The Revolt of the Three Feudatories: All-in at the start in Beijing

Chapter 168 Liu Mu: Imperial Army? That's not a good idea!

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Just as the English envoys landed at the port of Tianjin, Liu Mu had already received military reports from Xu Chuang and his two companions in Malacca, as well as from Yang Fengxiang and Tang Tiechui.

According to Xu Chuang, the powerful Sultanates among the indigenous peoples around the Strait of Malacca have been eliminated, and now the three of them are each performing their respective duties.

Xu Chuang, accompanied by Metsuiko's son Olaf, led troops to Java to reclaim Batavia, explaining that the island had a population of nearly one million and how to deal with it.

Metsuiko, based in Malacca, eased relations with the smaller tribes while selling luxury goods such as silk, lacquerware, and porcelain, thus exploiting their power.

At the same time, organize the able-bodied men among the local people, appoint them as the Han Imperial Army's collaborators, and assist the Han army in capturing the able-bodied men in the swamps and dense forests. Please grant the emperor's approval.

Meanwhile, Yin Huasheng led a large army to suppress 100,000 slaves in the two sultanates, burned the dense forests of the coastal plains, and built military outposts.

The three men jointly requested instructions on how to deal with the more than 1,000 Dutch soldiers and the more than 1,000 Dutch immigrants in the west.

It also includes information about the British sending envoys.

……

After reading it, Liu Mu nodded in satisfaction. Java Island in later years had a larger population than Russia, and it also had many plains. It wouldn't be surprising if it had a population of three million.

The key is that this island has both active and extinct volcanoes, resulting in soil full of volcanic ash. This means that people can eat freely without using chemical fertilizers, which is unimaginable in other places.

Liu Mu immediately approved the order: after occupying Batavia, the entire island should be pacified as quickly as possible, and a prefecture-county system should be implemented locally, with all taxes collected at 70%.

That's right, Liu Mu wanted 70%.

This tax was the pinnacle of the Qing Dynasty's tax system, though it was collected in conjunction with gentry and other forces.

But this undoubtedly proves that although 70-80% of the population suffers greatly, as long as the suppression is done properly, the people can reach the peak of being weak and there will be no large-scale rebellion, which is just right!

In this way, Java Island would become the granary of the Han Dynasty.

That's nearly a million bushels of grain a year.

As for the puppet army that Metsuiko mentioned, Liu Mu almost spat out his tea.

But thinking about it again, the Han Dynasty is now an imperial system, so the emperor's army is naturally called the Imperial Army, and the natives who assist the Imperial Army are called the Imperial Collaborators, which doesn't seem wrong.

Thinking of this, Liu Mu immediately gave his approval.

Each puppet soldier was given a monthly ration of grain for their entire family. After five years, if they passed the Chinese language proficiency test, they could be converted to Han citizens and given land and property.

As for Yin Huasheng's matter, aren't the large islands on both sides of Malacca the future Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula? The inland areas of these two places are all dense forests and swamps, and more importantly, there is a lot of miasma.

With the current level of technology, it would be time-consuming and laborious, and could easily hinder progress. What's the point of developing it?

Now that the army has blockaded Malacca, if we can also capture Batavia, then no one will be able to enter. These islands in the South China Sea will become the backyard of the Han Dynasty.

We can develop it slowly, without rushing. In ten, twenty, or thirty years, we will be able to occupy it completely and allow the Han population to reach 70%.

Thinking of this, Liu Mu immediately approved the order: the two large islands did not need to be moved inland; all that was needed was to burn the coastal plains to maintain the army's self-sufficiency.

As for the Dutch soldiers and immigrants, Liu Mu first approved sending them all to mine, to mine to death.

Finally, after seeing that England had sent an envoy.

Liu Mu fell into deep thought.

England was very strong at this time, but its strength lay in its navy, which was already capable of competing with the Dutch.

As for the army...

The three guards of the Han Dynasty could sweep through the enemy lines.

Because the previous king had just been beheaded, Charles II distrusted the standing army; he preferred the East India Company to an army.

However, Britain remains a qualified troublemaker.

They are also natural allies of the Han Dynasty.

The two sides are far apart and have no conflict of interest. They can also bring goods to the Han Dynasty from Malacca. Now, a large amount of silk and porcelain are piling up. If they don't find a sales channel soon, what will the merchants and people in the southeast eat?

As for the land-based Silk Road, with the deterioration of relations with Tsarist Russia and the loss of a major customer, it no longer held much appeal for Liu Mu, and at most became just a dish to promote the prosperity of the Northwest.

Once England has reaped the benefits of the Han Dynasty, wouldn't Charles II want to cause some trouble?

For example, causing trouble for France?

Thinking of this, Liu Mu immediately looked at Zhao Fengnian.

"Send word to the Imperial City Guard and the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, instructing them to find something in Beijing; they can't afford to lose face!"

Liu Mu picked up Yang Fengxiang and Tang Tiechui's military reports again, but after only a couple of glances, he was already burning with rage.

Because Yang Fengxiang led a garrison, along with the Han Chinese soldiers of Luzon, he already had an army of eight thousand. Faced with such a large army, those indigenous tribes or small Sudanese states were swept away with overwhelming force.

But in the meantime, a major event occurred.

That is, the indigenous forces were unwilling to be ruled, and having been driven back into the mountains, they lacked food and supplies, so they often came out of the mountains in groups to plunder.

These people ran fast; before the main army even arrived, the village had already been looted, and their methods were extremely cruel, with the elderly, the weak, and children all being killed.

This is a direct challenge to Liu Mu's bottom line. If they don't want to be slaves, then they should all become ghosts.

Liu Mu immediately wrote two words: Burn the mountain!

This is something that the Central Plains dynasties never did. Even when Zhu Yuanzhang faced the severely alienated Yunnan region, he honestly adopted the approach of fighting while simultaneously pacifying it.

But Luzon is different. It's inhabited by natives who don't submit to the king's rule, so don't blame Liu Mu for being uncivilized.

As for the fact that there are too many mountains to burn them all, then just surround one mountain and burn it one by one. Over several years, they will eventually be burned down.

However, there were simply too few Han Chinese there, and it was impossible to have all the slaves managed by soldiers. But it wouldn't be appropriate to send Han Chinese civilians over there either.

After all, the risk is too great.

Why not send North Koreans over there? They have many mountains there too, and more importantly, they run fast. Those natives definitely can't outrun them.

Thinking of this, Liu Mu's eyes began to dart around, and after a full quarter of an hour, a sinister expression appeared on his face.

"Zhao Fengnian, use my secret message to send an imperial edict to Zhao Lie, ordering him to send 30,000 Korean soldiers and their families to Luzon Island. They should be local ruffians, preferably those who have been arrested, or even death row inmates!"

Zhao Fengnian, standing to the side, quickly acknowledged the greeting, but in his heart he mourned for the indigenous people of Luzon Island. These thugs and murderers were often unruly.

Those native Luzon residents are having a tough time!

……

On the third day, inside the Taihe Hall, which had been renamed Chongde, Liu Mu was dressed in a magnificent imperial robe, with twelve tiers of pearls obscuring his face.

Because Zhu Yuanzhang came to power in the Ming Dynasty, the dynasty was initially named Fengtian, meaning "receiving the mandate of heaven" or "receiving the mandate of heaven." Later, when the imperial power reached its zenith, it was changed to Huangji.

As for the Hall of Supreme Harmony of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, it represented a minority ruling over the majority, and in the early days after entering the Central Plains, they wanted to use the word "harmony" to announce their rule to the world.

And the great Han Dynasty, of course, should uphold virtue!