At this moment, the military power of the Ming Dynasty was the strongest in Asia. Many people thought that the Ming Army had always lost the battles against the Mongolians and the Japanese pirates before the Battle of Saar Hu, so they thought that the Ming Army's military power was very weak. In fact, that was not the case. The Ming Dynasty still had a strong military power. Neither the Mongolians nor the Japanese pirates had the ability to shake the rule of the Ming Dynasty.
Otherwise, the Northern Barbarians of the Southern Japanese would have been finished a long time ago and would not have persisted until now.
The reason why the Ming army was often defeated was due to personal factors and not military strength. The military strength that the Ming army relied on in the later stages was basically the personal army of the generals, and not the Imperial Guards. The Imperial Guards were more and more like militia and odd-job laborers towards the end. When other countries invaded, they would definitely send their elites. The Ming Dynasty using militia and odd-job laborers to fight against the elites of other countries would obviously not be able to win. But if it was the Ming army going into battle, they would definitely also send their elites. Just like the valiant army under Xiao Ruxun's command that was unparalleled in Asia, could they represent the entire army of the Great Ming Dynasty?
There was still a gap between the elites and the local garrison army. They could not say that they were weak just because they used their elites to kill their handyman. They also had elites, and they could beat them up easily. Simply looking at the elites and the militia could not fully reflect the military power of a country. Compared vertically, the Ming Army was definitely the strongest.
Therefore, Xiao Ruxun's move completely shocked everyone, whether it was the Europeans or the Siamese. They thought that the Ming Army was such a strong army. In addition, the Ming Army had a great victory in Japan, so they subconsciously thought that the Ming Army was so strong that they could not look directly at it, while they themselves were inferior.
Although the Spaniards and Portuguese realized that the quality of the Ming Army's firearms and cannons was worse than theirs, they saw that the Ming Army was still using their equipment from more than ten years ago. However, the Ming Army had a large number of cannons. There were no less than six or seven hundred cannons, which was almost a destructive firepower in this era. A round of fire was enough to cover them and kill them all.
Therefore, they naturally felt fear, especially after seeing the Ming Army's big training. When they saw the half-naked Ming Army holding their guns, they felt a sense of cowardice, not daring to look directly at them.
King Naresuan had such thoughts, so he hoped that Xiao Ruxun could take the initiative to help him train the soldiers. As a result, Xiao Ruxun did not realize and did not understand his obscure request, which made King Naresuan a little depressed, but he was too embarrassed to mention it again. He could only say that he invited Xiao Ruxun to visit his capital and then discuss military affairs.
The capital of Siam was now called Da Cheng by the Chinese, and the Siamese Dynasty was also called Da Cheng Dynasty. Da Cheng was now in ruins, about 80 kilometers north of Bangkok. It was an ancient capital that flourished for hundreds of years and was later destroyed by the flames of war. However, it was still the most prosperous and affluent city in the whole of Siam. Because a large number of foreigners settled here, it was even more prosperous.
Lin Yuanshan and a group of Chinese ministers and elites basically lived in Da Cheng. King Naresuan gave them a separate, peaceful place for the Chinese ministers to live. The rest of the Chinese merchants, farmers, and even the military could live anywhere in Da Cheng at will. Relatively speaking, Europeans and Japanese could only live in the area he specified and could not live at will.
On the way to Da Cheng with his guards, Xiao Ruxun could see Siamese farmers farming, Siamese merchants, and even in some places that seemed to have just subsided from the war, people were repairing the buildings destroyed by the war. It seemed that Siam was in a strong recovery period. It had not fully recovered its national strength, but it had a certain level of strength to protect its own safety.
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio The city looked like a city of the Ming Dynasty. It was surrounded by tall city walls. Guards could be seen everywhere on the city walls, as well as the muzzles of cannons. Some of the soldiers were holding knives, spears, and swords, while others were carrying guns. It was obvious that the Siamese army was no less well-equipped than the Ming army. Their armor was very simple, mostly leather. However, the armor of the generals was obviously westernized, probably related to Portuguese and Spanish mercenaries.
After entering the city, one could clearly see the difference from the Great Ming Dynasty. There were Buddhist temples everywhere, as well as some special buildings. When the commoners saw their king, they all gave way and knelt down to salute. It could be seen that King Narexuan was very popular among these commoners. These people also sincerely supported this legendary king. With the help of the Chinese officials, King Narexuan quickly restored the strength of the Siamese Kingdom and provided sufficient protection for these commoners.
After entering the palace, King Naresuan held a grand banquet to entertain Xiao Ruxun and the generals of the Ming Army. He served wine, food, and beauties. The exotic beauties danced gracefully and gracefully. Their gestures were varied, and the generals of the Ming Army were fascinated. They almost forgot that they were here to fight a war, not to watch beauties dance. King Naresuan had been observing the generals of the Ming Army.
King Narui Xuan had been observing the generals of the Ming army and found that only Xiao Ruxun maintained a normal expression. She looked at those coquettish dancers with indifferent eyes, seemingly without lust. She rarely drank, or basically did not drink at all. She only ate fruits and food, and her appetite was quite large. From time to time, she would cast a stern gaze at those Ming generals who had lost their composure, causing them to tremble and lower their heads, not daring to act rashly. It was enough to show that this person was strict with himself and others.
The generals of the Ming Army did not dare to move under the oppression of Xiao Ruxun. Even when the dancers came forward to pour wine after the song and dance, the generals of the Ming Army did not dare to stretch out their hands to drink. Some buried their heads in eating meat, some buried their heads in eating fruits that they had never eaten before, and some only dared to peek but did not dare to move. They were obviously different from the Japanese and the lascivious Europeans.
Sure enough, the Celestial Empire was really the Celestial Empire. It gave birth to such a strict general. With such a commander, the military discipline of the army could be imagined. King Naresuan was no longer worried that the Ming Army would run wild in his land and trample on his people. His previous worries were swept away. If it really happened at that time, he would be in a difficult position.
Because of the urgency of the war, the banquet ended quickly. Everything was simple. King Naresuan only summoned a few important ministers and Xiao Ruxun to discuss military affairs. He asked others to rest as they pleased. The palace had also prepared a room. Xiao Ruxun left a few of his subordinates and ordered the rest of the generals to leave the palace and the big city and return to the barracks to control the army. If there was an incident of soldiers disturbing the people, not only would the soldiers be severely punished, but the commander of the barracks would also be directly questioned.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
