Chapter 112 The troops are approaching the city
He Xi didn't know much about what Fang Guan met in Java.
But He Xi could see the changes in Fang Guan.
Before that incident, although Fang Guan was already old, his underlying temperament was that of a nobleman. Fang Guan was raised by Fang Guozhen as his heir. Although Fang Guozhen started his business by shipping and privately selling salt. A sloppy look. But for the training of his son, he asked the great scholars of the world to forcefully cultivate a noble son.
Perhaps this was because Fang Guozhen was in the wild and didn't want his son to be like this.
But after that incident, Fang Guan behaved very appropriately on weekdays. It doesn't seem to be any different from before. But in fact, Fang Guan behaves a little more coldly on weekdays.
It made He Xi feel that Fang Guan could kill someone at any time.
From a gentle nobleman to a thug pretending to be gentle. It can be seen that this incident is very exciting for the other party.
Is there any occasion for Fang Guan to forgive the Javanese people?
And it was explained beforehand. Fang Guan was the commander-in-chief of this battle, He Xi was just here to watch the battle. If he really gave an order, Fang Guan had the right to refuse. And He Xi felt that Fang Guan would definitely refuse. Because Fang Guan seems to be the same as before in other things, but only in the Java matter, Fang Guan is a madman.
Once such a situation occurs, there will be a rift between He Xi and Fang Guan.
Although Fang Guan is He Xi's subordinate, he is also someone on He Xi's line. But it doesn't mean that He Xi can instruct Fang Guan at will. Especially after this battle, Fang Guan became a famous naval battle general on par with the Navigator Zhang He.
Of course, naval warfare is a small category within the small category in the Ming Dynasty. But even so, Fang Guan's status has been greatly improved.
He Xi also has to take care of his subordinate.
Therefore, all He Xi could do was sigh lightly.
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The Battle of Old Port Overseas. The biggest impact was to open the way for Ming Dynasty to attack Old Port. In fact, He Xi had not directly attacked Old Port before. But now, if God refuses to give it, he will be blamed for it.
Fang Guan was looking for a large island off the coast of Old Port. That is the Bangka Island in later generations. But in this era, this island is almost an uninhabited island, and there may be some primitive tribes on it. But when I saw yesterday's sea battle from a distance, I didn't dare to come out.
Rested on this island for a few days.
The Ming army arrived here from Xinzhou. In addition to the Ming army, there were also the Zhongxian County Army, the Bo Ni Army, and the coalition forces of several small countries. Of course, the combined armies of these countries only amount to more than 20,000 people. But it is possible to be responsible for the logistics of the army.
Lu Zhongheng organized tens of thousands of troops in good order, and then the army crossed the strait and approached the old port.
There was no resistance along the way, and the army arrived at the old port city smoothly.
It's just the difficulties encountered under the old port city.
The Old Port is a river port, not a seaport. Maybe it used to be a seaport, but over the years, the silt from the river channel has filled up the lower reaches. From the old port to the sea, this large area is crisscrossed by rivers. There was almost no solid land, so the port was placed at the Old Port.
In other words, many places around the Old Port are swamps. It is relatively easy to take a boat from the waterway to the Old Port.
But the problem is also very simple.
The warship went directly to the city, but could not go ashore. But under the eyes of the enemy, disembarking the ship and attacking as a whole team is courting death.
However, at this time, Liang Sizu's role became apparent.
Without being reminded, Liang Sizu took the initiative and said: "I know there is a waterway that can lead directly to the upper reaches. Attacking the old port from the upper reaches is all done."
Lawrence Lu immediately obeyed.
Let Fangguan block the downstream, find another waterway, bypass the old port, and land south of the old port, which is the upstream of the old port. However, after landing, we set up camp and transferred supplies. And unloaded the most important supplies, namely thirteen cannons, from the ship.
With these thirteen cannons, although Old Port was the old capital of Sri Lanka, it had also been fortified by Chen Zuyi and Liang Daoming. But it is absolutely irresistible.
This series of preparations takes several days. He Xi suggested that the most important thing is to attack the heart. In Nanyang, every Han person is precious. And the tens of thousands of Han people in the old port city couldn't be more valuable. There are tens of thousands of Han people. The Ming Dynasty had a basic territory in Nanyang. It can radiate to surrounding countries.
