The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 309 Linkage
Walking in Ayutthaya, the royal city of Siam, wherever you look, you will see towering temples and pagodas, as well as monks and practitioners in robes everywhere.

Wat Phra That Samphit, which was built three hundred and eighty years ago (1350), is the most famous building in Ayutthaya. It is a temple exclusively for the royal family and a fixed place for the Siamese royal family to hold religious ceremonies.

Wat Phra Si Samphi is known as the most spectacular temple in the entire Kingdom of Siam, with a magnificent palace-style complex. On the high platform of the main hall stands a 16-meter-high gilded Buddha statue, which is dazzling under the sunlight.

Qi Weihao, the governor of Runzhou of the Great Qi Dynasty and the Prince of Min, stared at the Buddha statue for a long time without saying a word or kneeling to worship it, causing the several Siamese officials and monks standing nearby to look at each other in bewilderment.

Could it be that this most noble prince of Qi was bewitched by Buddhism and had Buddha's mind?
"Oh, if we take this giant Buddha back, I wonder how much gold we can refine from it!" Qi Weihao thought with some malice in his heart.

Yesterday, he was warmly entertained by the King of Siam, Taisha, and spent an extremely ridiculous night. He slept until noon, and then he struggled to climb up from the bodies of several beautiful girls.

Qi Weihao was very satisfied with the King of Siam's knowledge and taste, especially when he saw two boxes full of gold, silver and jewelry being carried to the room where he was staying. He sincerely appreciated the "sincerity" shown by Taisha.

To be honest, when finalizing the action plan for dividing Cambodia's territory, the guiding principle given by Hanzhou was to avoid creating unnecessary complications and involving more neighboring countries and forces, so as not to cause chaos in the entire Central and South region.

Especially the Kingdom of Siam, Qi needed it to contain the Toungoo Dynasty of Myanmar in the east to ensure the smooth progress of Qi's colonial activities in Rakhine, Lower Burma, Manipur and other regions.

As we all know, Siam and Myanmar have been enemies for hundreds of years. The two sides fought five large-scale wars over the centuries. In 1565 and 1569, Myanmar captured the Siamese royal capital, Ayutthaya, twice, and took the King of Siam, most of the royal family members and tens of thousands of residents to Myanmar. Siam once became a vassal state of Myanmar, which was extremely humiliating.

It was in 1665 that Siam invaded Bagan, Myanmar, and suffered a major defeat. The two sides then began to negotiate peace, and peace lasted for nearly sixty years.

However, small-scale armed conflicts still break out from time to time in the border areas between the two countries. Yesterday you seized two of my villages, and today I will occupy several of your villages.

In recent years, Myanmar's Toungoo Dynasty has gradually begun to fall into the predicament of internal and external troubles. The royal family and the nobles have been fighting for power, the court is in chaos, some powerful tribes and local forces have begun to show signs of secession, and the state administration is extremely corrupt, leading to the decline of domestic people's livelihood and the suffering of the people.

The Rakhine Kingdom in the southwest of Myanmar and the Manipur Kingdom in the northwest, with the secret support of Qi, frequently launched challenges to the Toungoo Dynasty, continuously encroached on Myanmar's territory, and plundered people and property. The Toungoo Dynasty was overwhelmed and unable to cope with the situation, and was no longer able to pose a threat to the Kingdom of Siam.

Under this circumstance, Siam would naturally not miss the opportunity to weaken this enemy, nor would it give this powerful neighbor any chance to catch its breath. It continuously sent troops across the border, invaded the heartland of Myanmar, and carried out continuous attacks on the Toungoo Dynasty.

In other words, to some extent, Siam was a relatively important strategic partner of Qi in the Central and Southern regions. When dealing with the Myanmar issue, they had common interests - that is, to weaken and destroy the Toungoo Dynasty.

Qi dismembered Myanmar in order to ensure the security of wealthy Bengal, and did not want a strong and unified country to emerge in the east.

Siam, naturally, wanted to take the opportunity to destroy the Toungoo Dynasty and avenge the fall of the royal city and the capture of the royal family. At the same time, it also wanted to expand its territory to the west and northwest to the maximum extent and restore the prestige of the Ayutthaya Dynasty.

"Your Highness..."

As Qi Weihao was visiting the temples of Wat Phra Si Sangbi, Zhang Shimao, the head of the Black Guards in Siam, listened to a report from one of his subordinates, and immediately walked up to him and said solemnly, "Your Highness, we have received reliable information that a group of people intend to assassinate Your Highness. Therefore, for safety reasons, I implore Your Highness to return to the embassy immediately."

"Oh, who is it?" Qi Weihao asked softly with a stern look on his face.

"Khun Tai, the third son of King Tai Sa of Siam."

"Why did he send someone to assassinate me?"

