Chiang Mai, later Thailand's largest and second-largest city, is not thriving now, as it was a place of war between Thailand and Myanmar throughout the 18th century.

Although the land on both sides of the river is fertile and the climate is pleasant, not many people live there, and many people choose to flee from the annual war disasters.

In fact, Chiang Mai is not counted as Thai territory now, and it is ruled by the Lanna king Phra Zhao Gawira.

In 1782, he was proclaimed Chiang Mai by King Rama I and submitted to Thailand, but Chiang Mai was able to gain independence from more than 200 years of intermittent Burmese rule, all thanks to Thonburi Emperor Cheng Sin and King Rama I.

So Chiang Mai can't be seen as a province in Thailand, but it can't be seen as a vassal either, it's somewhere in between, with only a tiny bit of autonomy.

Speaking of Chiang Mai's predecessor, Lanna Country, many people may not be familiar with it, but to say its other name, Chinese who are familiar with history feel familiar, Lanna Country was previously called the country of 800 daughters-in-law by the central government of China!

The people of Chiang Mai are not only close to the Thai people of the Bangkok Dynasty, but also to the Dai people of Xishuangbanna in China, and even closer to the Dai people of Xishuangbanna, both of whom speak a similar language.

In fact, the Thai nation was formed by the continuous southward migration of the Dai people in Xishuangbanna and other places.

In Thailand, the people of Chiang Mai are called the Northern Thai, and the people of Bangkok are called the Central Thai, and the Northern Thai people living in Chiang Mai are closer to the Dai people in terms of language and other aspects because of their proximity to Xishuangbanna.

The central Thai people of Bangkok have been separated for a long time and have been separated from each other, so there has been a certain change in language.

Of course, later generations of Thais are very reluctant to admit that they are descendants of the Dai people, because they feel very shameless.

Even the Thais have taken great pains to publicize what cultural relics they have unearthed, proving that the Thai people have lived here for thousands of years, and they are not descendants of the Dai people in China, but the local indigenous Yunyun.

In fact, are they not, everyone understands in their hearts, when China is strong, it is estimated that they will be like Rama I who claimed to be the son of Zheng Xin, and Baba ran over and said that he was a Dai who moved south, that is, Chinese.

Ye Kai walked hard in long boots, the road from Bangkok to Chiang Mai was not easy to walk, there were many rainforests, and the ground was very muddy.

The roar of elephants can be heard all around, and in Indochina, elephants have a high status, this jungle beast weighing several tons, after training, is extremely important weapons of war and transportation, and of course, they are indispensable for walking in the jungle.

Because elephants can easily carve a road in the dense forest, they can also scare the surrounding wolves, insects, tigers, leopards, pythons and crocodiles into escaping, and can even carry heavy loads to transport goods.

The path that Ye Kai is taking now is opened up by elephants, and they are not as expensive as the cattle and horses in the Central Plains, they need to be served, and the elephants don't need it at all.

When you're hungry, you don't need any concentrate feed, just find some fruits that can be found everywhere, and when you're thirsty, you can find water to drink on your own, which is simply the best jungle companion.

Ye Kai stared at the braids on the back of the Ye family's heads with an unhappy face, eager to cut them all with a knife!

But this is just a thought, he has not yet established absolute authority, at this moment when they are about to need to die on the battlefield, any measures that will affect stability should not appear, but when this battle is over, if you don't agree to cut your braids, go back to Pattani and eat yourself!

I have to say that people have inertia, even a family like the Ye family, which has been breeding in Nanyang for two hundred years, is still habitually influenced by the mainland.

They need to absorb fresh blood from the mainland, they need continuous cultural transmission from the mainland, and they need to have close ties with the people on the mainland!

People are cultural, if the Ye family cuts off ties with the mainland, or closes themselves off, they will soon be assimilated by the natives of Nanyang, because the natives of Pattani are not only about 100,000, they have millions.

