Although the countries in Southeast Asia are small compared to the Ming Dynasty, their combat effectiveness and agricultural productivity levels are indeed not low.
For a long period of time in agricultural society, superior climatic conditions promoted the development of civilization. The countries in Southeast Asia were all prosperous in martial arts, and they could compete with the Central Plains dynasty from time to time.
During the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, every dynasty had wars with Southeast Asia, and they did not gain any big advantages.
Especially the Mongolian and Yuan Empire, which was dominant in high latitudes, once it reached low latitudes, it immediately collapsed. It failed to win three consecutive expeditions against South Vietnam, but lost troops and generals. Then it tried to launch a fourth expedition, but the emperor died. , it’s over.
Not to mention the Chinese dynasty, Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands were also attacked head-on by them in the early colonial era. They also owned and used matchlocks, early artillery, and so on, and fought frequently.
It was not until the trend of the industrialization era swept across, and Britain and France, the leaders of industrialization, came one after another that they were involved and crushed into dregs, and they have been unable to recover since then.
The current era can be regarded as an era of prosperous military virtues in Southeast Asian countries. The combat effectiveness of the army is quite good. Su Yonglin is sure to defeat their regular army, but he is not completely sure to devour them.
Because his Ming Dynasty was also an agricultural country, not an industrial country, and could not provide the devastating war mobilization power of a real industrial country.
So he had to be cautious.
After encouraging and praising them for obeying the law and paying taxes, Su Yonglin sent away the businessmen from South Vietnam, then met with businessmen from other countries, and finally, he met with businessmen from the Champa Kingdom.
Unlike the merchants from all other countries, in addition to offering gifts, the merchants from the Champa Kingdom also mentioned two things to Su Yonglin.
The first thing is that the king of Champa hopes to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty and establish a very pure and friendly sectarian-vassal relationship. As for the Song Dynasty...who is that? do not know.
The second thing is that the king of Champa hopes that the Ming Dynasty can reprimand the Li Dynasty and ask them to stop invading the Champa Kingdom, stop this kind of bullying of the weak, and save the Champa Kingdom from the fire and water.
Su Yonglin was a little surprised by these two requests.
"This is a request that only official state envoys would make to me. You are businessmen, why would you make such a request to me?"
Not only Su Yonglin, but also the officials of the Municipal Shipping Department who were present were confused and dissatisfied about this - this was not within the scope of responsibility of their group of businessmen, and they did not mention this matter beforehand. This was obviously a surprise attack and a deliberate act. Sneak attack and unethical behavior.
The merchants from the Champa Kingdom had obviously expected this. They immediately knelt down to apologize, admitted their mistakes to Su Yonglin, and then explained the reasons for their actions.
They are indeed businessmen, but because they were summoned by the King of Champa before setting off to Guangzhou, they can be regarded as special envoys in a sense. Their purpose of coming here is to find an opportunity to go north to the Ming Dynasty to meet Su Yonglin and seek diplomacy. breakthrough.
But they didn't expect that Su Yonglin would come by himself before they went north. This saved the boss a lot of trouble, and they were very happy.
The King of Champa actually wanted to re-establish the suzerain-vassal relationship between the Ming Dynasty and the Champa State, surrender to the Ming Dynasty by paying tribute, and then exchange for Ming's help to the Champa State.
As long as the Ming Emperor is willing to issue an edict ordering South Vietnam not to continue to use troops southward, so as to successfully stop South Vietnam's military operations against Champa, then the Champa Kingdom will also be willing to thank the Ming Emperor with generous gifts and pay tribute from generation to generation, which is absolutely the same. Heart.
After hearing what they said, Su Yonglin didn't make any response for the time being. He just reassured them and told them not to worry. He would discuss it with the officials to see what should be done.
"This is a big matter, the conflict between your country and South Vietnam. Ming Dynasty also needs to carefully investigate the actual situation before making a decision, so you should be patient and don't rush."
Su Yonglin dealt with these merchants occupying the city, and after ending this symbolic conversation, he went to Ma Ziang, the head of the Skynet Army, to consult him on the issues involved.
The affairs between South Vietnam and the Champa Kingdom were not among the core interests of the Ming Dynasty before the victory of the Song Dynasty, and they had little to do with the Ming Dynasty. Su Yonglin had limited energy and there was no need to pay attention to it.
But now that the territory of the Ming Dynasty has advanced to this level, and there are future navigation plans and revolutionary plans, it is meaningful to have a comprehensive understanding of these countries in Southeast Asia and their current situation.
Ancient China has long regarded itself as the country of the Son of Heaven in the world, and regarded the four countries as barbarian countries in remote areas. With a charity mentality, China allowed them to contact and learn the culture of the Central Plains, and waited for them to take the initiative to seek vassal relations.
The Central Plains dynasties often do not take the initiative to look for them or understand them, nor do they think it is necessary. It is normal for people from all over the world to come to congratulate them, but it would be disrespectful to go out to look for them.
At least at the official level, such behavior is relatively rare.
Therefore, the descriptions of various countries in the world and the changes in the names of dynasties and countries in the history books of the past dynasties are very vague, and little attention is paid to their political status, customs and so on.
And these are all things that Su Yonglin needs to pay attention to.
In addition to understanding the situation in the Lingnan region, the branch of the Skynet Army in the Lingnan region also has the responsibility of understanding the current political situation of Southeast Asian countries. To a certain extent, spying on external information has become their main business.
Their spies and peripheral forces widely exist in the local area in the form of business trips, and even get to know the locals by learning the local language, and then use the locals' dissatisfaction with the regime to recruit locals as members of peripheral organizations to develop further intelligence work.
Therefore, the Skynet Army also knows a lot about the folk customs of Southeast Asian countries, and it does not just focus on the political status.
Although Su Yonglin was dissatisfied with the Skynet Army's overemphasis on spying on external information, he did not think that spying on external information was unimportant.
Ma Ziang has done a good job in this regard. He knows a lot about the news from Southeast Asian countries and can even be said to be an expert. Therefore, he will also be one of the important leaders of the Southwest Group of the Skynet Army in the future.
Through Ma Ziang's detailed explanation, Su Yonglin generally understood the political ecology of Southeast Asia during this period.
First of all, during this period, there were not so many countries on the surface.
Dali counts as one, the Bagan dynasty in Myanmar counts as one, South Vietnam counts as one, Champa Kingdom counts as one, and then there are Chenla Kingdom and Srivijaya Kingdom.
Each one has a certain scale, each one has a certain strength, and each one is not that simple.
Their state power is organized to varying degrees.
Some are more organized, have a stronger central government, and have stronger military mobilization capabilities.
Some are less organized, have powerful local powers, and are filled with kings. They are short-lived and glorious.
At present, the main focus of the Ming Dynasty is on South Vietnam and Dali.
Before the demise of the Song Dynasty, the relationship between Dali and the Song Dynasty was still just passable, better than the relationship with South Vietnam. The Song Dynasty also recognized the independent status of the Dali Kingdom, and the Dali Kingdom did not have much quarrel with Song. The two sides maintained a balance of terror.
And judging from the state of Dali, there are also many internal contradictions. The central government may not be strong, and there are many local forces that are more than self-preserving but not aggressive enough. As long as there is no clear external danger, it is difficult to say that they will be fully armed.
In contrast, the Li Dynasty of South Vietnam was not a law-abiding existence.
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