I am rich in martial arts, but choose culture to win

So Chulalongkorn was translated as "Pu La Lang Gong"...it has a little astringent taste.

Zhu Fugui has already decided that there is still merit in bringing Qing, and he wants to call this King of Siam that way.

Chapter 706 The Vanishing Fleet

Objectively speaking, King Rama IV's strategy was very successful. He recognized the form and hugged the right thigh in time.

Compared to Concubine Min of the Joseon Dynasty who held Dai Qing's thigh and was finally buried in the fire, I don't know where Gao Ming went.

But the success of this strategy is not so much because Rama IV and his son Rama V are so good at dancing and how good at making good relations with foreigners, it is better to say that Siam's geographical location is too coincidental.

You can keep your family and country from being exterminated by holding the stinky feet of foreigners. This is simply the greatest joke in the world.

There are a large number of "progressive" Indian bones in North America to testify that if you seek skin from a tiger, you will suffer from it.

The reason why Siam was able to maintain relative independence under the watchful eye of Britain and France was nothing more than because Britain and France needed a country in the Far East that could serve as a buffer between the Indian Burmese colony and the French Indochina colony.

There was once a saying summarizing the reasons why the only three independent countries in Asia in the [-]th century were able to maintain relative independence, namely the so-called "China is too big, Japan is too strong, and Thailand is too coincidental".

This statement cannot be said to be completely correct, but it does have some truth.

At least, Thailand happened to be on its unique geography, just like the later Mongolia to China and Russia, it became a big country buffer.

But this also means that Thailand's success is not only impossible for a natural big country like China to replicate, but even a small country in Southeast Asia cannot learn from it.

But now, King Rama V, who has been under the influence of King Rama IV, also revealed in the lines of his book of credentials that he wants to turn Siam into the fantasy of a buffer state between the Ming Empire and the British Empire.

In his opinion, Daming is no different from France.

Daming came to the Indochina Peninsula, just like the French, wanting to suck blood for a long time.

Duke La Lang is not afraid of blood-sucking.

You can suck as you please, and I can suck with you.

Anyway, it is not the blood of their royal family, and even with the right and left, Siam can still get a share of the weakened Burma and Vietnam!

Now that the French are gone and the Ming people are here, this is an opportunity for him to fight for further interests.

Therefore, instead of following Daming's request and handing over the French Saigon Governor-in-Exile government who fled into Siam before, as well as the Vietnamese Christians, he used them as a bargaining chip with Daming.

As for Ming's demand that they fully expel the British and barbarians, and that Ming replace the British to station troops in Siam, they did not respond positively at all.

Of course, he also said that he hoped that as a neutral country, he would invite Ming Dynasty to negotiate with the British and Indian authorities in Bangkok to resolve territorial disputes peacefully.

This is also one of the countermeasures of Lalang Gong after the United Kingdom strengthened its penetration into Siam.

To put it simply, relying on the Ming to protect oneself and relying on the foreign to ask for a price, this is the small calculation of Lalang Gong.

Needless to say, due to the fear that the Siamese royal family would take refuge in the Ming Dynasty, the British have indeed lowered their stance during this period of time, which has given Bangkok a lot of benefits.

For example, since the previous budget for aiding the Qing Dynasty no longer exists, a part of it can be used to buy Siam.

After all, with so many pounds printed, it has to be spent.

This made Duke Hualalang feel even more proud of his brilliance and prowess.

Although Siam is small, it can dance on the tip of a knife and make the great powers work for me!

It's just a pity that Daming doesn't like this.

For the Ming Liang Sect, loyalty is not absolute, but it means being absolutely disloyal.

In the confrontation between Zhuxia and Aryan, Zhonghua and Anza, Ming and Yingyi, the so-called neutral country was not recognized by Ming at all.

The Ming side ignored the Siamese side. If the Ming Dynasty sent troops, the Siamese government would unconditionally fall to the threat of the British and Indian authorities.

Dewu 12th year, April 1874.

Just when the army of the Tartar and Song Dynasties crossed the "killing Indian" mountain pass for the first time, plundered the northern border of Britain and India, robbed [-] livestock including Indian sacred cattle, and returned triumphantly, the Ming Dynasty began to attack Siam.

As the commander-in-chief, Marshal Zhu Fugui visited Phnom Penh, an important city in Chenla, to supervise the war against Siam.

It is said to be a conquest of Siam, but in fact, everyone knows that Ming's real opponent in this campaign is the British and Indian authorities.

