The country of Annan has a long and narrow terrain, and almost has the best conditions for the separation of north and south. A few years later, South Vietnam and North Vietnam also became their own countries. During this period of the 17th century, the situation in Annan was very similar to that of later generations.

However, compared with the corruption and incompetence of South Vietnam in later generations, the Nguyen ruler's regime that controlled the southern region at this time was actually a more enlightened party - no way, the Nguyen ruler's power was weak. The Zheng family on the opposite side could use about 100,000 troops, and the Nguyen ruler

Even if they try their best, they can probably only piece together an army of 40,000 to 50,000 people. The standing army in peacetime is only about 20,000 people. Thanks to the unique terrain of Annan, the entire country is very long and narrow, and the junction between the Ruan and Zheng families is even narrower.

The clan built several city walls and fortifications there. As long as these fortifications were defended, the territory could be controlled.

Of course, to be able to do this, in addition to geographical advantages, the other two conditions are military technology and people. The Ruan family also did well in these two aspects - they had a good relationship with the Portuguese and purchased many muskets and artillery for defense.

City, and at the same time hired Western military experts to assist in the defense, surpassing the north in military technology.

As for the core "people", there is a famous military strategist in the Ruan Dynasty today, Tao Weici. The most famous work left by this man in his life is called "Wollongong Song" - obviously, he was named after

Zhuge Liang of Vietnam considers himself. And his current position in the Nguyen family's regime is quite similar to Zhuge Liang: he serves as a military advisor. He is responsible for the construction and defense of the two most important barriers for the Nguyen family's defense in the north.

Tao Weici is very old now, and he will die in about a year in history. But this "Vietnamese Zhuge Liang" is just like the original one in history, leaving behind a "Jiang Wei" for the court to which he was loyal.

——His son-in-law Ruan Youying was proficient in martial arts and good at using troops, and his life ambitions were probably in line with Jiang Wei’s. After taking charge of the military power of the Ruan Dynasty, he also found opportunities to conduct several Northern Expeditions, but failed. But in defense

On the other hand, they never gave the other side a chance and always defended their territory firmly.

It is precisely because of the help of Western technology and the command of outstanding military talents that those barriers have always been unbreakable. During the decades-long Ruan-Zheng War, the Zheng family in the north has been unable to do anything about these "Great Walls". So Ruan Zhengzhi

The dispute lasted until a hundred years later. As both families declined at the same time, they were simultaneously destroyed by the new forces that emerged in the later period.

The Ruan family is quite flexible in diplomacy. Soon after Qiong Haijun took control of Hainan Island, they took the initiative to send people to trade. Although Shorthair refused to sell weapons to outsiders, they could provide metal tools and farm tools in large quantities, the quality of which was better than the Ruan family's own military industry.

The products in the workshop are even better.

So a rather strange phenomenon has appeared in the Ruan Dynasty today. The most advanced iron tools are used for agriculture and daily life: hoes, sickles, saws, kitchen knives, scissors and steel needles - most of these things are imported from Hainan Island. The steel quality is excellent and the cutting edges are

All of them have been made of steel and carburized. If you put these things into a head-on collision with the weapons made by Ruan Chao himself, the weapons will be destroyed.

Of course, the Nguyen family tried to make imitations, but in this regard, they only had traditional blacksmithing techniques and they certainly could not understand modern casting techniques. Even if they melted and cast imported ironware and then made it into weapons, due to the lack of local processing technology and awareness

, its quality is far from comparable to the original farm tools, it is just a waste of materials and money.

Even though the "Vietnamese Zhuge Liang" personally paid attention to it, he could not solve this problem. In the end, Ruan had to admit that his skills were inferior to others, and stopped thinking about copycats. He honestly bought production tools with peace of mind and saved his own related resources.

If you come down and invest in the military, it will ultimately be a good supplement to the national strength.

Because he was very eager for goods from Qiongzhou, the Ruan Dynasty envoy had always been very respectful to Zhao Lide. He usually visited and greeted Zhao Lide and moved around very frequently. Now as soon as Zhao Lide sent the invitation, he also arrived quickly. He greeted and chatted with Zhao Lide, and even

It's familiarity.

…………

Compared with the initiative and flexibility of the Ruan family, the envoys of the Zheng family in the north were much more rigid. Historically, it was not until 1635 that the Zheng family finally understood, abandoned the policy of isolation from the country, and turned to seek foreign help.

Originally, they cooperated with the Dutch to obtain shipbuilding and artillery technology to defend against the south. However, in this time and space, they "opened up" much earlier. Soon after the Ruan family made contact with Qiongzhou, they also contacted Hainan Island.

There were business contacts.

However, this opening up was not completely voluntary, but Qiong Haijun took the initiative to send people there to seek trade - because the shorthairs needed the coal there. Even a few years later, Vietnam's Hongji Coal Mine was one of the best high-quality large-scale coal mines in Southeast Asia.

