"Lord Zhang [Zhang Yinheng], I don't think there is anything wrong with General Phillips's behavior, we have received secret news that there are some radical people who want to do some unfriendly acts against British citizens in Pontianak. General Phillips' blockade of the port of Pontianak is not an unfriendly move, let alone a provocation against China, it is just a very ordinary act of protecting overseas Chinese. ”

"It is my honour to convey to you a message from Mr. Prime Minister of the British Empire that the navy of the British Empire exists to protect the interests of the people of the British Empire. The Chinese Government hopes that the Chinese Government will be soberly aware of the pros and cons, strictly restrain the citizens and the armed forces of your country, and refrain from any move that would damage the friendly relations between China and the UK.

The Sarawak incident is a vicious incident that has seriously damaged the friendly relations and interests of China and Britain, and the Chinese Government hopes that the Chinese Government will be able to deal with it reasonably and justly as soon as possible. This is the appeal of Whitehall, the appeal of Her Majesty the Empress, and the will of the people of the British Empire.

Our Government and people are confident that China will not let us down. Douner followed Whitehall's instructions, plus his own understanding, with the arrogance of an English gentleman, without looking at Zhang Yinheng's increasingly ugly face at all, and finished his words with his chin cocked.

Zhang Yinheng entered the sea with a cold face and replied to Liu Xian with Dou N'er's words. Naturally, Liu Xian was ruthless. The idea of letting the Taiping Army do a lot of work lingered in his heart for a while, and finally made him come out of his mouth.

Chiang mai.

The political, economic, and cultural center of northern Siam is second only to the capital Bangkok in terms of prosperity. It's a pity that with the arrival of the Taiping army, Chiang Mai has hardly had the grand scene of the 'Northern Rose' to the west.

Chiang Mai's natural environment is beautiful, with an average altitude of 300 meters above sea level. It is one of the few highland cities in Siam with a cool climate. It is a famous summer resort in China. It is bordered by the Khundan Mountains to the east and the Intanang Mountains to the west. Most of the peaks are above 2,000 meters, and the main peak, Intanang Peak, is the highest peak in Siam with an altitude of 2,576 meters. The central part is the Bin River Basin. The forest covers an area of 16,700 square kilometers, accounting for 73% of the province's land. Therefore, the scenery here is beautiful, flowers and plants are planted all over, especially roses are the most famous, and they are known as 'northern roses'.

Chiang Mai was the capital of the Kingdom of Siam for a long time, and it still retains many precious historical and cultural relics. The city is dotted with ancient temples that represent the history and culture of Siam. In the years after the Taiping army occupied the city, the ancient and noble Buddha statue had been transported to China along the trade route connecting southwest China.

Whether it is the simplest collection of antiquities, or the dedication of Buddhist temples and Buddhist doors, these Buddha statues are rare treasures in China.

Xinqin does not engage in 'breaking the four olds' or anything, and Buddhism is still relatively prosperous in both the north and the south. Especially in recent years, Liu Xian advocated martial arts, not a military army, but a martial arts, and Shaolin was famous. It also adds a halo to Buddhism. Another is that because the country is prosperous, the rise and fall of these religious mountain gates is always related to the rise and fall of the country. Shi Dakai and others made a lot of money because of those antiquities. Although this has caused the Phra Baking Temple, Bu Parang Temple, Chai Di Long Temple, Gudao Temple, Doi Shan Shuanglong Temple, Pu Sing Temple, etc., many Buddhist holy places with a long history and inheritance, all suffered from the seedlings.

The three large Buddha statues enshrined in the Legan Hall, the main hall of Wat Naprasin, are considered by the Siamese people to be the most spiritual in northern Thailand. And they all moved away. Praxin Temple and Dowedgon Pagoda of Doi Ryong Temple on Doi Pulp have also been demolished, but the sacred relics (relics) of the Buddha Shakyamuni that are said to be in them have not been sold by Shi Dakai and others.

Anyway, the Taiping army is in Siam and Burma, two countries that worship Buddhism. The reputation is very bad and smelly.

At the same time, Chiang Mai is also famous for its silks and textiles. Every year, a batch of raw silk and textiles is exported, although the volume is far from that of China. is the quality of the well-known album, and the lake silk ratio is also much worse, but this is a lot of income.

There are too many places where raw silk is used in this era, and the market has always been very large.

The Taiping army transported raw silk and some silk from the areas under their control to the border to buy it for the Chinese side, and then transported it to the Nguyen Dynasty by water, or they could transport the water themselves and sell it themselves, which was a lot of profit for the Taiping army anyway. In addition, Chiang Mai is famous for its tobacco leaves, and its output is also the highest in Siam. The only other bulk products were timber, fine teak, and the Taiping army also organized people to mine silver and tin ore there. With China's support, Shi Dakai also set up two arsenals of a certain scale, one of which could also manufacture small-tonnage river gunboats.

The products, money and grain in the area controlled by the Taiping army were still able to feed the Taiping army of 50,000 regular troops, and yes, Shi Dakai was again disarmed in early 1891. The total number of troops was only 50,000. It is organized into five divisions, plus an independent artillery and independent surface patrol.

