March 16, 1724, Fort Phong Ninh (present-day Salem City, Burma, opposite Yangon).

"What do you Qi people want?" The leader of the Mon tribe in the Lower Burma region, Manwen Kaidan, was silent for a long time, and suddenly asked.

"Trade." The Governor of Qi in Fengning smiled at Chongwu and said, "We in Qi want to establish an open and free trade market in Burma, so that merchants from the two countries can travel freely without any restrictions. Of course, as our support for your Mon people, I think that in the future trade system, the merchants of Qi can enjoy a more unique position. ”

Myanmar is located in the western part of the Indochina Peninsula, bordering the Bay of Bengal in the south, Siam in the east, and the Qin State on the mainland in the north. On the other hand, Myanmar has abundant teak (accounting for 75% of the world's teak resources) and mineral resources, as well as a variety of precious jade, which has long been coveted by merchants of Qi State.

Although the Qi-Burma War more than 20 years ago opened the market in Myanmar, only four ports were opened, and there were restrictions on trade activities, which could no longer meet the requirements of Qi merchants.

In particular, in order to ensure its own safety, the Donghu Dynasty imposed certain controls on the entry of merchant ships from various countries into the Irrawaddy River and the Chindun River, so that the commercial power of Qi State could not extend to the inland areas, which also caused dissatisfaction among the Burmese trading companies of Qi State.

The Qi State sent envoys to Burma many times, demanding that Burma stop its military expansion, open trade conditions, release the Arakan fugitives, and give the Qi State exclusive trade monopoly and free navigation of the Irrawaddy River on the grounds that the Taungoo Dynasty had attacked the Arakan Kingdom (also known as the Arakanese Kingdom), which was a subject of the Qi State.

Such non-distinction was naturally rejected by the Donghu Dynasty. Seeing that the Donghu Dynasty had not agreed to their conditions, the people of Qi did not become angry and retaliated directly. However, the Qi people have stepped up their support for the Rakhine kingdom, secretly encouraging the country to continue stirring up trouble on the Burmese border.

Later, the Taungoo Dynasty had a long-lasting armed conflict with the Manipur Kingdom due to the "bride kidnapping incident", and the Qi State openly and secretly supported the Manipur Kingdom with corresponding force, swords, armor, muskets, and even provided the army light artillery to the Manipur Kingdom army, so as to achieve the goal of continuing to suppress and weaken the Taunipur Dynasty.

In fact, with the military strength of the Qi State, he can directly roll up his sleeves and completely incorporate the entire Burma into the scope of his colonial rule, just like the South Indian region. But military experts warn that unlike India, Burma's mountainous terrain and tropical climate will be the worst enemy for invading armies.

Moreover, although the Donghu Dynasty has declined, its people are fierce, and it has been the most virtuous country in the entire Indochina Peninsula for hundreds of years. The minimum number of troops required to completely conquer such a large regional power with a complete feudal ruling order would be more than 10,000 troops, which was far from what a trading company could do.

A large-scale war of annihilation against Burma would inevitably require local support and assistance from nearby Bangladeshi and Indian trading companies. However, this will inevitably dilute the business interests of Myanmar trading companies in the region.

This is absolutely unacceptable to a trading company in Myanmar.

So, since it can't shake the rule of the Taungoo Dynasty with its own strength, why not pull a few more local powerful factions to tear down the whole of Myanmar into pieces, so that they can divide and eat.

During this period, the Taungoo Dynasty was already in an irrepressible decline, with the court brothers falling apart, the kings constantly changing, and more and more Ahmudan (those who paid tribute and labor for the royal family) and Atai (ordinary peasants) became slaves, resulting in a decrease in the manpower controlled by the central government, and the ruling power became weaker and weaker. The officialdom of the Donghu Dynasty was also corrupt, corrupt and bribed, expropriated and extorted, and wantonly enslaved the people under its rule.

More than 170 years ago, the Baigu Kingdom established by the Mon people was destroyed by Donghu, and was suppressed and bullied in the years that followed. Now that the Taungoo Dynasty is weak, the Mon people scattered in the Lower Burma region can't help but have a different mind. With the help of foreign forces, it seems that it is not an unattainable dream to take the opportunity to overthrow the rule of the Burmese and restore the Baigu Dynasty of the former Mon.

As a result, the leader of the Mon tribe in the Bagu area, Manwen Kaidan, with the help of "people with hearts", brought his cronies to Fengning Fort, in order to gain the support of the Qi people.

Surprisingly, the Qi people were very enthusiastic about their commitment to the establishment of a Mon state, and agreed to their requests for weapons and funds.

Manwen Kaidan knew that the aid of the Qi people was not free, and they had to pay a certain price. But so what, as long as the Donghu Dynasty can be overthrown and a new dynasty dominated by the Mon people can be established, a little commercial benefit will be given to the Qi people to meet their trade needs, and it should be fine.

——

April 6, Myaoo U (present-day Muhang, Myanmar).

