Chapter 6 Fan Jingwen went to Yongtian and submitted to the Lao State

Due to the unknown situation of the waterway, although it was not a dry season, Fan Jingwen and his boat did not dare to move forward at high speed, and arrived at Yongtian (Vientiane) three days after leaving Phnom Penh.

Yongtian (Vientiane), the capital of Laos (Laos), is also a city on the banks of the Mekong River. In fact, Laos and Cambodia were originally one country called Chenla, and later the country was split into two countries, one was called Shui Chenla, which is Cambodia; The other is called Lu Zhenla, which is Laos. Laos is the only purely landlocked country in the Indochina Peninsula.

The warships of Yaogang docked at the Yongtian (Vientiane) wharf, which naturally caused a great sensation. However, in this calm country, the army is very slow to react. It was a long time before the warship came to shore with army soldiers. However, when they heard that it was the Ming Dynasty envoy who had arrived, they reacted quickly, and immediately someone rushed to the palace.

When the king of Laos (Laos), Surya Wangsa, heard that the Ming Dynasty delegation had come to Yongtian (Vientiane), he happily immediately gathered his ministers and welcomed them to the dock.

Even Pham was moved by the pomp of King Suryawangsa.

Fan Jingwen and his party were welcomed into the palace by singing and dancing. The palace has begun to arrange a banquet, and King Suria Wangsa first invited Fan Jingwen to bathe and change his clothes, and changed into spacious and comfortable Lao clothes. Then they came to the main hall together to meet the ministers again, this toss made Fan Jingwen muttered a little in his heart, people are so enthusiastic, they still have to say their own words, but how to say it, you have to weigh it. It's really a short mouth that eats people, and a short hand that takes people.

Actually, Fan Jingwen was really worried. Laos already know very well about the surrounding affairs, they already know that the Ming Dynasty occupied Annam, Burma, and now they have conquered Siam, and their fate is no longer at their own discretion, they have decided, let the Ming Dynasty arrange it.

Seeing everyone, King Suryawangsa said: "It is an incomparably glorious thing for our Lao monarchs and people to welcome the envoys of the state today. We wish the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty a long life! I also wish our friendly exchanges a long life! ”

Fan Jingwen also said politely: "Your Majesty the Emperor, let me bring the best wishes to the people of Laos!" His Majesty the Emperor, who is not far away, is very worried about everyone! This time I'm here to visit you! ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty the Emperor of Shangbang!" King Suryawangsa said, "To tell you the truth, we have been hoping that the state will send someone over!" We are very interested in knowing the situation in Shangbang. In the past, we used to send missions to Shangbang to pay tribute. But we have heard that there is a great calamity in the upper state, and there is also an internal rebellion. I'm so worried! ”

Fan Jingwen took over and said: "We have gone through a very difficult time. But now it's good. We are industrializing, building a lot of railways and roads, building a lot of bridges, and big factories in our country. Our various industrial products have been sold all over the world. By the way, we now use electric lighting, we use electric machines. And then there's the big steam-powered ship that you just saw. The development and construction of our side is changing with each passing day. Hehe! I don't know, when I go back to the Ming Dynasty, how much will it change? ”

After a pause, Fan Jingwen glanced at everyone who was a little fascinated and said, "Our army has also wiped out the northern Mongols who have posed a great threat to us for thousands of years. Now our army has reached the shores of the Caspian Sea to the west. Japan, which poses a great threat to us in the east, has also been completely wiped out by us. Also, Annan in front of you has been fighting with us for nearly a hundred years, and this time we have completely eliminated them. And the Burma, who did not know whether to live or die, relied on the muskets provided to them by the British, and constantly attacked us. This time, we have completely solved it. We also know that for hundreds of years, you have been fighting with Siam and Burma, and every war is the home of countless people. Our Emperor His Majesty said that such a thing must never happen again, and the hidden danger of war must be completely eradicated, so that the people can live their lives in peace forever. Our idea is to merge the entire Indochina Peninsula into our Ming Dynasty, where everyone is one country, and it is easy to negotiate and solve anything. For this reason, I went to Siam at the end of last year to talk to them about it. Originally, the King of Siam, considering the thousands of years of interaction with our Ming Dynasty, was ready to agree to settle this issue with us in a peaceful way. But some of the great men of Siam, holding the king, engaged in armed confrontation with us. It's not, as you can see, and we have to deal with them with arms. However, now that the King of Siam is under our protection, when I return to the Ming Dynasty, their family will also follow me to the Ming Dynasty. Otherwise, their safety cannot be guaranteed. Also, we have just come out of Cambodia, and King Zan will give me a final answer when we return from you. ”

