Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 331: Nanyang Situation Settled

Since the early eighteenth century, as Thailand's influence on the Malay Peninsula increased, the native kingdoms in the north and central parts of the peninsula were required to pay tribute of honeysuckle to the Thai king every three years as a symbol of submission.

Honeysuckle, also known as golden flower, is two small trees carefully carved from gold and silver, about 1 meter high, decorated with expensive pearls, crystals and silk.

According to the actual purchasing power standards of the 1880s and 1890s, the total value of two honeysuckle trees was approximately equal to 60,000 taels of silver. The population of the Malay states generally ranged from 30,000 to 50,000 and 200,000 to 300,000. The annual fiscal revenue of the state government, in addition to the land taxes paid by its subjects, came from increased income from coastal commercial trade.

For the monarchs of coastal princely states such as Songkhla, Kelantan and Pattani, 50,000 or 60,000 taels of silver could be squeezed out of their fiscal revenue in three years. However, for the princely governments of inland areas such as Yala, Trang and Phattalun, 50,000 or 60,000 taels of silver was a huge burden. After paying the tribute, there was often not much money left in the government's fiscal revenue.

The Thai government's high financial exploitation policy towards the Malay states was the main factor leading to the alienation between the state kingdoms and the central government of Thailand. As time entered the 19th century, more and more Chinese people continued to flock to Southeast Asia to make a living, which led to a surge in the number of Chinese immigrants in the states of the Malay Peninsula. The influx of a large number of young and middle-aged Chinese laborers boosted the tin mining and crop planting industries in the Malay Peninsula, bringing valuable financial revenue to the state governments. Thanks to the economic benefits created by Chinese immigrants, the monarchs of the Malay states were able to respond to the Thai government's tribute demands in a relatively relaxed economic environment.

But on the other hand, the important geographical location and rich tin resources of the Malay Peninsula also attracted the attention of the Dutch and the British. First, the Dutch destroyed the Malacca Kingdom and occupied the southern part of the Malay Peninsula. Then the British entered Southeast Asia, replaced the Dutch, and took control of the Malay Peninsula and North Borneo. The intervention of British forces changed the old power structure of the Malay Peninsula. Witnessing that the native states that originally belonged to them were secretly infiltrated and controlled by the British, King Rama III of Thailand implemented an expansionary policy shortly after he came to power. He used force to invade the native states of Kedah, Kelantan, Perak and other states, and pushed the Thai government's control to the south of Perak.

The expansion of the Thais aroused the vigilance and concern of the British.

The British colonists at that time believed that Thailand was a major country in Southeast Asia, and a direct military conflict with Thailand might lead to the fall of the Thai government, leaving the French entrenched in Indochina with an opportunity to invade Thailand, thereby threatening the security of Myanmar, the flank of the Indian colony. Therefore, the British colonists gave up the plan to attack Thailand by force and instead chose political negotiations, signing a contract with the Thai government to limit the other side's expansion momentum in the Malay Peninsula.

In 1825, the British colonial government sent Penang Military Secretary Burney to Bangkok for talks and negotiations with the Thai government. After six months of negotiations, the Thai government was forced to agree to most of the conditions put forward by the British due to the military pressure from Britain and France in Indochina. They reached an agreement on the division of their spheres of influence on the Malay Peninsula and signed a peace agreement later known as the "Burney Treaty".

The peace agreement stipulates the following arrangements for the princely states in the central Malay Peninsula:
1. Britain recognized Yala, Songkhla, Narathiwat, Kelantan, Pattani, Perlis, Kedah and Terengganu as Thai vassal states, and the Thai royal family had the right to require the monarchs of the above-mentioned states to pay tribute of honeysuckle to the Bangkok Royal Palace.
The southern Malay states of Perak, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang and others were independent countries outside of Thailand and were protected by the British government.

3. Thailand cannot prevent or interfere with Britain's commercial trade with the princely kingdoms of Kelantan, Terengganu and Pattani. British merchants can trade freely in these princely states, but they cannot invade or interfere with the administrative operations of the above-mentioned areas.

