However, Song Yingchang had also thought about it. If Xiao Ruxun could really get silver for them, with these people's integrity and love for silver, they might give this barbarian land to Xiao Ruxun as a favor to satisfy Xiao Ruxun and them. Wouldn't it be a win-win situation?
This was the situation they liked the most. They could get benefits, ease their relationship with Xiao Ruxun, and further isolate the emperor. Why not? As for Myanmar … who cared? Didn't Lord Yongle give it up in the end? This proved that it was not easy to govern, and there was no money to be made there. If it weren't for a group of unruly people causing trouble, the Daming wouldn't have sent troops to these places.
However, it didn't matter if these people didn't understand the value of Myanmar, as long as Xiao Ruxun knew it. Myanmar was rich in natural resources, which made many countries jealous. Not to mention other things, just the abundant oil production could make many people jealous, not to mention gold, silver, copper, iron, and lead. What was more, Myanmar also produced rubies and sapphires, which were very valuable.
It was just that it hadn't been developed yet. When it was developed, Myanmar's geographical position could be said to be unique. Not only could the grain be harvested twice or thrice, but it was also very rich in forest resources. All kinds of precious wood could be produced in Myanmar. More importantly, Myanmar didn't have to worry about water shortage at all. The northern part of the Daming was worried about insufficient rainfall and the wells would dry up every year, but in Myanmar, there was no such problem.
The average temperature in the coldest month was 20 ° C to 25 ° C, and the average temperature in the hottest month was 25 ° C to 30 ° C, which meant that food and cash crops could be grown all year round.
This kind of unique conditions was an important reason why Myanmar could challenge China in history, but it was also the main reason why a country like Myanmar, which was rich in resources, could not become a powerful country. The environment of these countries was too good, the location was too good, and there was food to eat. There was no need to work hard, and there was no need to fight against nature and people for survival space. Like Brazil, the country's organization was a serious shortcoming, and the people's lax behavior was incurable.
But if the Daming owned this area, it would be completely different. In the coming Little Ice Age, owning Myanmar was one of Xiao Ruxun's important bargaining chips. In the strategy of managing Southeast Asia in the future, Xiao Ruxun would also use all kinds of methods to acquire territory in Southeast Asia. In short, he wanted to take the whole South China Sea into his pocket.
To achieve this goal, it was very important to have the qualification to control Myanmar. In this way, he could manage Myanmar with peace of mind, and he didn't need to worry that someone would come to take his peaches at any time. To control Myanmar and rule this area, he could be more completely independent than Yunnan. The Mu Family of Yunnan only had a transcendent position, and the government had to respect the opinions of the Mu Family of Yunnan. They couldn't make their own decisions like Xiao Ruxun did. Yunnan still had civil officials and an inspector.
But Myanmar was different. There was only one master in Myanmar, and that was Xiao Ruxun!
After receiving this letter, Song Yingchang began to think about how to operate this matter cleverly, and how to use his political power cleverly to achieve this important goal.
Before this, Song Yingchang had already used some necessary communication to get the news from some subordinates that they didn't want Xiao Ruxun to stay in the capital to take up a position in the capital. It was said that the news came from the imperial palace, and it was agreed by many people. The reason was that through investigation, they believed that Xiao Ruxun's prestige in the local armies was too high. If he turned to the emperor and formed an alliance with the emperor, it would be a disaster for the civil officials.
They believed that through the two major wars, Xiao Ruxun built a good relationship with Ningxia, Xuanda, Shandong, and the Southern Wolf Army. He even had connections with the Sichuan Army and the Guangdong Army. They believed that it was not a good thing to have a general who could build a good relationship with all the local armies and was trusted by them in an environment where there were many military leaders. For this reason, not only could he not stay in the capital, it would be best if he didn't even stay in the Central Plains. He should be placed in a remote area and use time to wear down Xiao Ruxun's influence in the local armies.
And this expedition to Myanmar was the best opportunity given by the heavens. Myanmar did not belong to China. It was a barren land, and no one had any connections there. Throwing Xiao Ruxun over there and letting him do whatever he wanted, would he be able to do anything in Myanmar?
