I want to be emperor

Chapter 592 Ayutthaya Kingdom
Vice Admiral Xia Houjun led the fleet to leave Malacca and headed west along the Straits of Malacca, arriving at a port in the Kingdom of Aceh for small-scale trade and replenishment of supplies!

The city of Malacca was besieged by many parties, and all kinds of materials that could be used for trade were not abundant when it was difficult to protect itself. However, the fleet of the Great Chu Empire was relatively large, and the various materials needed and the scale of trade were relatively large. Therefore, in Malacca Only partially satisfied.

They also need to go to the trading port of the Kingdom of Aceh to replenish and trade along the way.

Today's Aceh Kingdom is entrenched in the western part of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, an area west of the city of Malacca.

The Kingdom of Aceh, the Kingdom of Johor, and the Portuguese have often fought wars in the past few decades. You fight me today, and I fight you tomorrow, and they often unite or betray, which is a very typical triangle war.

But no one could do anything to anyone before, until the Dutch got involved, the Portuguese gradually became unlucky.

The wars and scrambles between these four parties also made the situation in the Malacca Strait area more complicated, which affected maritime trade to a certain extent.

After replenishing supplies in the Kingdom of Aceh, the fleet set sail again and left the Strait of Malacca.

However, it didn't go straight to the west and go straight to the depths of the Indian Ocean. Instead, after leaving the Strait of Malacca, it turned to the northwest and continued sailing along the coastline.

These days, navigation technology is limited, and ships are generally small. Unless necessary, ships will not directly enter the depths of the ocean, but will sail along the coastline.

Sailing close to the coastline, the route is relatively clear and will not get lost. At the same time, when the wind and waves are dangerous, you can also sail to the nearby land to avoid the wind and waves, repair and replenish living supplies.

This voyage passed through the west coast of the Malay Peninsula area controlled by the Ayutthaya Kingdom.

The Ayutthaya Kingdom, also known as the Ayutthaya Dynasty in Thailand, had its capital in Ayutthaya City. The Chinese maritime merchants who went to Southeast Asia often called the city Ayutthaya, so the country was also called the Ayutthaya Kingdom.

Today's Ayutthaya Kingdom is relatively strong in Southeast Asia. It belongs to a powerful country in Southeast Asia. In recent decades, it has suppressed the Taungoo Dynasty of Myanmar.

Well, the Taungoo Dynasty of Myanmar and the Ayutthaya Kingdom of Thailand have been fighting for hegemony for hundreds of years, that is, the Thai-Myanmar War. In the [-]th century, Myanmar had the upper hand, and after entering the [-]th century, the Ayutthaya Kingdom had the upper hand. .

To this day, if there is a real overlord in Southeast Asia, then it is the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Neither the Dutch nor the Portuguese set their colonial goals on the Ayutthaya Kingdom... The reason is very simple, it is small-scale The Western colonial armed forces can't beat the Ayutthaya Kingdom!
Furthermore, the colonial methods of the Dutch and the Portuguese were mainly based on trade, because their native population was small and they could not maintain a large-scale overseas colonial rule, so their overseas colonial actions were all for the sake of trade.

This is very different from Spain and the United Kingdom.

Because of the large local population, the Spaniards and the United Kingdom also pursued colonial rule in addition to trade.

Specifically, it is to expand the area of ​​the colony, establish colonial rule, and plunder the interests of the colony for a long time.

So you can see that the colonization of the Dutch and the Portuguese is often bullying the weak and fearing the hard. When encountering a slightly stronger indigenous country, it is often to establish a colonial stronghold and then conduct trade. It will not be like the British. Start a colonial war in one day, and then go to a large area of ​​colonial territory.

The Great Chu Empire is different... The overseas operations of the Great Chu Empire do not pursue the profit of trade itself, and for the time being, they are not very interested in colonial territories. Well, at least not yet, and we will talk about it later.

The series of overseas operations of the Great Chu Empire, whether it is naval escort, merchant fleet trade, open sea trade, or welcoming merchant ships from other countries, all have the same purpose, that is, for more markets.

The Great Chu Empire Navy is trying to enter the Indian Ocean, and plans to establish a colony at the entrance of the Yangon River in Myanmar. In addition to the trade itself, it is also to provide the Navy with a naval base in the Indian Ocean, thereby protecting the Great Chu Empire in the Indian Ocean region. market.