Fan Jingwen simply said his intention at once. After speaking, Fan Jingwen also felt a lot more relaxed.

After translating Fan Jingwen's words, the monarchs and ministers of the Lao Kingdom suddenly became cold, and the thing they didn't want to see finally came.

After all, King Suriwangsa was still a little mentally prepared, and asked: "What does Lord Fan mean, this time he came to our Lao Kingdom to inform us, and it is also to annex our Lao Kingdom, isn't it?" ”

"Your Majesty is not entirely right!" Fan Jingwen said, "We are merging together, not who annexes whom. In the future, our country will have to implement a new method of governance. Local officials in Laos are also elected by the local people themselves. His Majesty the King will also play a very important role in the future country and jointly govern our future country. We now have a Senate. The elders of the Senate can participate in the deliberation of various major affairs of the state. We will arrange for His Majesty to be a senator in the Senate. ”

One of the ministers said: "If our small country merges with a country as large as yours, the emperor of your country will be the emperor." Isn't it called annexation? ”

"Huh!" Fan Jingwen smiled and said, "This adult's question makes sense!" I would also like to tell you that our future national system will be different from our current one. In the future, local leaders should be elected by the people in various localities, and whoever can lead the people to a good life can be the leader; if the leader does not do a good job and engages in corruption, the people can remove him and elect a new leader. The emperor is the same, he must be elected by the people. Whoever can lead the country to prosperity and strength can be elected by the people as emperor. Those who are incompetent can also be replaced. Don't worry about that! ”

"Huh!" Someone laughed and said, "You are a big country, you have a lot of people, of course your people are easy to elect their own people to be the emperor!" ”

"You are wrong, we were all one country at that time, and we would no longer divide you and me. I believe that whoever can bring benefits to everyone will be elected! Fan Jingwen said.

What Fan Jingwen brought to them was a disaster, and it was impossible for everyone to welcome themselves from the heart, Fan Jingwen knew this.

In the end, someone couldn't help but ask, "If we don't agree to your request, will you treat us like Siam?" ”

"I'm here to settle this matter peacefully." Fan Jingwen said, "As for what we will do if you don't agree, it's not for me to decide!" However, for the sake of the interests of the majority of the people, we must realize the great cause of reunification, and I think you have also seen this. This must be done within this year, this is our plan! ”

King Suryawangsa had already planned for the worst, and did not want to make the atmosphere too stiff, so he immediately said: "Now the feast is held, and we will talk while eating!" ”

At the banquet, everyone pushed the glass and changed the lamp, as if nothing unpleasant had ever happened. Fan Jingwen also began to admire the monarchs and ministers of this small country.

After the banquet, Fan Jingwen and them were sent to the post house. King Suryawangsa and his courtiers began to take this issue very seriously.

The ministers all knew that the use of force would soon perish the Lao State. But I really can't accept being swallowed up in my heart. In the end, it was King Suryawangsa who sighed and said, "Let's accept their terms!" Our Lao country cannot afford such a war with the Ming army. It's a big deal to sacrifice our family, we go to the Ming Dynasty with them, and they can give me a bite to eat no matter what. You try to stay, maybe there's still a chance! ”

One of the ministers said, "Your Majesty, as soon as you leave, I'm afraid we won't have a chance." The minister knows that they are doing very hard in Annam and Burma, not allowing them to use the original script, forcing the children to learn Chinese, and after a long time, our written language is gone, what should we do? ”

King Suryawangsa: "Ask the Buddha to bless you!" In any case, we can't fight the Ming army, and I've long been clear about that. Under this premise, we can try our best to put forward some conditions to the envoys, and use our sincerity for a peaceful settlement to exchange as many practical benefits as possible. Use your brains! ”

"Alas! That's it! ”

"We ask Your Majesty to stay in Laos!"

