The first year of natural selection (the 22nd year of Qianlong), September
Annam, Lang Son Province①
Annan army camp
It's raining cats and dogs.
Even though Annan is located in a tropical area, the weather in September is very hot, but for people who are soaked by the rain, it still makes people feel a deep chill and uncomfortable.
At this moment, Annan's army was in disarray, and its morale was even lower. Looking at the scene in front of him, Ruan Hui②, who was originally ambitious to conquer Guangxi and then annex Guangdong, now felt doubly sad.
I recall that a few months ago, when their nearly 100,000-strong Annan Army entered Guangxi, it was overwhelming and as if they were in an uninhabited country. No matter how they burned, killed, and looted, they did not encounter any resistance that was enough to scare them.
However, when they came into contact with the bandit suppression army, they were completely defeated.
Now, the bandit-suppressing army that has become the Yi Army is even more powerful. After several battles with the Yi Army, the main force of their Annan Army was almost defeated. Many of these main forces were old men who followed him, Ruan Hui, to unify Annan, but most of them were lost here.
What’s the way forward? The second-generation emperor of the Xishan Dynasty, who was famous for his military prowess and ended the split between the north and the south in Annan for more than 200 years, was a little confused.
Now, before they even saw the Yi army, they were beaten like lost dogs by the Guangxi villagers called by the Yi Dynasty, and they retreated straight back from Guangxi to the territory of Annan.
Ruan Hui was not sure whether or when the Yi Dynasty would attack Annan.
If there really is a regret medicine in the world, Ruan Hui will never self-righteously laugh at the Qing army's trash, even a group of rebellious people with mud-legged backgrounds can't be defeated. It wasn't until he met Yi Chao that he realized that he finally understood what "Yelang's arrogance" meant.
Even our proud elephant soldiers were so vulnerable to the opponent's guns and cannons.
"No wonder the country is called 'Yi'. Is there really a fire god protecting it? Firearms are so powerful that people can't get close to them, how can they fight? This time, maybe I am really wrong, and maybe it will attract more people." Annan was destroyed." Looking at the lifeless military camp, Ruan Hui felt disappointed again.
"If that doesn't work, I'd better write a letter to respect the Yi Dynasty as the supreme kingdom of heaven and establish a vassal relationship with them. They like to do this anyway. Then I can use more money to bribe their ministers. As long as I can resist them again After several military strength, despite the opposition of their ministers, I don’t believe that the emperor of the Yi Dynasty can really fight me militarily to the end. After all, the Manchus are the real key to deal with them."
Although he felt deeply disappointed, after all, Ruan Hui achieved the throne step by step by himself. How could he not be able to bear the setback of failure? Soon, he cleared his mind.
"Not only the Yi Dynasty, but also the Manchu and Qing Dynasties must have a good relationship. In this way, a three-legged confrontation will be formed. Slowly, the Yi Dynasty can only acquiesce that I will be like Xixia in the Song Dynasty. Then wait for the Manchu and Qing Dynasties to fight with the Yi Dynasty When we have to fight to the death, that's when I can send troops to occupy Guangdong and Guangxi again."
After thinking about it, Ruan Hui's mood gradually improved a lot. Although he was defeated this time, as long as Annan was still in his hands, he would still have the capital to stand up.
"Isn't the Yijun powerful with firearms? When I recover, I will also vigorously develop firearms. I definitely can't be defeated just like this." Ruan Hui clenched his fists tightly and secretly made up his mind.
The sky gradually cleared up.
The rain in autumn and summer comes and goes quickly.
At this moment, Ruan Hui's mood slowly cleared up like the weather. Even though the morale of the army was still low, Ruan Hui regained his confidence once again after making a plan for the future.
However, just when Ruan Hui looked up at the sky, exuding an aura that was ready to fly into the sky and stand side by side with the sun, he saw a minister from the Xishan Dynasty hurried to him and called out:
"Your Majesty, I'm sorry. I just received the news that the escaped Emperor Li Weizui went to Guangzhou, reported to Emperor Yi Chao for vassal relations and asked Yi Chao to send troops to Annan to maintain his orthodoxy in Annan."
"And now, Emperor Yi of the Yi Dynasty has also issued a statement recognizing that Li Weizui is the orthodox one in Annan, and will send troops to Annan in the near future. And Li Weizui has also issued a document to the people of Annan, asking us Annan people to cooperate with the Yi army and jointly overthrow it. us."
Note ①: It is said to be a province, but it is actually similar to our county.
②: Nguyen Hue, also known as Nguyen Van Hue, who called himself Nguyen Quang Binh to the Qing Dynasty, was a famous military figure in Vietnamese history and the second emperor of the Tay Son Dynasty. Because of his reign name Guangzhong, he was known as Emperor Guangzhong in history. He was famous for his military ability.
③: Annan, since the Ming Dynasty, the Hou Li Dynasty has been the co-owner of "the world". However, Mo Dengyong later usurped the Hou Li Dynasty and established the Mo Dynasty. Annan changed its owner for a time, and it was not until four years later that the Later Li Dynasty was restored with the support of the Zheng and Ruan families, and occupied the south to confront the Mo Dynasty.
Since then, Annan has entered a period of more than two hundred years of division between the north and the south.
It was not until the second year of Hongning in the Mo Dynasty of Vietnam and the fifteenth year of the reign of the Later Li Dynasty that the Later Li Dynasty destroyed the Mo Dynasty.
However, Annan was divided again. The north was controlled by the Zheng family, and the south was controlled by the Ruan family. The two families continued to fight, which was known as the "Zheng-Nuan dispute" in history. The nominal co-owner, the Emperor of the Later Li Dynasty, was completely a puppet and was under the control of the Zheng family.
Until the Tay Son Uprising broke out, the three Ruan Hui brothers destroyed Ruan and Zheng one after another, unified the country, and established the Tay Son Dynasty.
The Annan Xishan Uprising in history should be in 1771, but here it is brought forward for the sake of the plot.
④: In order to mobilize the people of Guangxi to kill the invading Annan army, and at the same time to reform the Guangxi chieftain system later, Zhang Rui issued an order to the people of Guangxi: the imperial court would directly use money and property to buy the heads of the invading Annan army.
The price is: the head of each ordinary Annan army is five taels, the head of a corps leader is ten taels, the head of a hundred generals is thirty taels, the head of a thousand generals is one hundred taels...
As long as the head of Annan Army is taken to the court's exchange point, you can get a full amount of silver. You can also exchange it for salt, goods, etc. of the same price.
As soon as this order came out, the Annan Army, which was still domineering in Guangxi, suddenly became walking silver coins and cargo. Many Annan Army came over and were beheaded before they even reacted.
As the Yi Dynasty continued to fulfill its promises, the situation of the Annan Army in Guangxi became more and more dangerous. After all, the Annan Army killed a lot of people when they invaded Guangxi. Even if the Yi Dynasty did not order it, the people of Guangxi hated them with all their heart. What's more, now the court has issued an order to offer a reward?
It was precisely because of this order that the Annan Army led by Ruan Hui was defeated so quickly. All the Yi Dynasty needed to spend was two to three hundred thousand taels of silver or goods.
Just like this, Ruan Hui felt so frustrated by his defeat.
⑤: Li Weicui, the emperor of the later Li Dynasty, known as Li Xianzong in history, and his reign name was Jingxing.
