A group of Annan people didn't know how long they had been waiting. It wasn't until the sun gradually moved towards the center that they heard the sound of rapid horse hooves, and then saw the dozen or so fast horses that had been sent out to greet them come back quickly, far away. Those who were far away shouted towards Zheng Gen: "The angels of the Qing Dynasty have arrived, the angels of the Qing Dynasty have arrived!"
The retainers of the Zheng family in Qinghua who were waiting somewhat impatiently burst into an uproar with a buzz.
"Why is he an angel of the Qing Dynasty? Isn't he an envoy from the Western Netherlands?"
"Didn't the Qing Dynasty fall? Why did they send envoys here again? Could they be fake?"
"You still don't know, right? The Qing Dynasty did not really die. It just changed a sign of Mongolia. I heard that it went to the Western Regions and India."
"Then why do they come to Annan if they don't just enjoy the blessings in the Western Regions and India?"
"What else can we do? Why not encourage us to fight to the end with Ming Dynasty?"
"Why? They themselves can't defeat the current Ming Dynasty, why should we let us in?"
Hearing the discussion of the people below, the anger on the face of Zheng Gen, the great loyal minister of the Later Li Dynasty, could not be concealed. Mr. Zheng is the descendant of Zheng Ke, the founding hero of the Later Li Dynasty. Their Qinghua Zheng family has been loyal to the Li Dynasty for generations. Although they have killed kings and deposed their masters, they have never tried to replace the Li Dynasty. Moreover, the Thanh Hoa Zheng family has always implemented the "Emperor's Residence in Nanguo Mountain and Henan" passed down by the later Le Taizu Le Li, placing the Le Dynasty in the position of the Southern Kingdom Celestial Dynasty. Even if the country's national strength is limited and it has to deal with its powerful neighbor in the north, after dealing with it, it should be called emperor when it should be called emperor, vassals should be collected when vassals should be collected, and diplomacy should be engaged in diplomacy. Not only is it a completely independent country, it even still regards itself as the Southern Kingdom of China.
Even though the Later Li Dynasty had been divided into several parts, the Zheng masters who controlled the Later Li Dynasty still did not really bow to the Northern Dynasty... Even if the Northern Dynasty continued to support Gaoping Mo and Xuan Guangwu in order to subdue the Later Li Dynasty. The Zheng family was in trouble with the Zheng family, and the Zheng family was also facing pressure from the Ruan family in Guangnan, but they never wavered.
Why are you so afraid when you hear that the new Ming Dynasty is coming to invade? The worst case scenario is to temporarily abandon Thang Long and Thanh Hoa and seize the mountainous areas to the west, relying on the mountainous terrain to fight the Northern Army until the disease breaks out among the Northern Army. Even if they cannot win a complete victory, they can still force the Northern Army to negotiate for peace. ?
Besides, there are also Westerners and the Qing Dynasty who went to India to provide assistance to Dai Viet... So the Zheng family in Thanh Hoa still has a little chance of winning.
And if the Zheng family of Thanh Hoa can defeat the Northern Army once, they will have the right to take over the Li Dynasty. At that time, even Li Emperor Li Weiji will willingly give up the throne, right?
Thinking of this, Zheng Gen coughed and told the weak-boned subordinates behind him to shut up.
When the people below saw that the old man was angry, they quickly shut up and stopped talking. As soon as they shut up, Mr. Zheng's words came: "The envoys of the Qing Dynasty came from India on a Dutch ship... Now the Qing Dynasty still occupies a large area of land from the Western Regions to northwest India. The population and wealth are still greater than before, and the Eight Banners have become the 58 and 40 Banners! They have also formed alliances with the Netherlands, England, Portugal, Spain, Rakshasa, France and other Western powers. However, the Northern Banners (referring to the Ming Dynasty) are arrogant and count their enemies. Too many, internal instability, and they are already the public enemy of the world. Now they want to plot against me, Vietnam, which is really a way to die!
Moreover, we, the loyal ministers of the Li family, have received favor from the emperor in this life. Now that the Li family is in trouble, how can we only consider our own safety and honor? For the sake of the country and Emperor Li, even if his body is broken to pieces, he will not hesitate to do so! "
The old man scolded him fiercely. The sixth generation lord of Thanh Hoa Zheng's regime was one of the few loyal ministers who had not committed regicide and deposed his master. Now he was confident in his words of loyalty to Emperor Le.
Of course, in the original history, he still had to complete his own dethronement. In the 26th year of Zhenghe, he forced Li Xizong Li Weixi, who had been emperor for thirty years, to abdicate. However, after abdicating the throne, Li Xizong was not killed immediately, but remained peacefully as the Supreme Emperor for eleven years... This Zheng Gen was really a loyal minister of the Li family!
