The army needs to be maintained regardless of whether it fights or not. Fighting means consuming more materials, higher freight costs, and more ammunition. The extra military expenditures spent by the Chu army for this operation were actually not as much as imagined. They were exhausted. It's only about one million taels.
If you just fight casually, you will have to spend millions of taels of extra military expenditures... Wouldn't the tens of millions of military expenditures of the Da Chu Empire every year be wasted...
Well, what's more important is that the expedition to Siam seemed to be of a large scale, but in fact the intensity was very limited, and only three ground battles involving thousands of people were fought to the death.
Once when landing, once when attacking Thonburi, and once when attacking Ayutthaya City.
In fact, the intensity of these three battles was not high, and the Chu army did not even fire out much ammunition.
When many soldiers landed, they carried only fifty fixed-load lead bullets with them, but most of them still had more than forty rounds left after they finished attacking Ayutthaya City...
During the war that lasted for about a month, many soldiers only fired a few shots.
The intensity is not high, the ammunition consumption is not much, and the war cost is naturally not that high.
As for personnel salaries, food and drink... If you stay in the camp and don't fight, you still have to eat and receive subsidies...
For the Chu army, the main expenditure during the war was the consumption of personnel and mules and horses, which was the bulk... But, this part of the expenditure was also a lot in peacetime, and increased during war, but unless large-scale mobilization, otherwise Increases are limited.
The second is the consumption of ammunition, which depends on the intensity.
The Chu army has many guns, especially artillery. Once these cannons are fired, there will be ten thousand taels of gold.
The artillery itself is not worth much, but the ammunition is expensive... to be precise, the gunpowder is expensive.
Therefore, as the intensity goes up and more shells are fired, the additional war costs will skyrocket.
If the intensity is not high and not many shells are used, then the additional war cost will be relatively small.
Of course, the exact amount spent on this war is actually a misunderstanding. If fixed expenses are also included, it would be much more.
But this is not important. How much military expenditure the Chu army has spent can be said casually. At most, it is based on the other party's ability to pay.
The compensation of 10 million Chu Yuan is already an exorbitant price. As for how much it is higher, it actually has no meaning, because even if it is 10 million taels, the Dacheng Kingdom cannot afford to compensate...
The Dachu Empire almost robbed all of their capital, and only a few million taels of property were confiscated... How could the Dacheng Kingdom come up with another ten million taels? It was impossible.
But that's not important... Anyway, the Dachu Empire still has banks. If you don't have enough money, you can ask our financial bank for a loan, and then use tariffs and other taxes to repay the mortgage.
It won't be over in ten or five years, just fifty or one hundred years. Finance and banks are not in a hurry to earn interest!
The two parties went through various negotiations and finally reached a final agreement!
This was mainly because the Toungoo Dynasty had already invaded. The Ayutthaya Kingdom was eager to end its hostility with the Dachu Empire and was counting on the Dachu Empire to release their more than 10,000 prisoners of war.
The Ayutthaya Kingdom is still waiting for the more than 10,000 prisoners of war to come back, re-arm and send them to the Western Front battlefield to resist the Toungoo Dynasty.
They agreed to some of the harsh conditions of the Dachu Empire, which meant that they would become a puppet state and pay compensation, but if they didn't agree... if they continued like this, the Dacheng Kingdom would be destroyed...
Therefore, on June 4, the thirteenth year of Chengshun, after some difficult negotiations, the plenipotentiaries of both parties signed a treaty at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River, the base camp of the Dachu Empire's expeditionary force in Bangkok.
The treaty reached did not include military rights of passage and supervision rights. On this point, the Ayutthaya Kingdom was very firm...it would rather cede territory and pay compensation than become a puppet.
Therefore, the main content of the treaty is that the Ayutthaya Dynasty will pay tribute to the empire, and the Chu Empire canonizes the king of the Ayutthaya Dynasty as the King of Siam.
Well, the name Ayutthaya Kingdom is not actually the exact name of the country. It is just the name given by contemporary Chinese businessmen to the contemporary dynasty of the Kingdom of Siam. It is taken from its capital city Ayutthaya, and the meaning of this city is translated as 'Ayutthaya'.
