The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 799 I Really Want to Improve!
"Your Majesty, the Embroidered Uniform Guard has secretly reported that Lagrange, the headmaster of the Mathematical Academy of the East-West Friendship Academy of Xing Tang Taiping Prefecture, and others intend to return to France."

It was truly a case of one problem leading to another. Mo Zibu took the secret report, examined it carefully, and then asked, "Did Louis XVIII send a letter to recruit them, or did the Directory of France send someone in secret?"

The Great Yu was probably the only major power in the world that did not declare war on the French Directory, and the two sides maintained a minimum level of contact.

Therefore, the government can send people to Dayu, but they will certainly be under close surveillance and movement restrictions.

"No, it's because Dean Lagrange and others believe that the revolutionaries in France are not as crazy as they were five years ago. They think that the basic needs of scientists and scholars in France will no longer be a problem, so they want to go back."

Indeed, it wasn't a problem. Mo Zibu nodded, because historically, even if they hadn't come to Dayu, apart from Lavoisier, who had made too many enemies and was a bit reckless, everyone else was safe.

After all, the French revolutionary government had not evolved to the point of being obsessed with practicing Marxism against its will like Pope.

Pope was the one who truly mastered the art of revolution in the old revolutionary base of Paris; the early French revolutionary government did not yet possess such destructive power.

Therefore, even if they stay in France, there are no security issues.

These valuable French scientists came to Dayu partly out of sympathy for Louis XVI and Princess Charlotte, and impulsively agreed to go with Princess Charlotte.

Another part was simply scared by Mo Zibu. Since they were caught up in the situation, none of them knew if they would really be alright, so taking the opportunity to hide in the East for a few years was a good choice.

“Great Confucian scholars, longing for their homeland and never forgetting their roots, are of noble character. We should not stop them, but our Great Yu cannot let them leave at the moment.”

Mo Zibu said calmly, then looked at his fourth son, Prince Mo Zhouzhe of Wanxiang, beside him.

When his eldest son, Asen, left China for Anxi, Mo Zibu ordered Mo Zhouzhe not to return to China to avoid suspicion.

Therefore, after finishing the task of sending British Indian troops and overseeing the suppression of the Guangnan and Vientiane kingdoms, Mo Zhouzhe planned to stay in Vientiane City to rest for a while.

However, this kid was destined to be a workaholic, and Mo Zibu didn't give him much time to rest before specially recalling him.

“Your third uncle, Prince Lu, wants to return to live out his old age in peace, but he is afraid that he cannot withstand the storms at sea. So he requests to travel overland to Persia before sailing. However, Napoleon Bonaparte is stirring up trouble on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean and cannot come over. Therefore, I want you to go to Europe to pick him up.”

Upon hearing his father's words, Mo Zhouzhe, being such a clever 'child,' immediately understood what his good father wanted to do.

This is just sending him to destabilize Europe and reignite the flames of war that had already shown signs of stopping.

"Your Majesty believes that Europe will certainly continue to fight fiercely, but whether the fighting will escalate to a point of chaos remains to be seen."

If I arrive in Europe and find that their relations have eased, then something will be necessary to escalate their conflict, or at least to make the Habsburg family determined to fight the Directory in France to the death.

As a time traveler, Mo Zibu naturally knew that the Europeans would not stop their internal strife and would definitely continue to fight each other.

But all of this is based on the historical premise that Europe was equivalent to the whole world, or that Europe was the master of the whole world.

In Europe at that time, whoever became the hegemon of Europe would rightfully become the world hegemon. With such great benefits, people would naturally fight tooth and nail to the death.

But at this time, things were not like that. The Great Yu was still firmly established in the East. Even if someone became the hegemon of Europe, as long as they did not unify Europe, they would not even have the qualifications to challenge the world hegemon.

Having lost the allure of being a global hegemon, who knows if these countries' thoughts and actions will change?

Therefore, he wanted to send his fourth brother, Ah Zhe, who was the most politically talented and ruthless besides the eldest brother, Ah Sen, to Europe, so that the boy could judge the situation and make sure that the Europeans would fight each other.

To throw Europe into chaos now and prevent Lagrange and others from returning home is just a minor, incidental act.

Looking at his shrewd son, Mo Zibu knew he wouldn't feel comfortable letting his son go to Europe if his son hadn't said those words.

The emperor extended his right hand and raised three fingers.

