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In the early Ming Dynasty, there were many states in Myanmar, including the Shan, Burmese, Baigu, Mon and other kingdoms, and the Kingdom of Dongwu was just one of them.
In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, after the Shan people took control of Ava, the Wa people could no longer bear the oppression and moved to Dongwu, which rapidly increased the strength of Dongwu.
At that time, there were frequent wars among countries in Myanmar. Dongwu was located in a remote corner, far away from the war zone, and was not destroyed by the war, so its population continued to increase.
During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, Dongwu married into the Ava Kingdom and obtained the "granary" area of Jiaokexi, which promoted the development of agriculture; it also formed an alliance with the powerful Baigu Dynasty to contain the invasion of the Ava Dynasty.
In the 14th year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty, Dongwu began to expand and attacked its ally, the Baigu Dynasty. It took four years to destroy the Baigu Dynasty.
Dongwu implemented a policy of uniting the Mon people, using Mon soldiers for his own use, and hired Portuguese soldiers with modern weapons and warships. It took another two years to capture the important foreign trade port of Maduba. During the Jiajing period, the basic unification of central and southern Myanmar was completed.
Immediately afterwards, Dongwu successively destroyed the Ava Dynasty and conquered the Shan states, completing the unification of Myanmar.
Human desire is endless. The powerful Dongwu Kingdom never gave up its expansion and conquered several small countries in the southeast, occupying two-thirds of the territory of Indochina. It also invaded Siam many times, attempting to incorporate Siam and the entire Malay Peninsula into its territory.
The current King of Dongwu, Talong, has been in power for nearly thirty years. This is the heyday of Dongwu, when the country is rich and the people are strong. Looking around, there is not much room for expansion. Talong began to focus on the recovery and development of the domestic economy and distributed land to landless farmers.
Eight years ago, he also conducted a nationwide census and compiled survey statistics on household registration, cultivated land area, output and taxation in various places as a basis for taxation and conscription of labor, further increasing the strength of the Dongwu State.
Overall, Thalong can be considered a very accomplished king.
It’s a pity that he is old and has offended the powerful Qin who he shouldn’t have offended.
Ever since the Emperor of Qin issued the imperial edict to attack Dongwu, Talong regretted sending troops to Yunnan and interfering in the affairs of the Central Plains Dynasty. He was extremely depressed, and due to his old age and frailty, he has been bedridden for the past few months.
The capital of Tungwu, Ava City (Mandalay City) is located in the north-central part of Myanmar. The Jinsha River and the Ava River meet here, forming a huge alluvial plain. It is rich in crops such as rice, cotton, sugarcane, and sesame, and is Myanmar's largest granary.
Ava City is backed by Mandalay Hill in the north, and surrounded by the Jinsha River and Ava River on both sides. It is surrounded by vast land of fish and rice, and is blessed by nature. But now the whole city is shrouded in a heavy atmosphere, like a sky with dense clouds but no rain, making people feel breathless.
Just as news came from the north that Pingdali was defeated in Mangshi, Yunnan, the bad news of the invasion of the Qin navy came from Dagon City in the south. Then, Qin General Cui Feng divided his troops into five groups and invaded Shan State and Lebe State on a large scale. They advanced rapidly towards Ava City with unstoppable force.
For a time, the people of Ava were in a panic. Rumors were spreading everywhere. Some said that the Qin army could fly, some said that the Qin army sucked human blood, and some said that the Qin army's firearms could blow up mountains. Some said that the Qin army was a monster with three heads and six arms. There were all kinds of rumors, and they were not enough.
Then, news came that General Wu Jing was defeated in Siam, beaten to pieces by several hundred Qin troops and Siamese remnants, and all 20,000 soldiers were lost.
Bad news comes one after another, and no one knows which piece of news will be the last straw that breaks the camel's back.
He Long went to court despite his illness and asked all the officials for countermeasures. All the officials in the court were silent.
He coughed violently and finally stopped. His face had a strange flush, which made people feel ominous.
He took out a handkerchief and wiped his mouth, then called out, "Du Su, you say... ahem, now that the Qin army is invading in large numbers, how should we respond?"
Like Jiaozhi, the court structure of Dongyu was mostly modeled after the Central Plains dynasty. Du Su was the Minister of War. When his name was called, he had to step out and say, "Your Majesty, there are many Han people in the capital. I think we should arrest them first to prevent them from colluding with the Qin army."
After hearing this, the ministers in the palace couldn't help but secretly despise Du Su. He was clearly trying to evade the important issues and get away with it.