In fact, the Great Chu Empire also tried to obtain a colonial port in the Ayutthaya Kingdom before. The Ayutthaya Kingdom controlled most of the northern part of the Malay Peninsula, and its west coast also faced the Indian Ocean, but they did not agree!

After all, the Great Chu Empire does not have a land border with the Dacheng Kingdom, and the Great Chu Empire can't even threaten it with a powerful army.

In the Southeast Asian peninsula, the Great Chu Empire temporarily bordered three countries, namely the Annan Houli Dynasty, the Nanzhang Kingdom, and the Burmese Toungoo Dynasty.

Among them, although the Annan and Houli dynasties were considered a unified country, in fact, the two major Ruan and Zheng families in their country controlled the north and the south respectively, and they were constantly attacking each other. They were in the middle of a civil war, that is, the Zheng-Ruan War period.

The Zheng family, which controlled the north, had actively sent envoys to Guangzhou to contact the Great Chu Empire after the Great Chu Empire seized the Guangdong and Guangxi regions, and later sent envoys to Jinling City to request canonization. Later, when the Ruan family in southern Annan learned of the news, They also sent envoys to Jinling City to conduct various lobbying.

At that time, the Great Chu Empire hadn't unified the country, and they didn't understand the situation in Southeast Asia, and neither the north nor the south offered any practical benefits, so the Great Chu Empire didn't bother to talk to them, and both sides refused the canonization , planning to wait and see.

But, the Great Chu Empire is just on the north side of Annan, so the Zheng family in the northern part of Annan attaches great importance to the attitude of the Great Chu Empire. Even if there is no canonization, they have sent envoys to stay in Jinling City for a long time with the cheek, and they have never extinguished their plans. Canonized thoughts.

To the west of Annan is Nanzhang Kingdom, which is said to be a country, but in fact it is an alliance of many local chieftain princes. They themselves are in chaos, and there is no conflict of interest with the Great Chu Empire for the time being.

Then there is the Taungoo Dynasty in Burma, which is also a country that fought against the Great Chu Empire. Last year, after being taught a lesson by the Fifth Division and other troops deployed by the Great Chu Empire in Yunnan, it became completely old-fashioned and asked for canonization and cession of territory. , and opened Dagon at the mouth of the Sunshine River to the Great Chu Empire as an outpost and military base in the Indian Ocean.

As for the Ayutthaya Kingdom, because it does not directly border the Great Chu Empire, the relationship with the Great Chu Empire is considered ordinary. However, when the Great Chu Empire taught the Toungoo Dynasty of Burma a lesson last year, the Ayutthaya Kingdom once sent people over, wanting to establish a relationship with the Great Chu Empire. Imperial alliance to take down Burma or something.

But before the envoys they sent arrived at Jinling City, the border conflict between the Great Chu Empire and the Taungoo Dynasty of Myanmar had ended.

This disappointed the Ayutthaya Kingdom...

Therefore, so far, the diplomatic contact between the Great Chu Empire and the Ayutthaya Kingdom has been limited to ordinary maritime trade, and an ordinary trade agreement has been signed, and the two sides have no hostility or good relationship.

The Ayutthaya Kingdom wanted to embrace the Great Chu Empire’s thighs and overthrow Burma together, but the Great Chu Empire ignored them... For the Great Chu Empire, the Toungoo Dynasty must still exist, otherwise the Ayutthaya Kingdom would be alone When it gets bigger, there will be a hegemon in the Southeast Asian peninsula.

And this is not a good thing for the Great Chu Empire.

Therefore, the Ayutthaya Kingdom’s plan to kill the Toungoo Dynasty with the Great Chu Empire is destined not to be realized. Even if the Ayutthaya Kingdom explodes in the small universe, it will directly destroy the Toungoo Dynasty. The situation in Southeast Asia is balanced, avoiding the emergence of a regional power, but will send troops to help the Taungoo Dynasty.

However, there is no strategic alliance, but the trade relationship is relatively close.

Some trading companies in the Great Chu Empire, such as the three major trading companies, have set up business halls in Beida Nian, an open trading port of the Ayutthaya Kingdom.

The Ayutthaya Kingdom also sends ships northward to Guangzhou of the Great Chu Empire for trade every year, and the trade has increased in recent years. The Ayutthaya Kingdom will send fleets to the Great Chu Empire several times a year for trade.

