lovenovelstory Chapter 5 The Opium War Did Not Necessarily Have to Be Won on Home Land
Chapter 5 The Opium War Did Not Necessarily Have to Be Won on Home Land
After arranging matters in the north and west, Liu Yulong continued to point the wooden stick in his hand towards the southwest:
"The situation in the south is equally worrying."
"India, also known as Tianzhu in ancient times, has been largely occupied by the British."
"The British used India as a stronghold and supply base, and continued to infiltrate and expand into Kham, Tibet, Myanmar and Southeast Asia."
"Now they have taken control of the southwestern coastal region of Myanmar, as well as a lot of land on both sides of the Strait of Malacca."
"Many of the islands surrounding the Strait of Malacca have been gradually occupied by the Dutch over the past two centuries."
The Luzon Islands, directly south of Taiwan, have been continuously encroached upon by the Spanish since the Ming Dynasty.
"These indigenous kingdoms were originally traditional vassal states of our Chinese Celestial Empire, and there are still a large number of Han Chinese living there."
"The constant encroachment of these places by European barbarians is also an erosion of the Celestial Empire's authority and even its Mandate of Heaven."
"Therefore we cannot allow them to continue like this; these European barbarians are our main adversaries going forward."
"We need to launch an offensive in the South."
"First stop the Europeans from expanding further, then drive them out."
Finally, Burma, Siam, Jiaozhi, and Southeast Asia were all turned into vassal states and provinces of the Han Dynasty.
"Although these places are mostly malaria-ridden areas, they are at least relatively rainy and hot compared to the northern frontier and the western regions."
"If cultivated properly, a lot of fertile land can be obtained, which can be used to grow rice and feed the people."
"Emperor Gaozu once said that the Han Dynasty's expansion in the northwest has reached its limit, and the future of the Han Dynasty lies in the south."
The cold coniferous forests of Siberia and the desolate steppes and deserts of the northwest region cannot be directly developed.
However, the humid jungles and tropical grasslands of Southeast Asia can be cultivated into farmland.
Although the rain-soaked tropical lands are mostly relatively barren red soils due to the leaching effect of rainwater.
However, rice cultivation can continuously improve soil fertility.
As long as rice is continuously grown in one place for a long time, "paddy soil" with basic fertility can gradually be formed.
For the Han Chinese, who are accustomed to growing rice, Southeast Asia was a natural potential territory.
After Liu Desheng took control of most of the Central Plains, he took advantage of the chaos of the Napoleonic Wars in Europe and the American Wars of Independence to obtain seeds and seedlings of cinchona and rubber trees, and widely planted them in the mountainous and forested areas of Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and other places.
After more than a decade of accumulation, cinchona and rubber plantations in the south have now reached a certain scale, and are at least able to barely supply the malaria treatment drugs needed by the imperial court and the army.
Cinchona powder in its raw state is simply powder made from dried cinchona tree puff pastry; it is very easy to process.
Although the treatment was not particularly effective, not as good as the chemically extracted active ingredient quinine hydrochloride, it at least gave the imperial court the ability to directly treat malaria, so that early immigrants no longer had to endure the disease.
With the modern hygiene knowledge brought by Liu Desheng, the mortality rate of new immigrants in Southeast Asia during the land reclamation process could be basically controlled, which would make it possible to develop Southeast Asia for a long time and eventually incorporate it into a directly administered province.
These findings have already been verified during land reclamation efforts in places like Taiwan.
Liu Desheng has completed most of the preparations; Liu Yulong's task now is to turn this possibility into reality.
After the newly established Han Dynasty, the growth rate of the Han people in the Central Plains accelerated again, and the population should have already exceeded 400 million, and is now likely close to 500 million.
There are simply too many people, and we must constantly find a place to settle down, otherwise we will eventually implode.
Because of Liu Desheng's long-term teachings and personal example, the high-ranking officials of the New Great Han generally accepted these logics.
Liu Yulong's announcement of these arrangements would naturally garner the support of the nobles and further enhance their trust in him.
Therefore, when Liu Yulong paused briefly at this point, the nobles immediately voiced their support:
"Your Majesty is wise."
"With a sage emperor in power, our great Han Dynasty should prosper greatly."
"Although the South Seas are hot and humid, they can indeed be gradually transformed into paddy fields."
"During the early Han Dynasty, the Jiangnan and Huguang regions were also plagued by miasma, but by the Song and Ming Dynasties, they had become places of taxation and revenue."
"Southeast Asia is currently a land of pestilence, but in the future it can become a land of revenue and taxes."
Listening to everyone's joyful exclamations, Liu Yulong was once again certain that the military's thinking was still highly unified.
Then, quite satisfied, he gently raised his hand, signaling everyone to quiet down, and continued to explain the details:
"However, even in an offensive, we must proceed steadily and cautiously, step by step."
"According to the teachings of our founding emperor, we should despise the enemy strategically, but take the enemy seriously tactically."
"Myanmar is mountainous and densely forested, rife with miasma and disease outbreaks, so we must plan carefully before taking any action."
"The local kings of Burma have already submitted to the Han Dynasty, though it is not very sincere and is mostly just verbal submission."
"But the court only needs to send enough militia south, without seizing their existing cities and fertile lands."
"At the same time, an edict was issued demanding their cooperation, promising to help them drive out the Britons."
"They probably wouldn't be foolish enough to launch a proactive attack on the imperial army's military settlements."
"If they really come to attack and harass the military settlement, then deal with the Burmese chieftain first, and replace him with a more compliant one to cooperate."
"The expansion in Burma was mainly carried out by the Front Military Governor's Office, with the Right Military Governor's Office playing a supporting role."
