The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 786 The Great Purge in Southeast Asia

Quang Nam Province, Dinh Bien Prefecture (also known as Dien Bien Prefecture), is a mountainous and densely forested area that has historically been a place where those who lost in the political struggles of the Bac Ha Plain (Red River Plain) of North Vietnam licked their wounds.

Since the Huang family, the leader of the Beihe Righteous Army who had been entrenched here for twenty years, returned to their ancestral home, changed their surname back to Mo, and obtained the emperor's permission, Huang Gongzhi's son Huang Gongzan changed his name to Mo Shanzan, was granted the title of Earl of Dingbian and left, this place has gradually been occupied by the newly arrived losers of the Beihe Plain.

Most of these losers opposed Mo Zibu. To be precise, they did not oppose Mo Zibu becoming the King of Annam, but they opposed Mo Zibu turning them into Han Chinese.

However, the process of Da Yu taking over Nanyang was not as easy as it seemed on the surface.

If we start counting from 1776 or 1777, when Mo Zibu recovered the lost territories, more than 30,000 rebellions occurred in Southeast Asia within a period of 21 or 22 years.

Among them, there were more than 200 rebellions involving more than 5,000 people and affecting at least one prefecture.

In other words, there are more than a thousand small-scale rebellions a year, averaging three to four per day. There are also more than four large-scale rebellions a year.

Of course, these three or four incidents a day are basically small-scale disturbances involving a few hundred, or even a hundred or so people, at most a thousand or so.

The largest of the major rebellions was the one launched by Phaya Chakri and his brother (Rama I), which directly destroyed the capital of Siam, and the rebellion of more than 100,000 people launched by King Meng Yun of Burma and King Maha Kunthamada of Arakan.

Moreover, the rebellions were mainly concentrated in the early and middle periods, and there has been very little unrest in the last decade because the proportion of Han Chinese in Southeast Asia has reached more than 75 percent.

"As far back as I can remember, large ships from Tangshan have never stopped, and every year I can see countless Tang people heading south with their families."

The first to arrive were the Hoklo people from southern Fujian, the Chaozhou people from eastern Guangdong, the Hakka people from northern Guangdong, the Gao people from western Guangdong, and the Cantonese people who spoke Cantonese.

Later, more and more came from other places. I remember for a while a lot of people from southern Jiangxi Hakka came. I couldn't understand a word they said, but they were very capable.

At that time, there were still over 600,000 Cham people in the area from Guiren Prefecture to Jiading Prefecture. These Hakka people from southern Jiangxi, armed with matchlock guns, spears, and long knives, numbered 30,000 to 40,000 and killed almost all of the at least 300,000 Cham men in just two or three years.

In Dingbian Prefecture, the one reminiscing about the past is the fourth prince, Mo Zhouzhe, and the ones listening to him are a group of young officers dressed in the latest military uniforms.

"I still remember that day when I went to sweep the grave of my maternal grandfather who was murdered in Guiren Prefecture. When I opened the door of the house on the main street of the prefecture, I saw more than a dozen Hakka people from southern Jiangxi walking past the door."

They were dressed in coarse cloth clothes, wearing straw hats to shield their heads from the sun, with only tattered shorts on their lower bodies and straw sandals on their feet. They were tall and thin, and looked like a group of refugees.

But each of them had six or seven human heads hanging from their waists. The heads were threaded through their mouths with palm leaves, then through the throats of their severed necks, and tied around their waists, swaying above their thighs with each step.

At that moment, I was so frightened that my legs went weak. It was the first time I had ever seen so many bizarre human heads, and the stench was so overwhelming that I could barely breathe. Fortunately, I didn't embarrass my father; I managed to hold it in even when I was about to urinate.

As Mo Zhouzhe spoke, a smile appeared on his face, and the surrounding officers burst into laughter. Then he continued:

"The first Hakka man from southern Jiangxi who saw me called out gratefully and pulled the others in the group to kowtow to me."

I quickly helped him up, and when our eyes met, I realized that this Hakka man from southern Jiangxi was at most three or four years older than me, and looked to be only thirteen or fourteen.

But while I was enjoying the protection of my parents and living a comfortable life, he was already serving the court and His Majesty with his blood and sweat!

After saying that, Mo Zhouzhe clapped his hands, and a woman who wasn't particularly well-built, had dark skin, and wasn't especially pretty walked out from behind him in a very generous manner.

"This is my most beloved wife. She was given to me by that Hakka boy back then."

This "Madam" does not refer to a title like "Madam So-and-so," but rather refers to one of the prince's rank-bearing consorts, specifically one of his secondary wives, ranking only below the prince's wife and secondary consorts.

Mo Zhouzhe held his wife's hand and slowly looked back, his face truly filled with doting affection. "When we first met, she was eight years old and I was ten. After that, I had my wife take care of my daily life."