"We demand that the army be preserved!"

“”

The minister is starting to push in this direction!

King Suryawangza said, "Don't shout like that, talk about it one by one, and then we will discuss it one by one, and we will list what we think is feasible." We list the reasons for each request. We will use this last opportunity to fight for the best interests of our subjects. ”

The shrewd Fan Jingwen returned to the post house, and he was already eighty percent sure that the affairs of Laos would be resolved peacefully.

The entourage saw Fan Jingwen's face full of spring breeze and asked, "Master Fan seems to be 100% sure of solving the affairs of Laos?" ”

"No, no, eighty percent sure!" Fan Jingwen is also very democratic now, and does not deliberately maintain any official authority as he did in Beijing.

"That's great!"

"That's good! We've got a lot to do! Fan Jingwen said.

"Why?"

"Huh! Why? Fan Jingwen smiled and said, "People gave you the whole country, don't you want to put forward more conditions?" ”

"yes!"

"Alas! Let's promise as many as we can! "Pham Kyung Van understands very well the difficulties of King Suryawangsa's decision.

Sure enough, the next day, Fan Jingwen began to patiently negotiate with the ministers sent by King Suryawangsa.

First, regarding the condition that King Surya Wangsa will not leave Laos, Fan Jingwen conditionally agreed. However, it was insisted that King Suryawangsa should be the senator of the Senate, and that he must be present when the Senate meets, and that a residence be built for King Suryawangza at the kiln gate. Fan Jingwen didn't use the word palace, meaning that they were no longer kings.

The second article, retaining the Lao army, Fan Jingwen refused without hesitation. He told everyone that a country must have a unified army, and anyone who wants to keep the army will be wiped out.

In Tojo, the ministers of Laos should be retained in the future government of Laos. Fan Jingwen did not agree, because the future government is a new-style government, and it will hire the people it needs. Of course, Fan Jingwen didn't say anything to death, and promised the same people to give priority to hiring these original ministers.

Fourthly, the former ministers and the king are to ensure that they are accorded certain treatments. Fan Jingwen agreed.

East Wutiao, to preserve the culture of Laos, this Fan Jingwen also agreed.

After these and the main demands were discussed, the ministers were able to put forward many conditions every day for several days. Fan Jingwen knew that the main thing was serious, and everything else could be agreed. After the army and officials of Yaogang took over the place, everything had to be subordinated to the overall arrangement. At that time, they said nothing was useless.

After several days of intensive preparations, the agreement on the merger of Laos into the Ming Dynasty was signed. Fan Jingwen immediately sent a telegram informing Li Zicheng to send troops into Laos.

Although King Suryawangza did not expect things to happen so quickly, the agreement was signed, and he could not refuse. When Song Xiance came to Yongtian (Vientiane) to meet Fan Jingwen, his mood was very complicated. They hadn't seen each other before, but they knew each other.

On the Yaogang warship, Fan Jingwen and Song Xiance's hands were held together according to the habits of Yaogang.

Fan Jingwen said with emotion: "Mr. Song! A few years ago, I couldn't have imagined that we would be holding hands! ”

"Huh! Master Fan, I didn't expect that my hand would be held with you. We are thieves, you are officials, and fire and water cannot be tolerated! Song Xiance also said with a smile.

The captain said beside him: "I think this is thanks to our Mr. Zhang, without Mr. Zhang, we would never meet here, let alone shake hands!" ”

"Yes, yes!"

Song Xiance and Fan Jingwen both felt that the captain was right.