This matter was a great help to Song Yingchang. He began to realize that his and Xiao Ruxun's plan coincided with the opinions of the courtiers. The difference was that he hoped that Xiao Ruxun could find a way to save the country in Myanmar, while the courtiers only hoped to deal with this troublesome treasure. In the future, they might still need him to fight for war. After all, Xiao Ruxun was a rare real general in today's era where civil officials screwed over military officials.
Capable of fighting wars, making money, not forming cliques, not seeking personal gain, and really solving problems. Although everyone was usually very deceitful, they also understood that when things were put there, someone had to do it. It didn't matter if you fought for power and profit, but the things had to be done. If things really got out of hand, no one would have a good ending. Therefore, everyone fought for talented people who could do things. Even the deceitful Yan Song needed Hu Zongxian to keep up appearances, didn't he?
If they could appease Xiao Ruxun, then he would be Hu Zongxian. When he was useless, they could still trick him. How good would that be?
But these people certainly could not imagine that they had abandoned a piece of jade wrapped in a stone.
By the time Song Yingchang received Xiao Ruxun's letter, Xiao Ruxun had already led her troops to the city of Bogu. Through cannons and simple attacks, they destroyed a few of the fortresses outside of Bogu. After that, the main city of Bogu appeared within the range of the Ming army's cannons. The city walls, which were not very tall, did not give the Burmese on the city much confidence. They looked at the army of the Celestial Empire that had defeated their army of one hundred thousand with fear and panic.
Was this the Celestial Army?
The Burmese people looked at the Ming Army with bright armor, bright flags, and bright weapons, and looked at the black muzzles and cannons. They were afraid before the battle and did not dare to fight anymore. If it were not for Mang Yingli's personal guard general leading the troops to supervise the battle from behind, they would have already collapsed. Their last bit of will to resist had completely collapsed along with the Ming Army's bombardment of the outlying strongholds, not to mention anything else.
Xiao Ruxun used the telescope to look at the defense of the Burmese army and then looked at Yuan Huang. Yuan Huang nodded and waved his hand. The drums sounded, and 100 cannons immediately entered combat mode, loaded and ready to fire.
"Still not surrendering?"
Xiao Ruxun asked Matteo Ricci, the emissary who came back from Bogu City to persuade them to surrender. Matteo Ricci shook his head and said, "Their king said that they can attack, but they will never surrender. Even if they die, they will die with dignity."
"Humph! Dignity? Is dignity something they should be talking about? "
Xiao Ruxun sneered and waved his hand again. The drums sounded again, and the Ming Army officially declared war.
After a few rounds of bombardment, the Burmese army on top of the city wall completely collapsed. There was no one who dared to resist. When the Ming Army attacked the city gate, no one came to stop them. It was not until the city gate was broken by the Ming Army with a battering ram that Xiao Ruxun saw the Burmese army courageously attacking the Ming Army. But it was too late. They had no capital to continue defending. The Ming Army entered Bogu and the Burmese army was defeated.
The battle lasted until the afternoon of that day, when the Ming army finally took complete control of the city of Bogu. They killed all the resistance of the Burmese army and broke into Mang Yingli's palace. They killed all the members of the Burmese royal family, including Mang Yingli. Not even the elderly and infants were spared. Then, they burned the entire palace down. All the valuable gold and valuables in the palace were moved out and became the Ming army's spoils of war. The captured Burmese soldiers and people in the city cried as they looked in the direction of the palace.
In order to further intimidate these people, Xiao Ruxun ordered the captured Burmese soldiers to be shot. Then they dug a pit, buried it, and burned it. This move greatly intimidated the people. As for some unlucky Portuguese soldiers in the city who did not have time to escape, they were forgiven by Xiao Ruxun at the request of the Portuguese in Macao. They joined Xiao Ruxun and became the mercenaries of Daming.
After that, Xiao Ruxun ordered the captives to be separated, tied up, and separated. He was going to take them to the nearby forest and hand them over to the Portuguese to be shot. Some women cried and hugged their children and refused to let go, so they were killed together. After intimidating a group of people, the old and the young were separated.
The men were locked up and watched carefully. They would be useful later. As for the young women, they were rewarded to the soldiers of the Ming Army, who had not tasted women for months, according to the usual practice, so that they could vent their anger.
