My life skills in Daming Liver

The Khmer envoy only hijacked the Southeast Mission's ship, but he respected Shen Yiguan and Chi Hongmo very much. He sent all kinds of cherished food and wine every day, and even presented Khmer beauties. Of course, this was praised by Shen Yiguan. Refused.

Chi Hongmo was pacing back and forth in the cabin, but Shen Yiguan was calmly drinking tea.

Chi Hongmo always admired the magnanimity of his immediate boss, but still drinking tea calmly at this time was a bit too calm.

Chi Hongmo sat down opposite Shen Yiguan and said:

"Chief, are we going to Khmer like this?"

Shen Guanyi picked up the tea cup in his hand and used a tea brush to make dense tea bubbles. After a series of complicated movements, he finally prepared a bowl of tea.

The Shen family is a big family in Zhejiang, and Shen Yiguan has also received a set of etiquette education since he was a child.

During the Ming Dynasty, the way of drinking tea had been simplified a lot, and most people just brewed tea and drank it directly.

Ordering tea was a method of drinking tea in the Song Dynasty. To froth the tea leaves, there was a complex set of movements and etiquette. Even the scholar-bureaucrats of the Ming Dynasty rarely drank tea in this way.

Seeing Shen Guanyi closing his eyes and taking a sip of tea, Chi Hongmo said anxiously:

"Chief Commander, what should we do with the tasks assigned to us by the Governor?"

Shen Guanyi put down his tea bowl and said, "What is the task assigned to us by the Grand Governor?"

Chi Hongmo immediately said: "Establish a tributary order in Southeast Asia, restore the influence of the Central Plains on the suzerain countries in these areas, and appease the panic caused by our sending troops to Annan in these areas."

"In this case, when we go to Khmer, aren't we also fulfilling the mission of the Grand Governor?"

Chi Hongmo was stunned for a moment and said doubtfully: "Didn't we go to Siam at the invitation of the king of Siam? What's the use of going to Khmer?"

In today's Southeast Asia, the three most influential countries are Siam, Burma and Annan.

Annan has been destroyed, Siam is still competing with Burma for hegemony, and the Khmer in the corner is basically a slave with three surnames.

When Siam was strong, they surrendered to Siam; when Burma was strong, they surrendered to Burma; when Annan was strong, they surrendered to Annan.

Even Champa in southern Annam, which is a semi-independent region like Champa, can also dictate to the Khmer royal court and even interfere with the Khmer court.

Such a country can survive entirely because the opponents around it are too bad. So far, Siam, Myanmar and Annan have not been able to compete for a leader. Therefore, the Khmer can rely on its "flexible body" to survive to this day.

For such a country, Chi Hongmo really never thought about the necessity of going to this country.

Shen Yiguan continued to take a sip of tea and said:

"In fact, Khmer was once the most powerful country in Southeast Asia. Angkor, the capital of Khmer, was once the largest city in Southeast Asia. The Khmer royal family was even the oldest royal family to this day."

"ha?"

"When the Khmer Kingdom was established, our Central Plains was still in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The Khmer Taiyin Dynasty has been passed down since then and continues to this day."

Now it was Chi Hongmo's turn to be surprised.

In the Han people's concept, the change of dynasties is the same as the cycle of heaven. Hasn't it been passed down for thousands of years from the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the present?

Is there actually a thousand-year-old dynasty in the world?

But why is it declining?

Shen Yiguan said eloquently: "The Khmer used to be the largest empire in Southeast Asia, and today's Siam and Burma were once its vassals. However, like all dynasties, the Khmer failed to handle their own border issues. "

"The Thai people in Siam are actually the same ethnic group as the Yunnan-Guizhou border people in the Central Plains, and can even be traced back to Baiyue in the pre-Qin period. With the rise of the Han people in the Central Plains, these people, like the Huns, were pushed further south."

“When the Thais entered Southeast Asia, they were initially regarded as barbarians by the Khmer Kingdom. At that time, the Thais were just a tribe on the frontier. Sometimes the Khmers hired them to fight, and sometimes they rented land to them for farming. "

"During this period, the Thai people developed rapidly on the borders of the Khmer Kingdom and absorbed the culture of the Khmer Kingdom. Two hundred years ago, after the rise of the Thai people, they established their own dynasty, which is now Siam."

"Then the Khmer fell into a continuous decline. In terms of force, they were inferior to the Thais and Burmese, let alone the Annamites who had already been Sinicized, so they were always suppressed."

Chi Hongmo said with some sympathy: "The Khmer are also in danger of raising tigers."

Shen Yiguan said with a smile: "Your idea is that we use the Central Plains' concept of countries to apply the relations between countries in Southeast Asia."

"Do you still remember the mandala system that the Grand Governor told you before he left?"

Chi Hongmo nodded. This time he went back to report on his work. Su Ze met him in person and mentioned the "Mandala" system in Southeast Asia.

Different from the tributary system in Northeast Asia, the Central Plains established a unified empire from a long time ago. The empire stood in the center like the sun, and the surrounding countries were closely connected to the Central Plains dynasty through tributary relations.

Under the tributary system, the Central Plains Dynasty, as the suzerain state, was not only responsible for the tributary trade of various countries, but also personally managed the relationships between the tributary states.

For example, envoys from the Han Dynasty often mediated national wars in the Western Regions. The Ming court also mediated the disputes in Uzang and forced back the Japanese ambitions in Ryukyu.

The tributary system is here. All the countries in Northeast Asia have records in their history books that they paid tribute to the Central Plains dynasty, and the concept of vassal states is even more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

But Southeast Asia is different.

Shen Guanyi said: "Even the most powerful Khmer dynasty did not form a powerful controlling regime like the Central Plains. The countries in Southeast Asia are like mandala flowers, with the royal power as the center and surrounding the royal power with dependent or An alliance of small tribal city-states.”

"These small tribal city-states may be loyal to one kingdom today and loyal to another kingdom tomorrow. Small city-states may also unite to establish a new country."

"The Mandala system is like this. Each dynasty is like a Mandala flower. It may bloom suddenly and become a regional power, or it may decline in just a few years and become a vassal of others."

"Furthermore, this characteristic of Southeast Asian countries also makes them lack long-term allegiance and waver in foreign policy. In the eyes of us Central Plains people, they are just trying to bet on both ends."

Chi Hongmo couldn't help but said: "The Governor's summary is too insightful. The Governor has clearly never been here, yet he knows it better than anyone else."

Shen Yiguan said solemnly: "This is the wisdom of the Governor. After the last selection and transfer, I studied the Governor's letter I brought back for a long time, and I suddenly became enlightened about the situation in Southeast Asia."

“If it’s Mandala, why does it have to be Siam?”