Rebirth of the Spanish Empire

"Did your Majesty mean Japan?" Zheng Bao suddenly thought of Japan. The Meiji Restoration in Japan had a very profound impact. In his impression, his father, King Rama VI, was very important to him. His father told him when he was a child that he would be the Meiji of Siam, and he did it. Although Siam still has a long way to go compared to Japan, in Indochina, except Siam, all Although Siam fell under his rule, France, Britain, Germany, Russia, Spain, the United States, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg and other countries have established diplomatic relations at the same time, and in recent years have also carried out diplomatic relations. In addition to visits to various countries, it has also gained recognition from various countries.

Prior to this, even Emperor Meiji of Japan, who led Japan to become one of the regional and even world powers, all Eastern monarchs including him had not made so many visits to Western countries. For this reason, many European countries call the Kingdom of Siam the Meiji Restoration, which was second only to Japan in influence in Asian reforms. As a result, it has received greater attention in Europe.

"Yes, it's Japan. Since their Emperor Meiji ascended the throne in 1868, he immediately started to carry out all-Japanese reforms. First, he reformed the autocratic system and turned it into a constitutional monarchy. Economically, he also promoted the colonial industry. That is to cultivate capitalist state-owned industries. Especially the military industry, learn civilization, introduce industrial waves, Europeanize society, and the most important point, that is to vigorously develop education." Alfonso touched his thumb and raised his head. Looking at Zheng Bao, he said:

"Your father has indeed turned on the development engine of Siam, but you should know that a car not only has an engine to move fast, it also needs wheels, a body and other accessories before it can be made. ....."

Zheng Bao listened to Alfonso's metaphor and felt it was very appropriate. And he also understands that what His Majesty Alfonso wants to say is that Siam still needs to do a lot more, and it has only just begun.

"So, Siam needs to reform without delay. However, it is said that your father..."

"What's wrong with him?" Zheng Bao asked quickly when he heard something was wrong with Alfonso's tone.

"I heard that he is already ill. It is possible." Alfonso paused and then said, "He may have less than two years to live at most."

"Ah" Zheng Bao looked at Alfonso in disbelief.

"It's true. Some doctors from Spain have diagnosed it, as well as doctors from the UK and France. They think it's caused by a lack of restraint in sex and life when they were young.

After hearing the reasons mentioned by Alfonso, Zheng Bao believed it now, because she was one of the many products of his father's uncontrolled sex and life. However, he still couldn't bear the sudden onset of his father's illness.

"I think you should rush back as soon as possible."

"Yes, I really should go back. Over the years, I have rarely served him by his side."

"That's not what I'm talking about. There is another reason."

"What's the reason?" Zheng Bao said nonchalantly.

"Because your position as Crown Prince may be in jeopardy, or in other words, it has been threatened." After saying this, Alfonso saw Zheng Bao's face change, followed by several changes. .

Alfonso did not disturb him, because Zheng Bao was a smart man and he would know what to do, and if outsiders insisted on getting involved in this kind of problem. It will definitely arouse the resentment in the other party's heart. After all, it is difficult for an upright official to deal with household affairs. This principle is applicable to both the East and the West, or the North and the South.

However, he is not the kind of person who just waves his hands and ignores anything, because in his opinion, he can intervene if there is benefit. When he and I discussed social reform just now, he actually put the other party into a position of thinking about Siam and the future of Thailand. What's more, the other party is still the crown prince with the first line of succession, so it is understandable to think so. Although Alfonso knew that the other party's intelligence would inevitably know his motives for intervening, but who said that Zheng Bao would have such motives against him. The only thing to blame is that Chulalongkorn had too many children.

Rama V, whose name is Chulalongkorn, his Chinese name is Zheng Long, and his family’s Chinese surname is Zheng. Later generations honored him as Emperor Chulalongkorn. Born in 1853, he was the eldest son of the Fourth King and Princess Lampe.

The fourth king, like the second and third kings, did not choose a successor to the throne. Before his death, he asked the elders of the royal family to discuss with the ministers to select a worthy king. At that time, there was no law of succession in Siam, so the decision on who would succeed the throne was actually made by the most powerful prince. The meeting decided that Prince Chulalongkorn would succeed to the throne. Since the prince was only 15 years old, Duke Sisuriyang was elected as regent to act in charge of the government until the prince reached adulthood at the age of 20.

At this time, Chulalongkorn, like the fourth king, was also infected with malaria and was dying and almost died. In the end, the princes and ministers even thought that he would not survive, and prepared to take care of his funeral and choose a new king. But he survived with amazing perseverance and became the founder of modern Thailand, and is considered the most powerful and greatest monarch in Thai history.

In 1868, after Prince Chulalongkorn succeeded to the throne, Duke Sisuriyang was regent. He is a man with progressive ideas and his relationship with the Fourth King is extraordinary. With his loyalty to the fourth king, he formulated a complete study plan for the young monarch. Two years later, the Prince Regent met his friend Thomas Lokos, the British Consul General in Siam, at the palace, and proposed to him that he wanted Chulalongkorn to visit Singapore and Badvia (later Jakarta) to learn foreign governance methods. . After a period of preparation, in 1871, the 18-year-old King V went abroad for the first time and became the first king in the history of Siam to visit a foreign country.