Unlike the northwestern region of India, where the Tartar and Song Dynasties were free to move, the British and Indian authorities deployed millions of troops in Burma, ready to enter Siam at any time.

There are also more than 2 military advisers in Siam.

Of course, most of the so-called millions of troops are Indian puppet troops with inferior weapons, and their combat capabilities are doubtful.

But there is no doubt that this is the third most powerful force east of the Persian plateau.

The first is the commander of the Ming Dynasty, and the second is the commander of the Ming Dynasty.

Although the combined total strength of the two is only 80, Zhu Fugui believes that a Ming soldier can be worth an Indian soldier.

So, the advantage is in me!

The only thing that puzzled Zhu Fugui was that according to the planned plan, the Daming Group's offensive against the British and Indian authorities should be three-sided.

That is to say, the main force of the Ming Dynasty advanced from the Indochina Peninsula through the route of Fengwen at the foot of the Malay Tiger Mountain; the Tartar Song Dynasty advanced in the northwestern part of India through the route of Timur Tiger, the descendant of the Mughal founding emperor of Mongolia; line advance.

Three-pronged approach, full bloom.

Today, both the Ming Dynasty and the Tartar Song Dynasty are advancing smoothly.

There seems to be something wrong with Nantang.

Li Hongzhang's huge fleet should have launched an attack on the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula, but for some reason, Daming has not received relevant information for a long time.

Zhu Fugui was faintly worried, maybe they had a shipwreck, right?

After all, most of the ships in Li Hongzhang's fleet are steamers produced by him through his corrupt Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau and the Fujian Shipyard that came over the past few years.

Although the engineers dispatched by Daming have been tested, they think that although the performance is insufficient, the next Nanyang is still not a big problem.

But in the final analysis, Zhu Fugui, who is familiar with the style of Westernization masters in history, is really a little uncertain about the performance of these ships.

But after all, with such a huge fleet, if an accident happened in Nanyang, some wreckage would wash ashore and be found.

However, neither of those.

Li Hongzhang and his group of landlords and squires have become a mystery without any news.

Daming sent some Zhao Guangyi-class coastal speedboats to search all corners of Nanyang.

I don't expect them to meet as scheduled, as long as they are fine.

In addition, Zhu Fugui has no extra energy to take care of Li Hongzhang.

In Phnom Penh, he finally met Mo Bai, his confidant whom he hadn't seen for many years.

"Feihong's mother and child are both fine. Feihong has grown to 1.8 meters, but he is a little thinner, weighing only two hundred catties."

After all, the old eunuch Li is getting old, and when he gets old, he will talk more when he meets an old acquaintance in a foreign country.

He rambled on a lot about Fengdu's past.

Mo Bai couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "Feihong's old man is not tall. I didn't expect Feihong to grow up to 1.8 meters after eating enough meat, egg and milk. Hey, it's a pity that I couldn't even eat sweet potatoes when I was young, so I didn't grow taller."

In fact, Mo Bai [-]'s stature is by no means short in this era, whether in China or Europe.

After all, it was because Mo Bai had great strength, ate a lot, and couldn't support his family, so he ventured to the "Citigroup" to seek gold.

However, Yinzhou's second-generation New Daming people, under the sufficient supply of animal protein, have seen their height soar as if they were on the hook, and "great appearance" is no longer enough to describe it.

In comparison, the older generation of Ming ancestors really looked short.

Chapter 707 Siamese Fragrant Rice and Elephants

"Mo Aiqing doesn't need to be sad. If Qing and others hadn't fought bloody battles, how could those little brats in Fengdu have endless milk and steak?"

Zhu Fugui said with a smile, "Now, we want to replicate Yinzhou's glorious story in Shenzhou.

However, there are more immature children waiting to be fed in China, a weaker agricultural foundation, and a worse industrial foundation. To do these things well, the imperial court must have more resources. agricultural base.

Basmati rice from Siam... raise people! "

It has to be said that as a native of Jiangnan, Zhu Fugui actually doesn't like rice from Jiangnan.

Northeast Wuchang rice and Thai fragrant rice are the most delicious rice in Zhu Fugui's memory.

Of course, most people stubbornly believe that the rice in their hometown is the best, but there is no doubt that Northeast rice and Thai rice are the group choices that everyone eats.

The hometown of China, North China, has suffered serious land salinization since Zhao and Song Dynasties dug the embankment of the Yellow River and flooded the banks.

Moreover, water is scarce all the year round. If there is no water diversion project, the water in North China will only be enough for industry and agriculture.

