War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

"Zhenla? I heard that the Ministry of War has trade relations with Chenla. Is it because the people of Chenla are unwilling to pay?" Friedrich asked with some confusion.

Chenla was too far away from Austria, and the transactions between the War Department and Chenla were kept secret. If Friedrich hadn't discovered that the War Department had used naval barges, he wouldn't have known about it.

"No, I think they have sent all their money, but the church's fleet was warned by the Vietnamese government. There is a private territory in Kampong Som Bay belonging to Ambrosius, which was obtained from the Chenla government obtained legally.

Now that the Vietnamese have taken control of Chenla, they do not intend to recognize the legitimacy of this territory, and are even preparing to expel the parishioners on it. Since last year, two battles have broken out. "

At the end of 1835, the Vietnamese gave up their plan to establish the eldest daughter of Anzan as King of Chenla because the eldest princess rejected the "good intention" of Emperor Minh Ming of Vietnam and did not marry the son of Emperor Minh Ming.

The Vietnamese turned to support the more cowardly Anmei as Queen of Chenla. The next year, the Vietnamese prepared to send the Chenla royal family to Zhenxi City. At the same time, they appointed three Khmer spies, Chalong, Renyu and Luojian, to control Chenla. The imperial court was prepared to completely eradicate the forces loyal to the Chenla royal family.

Officials Kim Phan, Parasu, and the commander of the Forbidden Army, Hong Bufu, led their troops to launch an uprising in order to survive. Unfortunately, they were betrayed by spies. Vietnamese General Zhang Minh Kiao sent troops to suppress the uprising, and the uprising army fled south to Kampong Som.

When an uprising broke out in the city, Ambrosius was still indulged in games with several princesses.

Although Princess Anmei has become the queen of Chenla in name, she still lives a leisurely confinement life with her sisters in the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh.

The Vietnamese were busy measuring the land in Chenla and eliminating the resistance forces. Even the Khmer spies and nominally peaceful ministers were too lazy to show off.

However, the desperate efforts of Guan Jinpan, Palasu and others pushed Ambrosius into the center of the storm.

Phnom Penh Royal Palace, Leng Palace Royal Garden.

Ambrosius still didn't know the danger was approaching, and was playing hide-and-seek with the princesses, when suddenly a little eunuch broke into the garden.

"It's not good, it's not good, Mr. Ambrosius, you should hide quickly. General Zhang Mingyao has sent people to take the princesses away. Don't let them see you. If they see you, you He’ll be dead!”

The young eunuch is a close confidant of the eunuch surnamed Li, and the eunuch surnamed Li is also the good half-brother of the official Jin Pan. His words are absolutely trustworthy.

The four princesses all looked panicked because ministers loyal to Chenla had been instilling in them the idea that the Vietnamese would kill them to avoid future troubles.

However, their dignity as a royal family made them refuse to escape, and instead opened a secret passage in the palace to allow Ambrosius to escape.

When Ambrosius saw several girls who were looking forward to death, his blood surged up for a moment, and he drew his pistol and prepared to fight for his dignity.

The little eunuch said hurriedly.

"Mr. Ambrosius, they won't do anything to the princesses, but they will definitely kill you, because Lord Guan Jinpan and the others rebelled, and it is only a matter of time before General Zhang Ming's army destroys them! Run away." !”

Ambrosius wanted the princesses to escape with him, but the princesses refused because the education they had received since childhood did not allow them to escape in battle.

After weighing the pros and cons, Ambrosius jumped into the secret passage resolutely. However, there were already Vietnamese soldiers waiting at the exit of the secret passage.

It seems that these Vietnamese soldiers do not know the location of the secret passage exit. Who betrayed the princesses? It was definitely not the little eunuch, because they were still together just now, which meant that the other party had already known about the existence of this secret passage.

Ambrosius let out a sigh of relief, it would be better if he was betrayed by the people around him.

Although the Vietnamese officers and soldiers have not yet found the location of the secret passage exit, it is only a matter of time.

Ambrosius felt that he could not be inferior to several women. He chose to run away just now because there was still hope of living. It was not worth losing his life for this. But now that there is no way out, it is time to show his courage.

Ambrosius looked at his two old-fashioned revolvers and patiently loaded the primers.

This old-fashioned revolver requires pressing the hammer to reload after each shot, and then pulling the trigger to achieve continuous shooting.

Ambrosius seized the opportunity, rushed out of the hole, fired six times in succession, and after killing three Vietnamese soldiers, threw away the first revolver in his hand and took out the second revolver.

The Vietnamese officers and soldiers who were killed with three people in an instant were briefly confused, but they were not timid. Instead, they rushed towards Ambrosius excitedly, as if they saw a bag of gold.

Ambrosius killed two more Vietnamese soldiers with his pistol, then pulled out his swift sword and continued fighting. After stabbing the two Vietnamese soldiers down, he suffered a heavy blow to the head and lost consciousness.