It is easy to mine open-pit veins and is close to the coast for easy transportation... Combined with the Hainan Shilu Iron Mine, it is simply a gift from God. If Chuangzhong does not control it, it will definitely be a waste of natural resources.

Of course, the Zheng court did not agree with this coercive trade method at the beginning. However, they were not qualified to say "no" - with the little force of the Annan people, the Qiong Navy did not dispatch any serious troops at all.

, Ling Ning led the marines attached to the navy ship, and after a small battle, they directly occupied the Hongji land.

At this time, the Annan army was far less elegant than the later Vietnamese guerrillas. Besides, the Qiong navy did not want to occupy territory and did not go inland. It just stayed in the seaside mining area. Even if the opponent wanted to use guerrilla tactics, there was nothing they could do. In addition,

The Shangqiong Navy was much more mature in terms of economic strategy than the Western colonists, and they were generous enough in what they did - they never expected to occupy this coal mine for free. After giving the Zheng Dynasty's army a small lesson, they found a middleman

Go negotiate with the other party and express your willingness to pay for it, and the amount is quite large.

The rulers and ministers of the Zheng family were more rigid than the Ruan family in the south, but they did not lack judgment after all. After confirming that "you will definitely not be able to defeat them, and you will never be able to defeat them in this life," they had to accept the reality:

Every year, a large amount of "land lease fee" is obtained from Short Hair; in addition, every ton of coal produced by the Hongji Coal Mine will also be paid to the Zheng family for purchase; as well as hiring people from the local area, purchasing food, etc.

The income brought by consumption... The Hongji Coal Mine soon became a very important source of wealth for the Zheng court. The money received could just be used to purchase Hainan products.

And after they started trading with Hainan Island, they immediately discovered that the products in Qiongzhou Prefecture were simply dazzling. Then, regardless of whether the Zheng court wanted it or not, their economic ties with Hainan naturally became closer... In front of the white money, it turned out that

The little resentment gradually disappeared.

The only thing that bothers the Zheng court is that Shorthair has never agreed to sever the relationship with the Ruan family in the south - Qiong Haijun wears the sign of the Ming Empire. And according to the Ming Dynasty's point of view, the Ruan family and the Zheng family are actually all

Rebellious ministers and traitors. The orthodox court of Annam recognized by the Ming Empire was the Later Le Dynasty. Now the real monarch of the Le Dynasty, Le Shen Zong, is still staying in Thang Long Palace. The Ruan and Zheng families are theoretically ministers of the Le Dynasty, but they are just one

He is equivalent to Cao Cao, just like Liu Bei.

The Ming Empire recognized the status of the Li Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Shenzong Wanli of the Ming Dynasty. Today's Ming Dynasty naturally only follows this standard. Therefore, no matter how hard the Ruan and Zheng families fight, their envoys in Hainan are only Li Dynasty merchants.

, treated as foreign businessmen, not diplomats - Shorthair has no special preferential treatment for foreign businessmen, but has many restrictions.

The Zheng court was very dissatisfied with this, but there was nothing they could do about it. However, the envoy they sent was inevitably a little confused - this guy still regarded himself as an official, not a businessman. And the funny thing is that

He also found a backer for himself here - Cheng Yegao, the prefect of Qiongzhou. That guy thought he had seen through the details of Short Hair and understood the power structure here. As long as he curry favor with the magistrate of Ming Dynasty, he could suppress him.

The group of short-haired outsiders who were also uninvited guests to the Ming Dynasty lived there.

For some reason, Zhao Lide did not break this delusion. Instead, he asked Cheng Yegao to cooperate with the acting. Sometimes he deliberately appeared weak in front of the Zheng family envoy and indulged him to make the other party insist on him more.

judgment.

But this made the other party even more complacent. No big confrontation was possible, but small tricks were inevitable. For example, this time, in the face of the post sent by Zhao Lide, the Zheng family envoy did not dare to refuse, but deliberately delayed it.

After letting Zhao Lide and the Ruan Dynasty envoy drink tea for a while, Shi Shiran arrived.

As for the neglect of the Zheng envoy, Zhao Lide adopted the same attitude of ignoring it as before - he would not care about such trivial matters. Of course, no matter what, with this attitude, the Zheng envoy would definitely have to take some offense from him.

It's a loss, and it's definitely not just a matter of face - in fact, the envoy sent by the Zheng imperial court has changed once. And the Ruan envoy has been here from the beginning until now, so he understands the key.

So when he saw Ambassador Zheng walking in with arrogance, a faint smile appeared on his face. It was an expression of looking at a fool. Even if the other person stared at him with hostile eyes, it didn't matter at all - the previous Ambassador Zheng

He was repatriated because he was determined not to be on the same footing as the Nguyen Dynasty envoys and demanded that both parties not appear in the same place. Although the new arrival looked arrogant, he did not dare to stand up in this regard. Because

His predecessor has proven his future: the shorthair will never give in in this regard.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Zhao Lide did not delay, put down the teacup in his hand, and smiled at the two of them:
Chapter completed!