In the second year of Hongxing in the Ming Dynasty, the first year of Delong in the Li Dynasty of Annan, in 1649 in the Western calendar.

The sixth day of the sixth month of the Chongzhen calendar.

The sky was clear and the scorching sun was shining again on this narrow strip of land near the sea in the southern part of Annam.

On the north bank of a large river called the Xiangjiang River, there is a boxy Chinese-style city with a circumference of about 178 miles.

A large Nguyen flag fluttering indicates that the owner of this city is Nguyen Phuc Binh, who rules the three provinces of Hue, Quang Nam and Thai Ninh in southern Annam. This is Phu Xuan, the home city of Nam Nguyen.

The land of the three provinces ruled by Nguyen Phuc was called the "Quang Nam Kingdom" by the Westerners and Ming people who came and went to trade. However, successive Nguyen lords, including Nguyen Phuc Binh, never claimed to be the lord of Quang Nam or the king of Quang Nam. Although the Nguyen lord had all the power that a monarch could have, he was the de facto monarch in the lands of Hue, Quang Nam, and Thai Ninh.

However, in Annam, which is deeply influenced by Confucian culture, the name of righteousness must always be emphasized. The Zheng lord in the north had the right to kill and seize the Li Emperor, but he still regarded himself as a minister of the Li Dynasty and did not dare to usurp Li as Zheng.

Although the Nguyen lord in the south has run an independent kingdom and has been a ruler for four generations, he has not openly established the country and claimed the throne. Moreover, under the banner of "Zhongli", he had to confront the Zheng lord in the north.

Similarly, although the Later Li Dynasty regarded itself as the emperor in Annam, it still had to regard itself as a vassal when facing the Ming Dynasty. Even for the name of "Dutong" and "King" - in the years since the "Zhongxing" of the Later Li Dynasty, the envoys of Annam have asked the Ming Dynasty for the title of king more than once.

However, the Celestial Empire in the north, even if it was caught in internal and external troubles, did not relax on this issue.

However, the various forces in Annam are also accustomed to this matter. Annan wants to emphasize the name of righteousness in the country, and the heavenly kingdom in the north also likes this tone - the capital is an internal subordinate, and the country of Annan is a foreign domain!

If the internal subordinates become the outer vassals, they will lose their land on the books, and this thing will naturally not be successful.

The monarchs and ministers of Annan, who knew this set of rules, did not have much hope, and they were also playing with the concept of "fame" when they asked for the title of king for Emperor Li. In fact, they themselves are called emperors behind closed doors......

But Ruan Phuc didn't expect that the matter of Emperor Li's restoration of the king suddenly became an eyebrow. The newly appointed Emperor Hongxing of the Ming Dynasty didn't know what to think, and he was interested in Annam, Champong, and Zhenla, and sent a heavyweight envoy to visit by sea last year. Not only did he say that he could consider restoring the status of the Kingdom of Annam, but he was also willing to mediate the civil war in Annam, which could contribute to a stable situation in which the four lords would jointly protect the king of Li.

As for the return, in the past, the Celestial Empire only needed face and didn't care much about actual interests, but this time they seem to have changed their temperament, and they actually want to obtain the land of Jinou in Zhenla for reclamation...... This matter can make the previous Ruan Lord Ruan Fulan embarrassed for a while! However, at that time, it happened to meet Zheng Zhu's invasion, so Ruan Fulan was relieved.

I thought that after repelling Lord Zheng, I would try to mess up the matter of the Ming State's reclamation of the Jinou Peninsula, but who knew that the envoy of the Ming State was an unreasonable barbarian, and he actually went directly to Puliange with two Western warships, and also fired cannons in the Jiulong River...... Dozens of 24-pounder Hongyi cannons fired a salvo!

After a few rounds of volleys, Priango's Zhenla Vice King Udie agreed to everything......

This Ming Guo's current means of doing things is really worrying!

However, at that time, the Ruan family didn't have the heart to care about Shui Zhenla, and they had to be busy dealing with the battle of Changdelei.

Although the battle of Changde Lei was fought bitterly, it finally allowed the Nguyen army to taste the sweetness of victory, and the only regret was that Nguyen Lord Nguyen Phuc Lan died of illness before the end of the battle...... With his death, the Nguyen clan will have to carry out a change of power, and there is no strength left to pursue the victory for the time being.

I thought that Zheng Jie, an old immortal, had escaped again, but I didn't expect that even more sensational news would reach Fuchun City - 50,000 Ming troops took advantage of the defeat of Zheng Zhu and the moment of great damage to their vitality, and killed along the Tao River (Lihua River) from Yunnan and raided and captured Shenglong Mansion!