The signing of the Bonnie Treaty resolved the conflicts and differences between Thailand and Britain to a certain extent. On the one hand, the British obtained the guarantee that Thailand would not continue to expand its sphere of influence in the Malay Peninsula, and gained the commercial power to enter the central region of the Malay Peninsula to engage in trade activities.

On the other hand, the treaty recognized that Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Songkhla and other states were all vassal states of Siam, and Britain recognized the status of the Thai government as a suzerain state.
The princely states of Songkhla and Terengganu are important rice producing areas and tin mining areas in the Malay Peninsula, with rich agricultural and mineral resources.

After concessions and compromises, the Thai dynasty lost the power to interfere in the princely states of Perak, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, etc., and only retained the suzerainty over the eight areas of Songkhla.

However, as parties involved in the treaty, Pili,

The rulers of Terengganu, Kelantan, Kuda and other states did not participate in the peace talks. They did not recognize the British and Thai actions that privately manipulated the fate of their countries.

In the letters from the monarchs of Terengganu, Perak and other princely states to the King of Thailand, they explained that the tribute of honeysuckle was just a respect for the King of Thailand and a symbol of friendship between the two sides. The monarchs of the princely states are still the unique rulers of the country and they have the ultimate power over national decision-making, and this power should not belong to the King of Thailand.

The reply explanation from the princely monarchs was not accepted by the Thai government. Rama III and later Rama IV had threatened to use force to punish the more than a dozen princely kingdoms and separatist city lords in the central part of the Malay Peninsula. However, the further expansion of the British and French in Indochina interrupted the Thai government's progress in armed intervention in the central region of the Malay Peninsula.

In order to avoid becoming a colony of Western countries like other countries, Rama III and subsequent Thai kings ceded dependencies and remote principalities in exchange for national peace. After the mid-nineteenth century, Thailand successively gave up its rights in Laos and western Cambodia, and ceded disputed territories bordering Myanmar to Britain.

In the direction of the Malay Peninsula, the Thai government handed over the seven princely states in the southern part of the peninsula and eight regions including Songkhla to Songkhla for management. The signing of the Treaty of Bonnie and the decentralization of administrative power to Songkhla further weakened Thailand's control over the princely states in the central part of the Malay Peninsula. When faced with military orders from the Thai government, local separatist armed forces and princely states such as Songkhla, Terengganu and Pattani often disobeyed or directly refused to accept them.

The Thai government stationed about 3000 soldiers in the central part of the Malay Peninsula. In addition to the 500 soldiers stationed in Songkhla to supervise the Wu family, the total number of soldiers in the three provinces of Phattalun, Trang and Satun in the north of Songkhla was about 2400. In Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Kelantan, the total number of indigenous soldiers was about 4200.

In view of the military distribution of Thailand and the various princely kingdoms, Mei Dongxing, Li Wencai, Chen Shangfa and Chen Xingui discussed and made tactical arrangements.

First, Chen Xinggui led 900 Nanyang Corps soldiers and 1100 Songkhla troops to disarm 500 Thai troops outside Songkhla city. At the same time, after sending the 500 Thai troops out of Songkhla Province, 2000 soldiers were deployed in the northern part of Songkhla to prevent possible retaliatory attacks by the Thai army.

1800. 900 Nanyang Corps soldiers and Songkhla troops were placed under the command of Chen Shangfa, responsible for eliminating the indigenous troops in Pattani, Narathiwat, Yala and Kelantan.

After arranging the battle plan, Mei Dongxing reminded, "Patani is an ancient country in Southeast Asia. Taogong and Yala were once ruled by Patani for nearly a hundred years. The local king of Patani has a lot of influence in the two places. Therefore, the focus of the southward expedition to the four places is to occupy Patani and capture the local king of Patani, so as not to give them the opportunity to unite and delay the army's advance."

"The land distance between Songkhla and Pattani is only 40 to 50 miles. The battle will begin tomorrow. Our army will land on the sea in warships and attack the palace of the Pattani local king. If nothing goes wrong, we can occupy the palace and capture the Pattani local king within half a day, and end the main battle in Pattani within two days."