"We can purchase textiles worth one million pounds, or three and a half million silver dollars, annually from the Kingdom of England to offset part of their trade deficit."

At the same time, we can agree to the British Indian government's annexation of the Sikh Empire and the Masor Kingdom, and request King George III to send a special envoy to discuss the border with our country.

The Indians of the Mausole Kingdom are a bunch of idiots. They came to grovel before the Great Yu after being beaten up by the English, but once the English retreated, they wanted to shut themselves off and become mountain kings.

Their main strategy was to get something for nothing, treating the Great Yu as a kind and honest people who wanted to fight the English for free. This disgusted our Emperor Mo, so we decided to take this opportunity to exchange their benefits with the English.

However, one thing needs to be made clear: Mozibu will not allow the Kingdom of England to reunite the Indian subcontinent into a single country, as it has historically done.

Even if the ultimate goal of this kind of integration is to make it easier for England to frantically suck the blood of India, it still won't work.

Damn it, the English did their thing and left, leaving the Great Yu with a stinking latrine right on their doorstep. That won't do.

Furthermore, allowing British India to annex the Sikh Empire would essentially mean that the upper and middle reaches of the Ganges, the Indus River basin, and the area surrounding Kashmir would fall under English influence, so the border would have to be formally negotiated.

"Father, regarding the border issue, where is our bottom line?" Mo Zhouzhe also keenly considered this question.

Mozibu chuckled, “Most of Kashmir is not open to negotiation, especially the plateau glaciers in the Indus River source area, which must be in our hands.”

Emperor Mohd vaguely remembered that after India took control of the mountainous region of Kashmir, it built several dams at the source of the Indus River, which basically controlled more than 60% of the water source and has always been an important tool for India to control Pakistan.

"We can promise the Habsburg family that we will not support your third uncle and his family in splitting the empire."

As long as Franz II continues to fight against the Directory in France, the annual chartered trade with the Kingdom of Austria can continue.

In addition, your tenth brother, A-Zhu, can go to Vienna for a period of time after he comes of age.

His marriage to Maria Lucia can be arranged according to Eastern customs, with us providing a large dowry and the Habsburg family not required to reciprocate with a dowry of equal value.

“Actually…” Mo Zhouzhe hesitated for a moment, then said, “Father, I do not recommend enfeoffing my tenth brother to Ceylon, because that would be too unattractive to the Habsburg family.”

Ceylon was actually quite attractive to the Habsburg family, which didn't have many overseas colonies. However, given that Franz II only had one daughter, Maria Ludovica Lucia, it might not have been as appealing to him as originally thought.

Well, actually, Franz II's second daughter, Maria Leopoldina, had already been born at this time, but it was too far away for the Great Yu to know.

"Where do you want to send your tenth brother?" Mo Zibu looked at Mo Zhouzhe with some curiosity.

"The Caucasus region." Mo Zhouzhe knew some of the plans of Prince Lu's son, Mo Gongze, and knew that his cousin intended to take control of Istanbul, so he quickly chose the location.

"Father, the Caucasus region is located between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Its terrain is self-contained, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. Moreover, to the west of the Black Sea lies the Habsburg family, or more precisely, the sphere of influence of my third uncle's family in the future."

The western shore of the Caspian Sea is the Transoxiana province under the Anxi mission. With our elder brother currently weakening Persia in Anxi, we are confident that we can take this place.

"Once we gain control of the Caucasus region, it will connect the two seas, link Eurasia, and fulfill Father Emperor's hope of forging a united front with Europe."

Mo Zibu quickly pulled out a map and looked at it. It was indeed true. If they controlled the Caucasus region, they could go west to the Black Sea and reach the coast of what would later become Romania, and go east to the Caspian Sea and directly into the middle of the river.

With the acquisition of this place by the Great Yu, the connection between Eurasia became much more obvious. The reason it was obvious was because geographically it was not easy to travel, but psychologically and in terms of mindset, it was a completely different story.

"Moreover, the Caucasus region is sandwiched between Tsarist Russia and Persia. Now that Persia has been crippled by us, it is convenient for Tsarist Russia to conquer this area, and the situation is very dangerous."

"If we don't take action, once Tsar Rus' consolidates his rule here, we'll have no chance left."

Mo Zibu thought about it and realized it made sense. Historically, when Tsarist Russia conquered the Caucasus region, it seemed to have fought several Russo-Polish wars with Persia. In this timeline, the Persian King Muhammad Agha had been captured by Li Xianwen in the Transoxiana, which was indeed beneficial for Tsarist Russia to control the region.

