Dominate the Country

This wave of imperial promotion came quickly and fiercely, but it also went away as fast as a meteor. In a sense, this matter belongs to "long-term construction" and there is no need to make a decision easily. And a bigger and stronger trend has come.

Since the Mid-Autumn Festival, the whole city of Nanjing has entered the preparations to attract the 77th birthday of the Empress Dowager.

In the southwest corner of the Nanjing Palace, near Xuanwu Lake, which is the former site of the Ming Palace's inner palace, a large garden has been rebuilt at some point. Of course, that garden did not occupy all the territory of the inner palace, and the military camp next to the palace was there.

This rebuilt garden is the current residence of the Emperor and the Empress Dowager.

Originally, they lived in the West Palace of the Imperial Palace, but it was too narrow.

The Emperor still has so many concubines and princes and princesses. The West Palace is too narrow for them to live in, so let's build a big one. Anyway, there is a large open space next to the palace. The inner palace warehouses were picked up, but the inner palace supervisors in the history of the Ming Dynasty will never appear.

Moreover, Chen Ming also thought about his future. He didn't want to work until his death. Or he wanted to set a rule that ministers could beg for bones and return home when they were old. Why must the emperor die on the dragon throne?

The retired emperor Qianlong, who will no longer appear in history, is a good example. There is also Emperor Wu of Liang, Xiao Yan, who lived to be 86 years old and starved to death in the Jingju Hall of the Taicheng Palace. If there had been no Hou Jing Rebellion, he would definitely have lived longer. And since Xiao Yan was already a devout Buddhist and had made a fuss about becoming a monk several times, asking the court to pay to redeem him, why not just pass the throne to his son and become a monk himself?

In the final analysis, it was still a matter of power.

Looking at Chinese history, there are many emperors who were wise and powerful in their prime, but became suspicious and used evil in their old age. If Li Longji had retired at the age of 65, the An-Shi Rebellion might not have happened.

Chen Ming didn't know whether he was willing to give up power when he was old, but at least he thought so when he built this garden - he felt that he could give up the throne. He built the garden carefully as his future residence.

After returning from Lushan, the emperor lived in the newly completed garden, which was officially named Yanshou Palace. The emperor came to pay respects every three days, and the queen came every day.

However, this one-year trip to Lushan seemed to have consumed too much of Chen Hui's vitality. He was not only in Lushan to worship his ancestors and meet his old friends, but also asked the officials of the Imperial Observatory to select a burial place for him in Funiu Mountain, and then he climbed the mountains and went to see it with his own eyes.

Chen Hui's mausoleum was originally supposed to be in Zhongshan, but Chen Ming didn't want to, he just liked his hometown in Lushan. Then Chen Ming would do as he wished.

After returning to Nanjing from Lushan, Chen Hui's body was a little weak. It was obvious that the trip to Lushan had consumed a lot of his vitality.

Now Chen Hui was leaning on the couch, his clothes were empty as if they were hanging on a rack. He covered his chest, his face was pale and red. A small green porcelain bottle on the couch rolled to the ground, and the vermilion pills inside were scattered all over the floor.

Zhao Erxi was about to cry when he saw the thin Chen Hui. If it weren't for the fact that the emperor was still in good spirits, he would have wiped his throat. He carefully picked up the green porcelain bottle, "Emperor, do you want to summon the imperial physician?"

Chen Hui shook his head. It was not a good sign for the imperial physician to frequently go in and out of Yanshou Palace, and the birthday of the Empress Dowager was being prepared. This year was my mother's 77th birthday, and it had to be celebrated in a big way. This Yanshou Palace was also in its first year of opening. It was unlucky to have the imperial physician come here often.

It had only been a few days since the establishment of the new dynasty, and a long-lived old man had appeared in the royal family, which meant good luck. But the arrangement could not be disrupted just because of his chest tightness and cough. Yesterday, the emperor came to the Yanshou Palace to pay his respects in person, and mentioned the clues investigated by the Military Control Bureau in the northeast, which meant that there were probably spies and nails of the Tartars in Nanjing. If they were to move like the man caught in the northeast, they would definitely not miss any possibility of causing trouble for the new dynasty. Although the danger was very small, Chen Hui had to consider the details.

Zhao Erxi helped him move the pillow behind him, and Chen Hui pointed to the Duobao Pavilion: "Bring another bottle."

After swallowing the pill, Chen Hui felt that the dull pain in his chest was much better.

...

Inside the palace, Chen Ming was still instructing the new Shuntian Prefecture Yin Xiao Lou and the National Security Chen Guang, asking them to maintain the stability of the market and the order in the city during the birthday of the Grand Empress Dowager. Especially the envoys from various vassal states. Although Korea was not present this time, there were envoys from Japan, Ryukyu, Annan, Siam, Luang Prabang, Vientiane, Phnom Penh, Malay Sultanates, etc., plus the British, Swedish, Dutch, etc., who were also joining in the fun. Nanjing was very lively.

