Viet Royal Guard has a total of 30,000 soldiers. This time, the king will follow the request of the Celestial Empire and send 20,000 troops to the south to punish the Siamese thieves together with the Celestial Empire's army. But..."
"But what?"
"Governor." Zheng Song, who was in his forties, simply knelt down. "It's embarrassing to say this, but our country of Vietnam is unfortunate because we have traitors like the Nguyen Phuc family. Although these officials still respect the king in name, they actually have established their own country in the territory they control. As the Prime Minister of Dai Viet, I have tried many times to defeat these officials, but I am helpless because I lack the talent and virtue... In short, the Royal Guards of Dai Viet are now blocked by the rebels of the Nguyen Phuc family in Muhua, 30 miles north of Hue, and cannot go south, nor can they serve the Celestial Empire."
"Governor, please don't listen to this Yue country's Cao Cao's distortion of right and wrong! If it weren't for the Nguyen Phuc family's persistence in the south, I'm afraid the Zheng family would have usurped the throne long ago!"
"Hey! Nguyen Phuc Yuan, you have the nerve to compare yourself to Emperor Zhaolie of Han?"
"Humph! How dare I compare myself to Zhaolie? However, I think I have learned Prime Minister Zhuge's loyalty quite well!"
"Master Xiong, please seek justice for our country! First destroy this traitor who has split our country!"
"Master Xiong, our Yue Kingdom has always been a loyal vassal of the Ming Dynasty. Please first eliminate the powerful officials for us and restore peace and prosperity to our Yue Kingdom!"
"alright!"
Xiong Tingbi didn't have the patience to listen to the two powerful officials' nagging. He slapped his armrest heavily and said, "My Great Ming never cares about the internal affairs of vassal states, not to mention that your king has closed the door and called himself the emperor. He is not a loyal vassal of my Great Ming at all... I am too lazy to argue with you about these things, and you don't have to argue with me here. Um, Nguyen Phuc Yuan? The Zheng family sent 20,000 troops. How many troops can you send this time?"
"Sir, if the Zheng family is like the Cao Wei of the past, my Nguyen Phuc family is like the Shu Han of the past. Our military strength is far from comparable to that of the Zheng family. However, since the Celestial Empire can use us, my family will also do its best and send 20,000 troops."
"Okay. Nguyen Phuc Yuan, open the border wall and let the Zheng family's army move south."
"grown ups?"
"I'm here to give you a promise. If the Zheng family dares to take advantage of this opportunity to cause chaos, I will kill the entire Zheng family afterwards! Zheng Song, what do you think?"
"Please rest assured, Lord Xiong. Although I am only a humble official from a lower country, I have served the Celestial Empire and I still have a basic sense of loyalty. Nguyen Phuc Yuan, I promise here that after this battle, all the Royal Guards of the Kingdom of Vietnam will retreat to the north. If I want to destroy you in the future, I will do it in an upright manner and will never take advantage of this opportunity to serve the Celestial Empire to launch a sneak attack."
"Hmph, I'll trust you for once."
"Oh, that's right. Don't worry, as long as you perform well in this battle, our Ming Dynasty will not be stingy with rewards."
After gently comforting the two, Xiong Tingbi raised his eyes slightly and looked at Mo Jingkuan, who was sitting at the last seat at this time.
The Mo family was a strange family: at that time, the Mo regime was barely surviving in Gaoping, with less than 100,000 people under its rule. If it had not been for the support of the Guangxi Provincial Government of the Ming Dynasty, it would have been swallowed up by the Zheng family. However, the so-called donkey falls but the frame does not fall - the ruler of such a regime called himself the envoy of comfort to the Ming Dynasty, and internally, uh, called himself the emperor.
This family had just been beaten badly by Zheng Song at the beginning of this year. The plains suitable for farming near Hanoi were completely lost, and their main combat troops were also defeated.
Therefore, when Xiong Tingbi looked at him, Mo Jingkuan had no choice but to stand up and said, "Please forgive me, Elder Xiong. I am in a poor and difficult situation under my command. This time, I only brought a thousand men to the south to help in the battle."
"snort!"
Flicking his sleeves lightly, Xiong Tingbi was too lazy to say more to this weirdo. He sat up straight in the main seat again, then cleared his throat and said: "So, our army this time has a total of 106,000 troops, nearly twice the enemy's. With such a force, as long as we don't cause trouble ourselves, Saigon will be crushed to pieces.
Speaking of getting into trouble, humph, I received news a few days ago. It was said that in Yunnan, the general of Sichuan Town of the Ming Dynasty, Ma Chengzhao, led his army to fight against the Siamese bandits, and they were about to win. Unexpectedly, the Burmese army on the flank suddenly ran away. The victory that was about to be won turned into a draw. It was because my Yunnan Governor Chen Shiji had a good temper. If I were still there, I would have chopped off the head of the Burmese king first!
So, in the upcoming Saigon battle, if someone's army makes trouble, haha, you also know that the prince who has been in power in the Ming Dynasty in recent years has a bad temper. At that time, I, who have an even worse temper, will be involved... Do you understand? Hmm! "
"Please rest assured, Lord Xiong, our country will do its utmost to fight for the Celestial Empire to the end!"
"Oh, that's right. Everyone, I've heard that our emperor is going to abdicate to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince within this month. I think the news of His Royal Highness's ascension to the throne will reach here next month at the latest. With the new emperor on the throne, we must fight this battle well. As long as this battle is won, I will go to Beijing in person to ask for rewards for you!"
