Chapter 55 Arrangements for Southeast Asia
Of course, as the war in Southeast Asia comes to an end, the most important thing is the local post-war arrangements.
First of all, after He Xi discussed with various parties, he divided the vast central and southern region into eight parts.
The first part is naturally the Annan area, owned by Zhu Yuntong.
However, the border lines between Guangxi and Yunnan advance one to two hundred miles to the south and west respectively.
Don't underestimate these two hundred miles. This means that there is no danger of mountains and rivers on the border between Annan and Ming Dynasty. This idea is essentially a way to deal with provincial boundaries.
After all, in He Xi's view, Annan is different from other countries on the Indochina Peninsula. There are too many elements of Han culture in Annan culture, which is the easiest to annex and assimilate. There are many reasons why Xuande abandoned his land in history. It cannot simply be attributed to military defeat.
As long as the Ming Dynasty's national strength can sustain it, Annan can actually be captured.
It's the same today.
In the position of chief minister, He Xi had to think more about the court, even though he had just been crowned king. But we can already prepare for the reduction of the vassal state.
He Xi didn't know if Zhu Xiongying had thought about this problem. But He Xi felt that the end of Zhu Yuntong's lineage would not be too good.
Although Zhu Yuntong is Zhu Xiongying's biological brother. But he is not the emperor's son, just the emperor's son, let alone the prince named by Taizu. Taizu's parents and children have a special status in the clan, and they are all the masters of the same lineage. Don't say anything else, you can tell just by looking at the characters. Zhu Yuntong does not have a separate generation. Now that Zhu Xiongying is in power, he has a close relationship with the royal family. But wait for a generation or two to pass. The relationship faded. His status cannot be compared with that of Taizu and his disciples.
The relationship with the royal family is also far away.
When the time comes, it is not impossible to find a mistake and take Annan back to the court.
He Xi didn't think much about it. Anyway, the Zhu family's affairs can be handled by their family.
Because of this, He Xi extended Annan's territory hundreds of miles south. Said it was to compensate Annan.
But in fact, the narrow strip of central Vietnam in later generations was allocated to Annan. Let Annan go deep into a corner of the Mekong plain.
He Xi has studied the geography of Southeast Asia.
There are several plains throughout Southeast Asia. The first Red River Plain was naturally the boundary of Annam, which later became northern Vietnam. But there is also the Ayeyarwady River Plain in Myanmar, which is Myanmar. These two plains are separated from other places by obvious mountains. They can't be connected.
However, the Mekong River Plain and the Chao Phraya River Plain are different.
In He Xi's view. Although the two plains are said to be separated by some mountains, the mountains are not big enough. The biggest proof is that later generations of Thailand can illustrate it. Thailand spans two plains. Among them, the Mekong River plain covers 44,000 square kilometers. The Chao Phraya River Plain is not much different from the Mekong River Plain.
That is to say, the two plains combined easily exceed 100,000 square kilometers.
And this is only the middle and lower reaches of the statistics. Many places in the upper reaches are actually plain areas. Overall, they easily exceed hundreds of thousands square kilometers.
Not to mention, here is the tropics, with three crops a year. The agricultural potential exceeds many places.
He Xi preferred to merge the two plains together and call them the Two Rivers Plain. What is the concept of a plain of more than 100,000 square kilometers with three crops a year? Let's put it this way, China's largest plain, which is created by the Yellow River, is the Yellow-Huaihai Plain, including Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Anhui, and many places, covering about 300,000 square kilometers.
But the agricultural potential in the north is far greater than here. Not to mention how mature it is in a year. The yield of wheat is not comparable to that of rice. This was the case in ancient times.
This means that in terms of agricultural potential alone, the Lianghuai Plain is comparable to the Central Plains. As for the difference. This is not a professional thing to say. But later Southeast Asian countries became one of the major rice-producing countries in the world, which also illustrates this point.
Although, agricultural potential is just potential. Can't explain anything.
Today's Mekong River Plain is still a mess, and the Mekong Delta, which produced the most grain in later generations, is still a swampy wetland. a lot of
The place is covered with primeval forests. Even in later generations, it is estimated that these two plains have not been fully developed.
However, He Xi had to be on guard.
He could no longer compare it with the history of later generations.
In future generations, this place will be in the hands of various ethnic groups in Nanyang. It is not that He Xi underestimates them. But I always feel that no ethnic group can compare with the Han people when it comes to farming. He Xi wants to regard this place as Jiangnan in the Han Dynasty.
The south of the Yangtze River in the Han Dynasty was almost a barren land. But a few hundred years later, Jiangnan’s heritage was revealed. Nowadays, the development of science and technology has greatly accelerated the development speed.
In He Xi's opinion, the Lianghe Plain is just like the thousands of miles of mountains and vast hectares of fertile land that is enough for His Majesty the King.
In other words, the two river plains are the core foundation. It is possible to have the foundation of a great country that challenges the hegemony of Ming Dynasty. Of course, the lack of coal and iron here is also a drawback. But as a ruler. There is also a desire to slow down before things happen.