After everyone sat down, Fan Jingwen gave a detailed introduction to Song Xiance about the peace talks with King Suriawangsa and the content of the agreement, because in the future, the affairs of governing Laos should be completed by Song Xiance and them.

After listening to Fan Jingwen's introduction, Song Xiance sighed and said, "Alas! Master Fan, you have promised too many things, which will bring a lot of trouble to our future management of Laos! ”

"yes!" Fan Jingwen said, "We also know that this is the case, but if we can take over a country peacefully, we must also give people certain benefits." Since we have signed the agreement, we will follow the agreement. ”

"Don't worry! We'll do what we agreed! Song Xiance said, "This king Suryawangsa, you really don't want to take him away?" ”

"I'll try to take him as far as I can! The People's Congress is about to be convened, and I would like to invite him over. In addition, we have to send that sea ship to pick everyone up to the meeting. You and King Chuang will go too, right? Fan Jingwen asked.

"We also received a notice, this is a big deal, King Chuang said, we will go!" Song Xiance said.

"That's good! We can go back together! Fan Jingwen said.

"Good! There are many of us on the road, so it will be lively! Song Xiance said.

Fan Jingwen himself felt very strange, he and Song Xiance became familiar with each other so quickly, and they didn't feel like an enemy at all. However, there was no time to delay here, so Fan Jingwen introduced Song Xiance to King Suryawangsa, and took a warship down the river and went to Phnom Penh.

After Phnom Penh left Phnom Penh, King Zan and his ministers carried out a thorough mobilization and requisitioned a lot of soldiers and horses to fight a decisive battle with the Ming army. But despite this, they knew in their hearts that such an army, although it was quite numerous, was not the opponent of the Ming army at all, and it was just a breath that they couldn't swallow, supporting them to do so.

They decided to leave Fan Jingwen as a hostage when Fan Jingwen came again to fight for some bargaining chips.

Fan Jingwen and his boat left Yongtian (Vientiane), and two days later, at noon, they docked at the Phnom Penh pier. As soon as they approached the wharf, Fan Jingwen and the captain found that the atmosphere on the wharf was not right, and there were many fortifications built here, many soldiers were arranged, and many cannons were erected.

The captain smiled and said to Fan Jingwen: "Lord Fan, the atmosphere is not right!" If you go into Phnom Penh again, you will be a caged bird! ”

"Huh! How can I be so stupid? Although I have a cheap life, but I haven't completed the emperor's mission, I don't want to throw my life here! Fan Jingwen said.

Sure enough, as soon as the ship approached the dock, many soldiers surrounded it. An officer said to the ship: "Our king asks the Ming Dynasty to be an envoy to follow me to the post house, and our king wants to see the envoy!" ”

The officer on the ship said to him: "Our envoy has received an order from the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, please return to Beijing immediately, there is no time to land!" Could you please tell me that our envoy would like to hear what they are thinking about, and leave immediately! ”

"No! You can't go! The officer was a little anxious, "Our king said that if you are forced to leave, we will open fire!" Look at how many cannons are there on the shore against you? ”

The situation is already very clear, Wang Zan wants to detain Fan Jingwen by force. The captain and Fan Jingwen looked at each other and asked, "My lord, let's go!" The matter here will be left to King Li Chuang and their people! ”

"No, no," Fan Jingwen still wanted to fight, "let them know that I will wait here for the evening, and if they still want to negotiate peacefully, invite their king to the ship." Otherwise we're gone! ”

After passing on Fan Jingwen's words, the captain ordered: "All of them are ready for battle." If there is a forced boarding, shoot and kill! Order all artillery ready! ”

The officer on the ship told the Cambodian officer on the shore what Fan Jingwen said, but the officer still did not agree, and wanted to come on the boat to invite Fan Jingwen. The ship's officer told him, "If you come aboard, we'll shoot!" ”

It is estimated that the officers on the shore were given a death order, and did not listen to the persuasion, saying: "As long as the envoy does not go into the city with us!" We'll board the boat and please! ”