"Very good, all units have been repaired and prepared. Everyone return to the barracks. Both armies will set out at noon tonight!"…………

1879年10月11日凌晨，2000南洋军团与宋卡军队组成的联合部队包围了城外泰国军营，500泰国军队解除武装后，被600余宋卡军队押解着送出宋卡府。

At 10 a.m. on October 11, 7 soldiers of the Nanyang Corps boarded six transport ships and, with the assistance of five gunboats, stormed the Pattani Palace and captured the Pattani local king, Sumansha IV, alive.

On October 10, 15 Narathiwa indigenous troops were defeated and surrendered, and 1100 Nanyang Corps and Songkhla coalition forces entered the capital of Narathiwa Province. On the 2000th, except for the 18 Songkhla troops who stayed in Narathiwa and Pattani, the remaining 700 Nanyang Corps soldiers and 1800 Songkhla soldiers moved south along the coastline and arrived in Kota Bharu, the capital of Kelantan, in the evening of the same day. On October 200, Kota Bharu was captured, and the Kelantan local king took advantage of the chaos to flee out of the city towards Terengganu three hours before the city was captured.

On October 10, the Nanyang Army wiped out the main indigenous armed forces in Kelantan, and then stationed troops in the border area with Terengganu and no longer advanced southward. On October 22, a joint force of Songkhla and the Nanyang Army set out from Pattani and occupied Yala Province. At this point, the four provinces and one state were completely under the control of the Nanyang Army and Songkhla.

Terengganu, Perlis and Kedah, which bordered the area controlled by the Nanyang Army, were nominally under the jurisdiction of Songkhla.

After witnessing the Nanyang Army's rapid offensive like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, the local kings of the three states gathered together. On the one hand, they sent indigenous soldiers to garrison the border areas to guard against the attacks of the opposing army day and night. On the other hand, they joined forces with the Kelantan local king who had lost his territory to write a letter to Frederick, the Governor of the Straits Settlements, begging the colonial government to send troops to support and help the Kelantan local king regain his territory.

After receiving requests for reinforcements from the four local kings, Frederick immediately sent people to negotiate with the Nanyang Army, and then sent a telegram to the London government and Shabul, the advisor to Thailand, to report the changes in the Malay Peninsula and to inquire whether Songkhla's military actions were authorized by the Thai government.

On October 10, the Thai government responded that the Songkhla army's military action was an autonomous act and the Thai government was not aware of it in advance.

At the same time, Songkhla Lord Wu Jin sent someone to explain that the Songkhla army's military action to unify four prefectures and one state was Songkhla's internal affairs and was not instructed or instigated by any external forces. Songkhla's military actions would stop here. They were willing to respect Britain's interests in Terengganu, Kedah and Perlis and would not make any military unification moves against the three places.

The British government had originally tacitly accepted that the four provinces and one state were under the jurisdiction of Songkhla, and after receiving a guarantee from Songkhla that it would not take back the management rights of the two states and one city, the London government quickly made a decision to refuse to send troops to support the local king of Kelantan, and then instructed the Straits Settlements to maintain the existing order on the Malay Peninsula, appease the local kings of Kedah, Terengganu and Perlis, and then gradually bring the three places under the direct management of the Straits Settlements.

During the war on the Malay Peninsula, a small team of special forces from the local area, under the protection of old Lan Fang families such as Luo Yibao, entered the capital of the Lan Fang Company, Dongwanlu. On October 10, after more than ten days of investigation, they found out that more than 24 Han special forces were lying in ambush on the way back from the Liu family father and son, and then ended their lives with two rounds of more than bullets.

After the death of the Liu father and son, the forces attached to them were leaderless and in disarray, and were immediately eliminated by the seven major families including Luo Yibao, as well as the armed forces of the Taiping Society hidden in Borneo. Therefore, after less than a week of turmoil, when the Dutch colonists had no time to intervene in the internal regime change of Lan Fang by force, Luo Yibao and others quickly took over and filled the power vacuum left by the Liu father and son.

Thanks to Tu Haitao, Yuming Daoren, and Xiao Shuchongor Tao for their support!
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(End of this chapter)