Moreover, Old Port can also be regarded as the core area of Nanyang. Otherwise, it would not have become the old capital of Srivijaya.
The benefits of taking this place peacefully are too great.
So, He Xi shot countless letters of surrender and entered the city.
It clearly states that as long as you abandon your weapons and surrender, nothing about what happened before will be asked. If he doesn't kill anyone, he will at most be exiled to a remote place in the Central Plains.
This is the greatest leniency that He Xi can give.
After all, He Xi also had to consider Lu Zhongheng's interests.
Fang Guan shined brilliantly, defeating tens of thousands of Java naval forces in a naval battle. Although Lu Zhongheng was senior, if he didn't make any contributions, wouldn't he be outclassed by his subordinates? Although this does not affect Lu Zhongheng's status, after all, if the status of the founding hero is so easily affected, then he is not the founding hero.
However, Lawrence Lu doesn’t want to lose face? Don’t Lu Zhongheng’s soldiers want meritorious service? Watching the navy eat meat, they can't even drink soup. This team will be difficult to lead.
The Elephant Guards, no, the various armies under the Nanyang Governor's jurisdiction have long regarded the old port as their own, and they would be most disappointed if they surrendered without a fight. Just like Han Xin's mentality of attacking after hearing that Qi had surrendered.
What about everyone’s credit?
After all, so many people came all the way to Nanyang, not to fight for their country. Under the leadership of Lu Zhongheng, their morale is high even if they are sick, because they can make money.
Guangxi is a poor place, and it will remain poor for a long time even in later generations.
As long as you can make money, a life is nothing.
Therefore, under compromise, opening the city without blood is the best result. But He Xi couldn't offer Chen Zuyi any good conditions.
Even so, this letter of persuasion to surrender sent a huge shock to the city.
Because among the hundreds of thousands of people in Old Port, Han people account for a large number. Even if the remaining people are not Han Chinese. They can also speak Chinese, and in the concept of Ming people, they are considered familiar. That is, Man can communicate and speak Chinese. This is also the manpower and material resources that the Ming court can use.
The size of the old port was only one county in the Ming Dynasty.
There are even counties as big as Jiugang, I don’t know how many.
However, it is already a pearl in Nanyang. After all, some scholars have calculated that the entire Southeast Asia, from Myanmar to Indonesia, had only 20 million people around 1700. In the more than three hundred years before 1700, the number of people would have been even smaller. The population of Old Port was more than a hundred thousand, and together with the surrounding population, there were probably hundreds of thousands. It is already the foundation of Nanyang Power.
Many Han people were brought over from the Central Plains by Chen Zuyi and were the first generation of Han people. Because of this, they knew the prestige of the Ming Dynasty even more. I understand even more how powerful Ming Dynasty is. At the same time, there is not much resistance.
I even thought that it would be good to work for the Ming Dynasty.
After all, for the common people and soldiers at the lower level, sacrificing your life for someone is not sacrificing your life.
As a result, it is inevitable that military morale will fluctuate.
Chen Zuxiao has been in charge of trade for a long time, spends generously, and is the most popular among the people. Therefore, the following situation all came to Chen Zuxiao. Chen Zuxiao suddenly felt worried. So, I made up my mind and came to Chen Zuyi.
Chen Zuxiao said: "Brother, this battle can't be fought, and it can't be fought. The people below don't want to fight. If we insist on fighting, there will be problems. In addition, I also discovered some things." Chen Zuxiao lowered his voice and said: " Several ladies from the Liang family are missing."
After hearing this, Chen Zuyi naturally knew what was going on. He snorted coldly and said, "How brave."
Although it is said that Chen Zuyi killed all the men of the Liang family. However, there were few people in Nanyang, and there were even fewer women. The women of the Liang family were given to meritorious soldiers as slaves. But I never expected that something would happen to these women now.
It seems that some people knew that Liang Sizu was outside and wanted to get in touch with Liang Sizu through these women. After all, the Liang family has been in Old Port for so many years, and it is not easy to eliminate their influence.
