The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 308 Domineering
Qi Weihao, the Governor of Runzhou of the Great Qi Dynasty and the Prince of Min, accompanied by two naval officers, drove a carriage from the river port directly to the gate of the Bang Pa-in Palace. He got off the carriage with an arrogant look while being greeted by several Siamese ministers.

There were several rows of trees in front of the palace, and several tall towers beside it, which set off the majestic palace and made it look more spectacular and majestic. But Qi Weihao looked around and seemed to be not very impressed by the scale and architecture of the royal palace of this small country.

The roof of the palace and the spires of the towers were covered with gold foil, which looked magnificent and brilliant under the sunlight.

A nouveau riche temperament!

The gate of the palace slowly opened, and two rows of royal guards, carrying short swords, holding spears and wearing golden armor, lined up on both sides of the imperial road with solemn expressions despite being sweating profusely from the heat. Their movements were a little stiff, like puppets, as they watched the envoys from Qi.

Qi Weihao ignored all this and walked straight towards the depths of the palace, scaring the Siamese officials behind him so much that they quickly quickened their pace and followed closely behind him.

This prince of Qi seems to be somewhat dissatisfied with our Kingdom of Siam!

After landing at the river port, he did not give any good face to the Siamese officials who came to greet him. The two inland gunboats quickly left the dock and anchored in the central channel of the Chao Phraya River. Several cannons on the ship also took off their gun covers, raised their muzzles and aimed at the shore. All the officers and soldiers were in a state of combat readiness as if they were facing a great enemy.

This scene made many Siamese officials feel uneasy, and they ordered the officers and soldiers of the artillery batteries and garrison soldiers on the shore to exercise extreme restraint and not to make any offensive actions without the order of His Majesty the King, so as to avoid unnecessary armed conflicts.

At the same time, someone was sent to report to the Bangbain Palace urgently, informing them that the envoys from Qi had arrived in Dacheng and that they might intend to send an army to punish the king. Therefore, His Majesty was asked to make all preparations in advance.

After the Siamese army that invaded Cambodia's Banteay Meanchey area was driven back to Siam a few days ago, another Siamese army that invaded Preah Vihear area also quickly retreated into the country with the looted people and property, fearing that they would be attacked by the coalition forces led by Qi.

In this situation, it is obvious that the other party is trying to prevent their Kingdom of Siam from interfering with Cambodian territory, and instead wants to take this "delicious and tasty snack" completely for themselves.

If you want to steal food, no way!
However, Siam did not gain nothing from its secret invasion of Cambodia. At least it captured tens of thousands of people and a large amount of property, and almost robbed the western region of Cambodia. For the entire kingdom, it was tantamount to a wave of blood recovery and a boost to national strength.

Now, all he had to do was say some nice words and be humble in front of the furious Qi State, and try his best to calm their anger, and then he could digest the fruit he had swallowed peacefully.

King Taisha of Siam saw Qi Weihao entering the hall with an unexpected look on his face, and hurriedly took a few steps to greet him, inviting him to sit on a chair next to the imperial desk, and then smilingly ordered the palace maid to serve him tea.

"Does the Kingdom of Siam want to be an enemy of our Great Qi?" Qi Weihao picked up the teacup, took a few sips gently, then looked at the Siamese King Taisha and asked lightly.

"What do you mean, Your Highness?" Taisha pretended to be puzzled and asked, "Since decades ago, our Kingdom of Siam has been on good terms with Da Qi, and we have been trading with each other. The Siamese royal family has always respected the Emperor of Da Qi and sent envoys to congratulate him and offer tributes every year. How can we be said to be enemies when Siam is so respectful to Da Qi?"

"Then how do you explain your army entering Cambodia and attacking our Da Qi army?"

Well, isn't that right?
According to the report from the generals at the front, wasn't it your Great Qi army that took the initiative to attack our Siamese army first?
Moreover, we did not dare to fight back. We quickly advanced a hundred miles a day and retreated back to Siam.

Even so, they lost hundreds of soldiers and even gave up a lot of looted people and property.

"Your Majesty, King Min, the Siamese army's entry into the Kingdom of Cambodia was a last resort and a helpless move." Taisha said: "Since Da Qi united with Champa and Ha Tien to send a large army into the area east of the Cambodian river (i.e. the Mekong River) to maintain local order and protect local people from persecution by the Khmer, it also triggered political turmoil in Cambodia, causing its western region to fall into extreme chaos. Soldiers, mobs, and bandits have invaded our Siam, seriously threatening the security of eastern Siam. Therefore, in order to ensure the border order of the kingdom and to eliminate local unrest, our Siamese army had to enter Cambodia to kill bandits, suppress soldiers, and quell rebellion in order to maintain peace and stability in the border areas of the two countries. Unexpectedly, this move caused misunderstandings from Da Qi."

"Hehe..." Qi Weihao couldn't help but sneer twice after hearing this.