Xiao Ruxun did not allow them to harass the Siamese women. Even if the Siamese women, who were very open, took the initiative to throw themselves into his arms, they were rejected by Xiao Ruxun. He did not allow them to enter the military camp, which made Narexuan admire Xiao Ruxun's strict Ming Army discipline. However, it made the soldiers of the Ming Army who were itching to see the Siamese women flirting with each other.
Previously, everyone tolerated it for the so-called face of the Celestial Empire. But this time, it would not be necessary, right? There was no need to be polite to the captives! Then these Burmese captives could not be let go.
Xiao Ruxun did not care. He waved his hand, and more than ten thousand young women belonged to the soldiers of the Ming Army just like that.
The sound of ghosts crying and wolves howling for the whole night was endless. It made Xiao Ruxun a little annoyed, and he could not think about the memorial to the imperial court … These bastards! Can't they be quieter?!
In this night of ghosts crying and wolves howling, Ricci's heart was not calm. He lit the lamp in the residence that he was assigned to, took out a pen and paper, and began to record his mental journey. This should be a very precious experience.
I think I should be the first missionary to witness the cruel and bloody war between the eastern countries. Just this night, I listened to the crying, cursing, and laughter outside. I felt that at this moment, I was so restless. I felt that everything around me was so strange and unreal.
I swear to God, this was the first time I experienced a war. Although it was not my original intention, I did participate in it. I even served as a messenger to persuade General Xiao to surrender, although I did not succeed. Otherwise, I should have been able to avoid such a cruel ending.
China was too powerful, too terrifying. General Xiao told me that he was only one of the thousands of generals in China, and that his thirty thousand troops were only one of the millions of troops in China. He was only a very ordinary general, but I felt that a general with the title of Marquis should not be ordinary. Although I discussed mathematics, astronomy, and geography with General Xiao, I still felt that I could not see through this general.
He was very smart and eager to learn. He was very interested in all the knowledge of his country that I brought to him. He was interested in the globe, glassware, world map, and mathematics. He even translated part of Euclid's original text with me. I could see that General Xiao had a certain foundation in mathematics, which meant that there were people in China who were also studying mathematics. Although we spoke different languages, and the direction of our research was also different, without mathematics, a large country would not be able to maintain its operation. I firmly believed in this point.
He was very good at using flintlocks and cannons. His style of warfare was inseparable from flintlocks and cannons. He was good at using cannons to attack the enemy's dense formations, and then he would use a strange but very efficient formation of flintlocks and swords to attack the enemy. It looked like a Macedonian phalanx, but at its core were countless flintlock soldiers and archers, giving this formation the ability to kill from a long distance and in the process, and it was multiplied by many times.
On the battlefield, he was cold-blooded and merciless. That night, I saw him expressionlessly order the shooting of thousands of captured Burmese soldiers who had lost their will to resist. Then, he threw the bodies into a large pit and set them on fire. Under the illumination of the burning fire, I seemed to see countless wronged souls praying to the Lord for salvation. I asked the Lord to forgive my cowardice and incompetence, because I really did not have the courage to raise even the slightest objection at that time.
Then, I saw him divide the captured civilians into groups. The men were separated from the women, and the elderly were separated from the children. Some of the women seemed to realize something and refused to let go of their children. General Xiao ordered the mother and child to be killed together. Some men stood up to resist, but were instantly shot in the forehead. The civilians' courage quickly disappeared. The elderly and children were brought into the dense forest by some Portuguese. What awaited them was death, I had no doubt.
After that, the men were locked up. I didn't know what he planned to do. As for the women, he gave them to his troops. He said that his soldiers hadn't played with women for a long time, and it was time for them to release themselves. He asked the Lord to forgive him. As a man, I could actually understand his way of doing things, and I also had the same desire. I even planned to participate in the carnival with the soldiers, but I still restrained myself with reason.
General Xiao didn't seem to intend to participate in such a carnival. I saw him walk into his command center alone. I didn't know what he was going to do, and he gave the women to his subordinates. He said that his soldiers hadn't played with women for a long time, and it was time for them to release themselves. He asked the Lord to forgive him. As a man, I could actually understand his way of doing things, and I also had the same desire. I even planned to participate in the carnival with the soldiers, but I still restrained myself with reason.
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