"Khun Tai is plotting a coup to seize the Siamese throne."

"Is he crazy?" Qi Weihao asked angrily, "He wanted to stage a coup, he wanted to seize the throne, so he dared to assassinate a prince of Daqi and an overseas governor? Isn't he afraid that if the incident happens, he will die and his country will be destroyed?"

"Your Highness, the King of Siam has a firm control over the royal guards, and the main generals in the army are all his confidants. If Prince Kuntai uses normal means, he will not be able to launch a coup, let alone seize power. Only if the domestic situation in Siam changes significantly, or falls into an external crisis or even a war, will he have a chance. So..."

"So, Kuntai took advantage of my coming to Siam to call for justice and assassinated me in Ayutthaya, and then provoked a war, and then took advantage of the chaos to seize power? ... Ha, aren't they afraid that the truth will be revealed in the end and they will all be killed?"

"Your Highness is very smart and guessed it right away. It is precisely because this matter is of great importance and has a great impact that the people around Kuntai did not dare to do anything and secretly leaked the matter."

"Have you informed the King of Siam about this?"

"I have already sent someone to inform the envoy of Qi State, and Ambassador Zhang will pass the message to the King of Siam."

"In that case, I will not stay here any longer. I will leave Siam and return to Runzhou tomorrow." Qi Weihao said angrily, "Is the embassy safe?"

"Your Highness, if we talk about the safest place in Ayutthaya, it's none other than the Qi State Embassy." Zhang Shimao was relieved when he heard that Prince Min was willing to leave Siam early. "The entire embassy is located on the Chao Phraya River. It is built with high walls and deep courtyards, comparable to a military fortress. There are also more than 60 armed gendarmes stationed there. Even if the Siamese guards gather their troops to attack, they may not be able to break in even if they are given ten days or half a month."

"Yeah." Qi Weihao nodded, and suddenly thought of something, "How does Kuntai plan to assassinate me?"

"They will hide on the side of the road or in the houses along the street on the way to the palace, and launch a surprise attack on Your Highness with powerful crossbows."

“How do you cope now?”

"Your Highness, please change into the robes of a prince and wear merchant clothes. I will escort you to the embassy via the remote streets and alleys with a small group of people."

"Well, you are professionals in this area, and I trust you. In this case, I will be escorted by your Black Guards to return to the embassy immediately."

"Thank you for your cooperation, Your Highness."
-
"What's going on outside?" Zheng Xianyou stood in front of the second-floor window of the restaurant, looking at teams of fully armed Siamese soldiers on the street below, waving swords and guns, driving the residents away, and then quickly rushing towards nearby shops and houses.

From farther away in the city, there were also huge noises, screams, roars, and even sporadic gunshots.

Driven by countless soldiers, residents fled in all directions, some ran towards their own houses, some took refuge in nearby restaurants and shops, hiding inside and looking at the chaotic scene outside in horror.

The leading officers shouted loudly, asking all residents to return home immediately and not go out. They claimed that the city was under an emergency curfew by order of the king, and any resident who disobeyed the order and walked on the streets at will would be ruthlessly arrested by the soldiers and thrown into prison.

Anyone who dares to violate the curfew, refuses to be questioned or interrogated by soldiers, or resists violently will be killed on the street.

Obviously, some major unknown event had occurred in Ayutthaya, resulting in the presence of so many Siamese soldiers in the city.

The question is, is this change aimed at these Annan spies who have hidden their identities?
"My lord, Siam has declared a city-wide curfew, seemingly in response to a royal coup." Ruan Baichun's face also became extremely ugly. He stood beside Zheng Xianyou and looked out the window. "Under this situation, our plan may not go smoothly. Because the prince of Qi will definitely change his itinerary and hide in the safest place."

"Can our people avoid being searched and interrogated by the Siamese soldiers?" "If they discard the weapons they are preparing to use for assassination, they should be able to avoid being interrogated by the Siamese soldiers."

"What if..." Zheng Xianyou's face was uncertain, "What if they are captured by the Siamese, will they reveal our whereabouts?"

"My lord, they are all willing to die for our Great Li Dynasty."

"Under Sanmu, what can't we ask for? What if, they ..."

"Then... then we need to leave Dacheng immediately and return to Annan?"

"Under such circumstances, who can leave the city?"

"Yes, the Siamese have imposed a city-wide curfew in Ayutthaya, and will certainly prohibit anyone from leaving..." Ruan Baichun shook his head and said, "Perhaps, at this time, the river port and various checkpoints out of the city are guarded by Siamese soldiers. If you rashly leave the city, you will definitely be strictly checked."

"Why are we in such a hurry to flee the big city?"

"Ah, your Excellency means..."

"What did we conspire to do yesterday?"

"...assassinated the prince of the Qi royal family."