Therefore, the official credentials and canonizations used the name of the Kingdom of Siam.
Siam fully opened its market to the empire, and imperial merchants had the freedom to live and do business throughout Siam.
Moreover, if an imperial national breaks the law in Siam, the Siamese side can only hand him over to the empire after being arrested, and the empire will try it on its own according to the imperial law. Siam is not allowed to try and punish the imperial national without authorization.
This is extra-legal jurisdiction... The empire's reason for this is that you don't even have a formal law, so you can just say that the subjects of our empire have violated the law. Isn't this nonsense!
Then there is the compensation. The 10 million that the Dachu Empire shouted at the beginning is impossible. The Dacheng Kingdom does not have so much money, and the installment payment after the loan is enough... In order to avoid pushing them too hard, it is also to give Dacheng The kingdom left some wealth to continue fighting with the Taungoo Dynasty of Myanmar, so the Chu Empire made concessions and directly offered a half-discount, only five million Chu Yuan.
In order to pay the compensation, the Kingdom of Dacheng borrowed money from the Finance Bank of the Dachu Empire, with a 10% discount and extremely high interest. The debt was repaid in twenty-year installments, mortgaged with customs duties and other taxes.
It means opening up a comprehensive market and allowing both parties to jointly determine the tariff limits for trade goods between the two sides. When imperial goods are exported to Siam, Siam's tariffs must not exceed 5%.
In addition to paying tribute, canonizing, extra-legal governance, indemnities and opening up the market, the most important thing is the cession of territory!
According to the treaty between the two parties, the Kingdom of Siam ceded the mouth of the Chao Phraya River, a square area about 20 kilometers wide on both sides and extending 20 kilometers inland. A total of 400 square kilometers was given to the Chu Empire to live and do business as imperial merchants. What is used is not a concession, but a direct cession.
This meant that the mouth of the Chao Phraya River, the most important river in Siam, fell directly into the hands of the Chu Empire. To a certain extent, the empire relied on this place to completely control the foreign trade in the northern region of Siam.
Even Siamese ships cannot pass through this 20-kilometer-long section of the Chao Phraya River without the permission of the Chu Empire.
Because this place already belonged to the territory of the Chu Empire, the Chu Empire named this place Bangkok.
Also ceded was most of the area controlled by the Kingdom of Siam on the Malay Peninsula.
Originally, the empire only wanted one port on the east and west coasts of the Malay Peninsula, but later it was found that it would be better to just acquire a piece of land, and then connect the two ports on the east and west coasts into one, and then use it as a supply for the imperial ships when they sail overseas. Points, transfer stations, trading ports, etc.
Since we want to connect them together, we need a certain strategic depth, so we simply want a larger area.
When negotiating with the Kingdom of Siam, they made some concessions in other aspects, and finally the Kingdom of Siam agreed to take over the southernmost territory of the Malay Peninsula controlled by the Kingdom of Siam, including Pattani, Songkhla and beyond. All the way to the Chumphon area in the north, this large area was transferred to the Chu Empire.
Of course, in order to obtain this area, the Da Chu Empire also paid another price, that is, this territory was not ceded in the name of cession, but in the name of purchase. The Da Chu Empire invested 500,000 Chu yuan to purchase this territory from the Kingdom of Siam. This fund will be converted into various types of guns, weapons and other materials to be transported to the Kingdom of Ayutthaya to arm the Siamese army to resist the Burmese army. attack.
After acquiring this area, the Chu Empire collectively called this area "North Malacca".
As soon as the treaty between the two parties was finalized, the Chu Empire sent a fleet carrying a regiment of soldiers to the Malay Peninsula to take over the place.
As a result, in the Strait of Malacca region, in addition to the Portuguese, the Kingdom of Aceh, and the Kingdom of Johor, a new force also ushered in: the Great Chu Empire!
Let’s not talk about the subsequent changes in power in the Malacca Strait.
Let's say that after the front and the Ayutthaya Kingdom finalized the treaty, they quickly sent the text of the treaty back to the Imperial Jinling City via a communication ship, respectfully requesting the Holy Judgment!
Although it is a treaty signed by the plenipotentiary, and both parties have taken corresponding actions in accordance with the treaty, it still needs to be signed by Luo Zhixue himself. Only treaties signed and approved by Luo Zhixue will have a legal basis within the empire, otherwise it will be without evidence. .
