The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 300 "Dividing the Beans"

With the help of several followers, the Prime Minister of the Sultanate of Brunei, Abu Bakar, boarded the "Tenda" merchant ship that was about to set sail in a daze, and was then taken to the VIP box.

"Prime Minister..." Haji Suhaimi, deputy envoy of the delegation and deputy commander of the Royal Guard, looked at Abu Baka with frustration, and was hesitant to speak.

"It's too late." Abu Bakar said bitterly, muttering, "Our Brunei Kingdom may be in danger of being destroyed..."

"Oh..." Upon hearing this, Haji Suhaimi also sighed heavily, leaned weakly on a chair, and remained silent.

The Brunei delegation stayed in Jianye City for nearly a month and was never allowed to go to Chang'an to meet the Emperor of Qi and the Prime Minister of the Cabinet. They already felt a deep despair and helplessness.

Even though Prime Minister Baka brought a personal letter from the Sultan, promising to give up the title of Sultan, allow Qi to station troops in the territory, and wanted to submit the entire country to Qi and become a protectorate of Qi, he still did not receive any response from the Qi government.

Did the State of Qi really want to accept the request of the State of Shun and completely destroy the Kingdom of Brunei that had been passed down for hundreds of years, and then divide up Brunei's territory, plunder Brunei's accumulated wealth, and enslave Brunei's people?
Seven months ago, the Dashun Kingdom used the excuse that Brunei had taken in a large number of escaped slaves from the Shun Kingdom to once again provoke a military conflict between the two countries. It dispatched troops to brazenly cross the boundary river between the two countries, the Gemena River, and invade Brunei.

It was originally thought that this conflict was just another routine border encroachment by the Kingdom of Shun, seizing some territory and looting some property and people. As long as the Kingdom of Brunei made certain concessions, they would withdraw to its territory and the war between the two countries would be ended.

Yes, facing the ferocious Shun army, Brunei had almost no ability to fight back, not to mention that behind Shun stood the huge Qi State, which could obtain endless military equipment and material support at any time. How could it have any chance of winning?

Therefore, after the invasion of Shun State, the Kingdom of Brunei adopted a passive resistance strategy. The army retreated in large strides (actually defeated), gave up a large area of ​​territory in the west, and sent envoys to Shuntian City (now Kuching, Malaysia) in waves to beg for peace. At the same time, they also constantly begged the Qi envoy in Brunei to intervene and mediate to stop the invasion of Shun State.

But strangely, the Qi envoy initially promised to actively intervene to mediate the war between the two countries and restore peace and stability in the northern region of Borneo. Unexpectedly, more than half a month later, Shun State not only did not stop its military offensive, but also sailed its few warships into the waters near the Royal City of Brunei, with the intention of launching a landing campaign. The Qi envoy suddenly left Brunei by boat without notifying the government of the Kingdom of Brunei, and no one knew where he was going.

Just when people in Brunei were in panic, a shocking news came from Shun Kingdom.

The Shun government privately communicated with Sulu, Luzon, Wei and other three countries, and reached a consensus on jointly dividing Brunei. Then the above-mentioned countries agreed to send envoys to Hanzhou to report the agreement to Qi in order to obtain its approval and ask Qi to lead the division.

It’s really amazing! These vassal states of Qi actually had such ambitions that they wanted to completely destroy the Sultanate of Brunei that had been passed down for more than three hundred years!

Although this news was unconfirmed, it frightened the Brunei king and his ministers to death and caused chaos in the palace.

The Shun Kingdom alone is already too much for Brunei to handle. If Sulu, Luzon and Wei Kingdom are added to the mix, Brunei will have no ability to resist at all.

Needless to say, the South Sea overlord Qi State may also be involved. Then the Kingdom of Brunei will be like fish on the chopping board, and can only let others cut and eat it, without any chance of turning the situation around.