He Long was also extremely dissatisfied. He had difficulty breathing and started coughing violently. The entire hall was filled with his coughing one after another without stopping.
At the end of his coughing, he coughed up a mouthful of black blood, which frightened all the ministers in the hall. They all knelt down and kowtowed. The eunuchs serving in the hall screamed and rushed over. Some brought tea, some asked for the imperial physician, and some helped him get down from the golden chair. There was chaos for a while.
The court meeting was ended halfway because of this incident. He Long was taken back to the harem for treatment, while the ministers waited outside the palace, feeling anxious.
After discussing with the ministers of the six ministries, Prime Minister Aung San Yidan urgently sent people to bring Crown Prince Pingdali back to Beijing.
Pingdali fought wars in the south and the north for many years. He was not only the designated heir to the Bai throne, but also the most warlike among all the princes. Although he suffered a great defeat in Wangshisi and almost lost his 20,000-strong army, he was not discouraged and retreated to Shan State to continue organizing troops to resist the Qin army.
However, the Qin army’s firearms were too powerful. No matter how solid the fortifications were, they would be destroyed within a short time under the heavy bombardment of the Qin army’s rockets.
Most of Cui Feng's five armies were soldiers who were good at jungle warfare.
Especially those chieftain troops, who were able to climb mountains and wade through water and walk on flat land, and with the powerful firepower of the Qin army, they were even more powerful. And the Qin army's scouts were like ghosts, appearing and disappearing at any time, and could penetrate any hole, making it impossible to guard against them.
Ping Dali tried his best, but except for an ambush in which he annihilated more than 300 chieftain soldiers from Chen Ruizheng's group, he suffered more defeats than victories in other battles.
Faced with such an opponent, Pindali could only sigh helplessly and was defeated step by step. The entire Shan State soon fell.
At this moment, a messenger sent by Prime Minister Aung San Yidan hurried over. When Pindali heard the news that his father was critically ill, he was shocked.
The competition for the throne in the royal family of each country is usually extremely fierce, and Dongwu Kingdom is no exception. Cidali's younger brother Bai Mang has long been eyeing the throne. If his father passed away at this time and he was not in the capital, his brother Bai Mang would never miss such an opportunity.
Pingdali didn't care about anything else. After hurriedly instructing his general Wu Jin to continue organizing the resistance against the Qin army, he hurried back to the capital Ava with his personal soldiers.
Pindali hurried as fast as he could for two days, and finally saw the city of Ava in sight. When crossing the Ava River, no one expected that the weak boat girl would suddenly attack him. Pindali was caught off guard and was stabbed in the chest and abdomen with a dagger, and blood spurted out.
The two bodyguards on the same boat roared in anger, drew their swords and chopped, and the boat girl jumped into the river. Then the bodyguards found that the boat was taking on water rapidly. The bodyguards on other small boats had no time to rescue, and the seriously injured Pingdali sank into the surging river along with the boat.
The news soon reached the capital. Upon hearing the news, the sick Ta Long vomited blood and fainted again. The second prince Bai Mang then broke into the palace under the pretext of serving his father medicine.
Seeing the situation, the ministers of the Kingdom of Dongwu, led by the Minister of War Du Su, proposed to make Bai Mang the crown prince, but were strongly opposed by Prime Minister Aung San Idan.
Aung San Yidan said to everyone: "The crown prince is good at fighting and is deeply supported by the people. He is the legitimate crown prince. Now the crown prince's life and death are uncertain, and the emperor is in a coma. How can we appoint another crown prince at this time?"
Du Su immediately retorted: "The Qin army is now attacking from both the north and the south. I am in imminent danger and the situation is precarious. The emperor is unconscious. If we don't appoint a crown prince to supervise the country, are we going to just sit there and wait for the Qin army to attack the capital?"
"Yes, the state affairs cannot be left without someone to preside over them. The emperor is ill and cannot manage the affairs, and the prince has met with an accident. We really need someone to supervise the country now."
"Besides the Second Prince, is there anyone more suitable now?"
"... ..."
The ministers were talking about it. Although everyone knew that Pindali's assassination was not simple, at this time, except for Aung San Yidan and others from the prince's faction, no one was willing to investigate the matter. The water was too complicated.
And even if we find out who did it, what can we do
Thinking of the dangers involved, many officials who originally belonged to the Crown Prince Pingdali faction also began to defect and began to support the second son Bai Mang as regent. Although Aung San Yidan was the prime minister, he could not support the country alone... ...
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.(To be continued..)
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