Overnight, Annan once again faced the difficulty of survival!

In this case, Zheng Jie's old fox also embezzled the name of Emperor Li and issued an edict of "stop private wars and unite against the Ming".

At the same time, Zheng Jie's grandson Zheng Qiao also visited Changdelei and put forward a request for an armistice and reconciliation and unanimous resistance to the Ming Dynasty.

Just when the Ruan monarchs and ministers were a little undecided, Nan Nguyen's ambush in Thang Long sent another shocking news.

The king of Yunnan, who occupied Thang Long, seems to be a good man...... He did not want to destroy Annam, nor did he intend to seize the Annam capital of the Lê clan, or even to stay in Thang Long for a long time.

He was only defeated by the Liukou, so he escaped through the land of Annan, and as a result, the old guy Zheng Ji had a misunderstanding, so he entered the city of Shenglong Mansion by mistake - this thing sounds ridiculous! Nguyen Phuc didn't believe it at all.

But what happened next when the king of Yunnan gave the Mo lord and the protector a fief in the next place, Ruan Fuwei couldn't take it lightly......

These two graves have a bitter bone family!

How can there be such a cheap thing in the world? For more than 20 years, they and Zheng Zhu won and died, but they didn't grab half of the mansion, so they sent someone to Shenglong, and the family got a mansion......

Is this King of Yunnan really a good person?

Just when Nguyen Phuc was wondering whether to send an envoy to Thang Long to see if he could trick him back to the mansion, the good people of the Ming Dynasty sent it to the door by themselves and arrived at Hoi An Port (known as Pheu Phuoc Port in the West) in Quang Nam Province.

And not a good man, but a whole thirty boats...... Five of the ships were Western-style Galen warships, which were very large (500 tons), much larger than the largest warships of the Nam Nguyen Naval Division!

The remaining twenty-five boats are Chinese-style big bird boats, and the size is similar to the five Western-style boats, which should be the warfleet of Zheng Zhilong, the Duke of Quanguo.......

"My lord, the fleet of the Ming Kingdom is led by Zheng Zhilong's second son, Zheng Jianquan, and the task is to escort Chen Yongxi, the envoy of the Jinou Yingtian of the Ming Dynasty, and Shi Daxuan, the deputy envoy, to the firewood sticks. Among them, Chen Yongxi also brought a handwritten letter from the first assistant of the Ming Dynasty cabinet, and hoped to come to Fuchun to meet the lord in person. ”

It was Ruan Youjin, the commander of the Ruan Clan's navy, who was reporting to Lord Ruan that the "good people of the Ming Dynasty" had visited. Hoi An Port is not only a commercial port, but also a base for Nguyen Thi's navy.

In the Battle of Chang De Lei not long ago, the naval division commanded by Ruan Youjin rushed into the Ling River, cutting off the retreat of the Zheng army and making great contributions to the victory of the Ruan army.

And Ruan Youjin's father-in-law is Tao Weici, the founding military advisor of the Nguyen regime, and with this relationship, he can also be regarded as the core figure of the Nguyen regime.

"What does the letter say?" Ruan Fuwei didn't go to see it himself, but asked directly.

"The lord, the first assistant of the Ming people, Wei Zaode, proposed a method of using Shenglong to occupy the city...... We hope that we can exchange Thang Long for our suzerainty over Champa. Then let the army of the king of Yunnan of the Ming Dynasty go to occupy the city by sea. ”

"Hmph, isn't this to lead the water to my backyard?" Ruan Phuc snorted coldly.

"My lord," Ruan Youjin said, "but this is also our chance to bypass the three prefectures of Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, and Yanzhou, and go straight to Thang Long!" The three prefectures of Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, and Yanzhou are the nests of the Zheng family, and the Zheng family is deeply entrenched there, and it is difficult for us to take it quickly. If the war drags on, our population is too small to consume!

If you can get Thang Long or Sin'an (a province on the northern coast) from the Ming people, the lord will be able to share the Northern Dynasty with Lord Mo, Baozhu, and Zheng.

Maybe the matter of the four lords to protect the king of Li will also become possible! ”

Ruan Youjin's words have already made Ruan Phuc heartbroken, although he has mastered three prefectures, and also has two subject states of Champa and Nam Phong (also divided from Champang), and the territory is not small, but the population under his rule is too small is always a hard injury.

Otherwise, the combat effectiveness of the southern Ruan army would not have been suppressed by Northern Zheng.

Ruan Fuwei was silent for a while, and then exhaled: "Let that Chen Yongxi come to Fuchun!" I'll talk to him personally! ”