There were also tribes in Mongolia and Qinghai who were actively moving closer to the Chen Han Central Government, and they all entered Nanjing at this time.

It was not good for terrorist incidents to happen.

Xiao Lou and Chen Guang were under great pressure when they came in. Such a large-scale birthday celebration took too long to prepare. It would take enough time for the enemy to come out from any corner and run to Nanjing after hearing the news. Now the only thing that could stop this situation from happening was the saboteurs' own ideas.

In addition to the convenience of the Tartars, the four characters "extremists" were also written on the red list of the Ministry of State Security.

Since the bombing of the emperor's residence, these people have taken action in China several times. Although the damage caused was not great, the influence was sensational.

However, what makes Guoan very strange is that the latter seems to have super professional anti-investigation methods. After committing several crimes, he cleaned up his hands and left no trace at all. And what makes Guoan the most curious is Nanyang. Several extreme attacks in the country have had a considerable impact. However, Nanyang, which is the main concentration of Tianfang believers in China, has not caused much fluctuation. Especially Malaya is much more stable than Luzon.

They are simply a bunch of obedient sheep.

Chen Guang felt that this might be the essence of the power class. Although most of Malay was enveloped by China, the Malay sultans, as the original ruling class, did not suffer any direct damage to their interests. They just needed to put their previous The deferential treatment of the Dutch was transferred to China, and all the conditions for the treatment of the Dutch were transferred to the Chinese. Those Chinese businessmen who flocked in have made their personal interests better developed.

These people are completely different from those who play with terrorist bombs.

But unfortunately, they rarely have contact with the Sudanese, but more often deal with those who play with bombs.

Chen Guang sighed with emotion to Chen Ming. Chen Ming originally had no place for Malay sultans in his mind, but after hearing Chen Guang's emotion, he thought that there was definitely a certain amount of interest and value in these heavenly aristocrats.

Just like the Manchu Qing Dynasty treated Mongolia.

Give favors to these heavenly nobles, win over them well, and then let them rule and restrain the people at the bottom. During the Qing Dynasty, after Qianlong destroyed the Junggar Khanate, Mongolia never caused any trouble to the Manchus.

Even in the middle and early stages of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Junggar Mongolia and Qinghai Mongolia successively caused a lot of trouble for the Manchu Qing, but at least the Six Leagues of Inner Mongolia were still quite loyal. There were no border battles between Shanxi, Shaanxi and Zhili. Fighting occurs.

If Chen Ming does not want to completely integrate Malay, Luzon, Annan and other places into China, and win over them in the same way that the Manchus and Qing Dynasties win over Mongolia, he may not be able to live peacefully for one or two hundred years...

The three Annan families are like Horchins, the Malay Sudanese nobles are like Urats, and Luzon and the future East India region are like other Mongolian tribes.

If Chen Ming really does this, those interest groups will definitely become dogs in Nanjing. But it is difficult for China to completely annex the Nanyang region and completely 'eat' all the people there. Because of this approach of the Manchus, Mongolia remained Mongolian until the end of the Qing Dynasty.

Because doing so is simply reminding them loudly and constantly that you are not Han people and you are not Chinese. You are Malay, Luzon, Javanese, Sumatra...

Chen Ming didn't want the collapse of the 'colonial' empire to appear in China one or two hundred years from now.

"Someone, go and fetch the Sultan of Johor for me."

Chen Ming's heart was beating. He couldn't play with what the Qing Dynasty did to Mongolia, but he also learned some tricks that could be used in Southeast Asia. This little trick gave Chen Ming a lot of inspiration. Just as the Manchus did not regard Mongolia as one body, they themselves could not regard Nanyang as one body.

A few ‘special cases’ should be picked out.

Special treatment for special objects will divide them internally and make them dislike each other, which will also greatly restrict their energy.

Chen Ming was a bit too heavily influenced by his previous life. In his eyes, Vietnam was full of white-eyed wolves and Southeast Asia was full of lazy monkeys. Chen Han's ministers, on the other hand, looked down upon Malay and Luzon at all.

Whether it is the local garrison or the civil administrators, their methods of acting somewhat ignore the power of the nobles there. Because elephants don't take ants seriously.

Today's China has always been proudly called by its own insiders - the country of heaven and dynasty.

They looked at Luzon and Malay who believed in the Tianfang Sect with such arrogance, it was almost like looking at the barbarians who had sticky hair and drank blood. The most direct impression many people have of Luzon and Malay is that they are weak. Otherwise, how could they be conquered by a few Europeans who came from thousands of miles away?

And this feeling involves the ease with which Chen and Han's army captured these two places. Because the victory came too easily, they did not cherish it. Unlike North Korea, there was an army that fought with the Manchus for several years, and then put a lot of effort into it. Moreover, North Korea also had close ties with China in history. Therefore, in the subconscious mind of many important officials of the Chen and Han Dynasties, "North Korea" is just a person, while Luzon and Malay are undoubtedly like animals. In addition, they also believed in the Tianfang Sect, which was deviant in the minds of some important officials of the Chen and Han Dynasties.