From the Yongle period to the orthodox period, the Ming Dynasty set up the "Three Xuan and Six Comforts" in the southwestern border of Yunnan and the Indochina Peninsula, and the scope of jurisdiction included Burma, northern Siam and the central part of Nanzhang, all of which were "those who can be dispatched in central Yunnan".

After 1531, Mang Ruiti established the Donghu Dynasty. With the decline of the Ming Dynasty's power in the Indochina Peninsula, the Donghu Dynasty became stronger and stronger, and the Ming Dynasty's three Xuan and six consolation Tusi were attached to the Donghu Dynasty.

The Rakhine Kingdom on the west coast of Myanmar was the seat of the former Ming Dynasty's Demasa Xuanwei Division, and in 1433, King Naro Migara re-established the Rakhine Dynasty in Myau U with the help of the Sutan Kingdom of Bengal. Within a few years, the kingdom occupied Chittagong, and at its peak the dynasty received tribute from "twelve Bengali towns". At the time of the Taungoo Dynasty's unification of Burma, the Rakhine Kingdom also sent the Portuguese Burlido (also translated as Philippe de Brito) to lead a Portuguese mercenary army to attack Baigu.

Well, our ancestors also used to be wide!

However, as the Mughal Empire expanded into Bengal, the Rakhine Kingdom was expelled from Bengal more than 60 years ago, losing all of its territory in the region. Before it could happen, the Mughal Empire took away its most important port, Chittagong, with the help of the sea power of the Qi people, and its strength was further weakened.

Just when the Kingdom of Rakhine was cowering on the west side of the Rakhine Mountains, facing the aggressive Donghu Dynasty, and was desperately surviving for a long time, the people of Qi came.

It stands to reason that the territory of the Rakhine Kingdom is mountainous, and there are only narrow plains along the coastline, which have not yet been connected into a line, and the products are not abundant, and it is definitely a poor place with poor people and barren people. Since losing the territory of Bengal and Chittagong, the Kingdom of Rakhine has been increasingly struggling financially and has been unable to make ends meet year after year. There is no money in his hand, so he naturally has a weak waist and a weak army, and in the face of the powerful Donghu Dynasty, he can only bow down and be small, call the ministers and pay tribute, and think that he is a vassal.

But for some reason, the people of Qi actually fell in love with their small country, and deliberately supported them, and gave them equipment, muskets, and artillery, and sent military instructors to help them train the army. After a long period of contact, the influence of the Qi people began to penetrate into all aspects of the Arakan Kingdom, and the political, economic, and military aspects were also indirectly controlled by the Qi State, and the entire kingdom fell to the Qi State.

Later, at the suggestion of the Qi people, the Rakhine Kingdom abolished its status as a vassal with the Donghu Dynasty and instead paid tribute to the Qi State, becoming the younger brother of this powerful Indian Ocean overlord.

It is good to have the feeling of being covered by the boss, and the Donghu Dynasty heard that the Rakhine Kingdom was repeated, and took the initiative to abolish the suzerain-vassal relationship between the two sides, and immediately led troops to attack.

Just when the Arakan Kingdom dispatched thousands of new troops trained by Qi military instructors to fight with the Burmese army in the lofty mountains of the Rakhine Mountains, the Qi State dispatched several armed merchant ships and sailed into the Irrawaddy River to warn the Donghu Dynasty not to attack the Qi vassals for no reason and immediately withdraw their troops. Otherwise, the Qi state would have taken drastic measures to stop the military operations of the Donghu dynasty.

Although the Donghu Dynasty was unwilling, it was afraid of the strong strength of the Qi State, so it had to pinch its nose and recognize that the Rakhine Kingdom was free from the feudal shackles and switched to the Qi State.

As if inspired by the Rakhine Kingdom, the Kingdom of Manipur and the Kingdom of Ahom (also known as the Kingdom of Ahom or the Kingdom of Assamese) also broke away from the suzerain-vassal relationship of Donghu and ceased to be a tributary. With the secret support of the Qi Kingdom, the Manipur Kingdom engaged in a full-scale war with the Donghu Dynasty, which continues to this day.

A few days earlier, King Mingye Saki had received an order from the Qi people to march out of the Badubi Valley and threaten the southwestern border of the Taungoo Dynasty.

It is reported that the Mon people in the Lower Burma region are preparing to launch an armed uprising in Bago, Mawlamyine, Pak Sang and other places to overthrow the local Taungoo regime.

It is self-evident that the arrangement of the Qi people is to let their Rakhine Kingdom cause trouble in the southwestern border area of the Taungoo Dynasty, attract the attention of the Burmese army, and provide favorable conditions for the uprising of the Mon armed forces.

It seems that the Qi people have taken the most crucial first step towards the goal of splitting the Donghu Dynasty.

In this case, in the feast of the Donghu Dynasty, I, the Rakhine Kingdom, should not be left behind, and I am bound to follow the people of Qi to share a piece of the pie.

(End of chapter)