Almost all the mountains in northern Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar were assigned to Yunnan.
Although most of these mountains were allocated to chieftains, it was difficult for the court to directly control them. However, this Great Yunnan Plan not only nearly doubled the size of Yunnan, it also placed Yunnan in a very important strategic position in the entire Ming Dynasty.
Yunnan occupies all the beautiful places in Southeast Asia. When there is no war, there is naturally no need to say anything. Once a war breaks out, from Yunnan and directly into the hinterland of each country, there will be no room for buffering.
Deduct Yunnan and there is the southeast.
This is just one layer of checks and balances.
There is another layer of checks and balances, that is, He Xi divided the two river plains into four. The Mekong Delta, which later became the southern region of Vietnam, and the east bank of the Mekong River. Of course, a piece of land in the Mekong Delta was also allocated directly to the Nanyang Governor's Palace. That is the area of Ho Chi Minh City in later generations.
It is still a land of water. But the potential is huge, and it can be regarded as one of the levers for Ming Dynasty to control this area.
In addition, the west bank of the Mekong River goes directly to some places in the eastern part of the Mekong River Plain and the Chao Phraya River Plain, and the junction area between the Mekong River Plain and the Chao Phraya River Plain, that is, the Cardamom Mountains and the Biandan Mountains, are moved to the east.
Then, the upper reaches of the Mekong River, including the southern part of Laos in eastern Thailand, were drawn together.
Thailand is divided into two parts with the Chao Phraya River as the boundary.
That is to say, the two river plains were divided into five countries. The lower reaches are bounded by the Chao Phraya River and the Mekong River. There is another country upstream.
They are at odds with each other. All are based on the idea of setting up provinces in China.
Maybe some people think it's wrong. With the river as the boundary, isn't there a natural danger between them?
This needs to be looked at from another perspective. That is, these two rivers are both big rivers, although it is not easy to navigate upstream. But many places downstream are accessible to large boats. Whose navy is the strongest? Naturally, it was the Ming Dynasty.
These two rivers are boundary rivers in most places. Neither side can control it, so the one who can control it is naturally the Ming court.
In other words, the Ming court had a window into various countries. And the banks along these two rivers must be the most prosperous places. This is the center. Naturally, it can be easily handled.
The other is Myanmar.
In fact, Myanmar is not a country in itself now. He Xi continued his previous idea and divided Myanmar into two parts along the Ayeyarwaddy River. Become two countries. Of course, in order to balance the strength of the two countries. Make some plans on both sides of the river. There is a piece of land on the west side of the river and a piece of land on the east side of the river. There is a piece of land on the east side of the river and west of the river. It is also natural.
More importantly, He Xi rowed a circle at the outlet of the Irrawaddy River. That is to say, the vicinity of Yangon was set aside in later generations to establish the Western Governor's Mansion.
The area controlled by the Western Governor-General's Palace includes not only Myanmar, but also the west bank of the Chao Phraya River. From then on, the Indochina Peninsula was divided into two parts, controlled by the Nanyang Governor's Palace and the Western Governor's Palace.
It can be regarded as dividing and balancing.
Of course, the Western Governor's Mansion also has a big picture cake. That is, the Indian Ocean is under the jurisdiction of the Western Governor's Palace, and there are no restrictions at all to the west.
If in the future, He Xi will become a vassal in Tianzhu. Then, he
It is very likely that he will also serve as the governor of the West. However, the Western Governor's Palace at that time was probably not in Yangon.
In this way, Greater Yunnan, eight countries in Southeast Asia, and two governor-general offices. After a complete set of plans, as long as there are no problems in Ming Dynasty, it will definitely not get out of control, even if there are some problems in Ming Dynasty. As long as it's not a big problem. It can be suppressed here if some of the strength is preserved.
As for who these eight feudal kings are.
He Xi left it alone.
This is something Zhu Xiongying needs to worry about. He didn't bother to intervene. However, one thing is certain, that is, the vassal king will become a vassal, which will stimulate consumption.
He Xi also needs to revise the previously formulated tax policy. After all, there is still such a big financial hole waiting to be filled.
It's just that He Xi has just made arrangements. Another news came from the Western Region.
That was King Yan's great victory in the Western Expedition. Timur was defeated and fled. Lost one's fundamental place. There are even rumors that Timur is dead.
As soon as He Xi looked at the map and determined the location of the battle, he knew that Timur was dead or not. At this moment, as the king of Central Asia and the last heroic figure of the Mongols, he is still dead.
After all, according to the rules of the nomads, only those with strength can become kings. It is impossible for a person without strength to become a king.
King Yan's great victory this time defeated Timur's absolute main force, and even caused Timur to leave his base. At this time, no one would come to help the poor and serve Timur until death.
Someone will only add insult to injury.
He Xi even felt that it would be best for Timur to fall into the hands of King Yan. After all, Timur was considered a hero. King Yan is not a narrow-minded person. He will naturally be kind to him. But others don't think so.