But now Chen Ming realizes this is not too late.

He only needs to pick out one or two special cases, and then he can successfully split the Nanyang Tianfang nobles. Because the latter does not have a unified political power, there is no hierarchy between them.

The Sultan of Johor is one of Chen Ming’s favorites.

He is the earliest Nanyang Tianfang Sect noble to deal with China. Since the decline of the Johor Sultanate, it has always faced strong external pressure, and it is the same now. At the same time, within them, the sultan's royal power was also compressed to the extreme.

The so-called Sultanate of Johor is the remnant of the original Sultanate of Malacca. The Kingdom of Malacca was destroyed by Portugal in the early 16th century. Its sultan fled to the Riau Islands and sent his Temenggong to rule his territory on the mainland on his behalf, which is now Johor and Singapore. By the middle of the 18th century, on the eve of Chen Han's entry into Nanyang, Temengong became the de facto ruler of the above-mentioned areas as a vassal of the Sultan of Johor.

The agreement that Chen Han used to obtain the land in Singapore was signed with the current Temenggong Abdul Rahman. However, according to the treaty between the Johor Sultan and the Netherlands, the Temenggong could not represent the Sultan in making treaties with foreign countries. Chen Ming later asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to go through another procedure and got another note from the current Johor Sultan. Only then did Singapore belong to Chen Han.

The original Johor Sultan has now died of illness, and his eldest son Ibrahim has taken over.

Ibrahim is now a complete puppet. Temenggong Abdul Rahman doesn't care about him at all, and there is still a vice king on the only land.

So what is a vice king?

This has to start with Ibrahim's ancestors.

In 1699 AD, Johor Sultan Mahmud II was assassinated by his subjects when he was riding a sedan chair one day because of his excessive cruelty. He was only 24 years old. The bloodline of the Malacca Sultanate of Johor was officially cut off, and the incumbent prime minister succeeded to the throne, creating the Johor Prime Minister Dynasty.

However, due to the bloodline issue, the Prime Minister's Dynasty was attacked by the Prince of Sik (a small country in Sumatra) who claimed to be the posthumous son of Sultan Mahmud II soon after its establishment. Later, the Bugis from Makassar on Sulawesi Island were involved in the power struggle. As the Bugis won the final victory, the leader of the Bugis was appointed as the viceroy, who took control of the power and competed with the Dutch in Malacca for the economic benefits of the Strait of Malacca and the tin mine trade; and the Sultan was completely reduced to a puppet.

Decades later, although the Sultan's family still existed, the power of the entire Sultanate was completely divided between the Temenggong and the viceroy.

This is also the most important reason why Chen Ming is optimistic about the Sultan. He has nothing to lose. Now any support Chen Ming gives him is the biggest capital of his entire family.

As for the things that were sold to get these, those do not belong to them.

"Your Majesty, Ibrahim pays homage to you, may your Majesty live long and long!" Ibrahim knelt in front of Chen Ming in a proper manner, and performed the three bows and nine kowtows in a very humble manner as a minister.

He has the title of Earl of Johor. Nominally or actually, he is now a vassal of Chen Han.

When he was first named Earl of Johor, although Ibrahim knew that this would not benefit the entire Johor, he was still very excited in his heart. From then on, he would be the earl of the upper country, and the life of the Sultan's royal family would be guaranteed.

The Muslim nobles on the island of Sumatra and Malay across from Malaysia are aware of China's strength. Singapore is next to them, and Penang is not far from them. Since the official power of China poured into the South Seas, the huge changes that have taken place on the desolate islands have been obvious to all.

It took Europeans decades to build fortresses and cities, but the Chinese built them in three to five years.

Chinese merchants put salt, iron, tea, wine, cloth, silk, candles and other materials on the market in exchange for wood, tin, gold, silver, copper and other mines in their territory.

Then after two or three years, the Chinese immigrants who poured in waved hoes and developed all the surrounding land that could be developed.

They brought in shiploads of daily necessities, handicrafts, and luxury goods, all of which were so exquisite that they drove people crazy. They built huge lumber mills on the docks, and they also collected large quantities of pepper and coffee. The Spaniards who had occupied Luzon for hundreds of years were easily defeated by them, and the noble white people in the past became slaves on the plantations. They were called labor camp prisoners by the Chinese.

The arrogant Dutch became weak and dared not even chuckle when the Chinese attacked Java.

This is really the king who rules everything, the master of the world.

Ibrahim knelt at Chen Ming's feet without any resistance. "Our Lord! Please give us your grace, so that I can get the protection of His Majesty the Emperor in the mortal world; please give me good luck, so that I can feel good today, and please make my career go smoothly."