Militia members were drawn from Jiangxi, Hunan, and Sichuan provinces and set off from Yunnan with quinine, a medicine for treating malaria.
"Going south along the Dulong River-Irrawaddy River, a new militia command post was established on the riverbank to cultivate the land."
"The Militia Commandery is actually the same as the Ming Dynasty's garrison. Let's just call it the garrison from now on, it's easier to say."
"Then they recruited the local natives and investigated the British settlements in the area."
"After arranging 100,000 militia and 30,000 regular troops locally, and ensuring that military supplies were self-sufficient, we officially launched an attack on the British in Burma, aiming to drive them out of Burma within three to five years."
"At the same time, using Burma as a base, we continued to expand into the southwest and southeast."
"In the southwest, they gradually encroached on the Assam region of northeastern India, which was controlled by the British."
"From the southeast, gradually control the southern part of the Malay Peninsula all the way to the Malacca region."
"The discovery of wild tea trees in Assam by the British indicates that the local climate and soil are suitable for growing tea."
"The British have always coveted the profits from tea, and now they are planning to plant tea trees on a large scale in Assam, while they are certainly also preparing to steal our tea seedlings and tea-making techniques."
"We cannot let the Britons grow their own tea, otherwise the tea trade of the Great Han will be damaged."
"Malacca is the choke point of maritime trade routes between East and West, and of course it cannot be allowed to be controlled by these British for long."
"British merchants were still the main force in the opium smuggling trade, and most of the opium they sold came from India."
"We need to have the capability to attack India at any time in order to get the British to cooperate with us in completely eradicating opium smuggling."
The Opium War between China and Britain will most likely continue, but it doesn't necessarily have to be fought on Chinese soil.
They could also go to Southeast Asia to fight, or even go to India to fight.
India was Britain's most profitable colony, and could be considered the cash cow of the so-called British Empire.
As long as China can attack India at any time, the British will have to take China's attitude into account in everything they do.
The key to achieving this is controlling Myanmar and Malacca.
After Liu Yulong finished explaining the arrangements, Li Wencheng, the commander of the vanguard army, and Yao Wenxue, the commander of the right army, stepped forward and clasped their hands in acceptance of the orders.
"Your subject obeys."
Liu Yulong's wooden stick shifted again, pointing towards the Philippine archipelago in the southeast:
"The next focus is here, the Luzon Islands."
"Most of the archipelago has been occupied by the Spanish, but the local Sulu Kingdom has not yet been completely conquered."
"At the same time, Spain was a powerful nation in Europe more than a hundred years ago, but now it has become a second-rate country with increasingly weaker capabilities at sea."
"The American colonies they control have basically rebelled and become independent in the past two or three decades."
"It's time for us to drive the Spanish out of Southeast Asia."
"The operation to capture Luzon is not a messy battle like those in the northern border, Anxi, and Burma, but a frontal combat operation."
"The Luzon Islands are isolated in the South China Sea. To conquer the Spanish in Luzon, we need enough large ships to transport enough troops and supplies, as well as soldiers who can adapt to the southern climate."
"Therefore, 30,000 men were transferred from the Central Imperial Guard as the main force and sent to Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong provinces respectively. 30,000 Guan soldiers and 60,000 elite militiamen were drawn from the three provinces to form an independent Luzon Army Command, which was responsible for this frontal combat operation."
"After the main combat operations are completed, another million militiamen will be organized and sent to Luzon to cultivate the land, so as to completely control the Luzon Islands."
"Chen Hua, the Earl of Tong'an, was appointed General of Luzon, and Guan Tianpei, the Earl of Shanyang, was appointed Deputy General of Luzon, in charge of Luzon military affairs."
"The Earl of Tong'an and the Earl of Shanyang, in coordination with the Military Advisor's Office, shall begin to formulate a detailed battle strategy from now on."
"The military headquarters should prepare personnel and supplies as soon as possible, and officially set out for battle after autumn."
Those on-site who were affected by Liu Yulong's order immediately clasped their hands in obeisance and accepted the order. Those not on-site would receive the formal military order drafted by the Military Command in the next two days.
The other orders issued by Liu Yulong on site will also become official military orders and formal edicts in the next two days, and will be issued to the relevant government departments and personnel.
When Liu Yulong announced that he was going to fight the Spaniards in Luzon, the officials and military officers present all thought it was only natural.
It was normal for the newly established Han Dynasty to wage war year after year; the fact that the late emperor did not wage war for two years was the real exception.
As for the target itself, it wasn't very important. The young emperor's arrangements seemed fine, and that's how the matter was settled.
After gathering his thoughts, Liu Yulong continued, describing his vision for a more distant future:
"After the Luzon army had largely controlled the Luzon Islands, it continued its offensive southwestward to control Borneo."
"After the Burmese settlement forces controlled Johor and Malacca, they planned to cross the strait to attack and control Palembang and Java, ultimately driving the Dutch out of Southeast Asia as well."
"By then, Taiwan, Luzon, Borneo, Malacca, Johor, Myanmar and other places will be able to form a circle, encompassing the South China Sea, Siam and Vietnam."
"The imperial court resettled people in this area to cultivate the land, gradually replacing local chieftains with centrally appointed officials, and registering them as commoners."
"The land of Southeast Asia is large enough to accommodate hundreds of millions of people. Once all of this land is cultivated, the heartland of the Han Dynasty will not be as crowded as it is now."
These arrangements were all perfectly reasonable assumptions, and the surrounding noble generals clasped their hands in agreement once more.
"Your Majesty is wise."