Since the early eighteenth century, as Thailand's influence on the Malay Peninsula increased, the princely kingdoms of the northern and central parts of the peninsula were required to pay honeysuckle to the King of Thailand every three years as a symbol of submission.

Honeysuckle, or golden flower, is two small trees about 1 meter tall that are carefully carved from gold and silver, and are surrounded by expensive pearls, crystals, and silks.

According to the standard of real purchasing power in the eighties and nineties of the nineteenth century, the total value of two honeysuckle trees was about 60,000 taels of silver, and the population of the Malay princely states was generally between 350,000 and 230,000.

Fifty or sixty thousand taels of silver is a huge burden for the princes of the coastal princely states such as Songkhla, Kelantan, and Pattani, and they can almost take it out after three years, but for the princely state governments in inland areas such as Yela, Trang, and Bothalun, fifty or sixty thousand taels of silver is a huge burden, and they often do not have much money left in the government revenue after they pay tribute.

The Thai government's high financial exploitation policy in the Malay Princely States is the main factor that led to the separation between the Princely Kingdom and the central Thailand government, and with the passage of time into the nineteenth century, more and more Chinese continue to enter the South Seas to seek a living, which makes the number of Chinese immigrants in the Malay Peninsula princely states surge, and the influx of a large number of young and strong Chinese laborers has driven the tin mining industry and crop cultivation in the Malay Peninsula, which has brought valuable financial revenue to the Princely State government, benefiting from the economic benefits created by the Chinese immigrants. The Malay princely monarchs were able to respond to the Thai government's demands for tribute in a relatively relaxed economic environment.

But on the other hand, the important geographical location and rich tin resources of the Malay Peninsula also provoked the ideas of the Dutch and the British, first the Dutch eliminated the Kingdom of Malacca and occupied the southern part of the Malay Peninsula, and then the British entered the South Seas, replaced the Dutch, and included the Malay Peninsula and North Borneo in the palm of their hands. Soon after King Rama III came to power, he implemented an expansionist policy, using force to invade the princely kingdoms of Kedah, Kelantan, and Perak, and pushing the Thai government's control to the south of Perak.

The expansion of the Thais caused alarm and concern among the British,

At that time, the British colonists believed that Thailand was a large country in Southeast Asia, and a direct military conflict with Thailand could lead to the downfall of the Thai government, leaving an opportunity for the French entrenched in Indochina to invade Thailand, and then threatening the flank of the Indian colony, the security of Burma.

In 1825, the British colonial government sent Bernie, the military secretary of Penang, to Bangkok to conduct interviews and consultations with the Thai government, and after six months of negotiations, the Thai government was forced by the military pressure of Britain and France in the Indochina Peninsula to agree to most of the conditions put forward by the British, and reached a proper agreement on the division of the sphere of influence of the two sides in the Malay Peninsula, and signed the peace agreement later known as the "Treaty of Burney".

In the peace talks, the arrangements for the princely kingdoms in the central part of the Malay Peninsula are as follows:

1. The British recognized Yala, Songkhla, Tao Kong, Kelantan, Pattani, Glass, Kedah, and Terengganu as vassal states of Thailand, and the Thai royal family had the right to demand that the monarchs of the above-mentioned princely states pay tribute to the royal palace in Bangkok

The southern Malay princely states of Perak, Negeri Sembilan, and Pahang are independent of Thailand and are protected by the British government.

3. Thailand cannot prevent or interfere with the commercial trade of the British side with the princely states of Kelantan, Terengganu, and Pattani, and British merchants may conduct free trade in these princely states, but they must not invade or interfere with the administrative operations of these areas.

On the one hand, the British received a guarantee that Thailand would not continue to expand its sphere of influence in the Malay Peninsula, and obtained the commercial right to enter the central part of the Malay Peninsula to engage in trade activities.

On the other hand, the treaty recognized Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Songkhla and other princely states as vassal states of Siam, and the British recognized the status of the suzerainty of the Thai government.

Songkhla, Terengganu and other princely kingdoms are important rice-producing areas and tin ore resources in the Malay Peninsula, with rich agricultural and mineral resources.

After concessions and compromises, the Thai dynasty lost the power to interfere in the princely kingdoms of Perak, Negeri Sembilan, and Pahang, but retained the suzerainty of the eight places in Songkhla.

However, as a party to the treaty,

The rulers of the princely states of Terengganu, Kelantan, and Kota did not participate in the peace talks, and they did not recognize the behavior of Britain and Thailand in manipulating the fate of their countries.

In a letter to the King of Thailand, the princely monarchs of Terengganu and Perak explained that the tribute of honeysuckle was only a sign of respect for the King of Thailand and a sign of friendship between the two sides, and that the princely monarchs remained the unique rulers of the country, and they had the ultimate power over the country's decision-making, which should not be attributed to the King of Thailand.

The reply of the princely monarchs was not accepted by the Thai government, and Rama III and later Rama IV had threatened to punish more than a dozen princely kingdoms and separatist lords in the central part of the Malay Peninsula by force, but the further expansion of the British and French in Indochina interrupted the progress of the Thai government's armed intervention in the central part of the Malay Peninsula.

In order to avoid becoming a colony of Western countries like other countries, King Rama III and subsequent Thai kings ceded vassal states and outlying princely states in exchange for national peace, and after the middle of the nineteenth century, Thailand relinquished its rights in Laos and western Cambodia, and ceded the disputed territories in the border area with Myanmar to the British.

In the direction of the Malay Peninsula, the Thai government handed over the seven princely states in the south of the peninsula and eight areas, including Songkhla, to Songkhla, and the signing of the Treaty of Burnie and the devolution of administrative power to Songkhla, which led to the further weakening of Thailand's control over the princely kingdoms in the central part of the Malay Peninsula.

