I

Siam, Ayutthaya.

King Parasai Dong is already old and sluggish. He is willing to obey the Chinese emperor. In addition to traditional political inertia, another reason is that he does not want to make any mistakes.

"Father, the Chinese envoy sent someone to say that the Governor of the Netherlands was disrespectful to His Majesty the Emperor," said the little prince Narai. "The Han people have an idiom, which is called the emperor's humiliation and the death of his ministers. It means that when the monarch is insulted, the ministers should die for the monarch. . Since my country is our suzerainty, our country should take action. Please ask my father to expel the Dutch in Ayutthaya and Liukun immediately!"

Parasay Dong said: "You are too young and don't know how to govern a country. For China, just obey from a distance. There is no need to harm your own interests for them."

Narai retorted: "Our country's products are not only sold to the Dutch. Even if the Dutch are expelled, some are still bought by the Chinese. How can this be said to harm its own interests?"

The eldest prince Zhaofa guessed, but he was a slippery man. He smiled and smoothed things over: "The Chinese envoy just sent people over to ask us to help as much as possible. They can send 500 soldiers and slowly go to Malacca. As for the Dutch in the country, We impose heavy taxes on the goods they purchase, so that we can not only pay business to China, but also take the opportunity to earn more gold and silver from the Dutch.”

"This method is very good!" Palasay was very satisfied with his eldest son and thought he was very political.

"Father," Na Lai said quickly, "we can't just look at what's in front of us. Taungoo (Myanmar) in the north is aggressive. If we try our best to help China this time, we will definitely gain the goodwill of the Chinese monarchs and ministers, which means China owes us a favor. If in the future, if If we are invaded by Toungoo, our envoys will ask China for assistance, and the Chinese emperor will definitely be willing to send troops!"

Parasai Dong waved his hand and said: "We will talk about the future matters later. I want to rest. You can step back."

Seeing that he could not be persuaded, Narai retreated and said: "Father, please appoint me as the commander-in-chief of the army and lead 500 soldiers to help China attack Malacca!"

Parasay Dong was indifferent to this and said, "If you like fighting, then go ahead."

"Thank you, father!" Na Lai bowed and exited.

In the history of Thailand, there have been several "great emperors", and this little prince is one of them "King Narai".

In another time and space, news of the fall of Yunnan and the escape of Emperor Yongli reached Siam. King Narai was prepared to welcome Emperor Yongli to take refuge. As a result, Emperor Yongli went to Taungoo, Siam's mortal enemy. King Narai was worried about his safety and personally led his troops to the Thai-Burmese border to take action.

King Nalai originally wanted Dongyu to release people and welcome Emperor Yongli to go south, but news came that Emperor Yongli had been killed.

In desperation, King Narai led his troops back to the capital to offer sacrifices to Li Ding National Temple, and held Buddhist services every year on the death anniversaries of Chongzhen and Yongli.

Later, the Manchu Qing Dynasty forced Siam to surrender and ordered it to hand over the golden seal edict given by the Ming Dynasty and replace it with the golden seal edict given by the Manchu Qing Dynasty. King Nalai did not dare to resist, but at the same time he was unwilling to betray the Ming Dynasty, so he asked the craftsmen to imitate the gold seal and hand it over, and secretly hid the original one.

At this moment, Nalai, who was still a little prince, returned to his mansion and immediately summoned his two advisors and friends.

A good friend is Han Chinese named Yang Dongkui.

A good friend was a Greek named Constance Varcon.

Na Lai said with a smile: "Mr. Yang's clever plan. As expected, my father did not agree to expel the Dutch, but allowed me to lead troops to attack Malacca."

Yang Dongkui said: "To put it in a common saying, it means asking for high prices and paying back on the ground."

Constance Valkan said: "The damn Dutch have been occupying Malacca. If they piss off China this time, they will definitely suffer a big loss!"

"Two gentlemen, come with me." Narai said.

Yang Dongkui handed over his hand and said: "It is not only to help the mother country, but also to help the prince. Of course, it is obligatory at this time."