When Ambrosius woke up again, a general wearing crimson robes was sitting in front of him, playing with his pistol in his hand.

"who are you?"

Ambrosius moved his hands and found that his hands behind his back were tied tightly and he could not break free by himself.

He felt a little pain in his head, probably from the blow to his head before. His knees seemed to be injured, and his ribs hurt when he took a deep breath, but overall it was not a big problem.

As soon as he heard the other party's question, Ambrosius felt that there was still hope. Guan Jinpan and the others had not revealed their identities yet. He did not want to be captured as a hostage and become the opponent's bargaining chip. Rather than that, it would be better to die gloriously.

Ambrosius answered carefully, wanting to see the other person's reaction.

"I am an Austrian businessman."

"What are you doing in the palace?" The general in the crimson robe continued to ask. Only generals of second rank or above and civil servants of third rank or above in Vietnam can wear crimson robes. There is no doubt that the other party is Zhang Mingdao, the governor of Zhenla.

Ambrosius lowered his head and pretended to be submissive.

"I am the tutor of Her Royal Highness the Princess."

Zhang Mingjiao suddenly said sharply, "You lied!"

"I have not!" replied Ambrosius.

Suddenly the general in crimson robe held down Ambrosius' head and put the muzzle of the gun against his temple.

Ambrosius closed his eyes and waited for death.

"biu~biu~" The general in crimson official robe laughed wildly.

"You are a bit brave. You are worthy of being a warrior who killed eight people. But I want to ask you, why did you kill them?"

"If someone forced you with a knife, would you wait to die?" Ambrosius asked.

The general in crimson robes kicked Ambrosius in the stomach, and Ambrosius fell to the ground in pain.

"Don't be disrespectful, if you look at me like that again, I will gouge your eyes out. To tell you the truth, I, Zhang Mingjiao, have heard your story and admire you very much. I heard that you still have twenty A very loyal servant?"

Ambrosius pretended to be surprised, but in fact he was relieved.

It turned out that Franz had already made arrangements and asked Ambrosius to separate his guards to avoid being blamed.

Ambrosius had a total of fifty people in Phnom Penh, but for safety reasons, he did not let everyone live together. Normal communication relied on letters and secret whistles.

Ambrosius usually stayed with a group of twenty people, and another group of thirty people pretending to be French merchants doing business in the city of Phnom Penh.

However, what Ambrosius doesn't know is that there is a group of weird Catholic Zhenla and Vietnamese who are also secretly protecting Ambrosius.

This group of people was specially arranged by Archbishop Rauscher. This was what Franz meant, because Franz felt that no matter how Westerners disguised themselves, they would attract the attention of the Vietnamese. As long as the other party paid a little attention, it would not be difficult to see through the disguise. .

Similarly, even if you find a team of Zhenla people to face a local snake, it will be easy to see through, but when there is an obvious flaw, the less obvious flaw will be much easier to hide.

As for why not to tell Ambrosius, of course it was to keep it secret. Only secrets that even the parties involved do not know are the most difficult to discover.

"Please let them go, they have nothing to do with this matter." Ambrosius had his hands tied and only had to stand up with his head.

"I said I admire you very much, but if you killed my people, how should I explain it to my brothers?" Zhang Ming said.

"The person you want to kill is me. My country will redeem my body. If you kill everyone, you will not get the money." Ambrosius replied.

"Money? You Austrians and Frenchmen are all a bunch of mediocre people who only know money. I, Emperor Minh Ming of Vietnam, have gathered an army of 150,000, and will one day break through the Zhennan Pass and unify the Central Plains. By then you Western barbarians will not even be qualified to be our slaves.

But I'm very gracious now. I can play a game with you and your people. If you can win, I will not only let you go, but also recognize your merchant status. From now on, you will be my merchants in Dai Viet.

However, if you fail, you will die, and your corpses will be turned into nourishment on this land. "

Outside Phnom Penh, an abandoned ancient temple.

Ambrosius was taken to an abandoned ancient temple. At a glance, he saw that the Astartes monks from the church and several officers sent by the Austrian Army to protect him were there, and even the weapons were there.

On top of a pagoda, you can have a panoramic view of the entire ancient temple, Zhang Mingdao's deputy general shouted.

"Welcome to the Temple of No Return, where you will face a thousand vicious prisoners. The winner will be pardoned, while the loser will stay here forever."

Ambrosius and his party did not answer, but were just checking their equipment silently. Captain Belaphon suggested that he kill the murderous devil with one shot.

But Ambrosius shook his head. On the way just now, he saw purgatory on earth. The whole city was burning. Soldiers slaughtered house to house, and even pulled women into carriages and tortured them. He felt that he had to do something. For this He must live.

"Can we leave alive if we win?" Ambrosius shouted in Vietnamese.

"Of course, I swear to Buddha!" ​​Zhang Ming said with a smile.