"Why do you want to assassinate him?"

"…provoke a war between Qi and Siam."

"Yes, by provoking a war between the two countries, Qi will be unable to take care of other things, thus gaining room for our Dali Dynasty to turn around." Zheng Xianyou stared at Nguyen Baichun and said word by word: "So, assassinating the royal prince of Qi is just a means. The ultimate goal is to cause some trouble for Qi, preferably to make it deeply trapped in Siam and unable to extricate itself."

"..." Ruan Baichun looked at the other person in a daze.

"Since it is a means, then assassination is not the only way. We can choose other methods to undermine the relationship between Siam and Qi."

"what way?"

"A sudden incident occurred in Ayutthaya. The whole city was under curfew and Siamese soldiers were deployed everywhere. Do you think that during this period, will Siamese soldiers harass residents and rob merchants?"

"Hmm? ... Most likely."

"Then, will the Siamese take the opportunity to harass the Qi trading house, or will there be incidents of killing Qi merchants?"

"Sir, the Siamese wouldn't dare, would they?"

"Under normal circumstances, of course they wouldn't dare to do that." Zheng Xianyou smiled, "But if the whole city gets in chaos, there's no guarantee that there will be daring Siamese who would do something so heinous as to rob and kill Qi merchants."

"Sir, what you mean is..." Ruan Baichun asked uncertainly, "We pretend to be Siamese and attack Qi merchants?"

"Qi has always valued the lives of its people. They once crossed tens of thousands of miles of sea to fight in Egypt because their own envoys were killed. They would also gather a coalition of several countries and land in Japan to launch a large-scale war of aggression because dozens of sailors were killed by the Japanese. Tell me, if Qi merchants were attacked and killed during Siam's curfew, would they fight a war with Siam?"

"Sir, the streets are full of Siamese soldiers. How can we start this?"

"It is because the city is full of Siamese soldiers that we can fish in troubled waters, right? I guess that in order to stabilize the situation in the city and control various key points, Siam must have mobilized a lot of troops from outside the city. In this case, many soldiers must belong to different units and are not under the same command, and they are not very familiar with each other."

"My Lord, I understand." Ruan Baichun nodded, "I will go find a dozen sets of Siamese military uniforms and start the movement in the evening."
-
As night falls, the bustling city is shrouded in a dim halo.

Important government offices, government agencies, warehouses, and city gates were all filled with Siamese soldiers. They had solemn expressions, were fully armed, and strictly enforced the curfew issued during the day in accordance with the orders of their superiors.

The city was silent, with only the occasional barking of dogs and the footsteps of patrolling soldiers. The shops had already closed, and no one dared to go out and wander around in defiance of the curfew. The once bustling streets, wine shops, and restaurants were now empty, making people feel uneasy.

In a room of the Qi Black Guards' office in Dacheng, Sucha was feeling a little restless. Holding a teacup, he stole a glance at the Qi man standing opposite him.

"Just sit here and be patient. The officers will come to see you after they have finished their discussion." He Xiliang saw that the other party looked nervous, so he comforted him gently, "If we confirm the news, you will be rewarded."

He Xiliang is actually a Siamese Han descendant. He was recruited as a peripheral member of the Black Guard several years ago and was responsible for translation work in the office. Occasionally, he would act as an intelligence dealer on behalf of the Black Guard, compiling and summarizing Siamese intelligence collected from various channels among the Siamese people, and then submitting it to his superiors for review and analysis.

After dinner, the street thug named Sucha approached him and said that a group of Annan people disguised as Champa merchants had collected a large amount of weapons in the past two days with unclear intentions. They even spent a high price to buy two muskets and three crossbows, looking like they were going to do something big.

In the evening, another of his men reported to him that the group had obtained more than ten sets of Siamese military uniforms and a large amount of kerosene.

It looks like they are planning to make some big noise while the city is under curfew.

Street thugs like these are veterans in this field and have done it many times, taking advantage of the chaotic local situation to cause damage, looting and fish in troubled waters to gain some benefits.

But the problem is that their identities are questionable. They are a group of Annamites pretending to be Champa merchants!
Then, their actions are worth pondering.

Therefore, Sucha reported the news to the people of Qi, preparing to exchange it for some reward money.

Over the years, the people of Qi were still very generous. They would always pay him a certain fee based on the information he found out in the market, and he would get some extra income for free.

When He Xiliang heard the news he reported, he felt it was very important and might involve some conspiracy of the Annan people. Then, he took him directly to the Black Guard Office and reported it to his immediate superior.

"Can you ask him if he can find the hiding place of those Annan people?" A lieutenant officer in black clothes walked into the house quickly, walked straight to Sucha, and said in a fierce voice: "If you can help us catch those suspicious Annan people, we will reward you generously."

(End of this chapter)