Valkan is a Greek adventurer. He drew his sword and said, "We haven't fought in a long time. I will use the skull of the Dutchman to bring back to Europe as my adventure collection!"

A few days later, Prince Narai took two advisers and 500 soldiers to sail south.

Historically, his father would die of illness in a few years, and his brother was killed by his uncle to usurp power just after he succeeded to the throne. Prince Narai led troops to kill his uncle and regain the throne. Within a year, Thailand had four kings.

During the reign of King Narai, Siam even sent envoys to Europe for diplomatic visits and were warmly received by King Louis XIV of France.

The two kings of the East and the West even became pen pals, and the relationship between Thailand and France quickly heated up.

At that time, the Netherlands was frightened and felt that its trading position in Siam was not secure. Unexpectedly, the arrogant French took the initiative to send a big gift. The French fleet bombarded the Siam port inexplicably, trying to do business with Siam as a conqueror, and the diplomatic achievements of the two kings were in vain.

King Narai's active and open trade policy also dissatisfied many local businessmen and nobles. When King Narai was seriously ill, his generals launched a rebellion and killed all the Siamese royal family. Siam has since closed itself off to the country, and has rapidly declined from its peak state.

This great emperor in Thai history is inexplicably excited at this moment.

His father and brother asked the army to move slowly, but Prince Narai urged the ship to speed up. When they arrived in Johor, the Sultan of Johor was still dilly-dallying, saying that he was waiting for more coalition forces to come and join forces.

"The soldiers are so quick, how can we wait any longer?" Prince Narai was very unhappy.

After repeated urging, the Sultan of Johor finally gave the order to set off.

Among the coalition forces, there were 3,000 Johor soldiers, 500 Siamese soldiers, 800 Pahang soldiers, 400 Dadi soldiers, 450 Dingjialu soldiers, and 280 Sulok soldiers.

Johor has many soldiers, Prince Ibrahim of Johor is the commander-in-chief, and the generals from other countries are all deputy commander-in-chief.

Moreover, all Johor soldiers had matchlocks, a total of three thousand matchlocks!

On Prince Narai's side, on the other hand, there were only 150 matchlock soldiers, and the remaining 350 were armed with cold weapons.

…

The northwestmost point of Sumatra Island, Kota Ratcha City (Banda Aceh).

This is the capital of the Aceh Sultanate. The navies of China and the Banten Kingdom cruised back and forth in the Strait of Malacca, intercepting all Dutch merchant ships encountered in the attack. Their supply point is also close. If there is no fresh water, they can dock directly at the port in Johor, just like patrolling in front of home.

The coalition fleet broke into the port of the capital of Aceh, and the Aceh fleet was frightened and fled quickly.

Twenty-one years ago, Aceh attacked Malacca and was completely annihilated by the Portuguese and Johor coalition forces. After so many years of recovery, I have finally accumulated more than 30 offshore paddle boats. How can I dare to go head-to-head with the giant ships and cannons of the Datong Navy?

"Your Highness, please." Kuang Hong said with a smile.

Prince Iskandar of the Sultanate of Pahang landed at the dock as a special envoy and was invited all the way to the royal palace in Aceh.

After meeting the Sultan of Aceh, Iskandar actually said: "Uncle, I am here on behalf of China this time."

Uncle and nephew!

The Sultan of Aceh was the prince of Pahang. When the Acehnese army attacked Johor, they also attacked Pahang and captured a prince from Pahang.

Coincidentally, this prince of Pahang is the nephew of the Sultan of Aceh. After the old sultan died without any children, the prince of Pahang succeeded to the throne inexplicably from a captive to the king of Aceh.

What do you say about the country of Aceh?

Rich, warlike, making enemies everywhere, constantly expanding, and being enemies of all surrounding countries, it was forced to form an alliance with the Netherlands.

The Sultan of Aceh asked: "I didn't provoke China, so why did the Chinese fleet come to Aceh port?"

The prince of Pahang said: "Uncle, the Netherlands insulted the Chinese emperor, and you chose to ally with the Netherlands. The Chinese envoy asked me to say that Aceh must not interfere in this war. Once Aceh sends troops, it will be equivalent to declaring war with China! "

The Sultan of Aceh thought carefully and said, "I will not send troops. Aceh will remain neutral."