Therefore, braids, I don't know when they have gradually appeared on the heads of the children of the Ye family in Pattani, and now they have become the standard for Nanyang Chinese.

Unless you are willing to integrate into the local area as an indigenous, you will have to carry a braid on your head, so that others will think that you are a Tang and a Qing person.

So now if Ye Kai mentions cutting braids, there will be a big problem!

Even if he cut his braids, Ye Fulai had to use the reason that Ye Kai wanted to marry Princess Guangnan to cover it up.

It is not difficult to make a small country in Nanyang, but the difficult thing is how to cut off the braids on the heads and psychology of the Nanyang Chinese, so that they can come together with themselves!

The Intan Mountains, located west of Chiang Mai, are the natural barrier of Chiang Mai City, and they are as important to the Thai people as the Yinshan Mountains are to the Chinese!

If the Thais controlled this mountain range, they could build fortresses along the mountain range to keep the Burmese out of the Chao Phraya River plain.

If the mountain range were controlled by the Burmese, they would have been able to calmly mobilize troops and supplies from within Burma, and then swoop down into the Thai homeland to burn and loot.

In history, the city of Ayutthaya has been besieged N times and breached twice, precisely because this northwest barrier is not in the hands of the Thais.

Dressed in a pale yellow Thai robe, King Rama I gazed at the distant view of Intan Peak, which the Thais had never recaptured since it was captured by the Burmese king of the Taungoo dynasty more than a hundred years ago.

The reason why his childhood friend Zheng Xin is still remembered by the Thai people is because he expelled the Burmese and rescued the Thai people from the brink of becoming slaves!

And now, he is going to complete what the Thonburi Emperor has not done, completely seize the Yingtan Mountains, and recapture the surrounding Chiang Rai and Chiang Saen, and complete an unprecedented great cause!

"Father! Pha Zhao Gawila came, and the Vietnamese general Nguyen Van Thanh also asked to see him outside the palace! When Rama I was stunned, some balding prince Ishara Sotun came in, and this was the later Rama II.

Untimely baldness, which is detrimental to the prestige in the eyes of others, is different in Thailand, where Buddhism flourishes, especially the baldness of Ishara Songtun, which is bald in the middle and only a little hair on both sides, is considered to be related to the Buddha, of course, this does not rule out that Rama II deliberately put gold on his face.

"Is there any news of the Burmese? It is impossible for Podopeye (King of Burma Mon Yun) to be ignorant of our movements, but we have never found the main force of the Burmese, where did they go? Rama I asked without replying.

At this time, the reigning king of Myanmar, Meng Yun, was the fourth son of Yong Jiya, the founder of the Gongbang Dynasty and the national hero of the Burmese expulsion of the Mon people, the sixth king of the Gongbang Dynasty, and a famous promising king in the history of Burma.

That's why Rama I felt that something was wrong, the Intan Mountains were equally important to the Burmese, and without the Intans, they would have to change from offensive to defensive.

Historically, the loss of the Yingtan Mountains was a sign of the decline of the Burmese dynasty, and in the eyes of Rama I, it was impossible for the Burmese king Meng Yun to ignore the Yingtan Mountains.

"I haven't found it yet, but although Yingtan Mountain is vast, there are only a few roads that can be taken, and the Burmese can't hide it from us even if they want to carry out any raids, and the child thinks that as long as we occupy Chiang Saen City and occupy the fortress of Weiqi Fort on the mountain, even if the Burmese have any tricks, it will be useless!"

"Oh? So what do we think we should do? Rama I asked, turning his head to look at his son.

Rama II pondered for a moment, his mother was Rama I's wife, but because Rama I was extremely fond of concubines, his mother never received the title of queen.

If it weren't for the fact that Concubine Wan had no heirs, his position as the prince of the king might not be stable, and he couldn't figure out what this father who had never been very satisfied with him asked what this sentence meant?