The people below also knew Zheng Gen's loyalty. They became quiet as soon as he scolded him, and all of them lowered their heads in shame and looked at their feet. Just when I was feeling ashamed, a big yellow flag finally appeared on the horizon, edged with red cloth strips and embroidered with a flying dragon with teeth and claws. Then there was a piece of black tassel on the jumping gun helmet. At the end, about fifty or sixty knights wearing yellow cloth armor with red edges appeared in sight, surrounded by a high-ranking official of the Qing Dynasty wearing a flowered feather and seven or eight foreigners.
Zheng Gen's son Zheng Li quickly raised his telescope and looked around. After looking for a while, he put down the telescope and said, "Father, I saw Campos, the governor of the Dutch East India Company, as well as Ben Gurlitt and General Tropp. .....There is also a top-notch official from the Qing Dynasty."
Campos, Gurlitt, and Tropp have all been to Thanh Hoa, and Zheng Li was responsible for receiving them, so Zheng Li knew them.
Hearing what his son said, the smile on Zheng Gen's face became even more proud. He smiled and said to his left and right: "It seems that the Dutch and the Qing Dynasty still firmly support our country... As long as there are enough firearms to support us, I, Dai Viet, can win even if I drag!"
After hearing what Mr. Zheng said, everyone on the left and right showed expressions of sincerity. The Dai Viet Kingdom used the same method to defeat the three northern powers of the Song Dynasty, the Dayuan Dynasty and the Qian Ming Dynasty. Why not use the same method against the "Latter Ming Dynasty" now? Compared with the previous three defeats of the Northern Dynasties, the firearms have become more powerful now. As long as Annan can get enough Western firearms, there is no reason why the Zheng family can't hold off.
When everyone was thinking about something good, the cavalry with yellow flags had already surrounded the Qing Dynasty official and seven or eight foreigners to a place only a dozen steps away from them. John Tropp, who had spent several years in Annan, was the first one. He turned over and dismounted, then walked up to Zheng Gen and Zheng Li with a solemn expression, bowed, and then said: "King Dingnan, Duke Liang, are you ready to evacuate Dai Viet?"
His words were translated into Annan dialect by an Annan official next to Zheng Li, which shocked the Zheng family father and son and the Zheng family retainers present.
"Evacuate?" Zheng Lu asked, "Why evacuate?"
Annan translated this into Dutch.
"The Ming army is about to attack!" Campos took the question and said anxiously, "If we don't leave, it will be too late... Several armed merchant ships from Guangzhou brought us a very serious attack. The exact news is that the Ming Dynasty Navy has gathered at least a thousand large or medium-sized warships to attack Dai Viet! If these ships are all filled with soldiers and baggage, the number of attacking troops alone will be as many as 150 to 200,000! "
Tropp then said in an extremely heavy tone: "According to reliable information, this offensive force coming by sea has at least 80,000 desperate warriors recruited from Japan. Most of the remaining troops are from Guangdong and Guangxi. They are the elite of the Ming Dynasty and should not be underestimated!"
Campos waited for Tropp to finish and then immediately added: "When we passed by Hoi An, we also found many merchant ships of the Nanyang Trading Company of the Ming Dynasty... It is said that they transported hundreds of cannons to the King of Guangnan. And tens of thousands of flintlock guns. In addition, we also got news that King Guangnan will send an army of 50,000 to the north this time!"
After Campos finished speaking, Daban Gurit continued: "There is also news that the lord of Guangxi, Zu Zeqing, has joined forces with the Gaoping Mo family and the Xuanguang Wu family. A total of 100,000 troops have been sent south. The army has already entered Gaoping. !”
After the words of the three people were translated into Annan language, all Annan people, including Zheng Gen and Zheng Li, were stunned.
Two hundred thousand plus fifty thousand plus one hundred thousand, that’s an army of 350,000!
Is this too much?
"General, your Excellency the Governor," Zheng Gen still tried to maintain his composure, "The Dutch East India Company must have prepared a lot of Western firearms for us in Dai Viet, right? As long as we have enough Western firearms, we can still drag the war into a protracted war."
As soon as his words were translated halfway, Campos began to shake his head: "No more, no firearms..."
"No? How come there isn't?" This time there was no need for a translator. Zheng Gen also knew what Campos, a foreigner, was talking about.
Gullit introduced: "You can't buy it! Now the Christian coalition forces in Europe are fighting against the Tianfang Sect coalition forces, and the arms consumption is amazing! There is a confrontation between the Qing Dynasty and the Mughals in India. Both sides are also buying arms at high prices, so They have bought all the arms produced in the West. The only arms we can buy are products from the Ming Dynasty... But our eight countries are joining forces to fight a trade war with the Ming Dynasty and embargo the weapons and iron tools produced by the Ming Dynasty. So we don’t have any firearms to provide to Annan, and we don’t have any high-quality Guangdong iron materials to provide to Annan…”
Now everyone in Annan is stupid! Because of the embargo on weapons and ironware from the Ming Dynasty, they could only use outdated matchlock guns to deal with the Ming army's flintlocks and cannons! And not only are there no weapons, there is no Guangdong iron (actually crucible iron) that can be used to make weapons.