In the trade between the two countries, the Ayutthaya Kingdom purchased silk, porcelain, cloth, iron products and other commodities that were very popular in the international trade market from the Great Chu Empire.

The Great Chu Empire purchased some Southeast Asian specialties such as agarwood, ivory, and rhino horn from the Ayutthaya Kingdom, and also purchased a large amount of local rice.

The rice trade here has gradually increased in the past two years. It seems that the unit price of this thing is not high, but the Great Chu Empire does not refuse such things as food, and it is also free of tariffs. Therefore, large-tonnage ships return. Sometimes, it is good to bring some even as ballast.

Generally speaking, the relationship between the Great Chu Empire and the Ayutthaya Kingdom is an ordinary trade relationship, neither good nor bad.

When the fleet of the Great Chu Empire sailed along the west coast controlled by the Ayutthaya Kingdom in the Malay Peninsula, it was not obstructed by the Ayutthaya Kingdom, but instead obtained some supplies from them.

After crossing the coastline of the Ayutthaya Kingdom without any danger, the fleet of the Great Chu Empire entered the coastal area of ​​the Taungoo Dynasty in Myanmar, and arrived at the entrance of the Yangon River in a short time.

A large number of ships began to berth in the coastal waters of Dagon at the mouth of the Yangon River under the watchful eyes of the Burmese in Shanlian Port. However, because Dagon was only a small town port before, there were not many docks for large sea-going ships to berth. Facilities, because only a few ships with relatively small tonnage are berthing at the shore, and those large ships with thousands of tons are still anchoring offshore.

Vice Admiral Xia Houjun took some naval officers and senior officials of the Nanyang Trading Company, and arrived in a frigate, and boarded the land of Dagon.

When they arrived, many officials from the Department of Civil Affairs of the Ministry of Rites and Education, who had arrived several months earlier, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

A few months ago, these few officials had set off from Yunnan with hundreds of people, passed through dangerous and difficult land routes, and arrived in Dagon smoothly under the escort or supervision of the army of the Toungoo Dynasty in Burma to preside over the Dagon's construction business.

But the work unfolded very difficult.

Due to the military threat of the Great Chu Empire, the Toungoo Dynasty successfully moved all the people in the entire Dagon area away, leaving an empty coastal town for the Great Chu Empire...but they also refused to cooperate And support the construction of the Great Chu Empire in the port area.

Even in order to avoid further trouble, they directly surrounded the Dagon Port ceded to the Great Chu Empire by the Toungoo Dynasty, and prohibited their own people from entering it.

This is very embarrassing. After the delegation of the Great Chu Empire arrived, they couldn't find someone to carry out some infrastructure construction, and it was difficult to purchase various materials needed for the construction of the port.

In fact, the Toungoo Dynasty did not stop the delegation of the Great Chu Empire from doing anything... They just forbid people from their own country to enter Dagon, and they even pretended to respect the control of the Great Chu Empire in Dagon, and did not Prevent bandits from entering it and so on.

As a result, the construction of the port has become empty talk, and even the basic life of the delegation is more troublesome. They can only go to Shalian Port on the other side of the river for purchases if they lack daily necessities.

Now that the fleet has finally arrived, they are relieved, at least they have manpower.

However, after Vice Admiral Xiahoujun heard about the embarrassing experience of the delegation, his expression was not very good: "These Burmese barbarians are simply embarrassing and embarrassing, and the army is also, they did not finish their work well."

"Since they are all beaten, they should be beaten thoroughly. Otherwise, such a bastard will not happen. Now that there is not even a laborer, how can we build a base?"

"Are we asking our soldiers and crew to build a base? It's just a joke!"

After Xiahou Junyi complained, he didn't take any action immediately. Instead, he let the fleet rest for a few days and purchased a batch of living supplies from Sha Lian.

After everything was ready, he let the Nanyang Company's merchant fleet go to the open sea for a few days first, and he himself led a number of warships in the fleet at the mouth of the Sunshine River, and even the Burmese held a battle with their eyelids lowered. A large-scale live ammunition exercise, and accidentally 'mistakenly hit' the Dodong house on the outskirts of Shalian Port...