"It should be possible, but it depends on your older brother; otherwise, it will be too late for us."

Mo Zibu racked his brains and suddenly realized that to realize this strategy, it depended on how quickly his son, Asen, reacted.

Mo Zibu had just figured out that if the Anxi army of the Great Yu could easily defeat the Persian army, then the fighting power of the army that Tsarist Russia deployed to the Caucasus region was only so-so, otherwise there would have been no need to fight several Russo-Polish wars.

However, because he hadn't thought about this issue before, his reaction now is bound to be quite delayed.

So the only hope right now is whether Anzai's eldest son, Asen, can foresee this move and act ahead of time.

If Asen makes advance arrangements, tripping up Tsarist Russia in the Caucasus region, or causing trouble on the northern shore of the Caspian Sea so that Tsarist Russia cannot focus its attention on the Caucasus region, then there is still a chance to fight.

Thinking about all this, Mo Zibu deeply felt how important a son who could help him was, so he turned his attention to Mo Zhouzhe.

Seeing his father looking at him, Mo Zhouzhe waved his hands repeatedly, "Father, I can't do it."

"Why not? Your tenth brother is only seventeen years old this year. He's still competing with others in the Chengde Mulan Hunting Grounds to see who can hunt the most and who can get the highest test scores. If we're hoping he can go to the Caucasus, it will take at least seven or eight years."

But you, my son, are different. You're capable and ambitious, perfect for the Caucasus."

“But I have no one to use!” Mo Zhouzhe spread his hands. “The Caucasus region is not a good place. My maternal grandparents’ family has no help. I’m afraid even if I offer money, I can’t recruit anyone.”

But the tenth brother is different. The Qian family has been causing trouble in Jiangnan all these years, as long as they…” Mo Zhouzhe said, then suddenly realized his mistake and stopped talking.

Well, over the years, the Qian family has relied on the influence of the brothers Qian Daxin and Qian Dazhao, who were ministers, and the virtuous concubine Qian Shi. Of course, Mo Zibu also deliberately indulged them. They have been running rampant in the gray area, and their crimes could be listed for three days and three nights.

If the emperor had these leverages and wanted them to assist in managing the Caucasus, the Qian family of Jiading would have no choice but to obey the emperor's orders if they wanted to maintain their status or even their lives.

As for Mo Zhouzhe, his maternal grandfather's family, the Nguyen clan of Guangnan, had long since fallen on hard times, and indeed, even with money, he couldn't find anyone willing to go with him to the Caucasus region, which was not much different from exile.

"And if I go, I reckon Brother Aze will start to overthink things again."

Mo Zhouzhe gave the most important reason: Mo Zibu could find a way to solve all the previous problems, but he couldn't solve this one.

Since Mo Gongze is to work hard in Europe, he still needs to be given benefits, and even coaxed a bit. Otherwise, if he is not so determined to promote Sinicization in the Balkans, it will be Da Yu who will be in trouble.

"The third point is about Mo Gongze's wedding. Tell him that I, his fifth uncle, have prepared an interest-free loan of ten million silver dollars for him. This money will be disbursed within five years. It is a personal loan to him. Tell him not to forget the promise he made when he left."

Mo Zibu revealed the third weapon he was giving Mo Zhouzhe to Europe: "And you are the one who handles this money. Keep a close eye on it and make sure it is used effectively."

After saying that, Mo Zibu waved his hand, telling Mo Zhouzhe to leave quickly, "You should leave now, otherwise if word gets out, Consort Xian will probably come and pull your ears."

Mo Zhouzhe thought about it and agreed. His mother, Ruan Shi Yuxiu, was a soft-hearted woman who would chant Amitabha Buddha's name whenever something happened. He couldn't rely on her and was afraid that she might actually be cornered by Consort Xian and her men in the palace.

However, as soon as Mo Zhouzhe stepped out, he encountered a graceful and beautiful woman at the door. Upon closer inspection, he realized, "Hey, isn't this my aunt Ruan Yuwan?"
Mo Zhouzhe was extremely familiar with his aunt; he could almost be said to have been raised by her.

However, my aunt's life was not good. She once wanted to be a talented woman and studied until she was twenty-four years old before getting married. However, she had only been married for two years and had no children when her husband, Uncle Chen Taili, died of illness. She never remarried after that.