So, our actions to divide up Cambodia's territory have also caused great harm to your Kingdom of Siam?
They even brazenly claim to "maintain peace and stability in the border areas between the two countries". What a sweet talk and what a distortion of the truth!
Bah, so shameless!

"Your Highness, Prince Min, if the actions of our Kingdom of Siam have harmed the interests of Da Qi, I am deeply saddened." Taisha saw the other party's condescending attitude. Although he felt an inexplicable humiliation and anger in his heart, he did not dare to show any dissatisfaction. He continued to smile and said, "For the losses of the upper country, our Kingdom of Siam will make corresponding compensation."

You come here aggressively to demand an explanation, just to get some benefits from us Siam!
If our sending of troops to occupy the western region of Cambodia really affected your core interests or caused you heavy losses, you would have sent troops to invade Siam without hesitation.

According to reports from the generals at the front, after the coalition forces led by Qi State drove out the Siamese troops that invaded the Banteay Meanchey area, they did not take advantage of the situation to charge into the Siamese territory. Instead, they stayed very restrainedly on the traditional Siam-Cambodia border line, which made the whole kingdom feel relieved.

This shows that Qi did not formulate a military offensive plan against Siam. Its main goal was still to smoothly and safely swallow up the Cambodian territory east of the river and south of the big lake (Tonle Sap Lake).

As for the armed conflict with the Siamese troops that invaded western Cambodia, it was mostly a warning in nature.

When Taisha heard that the Governor of Runzhou and King of Min Qi Weihao personally rushed to Ayutthaya on two gunboats, he realized that the people of Qi really did not want to attack Siam.

Otherwise, they would definitely send out several gunboats directly, either to attack the coastal Siamese towns, or to go up the Chao Phraya River and reach Ayutthaya, to lay siege to your city and bombard the royal city.

But now, His Royal Highness Prince Min has come in person to "ask for punishment." He looks aggressive, but he probably wants to take advantage of the situation to blackmail them and demand some benefits after warning them.

Alas, you said that Qi and Qin are both big countries in China, so why do they have different attitudes towards small countries like us?

Not to mention that in the pre-Ming Dynasty, our Kingdom of Siam received due respect and care from the Central Plains Dynasty. Not only was it given a national name and a king, but it was also given various favors in tribute trade. Even in the current Daqin Dynasty, when our Siamese envoys arrived in Nanjing, they would attach great importance to it and enjoy high-level diplomatic treatment. The Daqin Emperor would ask about our well-being and the court officials would pay close attention to us.

However, when facing the Great Qi, Siam realized what it meant to be treated differently and what it meant to be a small country. Not to mention the rich tribute trade treatment, the political status it was given was extremely low, on par with Johor, Brunei, Cambodia and the like. Even their Governor-General of Annan and Governor-General of Runzhong could boss the King of Siam around and threaten him.

They all originated from the Chinese civilization, so why doesn't the Great Qi have any of the "gentleness" and "humility and courtesy" of the Great Qin?

Well, a little overbearing, and a little scary. King Taisa of Siam sighed secretly, and once again tried to force out a smile, ready to "calmly" accept the blackmail and extortion of the Qi people.

This is what they call spending money to ward off disaster!
I don’t know how the Qin State would perform if faced with such a strong Qi State?
-
"Sir, we have received accurate information from the Siamese court that the Qi people will not attack Siam."

In a restaurant in the big city, two Annanites who looked like businessmen entered the lobby and went straight to a private room on the second floor. After bowing to a thin man in his forties sitting at the top, they reported with a serious look.

"It is reported that the King of Siam sent a large number of precious gifts and beautiful girls to the King of Qi, and then held a banquet in the palace. The two sides had a very pleasant conversation." Nguyen Baichun said in a deep voice: "We also learned from other channels that the Qi people also released all the hundreds of Siamese officers and soldiers captured in the Banteay Meanchey area, and evacuated the western border area between Siam and Cambodia. Several Qi warships that were sailing along the coast of Siam also returned to Xinsheng Island (now Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam) and anchored. In other words, the war we imagined did not break out."

"The Qi people don't want to cause any trouble before completely stabilizing the situation in Cambodia!" Zheng Xianyou was extremely disappointed after hearing this. "If the Qi people have settled everything and stabilized the rear, then they will definitely target our Dali Dynasty (Annam Zheng family)."

"Sir, what should we do?"

"The only way now is to save ourselves." Zheng Xianyou raised the wine glass on the table and drank it all, looking at the people in the box with burning eyes, "Siam dare not offend Qi and fears it like a tiger. It wants to appease Qi's envoys with money and goods in order to keep things quiet. But we want to create some trouble to destroy the relationship between Qi and Siam. It would be best to provoke the two countries into a war so that Qi will have no time to take care of other things. In this way, our Dali Dynasty can quickly solve the traitor of the pseudo-Lang Son Hao family who controls Lang Son and Guangning Prefecture (now Hongji City, Vietnam) without the support of Daqin."