For twelve years, she bore me two sons and three daughters. We have always treated each other with respect, to the point that I have no intention of marrying a princess.

"Madam, do you hate me? Or rather, do you hate those Hakka youths from southern Jiangxi back then?" Mo Zhouzhe asked slowly.

The lady's smile remained unchanged. She slowly knelt down and sat beside Mo Zhouzhe. "Your Majesty is joking. We Cham women are nothing more than property even in the tribe. Only the chief's daughter can barely be considered a person."

Since it's property, it's perfectly normal for it to be stolen and robbed. For a Cham woman, whoever feeds and clothes her, whoever gets her pregnant, is her master!

Mo Zhouzhe laughed heartily, waved for his wife to return to the inner hall, then stood up, looked sharply at the young officers around him, and said loudly:
“I talk about the past because I have realized that many of you are from the same ethnic group as me, native people from Southeast Asia.”

What I've said today is to tell you that we Han people have never judged ourselves and outsiders solely by bloodline, but rather by culture.

Everyone must remember: if you have Han blood, speak Han language, wear Han clothing, respect Han etiquette, and are loyal to the Han emperor, then you are 100% Han Chinese!

Applause erupted suddenly, and many officers stood up, looking at Mo Zhouzhe with gratitude, their palms red from clapping.

Mo Chau Tse's mother was one of the few survivors of the Nguyen clan of Quang Nam, and was Nguyen Ngoc Hieu, the elder sister of Nguyen Xiao Quang and Nguyen Phuc Anh in history.

Although the Ruan family of Guangnan claimed that their ancestors came from Fujian, Liang Qichao later wrote a biography for their family, saying that their ancestors Ruan Gan and Ruan Huang were outstanding overseas Chinese in the region.

But after so much time has passed, no one can be sure what the situation really is. Even the Nguyen family is not 100% certain that they are descendants of Han Chinese, so it is not wrong to say that the Nguyen family are natives of Southeast Asia.

The debate between the Chinese and the barbarians, a theory that was modified by shameless literati of the Yuan and Qing dynasties to focus only on culture and not bloodline, was fiercely criticized in the early days of Mo Zibu's establishment of the state, but now it is being used again.

The reason is simple: the situation has changed, and the balance of power between offense and defense has shifted.

It couldn't be used before because the Han people were in a weak position, ruled by the Manchus internally, while Westerners were gradually becoming stronger and began to covet China.

At that time, the debate between the Chinese and the barbarians was simply handing a knife to others, giving the Manchu nobles more reason to rule China, and allowing Europeans to say without any burden that if the Manchus could enter the Shanhaiguan Pass, why couldn't they enter the Yangtze River Estuary?

But now, under the rule of the Great Yu Dynasty, China has returned to the top of the world. Now it's China's turn to assimilate others, so naturally, the debate between the Chinese and the barbarians must be brought out. Otherwise, how can you govern Japan and Korea in a theoretically self-consistent way? How can you define the at least 20 million second-generation Chinese in Southeast Asia and Anxi, whose mothers are local natives? You can't treat them as natives, can you?

Meanwhile, according to Emperor Mozibu's current plan, the emperor is preparing to classify all the Zhuang, Dai, Miao, Yao and other ethnic groups in the south as Han Chinese.

In reality, do you think there's any difference between the Zhuang and Hakka people in the eyes of the Han Chinese in the north? Absolutely none!
Zhuang people from other places can't understand Zhuang, but they can understand Hakka?

Many of the Zhuang people's customs are different from those of the Han people in the north, and the Hakka people's customs are also quite different, only to varying degrees.

If we really want to categorize them, the Hakka people could actually be called the Hakka ethnic group.

Similarly, from the perspective of the Hakka people, the Han people in the north can also be classified as the northern people.

So to insist on separating the Zhuang ethnic group from the people of Guangxi is just plain stupid, creating trouble for themselves.

Similar to this are the Bai and Tujia ethnic groups, etc. Who the hell came up with this?

Amid the applause, a tall, thin, dark-skinned young officer hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

Mo Zhouzhe saw him, stretched out his hand, and gestured for him to stand up. "Tell me, where is your mother's family from? I imagine you've faced a lot of discrimination in the past, haven't you?"

The officer's eyes reddened, and he stood up, saluted Mo Zhouzhe, and replied loudly:
"Your Majesty, my mother is a Dayak from Jiaqing Province. Just as Your Majesty said, although everyone around me acknowledges that I am Han Chinese, I have suffered a lot of prejudice along the way to my studies."

As he spoke, the officer took a deep breath, "To tell you the truth, Your Majesty, I have always had the nickname of Kunlun slave, and I am often ridiculed because of my skin color!"

