Just as Zuo Zongtang entered Guazhou, there was no winter South China Sea in the distant south, and a small ceremony that was enough to change the geopolitical pattern of East Asia was quietly underway.

Vietnam, called Annan, in the southernmost tip of this narrow country, above the Mekong River estuary impact plain, a small commercial town called Jiading, which was now renamed Saigon, was holding this small ceremony.

Saigon is a commercial city that opened after the French came. Due to its excellent geographical location and convenient shipping of the Mekong River and the fertile soil that impacts the plains, this small town has become a very famous rice trading market in South Asia.

That's right, the entire Mekong River Basin is the main rice producing area in South Asia. The rice produced in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia is transported from the upstream to the downstream along dense water systems.

Since ancient times, human society has been relatively abundant in areas close to the water system. On the one hand, the impact plains brought by the water system are suitable for agricultural development and suitable for human survival.

On the other hand, water transportation is indeed the lowest cost and the highest efficiency among all means of transportation!

And the closer the area in a river is to the lower reaches of the sea estuary, the richer it is, because it is close to the harbor and the ocean trade, and it can naturally become a place for bulk commodity distribution.

Marine trade is the giant in the traditional business field. Whoever controls this place controls wealth!

Saigon, a small commercial town, developed with the French's business vision, and in just a few years it controlled the rice business in the entire Mekong River Basin.

The small town now has a permanent population of more than 30,000, which is also a prosperous small town in Southeast Asia!

There were not many French troops stationed in Annan, because there was no war to fight, and the full battle was only more than 5,000. This was to prevent the revenge of the Chinese people, and the first Frenchmen had only more than 2,000 controlled South Vietnam.

But he never expected that Xiao Letian personally led his troops to Europe to fight against France, but in the French colonies in Asia, the Chinese did not send a soldier or a soldier.

The French governor who guarded Annan spent more than two years in panic. His most important task every day was to stand on the roof of Norodun Palace and look at it with a telescope.

Many times, this old French baron had hallucinations, and always felt that the Chinese army in blue uniforms suddenly appeared in the direction of the sea like a tide.

Five thousand soldiers were living alone in Annan day after day. Although life was very rich here, they could eat the sweetest rice, drink the clearest wine, and enjoy the goods from all over Asia through the caravan.

Of course, there are also beautiful Annan women who can enjoy it, but none of this can soothe their fear!

These people are not those arrogant Europeans, they are watching the Chinese grow stronger little by little in Asia!

The South China Sea is full of Chinese merchant ships. They sell Chinese precious goods one after another. This is not a fake deal with Western merchants, but the Chinese have organized their own ocean fleets to start business.

What were sold were tea, silk, porcelain... but what was collected were ships of silver, copper ore, tin ore, weapons, rubber... and of course, food from Nanyang.

The Chinese sell handicrafts and luxury goods, but the ones they exchange for are all raw materials necessary for industrialization. The old baron can see this unstoppable development trend very clearly.

At the beginning, these Chinese merchants were still very polite. They were somewhat afraid of Western warships, but as time went by, the old baron found that these Chinese people's backs were getting harder and harder.

Until one day he discovered that the Chinese merchant ships had cannons and they were very advanced rear-loaded rifled guns, and each merchant ship had advanced rear-loaded needle-punched rifled guns.

The Chinese ocean-going caravan actually began to be armed, and it was very quickly!

This is how everyone is soldiers! The old baron shocked him through a lot of Asian eyeliners. It turned out that Xiao Letian used all evil tricks to develop the Chinese navy.

The Chinese head of state ordered that all ocean-going merchant ships registered by the Chinese must be obliged to assist in training new recruits of the Chinese navy in accordance with tonnage!

In other words, the head of state does not have much training ships in hand, and the Chinese lack naval talents familiar with the ocean, so the private caravans have the obligation to raise new troops for the head of state.

A sailboat with a displacement of 300 tons must be helped to help the head of state raise a squad of naval soldiers. Your merchant ship owner also has to pay out of his own pocket to buy new cannons and rifles for training these soldiers.

During the sailing process, these naval recruits have to complete various basic training courses. If they can eliminate some pirates during the class, this will be a hidden item with extra points.

At first, the old baron thought that these merchants would definitely be very resistant to such policies, because merchants are profit-seeking, so how can they pay extra fees?

But he underestimated the Chinese patriotic enthusiasm and their admiration for the head of state!

No one will implement the orders of the head of state of the Chinese clan at any discount, especially those Ryukyu merchants. They have seen the tragic scene of aliens bombarding Naba, and of course they know that they will be beaten if they fall behind.

Spending money to buy high-priced cannons is nothing, and as long as they are not bullied, they will eat braised vegetables every day without complaints!

Helping the Prime Minister raise some new recruits and help them do some basic training is something they can’t afford!

Sure enough, the truth is within the range of the cannon. When these Chinese merchant ships who came to Saigon to purchase rice began to be armed, the merchants were obviously much more confident in speaking.

Many Vietnamese businessmen who were dependent on French forces shrank their necks, and some of them were blinded and wanted to bully Chinese businessmen according to the past rules. As a result, they were lured out of Saigon by these recruits and captured directly to Naha for trial!

And all this happened under the eyes of the French, and the old baron didn't dare to care!

"The sky has changed, the South China Sea has changed!

Watching the Chinese merchant ships sailing across the sea, watching the Chinese uprising break out on Kalimantan Island, and watching the Spanish in Luzon be beaten to pieces.

With the Strait of Malacca as the boundary, Westerners' life in this sea area east of Singapore is getting harder and harder!

After the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, the old baron knew that his five thousand men had become completely alone, and he was likely not able to wait for reinforcements from Europe or the Bay of Bengal.

The old baron, whose chest was filled with pride, began to use the taxes from Saigon over the years. He wanted to cheer up the five thousand alone troops, use a lot of money to train, reward, and maintain morale!

He wants to be loyal to His Majesty the Emperor, and he wants to maintain the dignity of Europeans!

"Even if I will die, even if this army will be defeated, even if Saigon will eventually be destroyed... I will let Asians know that this world belongs to Western civilization!"

At that moment, the five thousand lonely army actually gave him a bit of a mourning soldier and his morale really improved a lot!

But life is always full of drama. Wait and wait, wait and wait!

The old baron did not wait for the Chinese soldiers and soldiers, but waited for the news sent by the British ship and the special envoy of the new government!

"Annan...the French government...don't want it!"

Note: The third update is given, thank you for your support!

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