The Prince of Pahang added: "You are not allowed to take the opportunity to invade Johor's territory in Sumatra, and you cannot take the opportunity to invade Sumatra! Otherwise, Aceh will not only be attacked by China, but also Johor, Pahang, Dadi, and Siam." , Dingjialu, Suluoge, and the seven countries of Sumatra jointly attack!"

The Sultan of Aceh couldn't help but swallow his saliva: "We can wait until China finishes fighting."

The coalition fleet went to Sumatra and picked up 300 soldiers from this country. Ever since, Kuang Hong, the envoy of Honglu Temple, went to Malacca with the Seven-Nation Allied Forces - including the Chinese army, it should be the Eight-Nation Allied Forces.

Historically, John Neuhof, the author of "The Dutch Envoy's First Visit to China", lived in Malacca at this moment.

He is a travel writer who enjoys venturing around the world and writing books about what he sees and hears. He was first employed by the Dutch West India Company to explore the tropical rain forests of Brazil, and later worked for the Dutch East India Company and was transferred to work in India. He had just been transferred to Malacca not long ago.

John Neuhof's greatest influence on Europe was that he brought about a "Chinese style" in European aristocratic circles.

In the past, European writers, even if they wrote in eclectic ways, had no pictures and no truth. But Neuhof was also a painter. He drew Chinese architecture, clothing, and furniture, including the Great Baoen Temple in Nanjing. Europeans also learned its true appearance through his sketches.

As Neuhof's books and paintings spread, European aristocrats liked to use silk to imitate Chinese clothing, and gentlemen and ladies wore Chinese clothing to have parties and have fun.

At this moment, Neuhof is recording everything in front of him:

"The city (Melaka) is large and has a large population. Although the streets are wide and lined with trees, the houses are built densely..."

"The center of the city is a hill, with St. Paul's Church on the top, where the Dutch could worship. The churches and monasteries built by the Portuguese have fallen into decay. Most of the houses are made of bamboo, which survives well during the dry season. Of course, there are also many stone houses. They are generally low, not very big, with only a few rooms..."

"The castle was built by the Portuguese and is located at the foot of the mountain, facing the sea, in order to respond to battles during wars. The castle is composed of a fortress and walls facing the sea on all sides, strangling the mouth of the Malacca River in the south. During the nearly one hundred years of Portuguese rule Within thirty years, the fortress was continuously expanded, and the surrounding walls were also extended to the foot of St. Paul's Hill... It was being continuously expanded by the Dutch, eventually forming an irregular pentagonal bastion group..."

"People of different races live here, and the ruler is of course a Dutch citizen. In addition, there are Malays, Nyonya (mixed-race Chinese), Kerin (Hindu) and Eurasians. Of course, there are also Javanese, Guji Latins, Tamils, even people from places like Luzon and Brunei..."

"Each ethnic group has its own settlement. For example, the Dutch live in Helen Street and Jonker Street, the Chinese and Nyonya live in Goldmead Street and Ersburg Street, and the Kelin merchants live in Corridge Street. , Javanese can only live in the suburbs outside the city..."

"The division of residential areas is not based on race, but on wealth and occupation. This is the most loosely managed of all colonial cities in the Netherlands... Wealthy Chinese and Nyonya, as well as those Klings Businessmen, with extremely high neighborhood autonomy..."

"God! What did I see? A fleet is coming. It is composed of ships from multiple countries. They are carrying the castle's artillery and constantly bombarding the Malacca Castle..."

"The city was full of noise and chaos. From time to time, shells fell into the streets and destroyed houses in the city..."

"The enemy landed in small boats. They entered the city and ordered all residents to evacuate to the port. Fortunately, I am an employee of the East India Company. I usually work and live in the castle..."

"The residents of all ethnic groups in the city have been evacuated by the enemy..."

"It's another new day. I heard that the Chinese use food to hire Malays from the suburbs as servants. These Malays are very cheap. A small bag of food can send them to death. They are helping the enemy dig Trench...and our castle is defended by only 180 Dutch soldiers..."