For this visit, Chulalongkorn made careful preparations. In the past, in the Siamese court, the princes and ministers never wore socks or shoes, and they only wore white clothes with collars and silk skirts. During this trip, he sent an order to order uniforms for the ministers of civil and military affairs. Military attaché uniforms include full dress uniforms and daily uniforms, while civilian uniforms only have full dress uniforms. The full dress is a dark blue satin top, dark blue silk skirt, and the collar and cuffs of the top are decorated with gold edges; the daily uniform is a Western-style suit with a tie, and a dark blue silk skirt underneath. All civil and military ministers must wear shoes and socks.

In the past, the Thai people in Siam had a traditional hairstyle since the Ayutthaya Dynasty. Both men and women had to wear their hair in a bun when they were children. After adulthood, men shave their hair into a bun and shave all the hair around them, leaving only the round short hair on the top, commonly known as "government hair." The same goes for women, except that they have two more "long sideburn tassels" around the ears than men. , used for plug decoration, commonly known as "wing head". This time, the fifth king made bold reforms. Before leaving, he ordered the accompanying personnel to only have long hair. After returning to the country, he also ordered everyone in the palace to have long hair, and the common people Seeing that the high-ranking officials and aristocrats all had long hair, they all followed suit. In a few years, Siamese people changed their traditional hairstyles.

During 1871, King V visited Singapore, Java Island, and India. After several months of travel, what he saw and heard overseas strengthened his belief in reform and made his desire to enrich the country and strengthen the army stronger and stronger. After returning home, he exempted ministers from the ritual of three kowtows and nine bows, allowed people to stand and talk, and allowed princes and ministers to sit and discuss matters with him.

In 1872, the regent hired a new English teacher for the fifth king, Francis, an Englishman from India. He brought many new perspectives to the Fifth King and broadened his horizons.

In 1873, when he turned 20 years old, he was officially crowned king on October 16th, took charge of the government affairs, and implemented comprehensive reforms in Siam.

First, he realized that temple education was far from meeting the needs of the country. He invested money and asked Francis, the court English teacher, to establish a model school, which he named "Prince School" as a school for the children of princes and nobles. He also sent all his younger brothers to this school. . This was the first school in the history of Siam. The establishment of the model school was a great success, and he was determined to open another school. So, in 1881, he founded the Palace Guard School, which was the predecessor of "Chulalongkorn University" in later generations. In October of the same year, he gathered the books in all palaces together, ordered the princes and ministers to collect donations of books, established the Vasiliyin Library in the palace, and personally served as the chairman.

In 1884, he funded the establishment of another school in the Rose Garden Palace for the children of middle and low-level officials and businessmen to enroll. This was the "Rose Garden School", which was the first ordinary school in Siam. In 1887, he followed the example of Europe and the United States and established the Ministry of Education, which was responsible for managing national education and standardizing the education system. In 1892, the first boarding school in Bangkok that he funded and built also began to accept students from outside the country. As long as each of his own sons can take care of themselves and be healthy, he will send them to Europe and the United States to study. After completing his studies and returning to China, he reused them all. Prince Rulapi studied in the United Kingdom. After returning to China, he was appointed Minister of Justice by King V and established the Ministry of Justice in Siam. Presided over the revision of Siamese laws. With the help of French consultant Roland, he presided over the compilation of the "Criminal Code" and the "Civil Code" and founded the first law school in Siam.

Secondly, he strengthened the country's military strength. He established the palace guard regiment, with him as its commander personally, and gradually expanded the guard regiment from two companies to six companies. After taking office, due to the busy government affairs, it was placed under the army and named the "First Regiment of Royal Guards Infantry", becoming the only regiment in the army wearing red uniforms. In 1887, the Fifth King founded the "Army Officer School" at Salanglong Palace to cultivate modern military command talents. In 1909, it moved to Ratchadanan Road on the outskirts of Bangkok and further expanded its scale. In order to strengthen national defense, he also established a non-commissioned officer school and a naval school.

After that, he abolished the slavery system in Siam for more than 500 years.

With his efforts over the past few decades, he has made the Bangkok Dynasty unprecedentedly wealthy. The national fiscal revenue is getting higher and higher, and the national treasury inventory is getting richer and richer. He appointed British as financial advisers, Americans as diplomatic advisers, French as legal advisers, and Spanish as industrial and economic advisers. From 1901 to 1902, the first financial adviser C. Ruiweit Kanak made the first financial report to the Fifth King, indicating that from 1899 to 1900, the government's fiscal revenue exceeded expenditure by 3 million baht. Last year, Siam's fiscal revenue reached an astonishing 6,000 baht, which was converted into 4.8 million pounds. If compared with the Qing Dynasty, it is equivalent to 40% of the latter's during the same period, and 17 times more on a per capita basis. This shows how rich this country is in Asia.

However, people say that they are full of warmth and love, and he is no exception. Against the background of such great achievements, he is not inferior at all in his private life, which also led to the subsequent war between dragons to seize the direct descendants.

I won’t just vote on this chapter. Originally I didn’t want to write so much about introducing Chulalongkorn, but there will be dozens of chapters about the war between Britain, Spain and France in Southeast Asia as agents of the Prince of Siam, so if I write it, everyone will have more information. Clear impression, yes, since some friends said earlier that this book is relatively dull, then I am going to break your view, and I will start a war to break your view of this book. The location was the Kingdom of Bangkok, which later became the Kingdom of Siam, consisting of Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. \u003cdd\u003e