If the plenipotentiary, that is, the imperial envoy, could sign a treaty and betray the country at will, wouldn't the empire be over in a minute...
Similarly, in the Kingdom of Siam, the treaty still needs the approval of the King of Siam before it can officially take effect.
The "Chu-Siam-Bangkok Treaty" will not officially take effect in a legal sense until the monarchs of both sides approve it. Of course, before that, the Chu army has already begun to withdraw its troops, took over the Bangkok area and the Beijia area, and started construction. Fortresses, camps, ports, and fort facilities.
Jinling did not delay. After receiving the text of the treaty, Luo Zhixue directly approved it.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs was also asked to prepare for the establishment of administrative institutions in these two overseas territories.
After careful consideration, the Ministry of Civil Affairs considered that there is Cam Ranh Bay and Quang Ninh Naval Base in the Southeast Asian peninsula, and it also directly controls the Mekong River outlet area. In addition, there is also a Dagon in Myanmar.
There are many overseas colonies of this size, and except for the Guangning Naval Base, which is relatively close to the mainland, these places are far away and all need to rely on sea transportation.
Most importantly, the North Malacca area is very large…
For this reason, the Ministry of Civil Affairs wanted to set up an agency here to manage colonial affairs in Southeast Asia. This suggestion was also approved by Luo Zhixue.
After all, overseas colonies are too far away, and it would be too troublesome to directly administer them. Moreover, the situation in the colonies is completely different from that of the mainland, and it is impossible to directly copy the local administrative model.
After comprehensive consideration, the leased Guangning Naval Base was set up in Guangning County and handed over to Lianzhou Prefecture in Guangdong. After all, the distance was short, and Guangning could be right next to Lianzhou Prefecture.
Other places are temporarily under the jurisdiction of the newly established Nanyang Governor's Yamen.
The Nanyang Governor's Office, the governor was temporarily stationed in Beijia, also known as 'Pattani'. This place is not actually the territory of the Kingdom of Siam, but one of their vassal states. However, the strength of this vassal state is very poor. Historically Later they would be directly annexed by the Kingdom of Siam.
Now the Kingdom of Siam has transferred its suzerainty to the Chu Empire. After the troops of the Chu Empire landed, they directly wiped out the indigenous royal family in Pattani on the shore. By the way, they also changed the name of the place to Pattani. county.
This is the overseas territory of the Great Chu Empire, and there is no need for any vassal state to exist!
There are many similar situations like Pattani, because many of the areas controlled by the Kingdom of Siam in the Malay Peninsula existed as vassal states, including the former Kingdom of Malacca.
When the Kingdom of Siam ceded these territories, it actually ceded suzerainty.
After the Great Chu Empire landed, they wiped out all the local resistance forces when they were cleaning up. Otherwise, the subsequent rule would have to face a bunch of vassal states, which would be very troublesome.
The Nanyang Governor's Office will govern Cam Ranh Bay County, Jiulongjiang Province on the lower reaches of the Mekong River, Bangkok County, and North Malacca, including two provinces, Bekko Prefecture, Saijia Prefecture, and Dagon County, a total of three prefectures and three counties. The governor grade is still the second grade.
However, in addition to traditional administrative powers, the Nanyang governor's powers also include some diplomatic and military powers. This is due to the relatively long distance.
If decisions about war and other matters need to be made through Jinling, then each trip can drag on for a year and a half.
However, although the governor has the power of diplomacy and declaration of war, he is limited to some small and medium-sized affairs in the indigenous countries in Southeast Asia.
If it is a major matter, it still needs to be reported to the local Jinling authorities.
Diplomacy and war with Western colonists were limited to the East India Companies of various countries, and did not include the officials of Western countries.
The establishment of the Governor's Palace to handle colonial affairs is also a common practice in contemporary colonial countries. All other reasons are nonsense, just because the distance is too far and there is no way to directly administer it.
"Extreme Spiritual Chaos Jue"
After the war was declared, the actual fighting had to be done by the military. The Nanyang Governor's Office itself did not have the power to command troops.