Chiang Mai did not have a direct telegraph line with Beijing, and the message needed to be sent to Kunming before being forwarded. But the time was only half an hour later. After Shi Dakai received Liu Xian's order, a red tide appeared on his clear face. "Passing on the king's military order, at 10 o'clock tomorrow, all the officers above the brigade level will go to the palace to discuss matters. If you dare not delay, you will be severely punished! ”

Then Shi Dakai immediately ordered someone to invite Cao Crouching, the mastermind who had withdrawn from government affairs and did not care about the world, and Chen Decai, who was in poor health. Chen Decai is nearly ten years older than Shi Dakai, and is now over 70 years old. The body is weak, and the old injuries of the past years are complicated, if it is not a really big event, Shi Dakai will not invite him.

Beijing let go of the fetters in its hands, loosened the chains around the neck of the Taiping army, and let Shi Da open his hand to fight in Siam, which was a great opportunity for the Taiping army to establish a reincarnation foundation.

Before, the Taiping Army was held in the deep mountains and old forests at the junction of the three countries, and it was more than ten years to take Chiang Mai Province, and it was considered a real place to settle, but it was far from enough to establish a country with these places. Now that Beijing has opened its mouth, as long as they have the ability, they will always fight south, and Beijing will support them in the back. What a surprise and excitement this is for Shi Dakai and others, who have always had the grand wish of establishing the kingdom of heaven again.

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. They've finally arrived, they've waited! Then they have to catch it.

The Taiping army fought many times with the Siamese army, and the Siamese army's combat effectiveness was not satisfactory, even if there were a considerable number of foreign instructors in the army, it was much worse than the Taiping army. But Siam has a population of 7 million, and it can produce 120,000 troops at will, and behind it is the world's hegemon and the largest industrial power, the financial empire, and the support of Britain, France and the United States. If the war was a stalemate, the Taiping army would not be able to afford to spend so much with Siam.

"Contact the Nguyen Dynasty, Vientiane and Phnom Penh, and attack Siam together. Attention should also be paid to Myanmar. Chen Decai's first reaction was infinite surprise, and the second reaction was such a plan, to win over allies, use troops against Siam, and then pay attention to the British occupying Burma.

Luang Prabang and Champasak were divided into the north and south of the Nguyen Dynasty, leaving the middle section for the Nguyen Dynasty to attack Siam, and it was not once or twice that the Taiping Army and the Nguyen Dynasty joined forces to bully Siam over the years. Luang Prabang also captured Vientiane and the Transeng Khouang Plateau, while Champasak captured the area north of the Nam Tun River, leaving a Nam Tun River for the Nguyen Dynasty's new army to enter and exit.

Phnom Penh, that is, Cambodia, has also developed in recent years. But just like the Qing Dynasty in history, any political innovation of the Eastern Dynasty has affected the interests of all aspects, especially in Phnom Penh, where there is still such a long inheritance, the pattern of interests, the old forces, and the complexity of the situation are more than those of the Qing Dynasty back then. Therefore, the speed of innovation and westernization of the above three countries lagged far behind Siam.

If there was no Taiping Army, and there was no China pressing on top of their heads, with the strength of Siam at this time, it would have really swept across the Indochina Peninsula.

"Take this map to Hue. Tell King Nguyen that from the Cardamom Mountains in the south to the Luang Prabang Mountains, we don't want all the eastern half of Siam. Cao Crouching Tiger stared at the map, and half took out his pen and divided it in half from the north and south of Siam.

Faced with Shi Dakai and Chen Decai's sudden change of color, Cao Crouching Hu said unhurriedly: "If we want to establish a kingdom of heaven again, we must hug Beijing's thighs tightly." This time, Beijing let us do a big job, so what is the reason? It's not that Beijing really looks at Siam uncomfortable, but the British collapsed. ”

"The British have blockaded Pontianak and do not intend to maintain the interests of the Chinese in Kuala Lumpur, so we have to make a fuss about this matter. The minister thought that after our army went south, it should not be the first place to attack the city and seize the land and sweep Siam. Instead, going south to Malaya should be the first priority. ”

Shi Dakai and Chen Decai's eyes converged on the map again, and the Siamese country on the map was like a flower stuck in the water.

The land of Siam north of the Malay Peninsula, that is, the land of Siam without the Indochina Peninsula, is like a blooming flower. To the south of Phetchaburi, the land of Siam on the Malay Peninsula was ceded to the British, but from the map of it, it was a stalk holding flowers.

Myanmar also has a part of the Malay Peninsula, which is separated from Siam by the Birao Mountains from the east to the west. The latter is a mountain range extending from the Indochina Peninsula to the Malay Peninsula, and the national border between Myanmar and Thailand is naturally divided by the extension of this mountain range. It is the watershed of the Andaman Sea in the west and the rivers in Bangkok Bay in the east. It consists of several north-south ridges, with a highest point of 1,531 meters. There are deep valleys in between. There are many forests, with tungsten, tin and other mines.

"If we can take it, then we can buy the land south of Phetchaburi to Beijing. If I stand again, the Heavenly Dynasty will be able to stand firmly on the land of Siam, the land of Buddhism. Cao Crouching Tiger is worthy of being Shi Dakai's mastermind, and he saw clearly at a glance the root of this turmoil - the Sino-British dispute. And the Taiping Army, as a vicious dog that China has been captive for many years, must always think about the master behind him, so that the people behind him are satisfied, and their lives can be truly better.

"The prince doesn't have to worry about the lack of land in our army. Myanmar next to us is also a fertile ground. (To be continued......)