Brunei Sultan Hussein Kamaruddin immediately ordered the kingdom's Prime Minister Abu Bakar to lead a delegation, carrying a large number of valuable gifts, to Hanzhou to meet with the Emperor of Qi, expressing the most humble attitude of the Kingdom of Brunei in the hope that Qi would give it a break and not destroy Brunei's national heritage and sever Brunei's historical heritage of more than 300 years.

Sultan Hussein Kamaruddin mentioned in his letter to the Emperor of Qi that although the Kingdom of Brunei is a polytheistic country, the royal family also has Han ancestry and has always regarded Huang Senping as their ancestor (this evidence is unreliable. It is reported that during the Hongwu period of the early Ming Dynasty, the Sultan of Brunei may have pretended to be a descendant of the Huang family in order to gain the support of the Ming Dynasty). It was even listed as an unconquered country by the Chinese mainland dynasty.

Moreover, although Brunei is not a vassal state of your Qi State, we have never failed to pay tribute to you during festivals and daily offerings, and have always been very respectful and have never exceeded any form. We have also respected all the requests made by your Qi State and have granted you whatever you ask for.

Look, we have been so humble and submissive, do you, the State of Qi, want to bring a few vassal states to destroy our Kingdom of Brunei and divide up our territory?

We are a small country with a small population, a declining economy, scarce resources, and a very different race and culture. As the Celestial Empire, how can you, the State of Qi, act like a tiger or a wolf and try to annex us?

The Hongwu Emperor of the Ming Dynasty once said, "The barbarian countries overseas are isolated in a corner, bounded by mountains and separated by the sea. Their land is not enough to provide for them, and their people are not enough to command them. ... They are not a threat, and it would be a bad omen to attack them lightly."

Qi State was, after all, a great Chinese country and a nation of propriety. How could it be so shameless as to bully a weak “barbarian country” overseas?
However, what the Brunei delegation did not expect was that the people of Qi did not seem to buy their tricks.

The letter was accepted, but the gifts were refused, and the entire delegation was blocked in Jianye City and was not allowed to go south to Chang'an to meet the Emperor of Qi.

Three days ago, several Qi officials handed over an ultimatum from the Qi Ministry of Foreign Affairs to their Brunei delegation, claiming that in order to "restore peace and order in the Borneo region" and protect "the lives and safety of local people", the Sultanate of Brunei must abandon its "brutal and unjust rule" over the region, stop meaningless military "confrontation", and hand over the entire northern region of Borneo except Brunei City to the trusteeship of Qi, Shun, Luzon and Wei until the local people's livelihood, economy and security order are restored to a level sufficient to "properly deal with their own situation", at which time the local people will "decide on their own final ownership".

What do you mean?
You, the Kingdom of Brunei, can get away with it by handing over all Brunei territories except the Royal City of Brunei, and wait for the State of Qi and several affiliated vassal states to divide them together!
The leader of the delegation, Prime Minister Abu Baka, was shocked. He immediately told the officials of Qi that he would go to Chang'an to meet with Emperor Yonglong and beg the Emperor to revoke his order and not to decide the final fate of our Kingdom of Brunei in this way.

However, no matter how Prime Minister Baka pleaded, he was ruthlessly rejected by Qi officials, who asked them to leave Jianye and return to Brunei three days later to prepare for the corresponding territorial transfer procedures.

"The Qi people want to turn the entire South Seas into Han territory!" Haji Suhaimi was indignant and angry. "From Java Island to Sumatra Island, the Malay Peninsula, Sulawesi Island and Luzon Island, they are all occupied by Han countries headed by the Qi people. Now, it is finally the turn of Borneo and our Kingdom of Brunei. In this case, we might as well fight them to the death, otherwise we will become slaves at the will of the Han people like the countries and tribes on those islands!"

"...Is the kingdom's army capable of fighting?" Baka asked.

"Although our strengths are far different, as devout believers of the true God, every soldier of the Kingdom of Brunei is determined to die for the cause. Prime Minister, the Acehnese managed to negotiate with the Aceh people for several years after the entire kingdom was lost. How can we in Brunei be inferior to them?"