Zheng Xianyou was the head of the spies planted in Siam by the Dali Dynasty. Under the cover of being a businessman, he spied on and collected information on Siam's internal and foreign policies, and then sent them back to Dongjing (now Hanoi, Vietnam) for reference by Zheng Lord Wei Nan Wang (the eighth Zheng Lord Zheng Gang).

The Great Le Dynasty, which was actually controlled by Zheng, was the only vassal state in Indochina that took the initiative to pay tribute to the Qin State. In order to resist the military and economic invasion of Qi, the Le Dynasty almost completely turned to the Qin State, trying to rely on the "thigh" of the Central Plains dynasty to resolutely resist the spread of Qi's influence into Annan.

Because the Le Dynasty was different from the Guangnan Kingdom (i.e. the Nguyen family of Annam) which ruled the south and could not shamelessly surrender to the Qi State in order to survive. It could not, like Champa, become a loyal follower of the Qi State at the cost of sacrificing its domestic "sovereignty and autonomy".

Our Great Le Dynasty was a "great Chinese country" that "was proficient in poetry and books, practiced rituals and music, and was a country of literature." Hundreds of years ago during the Li Dynasty, it was "the emperor's residence in the south and the mountains in the south," and called itself the great China.

In the past, Sun Kewang, the founding emperor of the Qin Dynasty, once called our Le Dynasty "the alliance of brothers" and "the country of righteousness". Although it was a vassal state, it could be called the "Huaxia" country that stood side by side with Qin in the south.

Since the establishment of the Dali Dynasty, it has been committed to "unifying the world and ruling the Chinese and the barbarians", to "glorify the great plan, govern China, and pacify the foreigners", and to establish a "Southern Dynasty Empire" covering the entire Central and South regions.

Therefore, although our Great Le Dynasty was defeated by Qi twice, it is absolutely impossible for us to be as humble and submissive as Champa, Guangnan, and Cambodia and serve Qi.

In a word, our great Southern China will not surrender to Qi because of the fear of force.

Otherwise, it would be too embarrassing!

What's more, Qi State also tried its best to support the pseudo-Liang Hao family, which forcibly split Lang Son and Guangning of my Dali Dynasty, blocked the Northern Dynasty, and made my Golden Ou broken. Thinking about it now, I still feel sad!

However, Qi not only had strong ships and powerful artillery, but also occupied its own territory near Annan. The threat was real, and the Great Li Dynasty had no choice but to flatter and flatter it, trade with it, and even allow Qi people to land and live in coastal ports and open factories.

However, the entire Li Dynasty remained vigilant to prevent Qi's power from infiltrating into the inland hinterland and corrupting the morale and public opinion of our dynasty.

In order to respond to the threat from the Qi people and recover the territories occupied by the pseudo-Liang, over the past few decades, several generations of Zheng rulers have carried out internal political and military reforms to a certain extent, promoted industry and commerce, established factories, purchased firearms, built a new army, and made unremitting efforts for the revival of the dynasty.

However, a few months ago, bad news came from Daqin.

In order to obtain Qi's limited financial support, Daqin sent a large delegation to Hanzhou. They were prepared to sacrifice the interests of the Li Dynasty in exchange for Qi's concessions on economic conditions.

That's right, the Qin Dynasty was ready to recognize the legitimacy of the pseudo-Liang Hao regime and no longer regard it as a separatist rebellious force.

Such behavior of the Qin Dynasty is undoubtedly the greatest harm to our Le Dynasty, and it is also a naked humiliation.

A remnant of the pseudo-Ming Dynasty who once surrendered to the Tartars was able to openly establish a country on the territory of my Le Dynasty and was eventually recognized by the Central Plains dynasty!

If our Li Dynasty recognized the Northern Ming Dynasty that occupied Yunzhou and Lingbei as the legitimate dynasty in the Central Plains, how would you feel in the hearts of the Great Qin?

After receiving this news, His Royal Highness King Zheng Zhuweinan immediately felt a great sense of crisis.

Even the mighty Qin had to bow to Qi under the pressure of the situation, and even sacrificed the interests of its vassal states in exchange for Qi's support.

Then how should the Dali Dynasty deal with it?
In the future, will Qin and Qi compromise with each other, and then take drastic action like they did when they divided the Kingdom of Cambodia, advancing from the north and south, and eventually swallowing up the entire Annan?
"Therefore, we need to make the situation in the entire Central and Southern regions more chaotic and complicated. It would be best if we could greatly distract Qi's main attention so that it has no time to care about our Li Dynasty." Zheng Xianyou said harshly.

"Sir, what exactly should we do?"

"Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. In this time of crisis for the court, someone needs to die for it."

"My Lord, we are all willing to die in return for the court and His Royal Highness King Weinan!"

"So...very good!"

(End of this chapter)