Amid the sound of rumbling guns, Lieutenant General Xia Houjun sent envoys to Shanlian to explain the "mistaken attack" to the local Burmese officials, and at the same time asked the local officials to release a series of restrictions on laborers entering Dagon for work and carrying goods into Dagon for business.

This is a request... But looking at the warships outside the port that have opened their gun doors, and looking at the smashed houses beside them... the local Burmese officials have weak legs...

Being bombarded is actually nothing. What they are afraid of is that something will happen again, and then the Great Chu Empire will be provoked, which will lead to a war between the two sides... At that time, things will be serious.

The Toungoo Dynasty did not have the slightest confidence in resisting the attack of the Great Chu Empire Army!
Therefore, in the face of Lieutenant General Xiahoujun's request, the local officials only persisted for three seconds, and readily agreed to a series of requests made by Xiahoujun.

After learning that the other party had agreed to his series of requests, Xia Houjun looked at the local aboriginal people in the direction of Sha Lian, showing a hint of disdain: "A bunch of bad guys!"

After doing this, Mr. Xiahou took the battleship out to sea to join the Nanyang Trading Company, and continued sailing westward to continue their voyage.

But not all the ships and personnel were taken away!

Instead, a frigate, a merchant ship and hundreds of people were left behind.

The Nanyang Trading Company has already sold some of its commodities and purchased a large number of goods from the Nanyang Peninsula in the many trades along the way. These goods also need to be shipped back to China.

In addition, during the voyage along the way, many people fell ill during the journey, and these people also need to stay in Dagon to recuperate.

The most important thing is to leave a part of the marines stationed in Dagon, so that Dagon will not be attacked by other forces or the Burmese themselves. When the fleet set off before, it was equipped with more marines. These additional allocations More than 300 marines are prepared for the Dagon colony.

As for this point, Mr. Xiahou was actually very dissatisfied, and he could not help but complain about the feudal affairs department of the Ministry of Rites and Education and the army, how did the Nima peace negotiation agreement be signed... he didn't even have the right of passage for armed forces.

If you have the right of passage for armed forces, it would be so troublesome to use it there, and you need to ship troops all the way from the country... It is absolutely possible to transfer troops directly from Yunnan to Dagon, not to mention hundreds of people, even if you send one It's a simple matter for thousands of years.

Unfortunately, no relevant agreement was reached.

Lieutenant General Xiahou thought that he would still have to promote this matter when he returned to his country, not to mention anything else, but the military right of passage must be there, so the route of the right of passage is fixed, and he must have it only to go to Dagon.

This will have a huge positive effect on the military control of the Great Chu Empire in the Myanmar region and the subsequent maritime control of the Indian Ocean.

Mr. Xiahou has this idea, but he also knows that it is still difficult to make the trip, and it depends on the attitude of the domestic high-level officials towards Southeast Asia.

If it is still the same as it is now, I feel that Southeast Asia is a bad place, and I am not even willing to expand in this direction... With the attitude that the natives of Southeast Asia will not mess with me, and I am too lazy to go to Southeast Asia, then I want to do a military pass. Power or something is choking.

Not to mention, there are many people with this attitude in China now, and many people think that even the bitter cold places in the north are much better than the tropical jungles in the south.

Although the north is bitterly cold, there are not many people, and you can graze and raise horses, and eliminate the threat of nomads by the way, which has many benefits.

And the south... is full of tropical jungles, mosquitoes and venomous snakes, as well as the extremely large population of Southeast Asian aborigines. It is difficult to rule, and there is no practical benefit even if these places are captured.

When the Ming Dynasty invaded Annan, it also captured and ruled the area for some time, but in the end, it was not forced to retreat, because of the language barrier, the barbarians frequently resisted, the most critical non-combat losses were huge, and the military expenditure was huge. Come on, it's no good!
What a loss!
Furthermore, many people in the country still believe that the main threat to the empire is still in the northwest, Zhungeer and Tsarist Russia. As for the barbarians in the south... for thousands of years, they have not seen any actual threats from them.

This kind of general thinking in China, but to a certain extent, has also led to the domestic expansion policy, which is biased towards the northwest, rather than the southeast Asian peninsula.

In this regard, Xiahou Jun is also very helpless. He alone cannot change the thinking of most people in the country, let alone the thinking of the high-level empire.

But he didn't know that although most people in the empire did not support going south, they did not include the ruler of the empire, Emperor Luo Zhixue!
(End of this chapter)