"Your Majesty the Sultan may not have the intention of dying in glory..." Baka sighed deeply and shook his head.

In fact, deep in his heart, he had no intention of dying for Brunei or for the true God. After hearing that Qi wanted to unite with several vassal states to divide Brunei, he had already accepted his fate.

The reason why he showed such indignation and sadness was just because he was fulfilling his duty as a subject.

He had the fate of dozens or even hundreds of members of his family tied to him and possessed wealth worth hundreds of thousands. How could he take life and death lightly and die a martyr for his country and his religion?

Presumably, His Majesty the Sultan would not have such an extreme belief as "It is better to die with honor than to live in disgrace".

After all, the people of Qi still left a Brunei royal city for His Majesty the Sultan, and did not kill all of them. If they tried to resist by force to stop the foreign invasion and angered Qi, the entire Brunei royal family might be in an irretrievable situation, not only the country would be destroyed, but also their own death.

The kings and tribal leaders of the kingdoms and tribes in the Nanyang region that were destroyed one by one by the Qi State did not seem to have suffered too much trouble from the Qi people after they obediently handed over their power and territories. They each enjoyed a luxurious life happily and carefreely with their wealth accumulated over the years.

In this overwhelming situation, since it is impossible to reverse the fate, it is better to go with the flow and accept the arrangement of the true God.
-
October 1732, 10, Shuntian, Taiping Palace.

"Why did the Emperor of Daqi leave a royal city to Brunei, allowing them to linger and continue the country?" Li Zhan gently placed the telegram in his hand on the table and sighed, "Doesn't His Majesty know the principle of eradicating evil and rooting out the evil?"

Li Zhan was the fourth king of the Dashun Kingdom. He was thirty-six years old, which was a time when a king was in his prime and full of energy and ambition.

This is indeed the case. Li Zhan succeeded to the throne seven years ago. After stabilizing the domestic political situation and consolidating his own power, he provoked a war against the Kingdom of Brunei in September 1727.

With the support of many parties in Qi State, Brunei was defeated again and more than 10,000 Brunei troops were annihilated, forcing the other side to cede the territory west of the Gemengna River to Shun State and pay a compensation of 300,000 taels of silver, thus further consolidating the strategic advantage of the Shun Kingdom over Brunei.

However, the people of Shun State were well aware that if they failed to kill the snake, they would suffer from it instead, and they were determined to completely destroy the princely state of Brunei and seize the prime land of northern Borneo.

However, Dashun has a small population after all, and if it wants to swallow up Brunei in one bite, it will probably choke to death.

What's more, after the destruction of Brunei, the entire geopolitical structure of Borneo will inevitably change, and the consent of Da Qi must be obtained before any action can be taken.

Therefore, Li Zhan kept sending envoys to Chang'an to lobby the Emperor of Qi and the cabinet government, trying to persuade Qi to send troops to destroy Brunei in one fell swoop, and then divide its land, plunder its people, and completely turn this vast island into a paradise for the Han people.

However, at that time, Emperor Taiping was recuperating from illness and entrusted the affairs of state to the Crown Prince. During his time as regent, the Crown Prince was not willing to change the current situation in Borneo due to his maturity and prudence. He hoped that the entire Nanyang region would remain calm and wait for a more appropriate opportunity to deal with it.

To put it bluntly, when the crown prince was regent, in order to make unnecessary policy omissions and avoid drastic political changes, he wanted to maintain the status quo.

You, Shunguo, can bully Brunei, occupy some territory, plunder some people, and steal some floating wealth, but it is best not to make things bigger and disrupt the current colonial order in the South Seas.

Although Li Zhan was quite critical of this, thinking that the Crown Prince of Qi was too conservative in his administration, as the ruler of a vassal state, he did not dare to go against Qi's decisions and arrangements.

Later, as the crown prince accidentally fell off a horse and died, Emperor Taiping resumed power and finally appointed the crown prince as the heir to the empire. The political situation of the entire empire suddenly fell into a brief period of turbulence.