The governor can only decide whether to fight or not to fight, but how to fight is the military's business.
If the military thinks it is unreasonable, it is impossible to refuse the order directly, but the military can also delay and report it to the country!
This will test the political level of the Nanyang governor.
The establishment of the Nanyang Governor's Office was a big step for the Chu Empire's overseas expansion. Pattani (Pattani), from a trading port under Siam's control in the past, quickly became the Chu Empire's largest port in Malay and even the entire Nanyang region. important military and commercial base.
Especially military bases!
The Chu army dispatched thousands of troops to land in the Beijia area in one breath, which made the surrounding forces afraid... Especially the Kingdom of Aceh, which is a neighbor of the Chu army's Beijia mansion, their faces were green!
They can already imagine the scene in the future when the Chu army will move south from the Beijia area and forcefully enter the Malacca Strait area.
The wolf is coming!
The Malacca Strait area may no longer remain calm.
In fact, this is indeed the case. Since the Dachu Empire finalized its Nanyang expansion strategy, although it has been tossing around the Nanyang Peninsula before, looking at their route of action, it can be seen that this is completely from north to south, all the way... …
And where is the ultimate goal from north to south?
Everyone knows: the Straits of Malacca!
The Dutch know it, the Kingdom of Aceh knows it, the Kingdom of Johor knows it, and even the Portuguese, who have no choice but to be trapped in the city of Malacca, know it.
The Dutch had tried to stop it before, but they were ignored by the Chu Empire. But if you let the Dutch really go to war with the empire, they didn't have the courage or strength.
Therefore, they could only watch helplessly as the empire moved from north to south, seizing a large number of colonies in just one year, and relying on these colonies as a springboard, they deployed fleets and ground forces directly to the Malay Peninsula.
They were worried that in the future the empire would launch a large-scale offensive on the Malay Peninsula, forcefully take over the Malay Peninsula, and then control the Strait of Malacca.
And this is actually not a worry, but a fact that will inevitably come in the future.
Because after the war with the Kingdom of Siam ended, the imperial military's actions did not stop, but continued to increase troops to the south.
Naturally, this increase in troops is not directed toward the Bangkok area, but toward the newly occupied North Malacca area.
As the main force of the Chu Empire's campaign in Southeast Asia, some of the troops of the Thirteenth Division that had previously stayed at Cam Ranh Bay have begun to gradually move to the Beijia area.
It is said that it is a garrison to suppress the local aborigines, but it is really to suppress the civilians in the local area. The 13th Division in combat readiness is not needed. The cheap and easy-to-use second-class division can be used.
In the entire Dachu Empire, there are only twenty first-class divisions in combat readiness.
Looking at the entire Southeast Asia region, there are only a total of them!
That is, the Fifth Division, the Thirteenth Division, and the Fourteenth Division.
Now the 13th Division, one of the three combat readiness divisions in the southern region, has moved south, and almost all of it is deployed in the Malay Peninsula. Outsiders may not know this, but well-informed people in the empire have basically guessed the empire’s next move. What are you doing in the peninsula?
Seize the entire Malay Peninsula and fully control the Strait of Malacca!
Then establish a stable rear area and bridgehead for the empire in the Nanyang region. At that time, the Chu Empire will expand greatly in the entire Nanyang region.
Markets, resources and even trade profits will gradually fall into the hands of the Chu Empire.
Not only the Nanyang region, but also fully controlling the Strait of Malacca can provide sufficient security and logistical support for the Chu Empire to enter the Indian Ocean and carry out colonial expansion on the Indian Peninsula.
Compared to the Southeast Asia region, the Indian Peninsula was even more coveted by the empire's merchants!
There is a vast area, a huge population, and rich resources.
If the market in the Indian peninsula can be fully expanded and maintained, the industrial and commercial development of the empire can be greatly accelerated simply by relying on the market and resources of this area.
But again, the market and industrial raw materials will not fall from the sky, they need to be supported by force.
When the princes on the Indian Peninsula began to boycott the cheap machine-made cloth of the Great Chu Empire, the senior officials of the Great Chu Empire had already set their sights on the Indian Peninsula: Since the local industrial products of the empire were not allowed to enter the local market, they would use guns to The cannon was forced in!