"Hiss!" Mo Zhouzhe took a deep breath. His father really knew how to play games. His widowed sister-in-law, oh my god!
Moreover, her aunt Ruan Yuwan is only thirty-one years old this year and is incredibly beautiful. To her father, who is fifty-one years old this year, she looks like a young girl.

"Auntie, save me!" Mo Zhouzhe knelt down with a thud, looking at Ruan Yuwan with pleading eyes.

Ruan Yuwan blushed deeply. She tried to dodge left and right, but who would have thought that this kid would come out from such a secluded side door and bump into her directly.

Fortunately, it was getting dark, so her nephew, who was nine years younger than her, shouldn't be able to see clearly.

"What have you done now?" Ruan Yuwan said irritably. Every time Mo Zhouzhe caused trouble, she would inevitably be implicated. It had been like this since they were little.

Mo Zhouzhe could only quickly recount the events, and Ruan Yuwan nearly fainted after hearing it.

Although she is indeed currently favored by her brother-in-law, the emperor, her status is still unclear, she is a widow, and Consort Qian is wealthy and powerful with many helpers in the palace. Ruan Yuwan may not be able to withstand it.

"How could you provoke Consort Xian? She didn't even provoke you. Why did you drag your tenth brother to that godforsaken place?" Ruan Yuwan said irritably.

Facing his closest relative, his aunt with whom he had grown up, Mo Zhouzhe could only tell the truth.

"Wanxiang Kingdom is too poor. It's a godforsaken place. If I go to Wanxiang Kingdom, my life will be ruined."

Five years ago, my father said he would send me to Hanchuan to replace my second brother and guard the region, but all these years, nothing has come of it.

I think Father is hesitant. After all, I have many capable brothers, and Father has enough sons and grandsons to choose from.

Therefore, I must act unexpectedly to demonstrate my abilities to my father, so that he will trust me to control the millions of Burmese in Hanchuan and simultaneously remain there to deal with the English government in India.

"If you really want to be the Prince of Hanchuan, can you be a good Prince of Hanchuan?" Ruan Yuwan asked through gritted teeth.

The Nguyen clan of Guangnan was small in number and could not provide Mo Chau Zhe with any assistance. On the contrary, the Nguyen clan, which had neither manpower nor military merit and status, still had to rely on Mo Chau Zhe as a powerful figure to live a good life.

"Yes, Auntie, I can!" Mo Zhouzhe nodded repeatedly. "Auntie, even if I only get half of Hanchuan Province, it's still a large country with a population of three million and a territory of thousands of miles!"
"Auntie, waaaaah, I really want to be the King of Hanchuan! Waaaaah, if I could become the King, our Nguyen clan of Guangnan would have hope!"

Ruan Yuwan nodded and kicked Mo Zhouzhe in the butt, telling him to get lost.

After her nephew rolled away, she left the imperial city and headed towards a nunnery outside the city.

His third sister, Ruan Yuxuan, who is thirty-three years old this year, is here.

The Ruan sisters were both unlucky. Her husband died two years after she got married, and her third sister's husband started having affairs less than a year after she got married. She couldn't stand it and divorced him. After that, she became a vegetarian and lived a semi-monastic life.

. . . .

As night fell, Mo Zibu pushed open the palace gate and saw Ruan Yuxuan, with her long, flowing hair and exquisitely beautiful features, like a lotus flower emerging from the water, kneeling at the entrance.

The plain linen robe was a little short, and as she slowly lowered her head to kowtow, a section of her snow-white waist slipped down, so slender it seemed almost too delicate to grasp, and in contrast to her rounded hips, the proportions were astonishing.

"Ah Xuan, you're too thin. Eating vegetarian food all the time isn't good for your health!" Mo Zibu tried to lower his voice, but found that it seemed to tremble a little.

His sister-in-law is a fierce woman. She has an elegant appearance but a strong and virtuous character. It's not easy for her to act like she's at the mercy of anyone.

"Does Your Majesty mean I've been eating too well and have gotten a little chubby?" A voice sounded at the door, and Ruan Yuwan appeared with a smile.

One woman was as elegant as a lotus emerging from water, while the other possessed a captivating allure and fiery passion, resembling a vibrant red peony.

Kneeling on the ground, Ruan Yuxuan raised her head, revealing her slender, fair neck, like a swan. "Your Majesty, I thank you for your concern."

Ruan Yuwan chuckled and said with a double meaning, "It seems Your Majesty will have to eat a little more tonight, hehe!"

(End of this chapter)