Who is this guy embargoing?
"Then...what should we do?" Zheng Li murmured.
The high-ranking official of the Qing Dynasty, namely Tu Haitu Zhongtang, had been waiting for this sentence for a long time. He immediately stroked his beard and said seriously: "Of course you have the Thirty-six Stratagems... stay. As long as the green mountains are here, we won’t be afraid of running out of firewood!”
Tu Hai spoke in Chinese, and both father and son Zheng Gen and Zheng Li could understand it without the need for an interpreter.
Zheng Genyi raised his hand and asked, "I wonder who this gentleman is..."
Tuhai laughed and said: "I am a bachelor of the Baohe Hall of the Qing Dynasty, the minister of the South Study, and the minister of political affairs. Ma Jia. Tuhai. I came to Annan as an envoy according to the emperor's order. I also brought a gift from the emperor of the Qing Dynasty to the king of Annan. imperial edict."
"It turns out to be the hall in the picture. I have admired it for a long time."
Zheng Gen had heard of Tu Hai's name, but he didn't know that Tu Hai had abandoned the dark side and turned to the bright side, so his attitude immediately became more respectful. He then cupped his hands and asked, "I wonder where the Qing Emperor is now? What's the situation like? When can I call back?"
In fact, the relationship between Annan Zheng and the Qing Dynasty was not very good, because the Qing Dynasty had been supporting the Gaoping Mo family and the Xuanguang Wu family. However, Lord Zheng still maintained a superficial sect-vassal relationship with the Qing Dynasty through the puppet Li Huang.
Originally, when the new Ming Dynasty did not provoke Annan, Zheng Gen was not looking forward to the return of the Qing Dynasty. But now that the Ming Dynasty has gathered 350,000 troops to destroy the country, Zheng Gen begins to miss the Qing Dynasty... Now Not only did the great powers miss the Qing Dynasty, but even Annan also missed the Qing Dynasty!
Tu Hai smiled and said: "Although our Qing Dynasty lost the Central Plains, the country's achievements were not completed. After moving westward, it actually took a turn for the worse. The emperor of the Qing Dynasty now went to the Western Regions and northwest Tianzhu, built Beijing in Samarkand, and designated Nanjing as Lahore. .....We also established a total of forty elite banners including the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty, the Eight Banners of the Mongolian Empire, the Eight Banners of the Ru Dynasty, the Eight Banners of the Yin Dynasty, and the Eight Banners of the Hui Dynasty. Their troops and horses were as strong as before. In addition, our Qing Dynasty also had the Mongol and Jinzhang banners. Khan, Kushote, Junggar, Bukhara, Khiva, Horqin, Sikh, Rajput and other vassal states. It also formed alliances with the Netherlands, England, France, Rakshasa, Spain, Portugal, Sweden and the Pope of Rome. , ranked among the eight Western powers!
King Dingnan, the great emperor sent me to Nanyang this time just to contact the former vassals to fight against the pseudo-Ming... The great emperor knows that you Annan and the pseudo-ming have a feud, and Zhu Heji and You are determined to retaliate, and I will not let you go. Therefore, I have issued a special order to your king, asking him to lead his men to board a ship of the Dutch East India Company to take temporary refuge in India when something bad happens.
It's nothing to avoid the edge temporarily. As long as the strength is still there, we can fight back with the Qing Dynasty in the future! If you let Pseudo Ming defeat all your strength, then there will really be no future..."
After Tuhai finished speaking, Campos took over again: "King Dingnan, Duke Liang... This is also what we in the Netherlands mean. The enemy is too powerful, and we can only help you retreat for the time being. Maybe you can leave some people to continue dealing with the enemy, but your main force should still withdraw. Otherwise, if you let the enemy catch them all in one fell swoop, you won't even have the power to counterattack in the future. The enemy's large fleet is coming soon. Once they land near Thanh Hoa , then it will be too late to retreat!”
After listening to the words of Tu Hai, Campos and others, the faces of father and son Zheng Gen and Zheng Li turned pale. Because what Tuhai and Campos said really shouldn't be said in front of so many Zheng family retainers!
Because the Ming Dynasty soldiers were pressing down on the country, Zheng's retainers were already in panic. Now after hearing what Tuhai and Campos said, how could they still have the willpower to resist to the end? Not to mention them, even the Zheng family's father and son's hearts froze.
People's hearts have gone cold. How can Ananguo continue to resist like this? Both father and son Zheng Gen and Zheng Li sighed. Just when they were feeling desperate, Tu Hai had already taken out the imperial edict he had drafted to "help Kangxi" and said with a smile: "King Dingnan, Duke Liangjun, this is the imperial edict of the Qing Emperor. Here... you two should take it. After taking it, you will go to India with the Qing Dynasty. Then I will also make a flag for you. When you become the flag owner, are you afraid that you will not have glory and wealth? "