The Thai government has stationed a total of about 3,000 soldiers in the central part of the Malay Peninsula, excluding the more than 500 soldiers stationed in Songkhla and supervising the Wu family, and the total number of soldiers distributed in the northern provinces of Songkhla, Trang, and Satun is about 2,400.

In the four places of Pattani, Yela, Tao Gong and Kelantan, the total number of indigenous soldiers is about 4,200.

In view of the military distribution of Thailand and the princely kingdoms, Mei Dongxing, Li Wencai, Chen Shangfa, and Chen Xingui made tactical arrangements after some discussion.

First, Chen Xingui led 900 Nanyang legionnaires and 1,100 Songkhla troops to disarm the 500 Thai troops outside Songkhla, and at the same time, after sending 500 Thai troops out of Songkhla, 2,000 soldiers were deployed in the northern Songkhla area to prevent a possible retaliatory attack by the Thai army.

2. 1,800 Nanyang legionnaires and 900 Songkhla troops were placed under the command of Chen Shangfa to eliminate the indigenous armies in Pattani, Taogong, Yela, and Kelantan.

After arranging the battle plan, Mei Dongxing reminded that "Pattani is an ancient country in Nanyang, Tao Gong and Yela have been ruled by Pattani for nearly a hundred years, and the Tuwang of Pattani has a lot of influence in the two places, so the focus of the southward expedition to conquer the four places is to occupy Pattani, capture the Tuwang of Pattani, and do not give them the opportunity to unite and delay the advance of the army." ”

"Songkhla and Pattani are only forty or fifty miles away from the nearest place by land, and tomorrow the battle will begin, and our army will land from the sea on a warship to attack the palace of the king of Pattani, if nothing else, the palace can be occupied within half a day, the king of Pattani can be captured, and the main battle in the territory of Pattani will be ended within two days."

"Very good, all the departments have been repaired and prepared, you will return to the barracks, and the two armies will all set off at noon tonight!" …………

In the early morning of October 11, 1879, a combined force of 2,000 Nanyang Legion and Songkhla troops surrounded the Thai military camp outside the city, and 500 Thai troops were escorted out of Songkhla Province by more than 600 Songkhla troops after they were disarmed.

At 7 o'clock in the morning of October 11, 1,500 Nanyang legionnaires boarded 6 transport ships, assisted by 5 gunboats, to storm the palace of the king of Pattanii and capture alive the king of Pattani, Sumansha IV.

On October 15th, 1100 Taogong indigenous troops were defeated and surrendered, 2000 Nanyang Legion and Songkhla combined army entered the capital of Taogongfu, on the 18th, except for the 700 Songkla troops left behind in Taogong and Pattani, the remaining 1800 Nanyang Legion soldiers and 200 Songkhla soldiers went south along the coastline and arrived in Kota Baru, the capital of Kelantan, in the evening of the same day.

On 22 October, the Nanyang Legion cleared the main indigenous forces in Kelantan, then garrisoned the border area with Terengganu and did not advance southward, and on 26 October, a combined force of Songkla and Nanyang Legion set out from Pattani and occupied Yala Province, so that the land of the four provinces and one state was completely under the control of the two sides of the Nanyang Army Songkhla.

The three states of Terengganu, Perlis, and Kedah, which border the area controlled by the Nanyang Legion, are nominally under the jurisdiction of Songkhla.

After witnessing the rapid offensive of the Nanyang Army, the Tuwang of the three states gathered together, on the one hand, he sent indigenous soldiers to garrison the border area to guard against the attack of the opposing army day and night, and on the other hand, he united with the Tuwang of Kelantan, who had lost his territory, to write a letter to Frederick, the Governor of the Straits Settlements, begging the colonial government to send troops to help the Tuwang of Kelantan regain his territory.

Received a request for reinforcements from the four earth kings. Frederick immediately sent someone to negotiate with the Nanyang Legion, and then sent a telegram to the London government and the adviser in Thailand, Shabul, reporting the changes in the Malay Peninsula and asking whether the military action in Songkhla was authorized by the Thai government.

On October 28, the Thai government responded that the Songkhla army's military operations were autonomous and that the Thai government had no prior knowledge.

At the same time, the lord of Songkhla, Wu Jin, sent people to explain that the military action of the Songkhla army to unify the four provinces and one state was an internal affair of Songkhla, and was not instigated or instigated by any external forces, and that the military action of the Songkhla side was so far, and they were willing to respect the interests of the British in Terengganu, Kedah, and Perlis, and would not make a move to unify the three places militarily.

The British government originally acquiesced that the four provinces and one state were under the jurisdiction of Songkhla, and received a guarantee from Songkhla that it would not take back the management of the two states and one city, and the London government quickly made a decision to refuse to send troops to support the king of Kelantan, and then instructed the Straits Settlements to maintain the existing order in the Malay Peninsula, pacify the kings of Kedah, Terengganu, and Glass, and then gradually bring the three places under the direct administration of the Straits Settlements.

During the war in the Malay Peninsula, a small group of special forces from the mainland, under the cover of Luo Yibo and other Lanfang veteran families, entered Dongwanlu, the capital of Lanfang Company, on October 24, after more than ten days of investigation and understanding, more than 20 Han special forces ambushed on the way back from the Liu family father and son, and then ended the lives of their father and son with two rounds of more than 40 bullets.

The father and son of the Liu family died, and the forces attached to their father and son were leaderless and scattered, and they were immediately wiped out by the seven major families such as Luo Yibo, as well as the Taiping Society rudder armed forces hidden in Borneo, so that after less than a week of turmoil, before the Dutch colonists had time to intervene in the internal regime change in Lanfang by force, Luo Yibo and others quickly took over and filled the power gap left by the Liu family father and son.