In the first year of Yonglong's reign, the Emperor of Da Qi held a coronation ceremony, and Li Zhan went to Chang'an to watch the ceremony in person.

During his stay in Chang'an, Li Zhan paid private visits to Emperor Yonglong many times, hoping that His Majesty would support his ideas and completely swallow up Brunei and other Borneo princely states, so as to truly establish the absolute ruling status of the Han people on the island.

Emperor Yonglong was quite interested in this and took out several detailed maps of the mountains and rivers of Borneo, and conducted careful study and in-depth discussion.

If the new emperor of the empire wants to quickly establish his personal prestige after inheriting the throne, there is no more effective way than to expand the territory!
Li Zhan's suggestion immediately won the support of Emperor Yonglong.

So, after a year of preparation, in February of this year, just after the Lunar New Year, the Dashun Kingdom used the excuse that Brunei was taking in a large number of escaped slaves from the Shun Kingdom, and dispatched more than 6,000 troops of the kingdom to invade Brunei.

At the same time, the Kingdom of Sulu, the Kingdom of Luzon, and the Kingdom of David also dispatched naval and land forces from the southeast and northeast of the Kingdom of Brunei to approach Brunei.

Yes, under the leadership of Qi, Shun and the above-mentioned Qi vassal states have already finalized an agreement to divide Brunei. Once the Qi Cabinet and His Majesty the Emperor approve it, they will immediately launch an attack and destroy the Brunei Kingdom that has been passed down for more than 360 years.

This morning, Li Zhan received a telegram from the Qi government on the final decision on Brunei, and was greatly surprised.

The State of Qi actually spared the life of the Kingdom of Brunei, not only allowing them to retain their royal family, but also promising them the Brunei Royal City as a place to live and save their lives.

"Your Highness, Da Qi's move is only to maintain the balance of the geopolitical situation in Borneo." Liu Rensong, Prime Minister of the Shunguo Cabinet, said in a deep voice.

"The Great Qi occupies half of Borneo, while the Great Shun occupies three parts. The rest is divided among Luzon, Weiguo and Sulu." Li Zhan was stunned when he heard this, and then smiled bitterly and said, "With such a large division of power, what's the point of leaving behind the Kingdom of Brunei?"

"Your Highness, the land occupied by our Dashun Kingdom, except for some territories in the south that were taken from the Banjar Sultanate, most of the territories are the former territories of the Samfa Sultanate and the Brunei Sultanate." Liu Rensong said: "And the Samfa Sultanate was a former vassal state of Brunei, which means that the best lands of our Dashun Kingdom were all taken from Brunei. If, in the future, Daqi wants to suppress our Dashun Kingdom or split it, it can use Brunei to make a fuss."

"Oh... is this necessary?" Li Zhan was immediately dissatisfied after hearing this. "How can a suzerain state be so wary of a vassal state?"

"Your Highness, you must know that there is no empire that has lasted for a thousand years in this world, let alone a dynasty that will flourish forever." Liu Rensong also sighed, "The Great Qi's move is just a precautionary measure for the future decline of power and national defeat."

"Liu Qing is right. Nothing in this world remains unchanged, and there is no powerful empire that will never fade away." Li Zhan said with a smile, "Times have changed. If Dashun rises in power in the future, can a ruined state that only occupies the Royal City of Brunei still control the entire Borneo situation?"

"Your Highness is right." Liu Rensong cupped his hands and agreed, "For now, Dashun should do its best to drive the army into Brunei's hinterland before Qi's army arrives, and plunder the people and money we need first."

"That's right. Let's enter Brunei first and take advantage of it. ...It's a pity that the Brunei Royal City can't be moved easily, and all the benefits have been taken by the Qi people."

"Your Highness, we should be content. You know, in this operation of dividing Brunei, compared to our Dashun, we have obtained huge benefits second only to Daqi, while the Sulu Kingdom has not gained much from it, which is why they sigh endlessly."

(End of this chapter)