“Now, no one will dare to laugh at you.” Mo Zhouzhe pulled a long red token from the bamboo tube on his desk.

“When my father was in Southeast Asia, he would order his yamen runners to slap anyone who dared to speak the Yue language with this token.”

Today, I bestow this token upon you. If anyone dares to mock you again, use this token to slap them in the mouth. No matter who it is, if they cause you trouble, just say that I, Mo Zhouzhe, the fourth brother, ordered you to do it!

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" The officer was overjoyed, tears of gratitude streaming down his face. His skin color, and the discrimination he faced because of it, had become a deep-seated worry for him.

The surrounding young officers also came over to complain, and even more outrageous was an officer from Haicheng, Fujian, who said to Mo Zhouzhe with utter speechlessness:
"Your Majesty, I am a Han Chinese, and my mother is even related to Lord Hou Lin of Houguan. However, just because of her dark skin, she was treated as a native of Southeast Asia and suffered a lot of contempt."

Looking at the officer's wronged and speechless expression, Mo Zhouzhe almost burst out laughing. This was also the reason why his father, Emperor Mo Zibu, had sent him to the South Seas to pay more attention to this kind of issue.

The Great Yu Dynasty had been established for over twenty years and had few other bad habits, but the low status of foreign black slaves and Indian blacks, and the prevailing attitude among Europeans that they did not treat these people as human beings, had begun to spread to the country.

In addition, the Chinese have always regarded fair skin as beautiful and have a custom of disliking dark skin, which has led to a rather prominent problem in this regard in Dayu.

As emperor, Mo Zibu had no objection to the public's perception of white people as beautiful and black people as ugly, but it affected the court's control over Southeast Asia, to the point that many people whose mother tribes were not native to the region were also affected, so it had to be rectified.

"Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, while it is important that you support us, the native tribes, your support is only a temporary solution and not a fundamental one."

Just as the officers were complaining about their experiences, a voice rang out, but it wasn't there to cause trouble; it was actually a planted person.

Mo Zhouzhe also felt that the time was right, so he stood up and pressed his hands down, signaling everyone to listen to the officer's opinion.

“Your Majesty, the reason why people associate dark skin with natives is precisely because there are still a large number of natives in Southeast Asia. If these natives disappear, wouldn’t the problem disappear?”
There are no natives left in Southeast Asia, so who can still use the term "natives" to mock us!

This statement makes perfect sense, leaving most of the officers speechless for a moment.

“There are still nearly ten million indigenous people in Southeast Asia. Do we really have to kill so many people?” someone said cautiously. This is normal; not everyone is a murderous monster.

"Of course not. We just need to bring them out of the rainforest and let them receive Han education in the towns. They can learn our language, wear our clothes, and accept our ethics and morality. Then they will all be Han people."

That's really just saying the nice things; the real reason for arranging for this officer to speak was to give him a respectable excuse.

Behind this lies the fact that millions of indigenous people will be sent to plantations, primarily rubber plantations.

The so-called "entering towns and becoming Sinicized" actually meant becoming serfs in rubber plantations, banana plantations, sugarcane plantations, and spice plantations.

Of course, not all of these people will die, since they are all laborers, but they will not have many descendants, because poverty and destitution will accompany them throughout their lives.

In the end, at most one or two million people will survive, or more precisely, be able to have descendants.

However, after hearing these words, the officers present all felt relieved.

As long as a person has a reason that convinces them, they can get through many things.

Once these officers set their minds free, it would only be a matter of time before they wiped out Mengtiangang.

Five days later, the 20,000-strong army, with the fourth prince of the emperor, Prince Mo Zhouzhe of Wanxiang, as the supervising officer and Li Quan, the governor of Guangdong, as the general, defeated the rebels on Mengtiangang Mountain one by one. The bandit leader, Chen Guangshuo, was carried down Mengtiangang on a wooden plank and sent to Beihe to be executed by slow slicing.

Subsequently, Mo Zhouzhe entered Vientiane, the capital of his fiefdom, for the first time and began to preside over a large-scale purge of those who refused to submit to his rule. At least thirty chieftain families were wiped out, and almost all those who had previously resisted Sinicization were killed along with their entire families.

At the same time, a large-scale cleanup began in various parts of Southeast Asia. The six provinces of Taiping (Siam), Rinan (central and southern Vietnam), Hanchuan (lower Myanmar), Xinglong (Malay Peninsula), Nanji (Java), and Jiaqing (Kalimantan) launched a comprehensive search and arrest operation against the indigenous people.

As for Luzon, Da Yu was waiting for changes in the European situation. At this time, news of the Second Coalition against France had not yet arrived. Da Yu would only take action after the European countries began to gang up on the French Directory.

(End of this chapter)