The Vietnamese really went out of their way, and the French invaded Vietnam again, and their old king died, and it is very likely that the old king died because he was stimulated by internal and external troubles. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

In July 1883, just as the conflict between France and the Ming Dynasty in northern Vietnam was intensifying, the king of Vietnam, who had ruled for 37 years, died in his own country, Emperor Nguyen Phuc, who had proclaimed himself emperor.

Nguyen Phuc was the most unlucky emperor in the late Vietnam period, his status was similar to that of Xianfeng in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and he was in a mess, and his manpower was no longer able to return to heaven. During his reign, France occupied the provinces of Saigon (Gia Dinh), Bien Hoa, My Di, and Vinh Long in the name of protecting missionaries and Catholics, and in 1862, Vietnam and France signed the Treaty of Nin Hoa (the first Treaty of Saigon), in which Vietnam ceded the three provinces of Bien Hoa, Gia Dinh, and Dinh Thanh and Kunlun Island, paying an indemnity of 20 million to allow the spread of Catholicism. France controlled southern Vietnam. Almost all the bad things have been put on his shoulders.

Just eight years before he succeeded to the throne, his grandfather Ming Ming Emperor was also known as Qianlong of Vietnam, and during his reign, he forged ahead, through the construction of canals, completely ruled the Mekong Delta region, and extended Vietnam's territory to the south to the sea.

As a result, when Ruan Phuc survived, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse, and what was even more tragic was that he had been the emperor for thirty-seven years, and he couldn't give birth to an heir. As a result, as soon as he died, in the case of internal and external difficulties, the unfortunate Vietnamese royal family also broke out a power struggle, and five emperors succeeded to the throne in just two years.

First, his nephew and nephew Emperor Nguyen Phuc Nguyen succeeded to the throne, and was poisoned three days later. He was succeeded by his younger brother, Emperor Nguyen Phuc Thuan, who was poisoned four months later. He was succeeded by his nephew, Emperor Thien Phuc Ho Nguyen Phuc Ho, who died half a year later. Later, Emperor Xianyi Ruan Phuc Minh succeeded to the throne, but he did not die aside, but he went to the barren mountains in order to resist the law. The French supported the accession of Dong Thanh Emperor Nguyen Phuc Yu to the throne, and he barely did it for four years, dying at the age of twenty-five.

This series of kings died horizontally, basically it is impossible to die normally, because most of them died in the prime of life, although there is no clear cause of death, but most of them died from their own internal struggle, and there is no small suspicion of being killed by the French.

Due to the continuous infighting, there is also a strange phenomenon in history, that is, the Manchu Qing Dynasty finally decided to go to war with France because of Vietnam's request for help, but after the outbreak of the war, the small court of Vietnam changed emperors again and again suddenly declared neutrality, and their reason was, "Our country is between the two majors, and the Qing Dynasty will be subdued for thousands of years, and it is incumbent on them; And the law is far away from water and near fire, and it is better to be neutral, so as to prevent the two countries from advancing and stopping."

At this time, the reign was none other than Nguyen Phuc Sheng, who was killed in four months in history.

In August, more than 4,000 troops of the French Expeditionary Force divided into two routes, one along the Red River to attack the Black Flag Army upstream, and the other by sea to attack the Vietnamese capital Hue. The French army, which attacked the Black Flag Army, was repeatedly attacked by the Black Flag Army and the Vietnamese army and civilians, and suffered heavy losses. A detachment that attacked the Vietnamese capital Hue from the sea occupied the fortress of Thuan An, the barrier protecting the capital, on the 20th.

The imperial court sent a co-organizer of the university, Tran Dinh Su, and the secretary of the ministry, Nguyen Trung Ho, to sign the "Franco-Vietnamese New Peace Treaty" with the French army in Hue, which is known as the First Hue Treaty in history.

Vietnam recognized and accepted French protection, and Vietnam's foreign affairs, including relations with China, were under French control; Binh Thuan Province was incorporated into the French colony of Nam Ki; The French army permanently occupied the Hengshan Mountains and the mouth of Thuan An; The French sent officials (called ministers in Vietnam) to the provinces of Beiqi to supervise the Vietnamese officials; Da Nang in Quang Nam and Xuan Dai in Phu Yen were opened as treaty ports for various countries.

With the signing of this treaty, the territory of the Nguyen Dynasty in Vietnam was limited to the Central Thi region between Khanh Hoa Province in the south and Heng Son in the north, completely lost the Nam and Pak Ki, reduced the land area by two-thirds, and the richest Red River Delta and Mekong Delta were deprived by France.

The signing of this treaty put the Ming in a passive position, because Vietnam became a French protectorate de jure.

North Vietnam was de jure Vietnamese territory, and now the French had the power to assert their interests in the region, and they not only refused to withdraw their troops from Hung K, but also demanded that the Ming Dynasty withdraw their troops immediately.

Although the French achieved such a legal rationale that was unacceptable and barbaric, he nevertheless achieved a diplomatic advantage, and the small Vietnamese court began to issue orders for the local armies to stop resisting the French.

The strange situation inside Vietnam puzzled the Ming government and immediately began to investigate the internal situation.

During this time, the Ming Dynasty had already begun to prepare for war, and the leave of all officers was canceled, and the young Zhuang officers scattered in various countries around the world were recalled to the country.

On the other hand, diplomatic efforts were continuous, and once war broke out, the Ming did not want any allies in France. Therefore, the consuls of the Ming Dynasty, who were frequently active in the diplomatic departments of Western countries, were actually mainly to win the support of Britain, and as for other countries, they mainly hoped to get their moral support and make France fall into unfavorable international public opinion.

On the other hand, the army has not yet been mobilized, but its standing strength of 300,000 troops is sufficient to cope with the 10,000 troops transferred from France to Vietnam, and the key issue is the navy.

At this time, the French Navy ranked second in the world, and although the Ming Navy was known as the first in Asia, it was not enough to see in front of the French.

In addition to gathering the navy at the mouth of the Pearl River, the coastal defense troops immediately entered the fort positions to intensify exercises, and the protection of the Ming Dynasty depended on these batteries.

Although the government has been acting, it seems that the civilian government has never made up its mind to go to war, they cannot predict how the war will end once it starts, it is easy to draw the sword and it is difficult to sheath, Timothy Lee said to Sun Yat-sen a very philosophical sentence, those who draw the sword will die under the sword.

Daming can launch this challenge to France, but how to end it is not up to Daming to decide. It is the prerogative of the victor to end the war, and when the time comes, France will treat the Ming Dynasty in any way, and whether the Ming Dynasty's painstaking management over the years will be ruined in a flash, these are all concerns of the civilian government.

Therefore, the diplomatic activities led by the civilian government were on the one hand to win the best external environment for the war, and on the other hand, it was also a real hope that France could be compromised through diplomatic means. If France were willing to restore Vietnam to its previous state, there would be no need to fight this war. Even as long as France made certain concessions, such as continuing to allow the Ming to develop the minerals of northern Vietnam, the Ming would not have to protect Vietnam.

Unfortunately, it backfired, and the French seemed to see the weakness of the civilian government, and not only did not give an inch, but also pressed forward step by step.

Chen Zhiting's shortcomings of not being strong enough were exposed again, and he asked Zhu Jinglun for help again with great trepidation.