In the Jiangnan area, although the land is suitable for farming, it is too densely populated.

Since the late Ming Dynasty, the area of ​​cultivated land in the south of the Yangtze River has decreased year after year. Now, it is no longer a land of fish and rice for exporting grain, but a black hole for grain production that needs to transfer grain from Huguang and other places.

Other places such as Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangdong, Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu are also not suitable for large-scale and mechanized agricultural production due to various reasons, and can only maintain a small-scale peasant economy at best.

Obviously, if the Ming Dynasty wants to draw a red line for arable land in the Shenzhou area, the best choice is to draw this red line to the Red River Delta, to the Turan lowlands, and of course, to the fertile and fertile Siam.

Only by letting there be a variety of lands, can China develop industry and commerce and high-end manufacturing with peace of mind.

"In order to let your fellow Cantonese eat Siamese rice, go to fight, Pikachu!"

Mo Bai was greatly encouraged by His Majesty Zhu Fugui's encouragement, although he didn't know exactly what Pikachu meant.

……

Chenla, that is, Khmer, or Cambodia, became a French colony about ten years ago and fell under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Saigon.

Because McCann has been fishing for a long time, the French only want to suck blood and have no desire to build, resulting in poor road facilities in Cambodia.

The humid rainforest in Southeast Asia makes it impossible for the new generation of Daming Tiger and Leopard tanks to perform.

On the contrary, the earliest Han Qi 01-style old man Le tank is like a fish in water here.

After all, the Hanqi Type 01 ultra-light tank itself is imitated from the Italian CV33.

And the bald head bought a lot of CV33s back then, and equipped them with the Burmese Expeditionary Force, allowing them to compete with Japan's Xiaodouding in the dense forests of Nanyang.

Therefore, when the sunlight penetrated through the layers of branches, it fell on the slightly old body of Hanqi 01, and the steel armor was reflected into a mottled amber color.

They are like hunting tigers, sneaking in the dense forest, crossing the rugged border between Chenla and Siam, and then leaping out.

Because the Hanqi tank is semi-open, the tanker has a wide field of vision. Major Wu Qilong of the Tank Battalion of the 104th Nanyang Division can clearly see the terrified expressions on the faces of the Siamese defenders.

This fortress on the eastern border of Siam has been an important military town since ancient times.

But at this moment, the fortress is crumbling like a leaf in a storm.

"Be quick, the Siamese elephant soldiers are a huge threat to our tanks!"

Wu Qilong once participated in the Second Ming-French War, and he still remembers the scene of Sharma stomping on a tank.

If he could choose, he would say that he would not continue to use this old-fashioned tank that was established ten years ago.

Compared with Sharma, which weighs barely one ton, Siamese war elephants generally weigh between [-] and [-] tons. They are tall, mighty, and powerful.

Even, according to intelligence, a super elephant weighing six tons was kept in captivity in the royal court of Siam, and he was named a general.

There has always been a misunderstanding that Asian elephants are much smaller than African elephants.

In fact, as two distantly related species, the Asian elephant has a better temper and is easy to tame, similar to the North African elephant in the Carthage period.

But the size difference between the two is not that big.

African savannah elephants are taller, and African bush elephants are not as tall as Asian elephants.

And when it comes to bulkiness, Asian elephants are in a class of their own.

Moreover, the extreme large individual of the Asian male elephant is not smaller than the African male elephant, and it is even very likely to aspire to the throne of the heaviest elephant.

If you observe carefully in the zoo, you will find that in many cases, the body shapes of the two are the opposite of the stereotype.

It's no wonder that Rama IV wanted to sell his elephants to Lincoln with full confidence, and hoped to send someone to help the United States breed and raise elephants.

Lincoln believed that the Great America had everything, and looked down on the strange skills and ingenuity of the Orientals, but Zhu Fugui was very interested in these domesticated elephants.

For Daming, who is bound to carry out infrastructure construction in the Indochina Peninsula and the Seven Sister States of India, the manpower and material resources required for such great heroes as the construction of the Yunnan-Burma Highway must be astronomical.

Elephants would probably be excellent additions to mechanical equipment.

Because history proves that until the 21st century, elephants are still an important animal power in countries ranging from Kerala, India to Thailand and Myanmar.

Raising an elephant is definitely more expensive than raising a car, which shows that in the rainforest area, elephants do have their own advantages as animal power.

In his personal revision of the "Handbook for Paying Barbarians", Zhu Fugui specifically emphasized that more elephants should be captured for research purposes.