Ramati Bodhi never imagined that the Ayutthaya city that he had carefully built would not be able to last even three days.

The Ming army's siege capabilities far exceeded his expectations.

With the help of powerful siege equipment, the advantage of the city wall was infinitely reduced, and dozens of ladders that took a month to build were able to reach the top of the city.

When the Ming army pushed the siege ladders, Ramati Bodhi decisively opened the city gates to meet the attack, intending to destroy the siege ladders.

However, he still underestimated the Ming army's matchlock guns.

His cavalry had already been beaten to pieces by the Ming army's matchlock guns before they even got close. After expending a large amount of manpower to charge into the Ming army's position, the cavalry in the front suddenly found that there was no land around them.

Even the Mongolian cavalry did not dare to directly attack the Ming army's positions.

Ramati Bodhi didn't even dare to climb to the top of the city wall to observe the situation.

Because the Ming army's artillery ladders were so terrifying, the cannons placed on the ladders hundreds of meters away from the city wall aimed directly at the top of the city wall and fired. Even though the accuracy was slightly lower, it was enough to suppress the enemy.

With the advancement of the ladders, it was impossible to form effective defensive measures on the city walls.

What a joke! After thousands of years of war in the Central Plains, experience points in siege had already been maxed out. Lan Yu had been fighting in wars since he was a child and had captured many cities himself. When he followed Chang Yuchun, they conquered all the big cities in the Central Plains.

Ayutthaya is just a city with a fancy appearance and not even a city of Ong. It is not easy to take it down. You can even commit suicide there.

When the ladders got close to the city wall, the siege was doomed to end.

However, Ramati Bodhi still had sufficient military strength, so it took two days to capture the city.

"King Wutong, we meet again."

In the Ayutthaya Palace, Lan Yu sat on the throne, looking at Ramati Bodhi who was kneeling on the ground and said with a smile.

Ramati Bodhi asked in broken Chinese: "Why did you attack my country? I have already compensated the Ming Dynasty, and the emperor of the Ming Dynasty has forgiven me. It was you, the Duke of Liang of the Ming Dynasty, who secretly brought soldiers to retaliate."

"I will definitely report this impeachment to the Emperor."

Regarding this point, Ramati Bodhi really couldn't understand why the Ming army suddenly became like this.

Ramati Bodhi also knew about what was happening in nearby Zhenla, but the Ming army was acting in the name of revenge for the king, which was understandable. However, although he had offended the Duke of Liang before, that was all in the past.

Ramati Bodhi felt that Lan Yu was abusing public resources for personal gain, and that he took advantage of the troops he had and attacked the city privately without reporting to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Only this explanation could make sense to Ramati Bodhi.

"Do you think you still have a chance to go to the capital to impeach me?" Lan Yu did not explain, because the Ming Dynasty actually had no reason to send troops to Siam this time, so Lan Yu had to take responsibility for this matter.

Of course, it's just a name, and Lan Yu himself doesn't care so much.

"It is you. I have compensated you with so much gold and jewelry, but I didn't expect you to still be upset. What do you want? If you are willing to withdraw your troops, I will never tell His Majesty the Emperor."

"And my treasury is completely open to you. I can give you anything you want."

Ramati Bodhi's tone was already full of pleading. As the saying goes, when you are under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. Now he just wanted to save his own life.

"hehe."

Lan Yu smiled coldly and said, "Now the whole city is in my hands. What treasures do I need you to offer? Aren't they all mine? As for you, do you have any last words? If not, you can die now."

Ramati Bodhi said in a hateful voice: "Lan Yu, aren't you afraid that the great emperor will punish you?"

Lan Yu smiled and said, "Ayutthaya has been destroyed and Siam has no more resistance. From now on, Siam will be like Champa and will be under the rule of the Ming Dynasty. Your Majesty is too busy rewarding me for this, so how can you punish me?"

"Even if it's a punishment, you won't be able to see it."

"Alright, since you have no last words, I won't waste my time talking to you. Just drag him down and chop him off."

The guards on both sides immediately dragged out the cursing Ramati Bodhi and beheaded him in public.

After being beheaded, Ramati Bodhi's eyes were wide open, and he truly died with his eyes open.

He still had a lot of things to do. He had to take down the Sukhothai Dynasty and unify Siam, then gather troops to conquer Cambodia, and then build the most powerful Siamese Dynasty.

However, just as everything was going smoothly, the intervention of the Ming Dynasty made everything come to naught.

How could he be willing to die?

However, all these thoughts were shattered after one cut.

However, Lan Yu's butcher knife did not stop there, and he instead slaughtered the entire Ayutthaya royal family.

Including the great nobles in Ayutthaya, basically all their families were executed to avoid any future troubles.

At this point, half of the territory of Indochina was controlled by the Ming Dynasty.

When the news reached the capital, Zhu Ying was not surprised.

I can only say that Lan Yu is worthy of his name, and he is indeed quick in his actions.

"Lan Yu is a boy with some abilities," Zhu Yuanzhang praised.

Although conquering Siam would not be a problem in everyone's eyes, it was all thanks to Lan Yu that the city was captured in such a short time without causing too much loss to the Ming army.

Of course, if Lan Yu had consumed too many troops and ended up with a tragic victory, that would have been completely different.

Even in Zhu Ying's opinion, it would take at least four to five months, or even half a year, to conquer the Ayutthaya Dynasty. He had already made logistical preparations for a long war.

Ramati Bodhi himself was a very capable king. In the entire South Seas region, it can be said that Siam is the most powerful.

This most powerful country in the Nanyang region did not even last two months under Lanyu's rule.

However, this disrupted Zhu Ying's plans to a certain extent.

Because they didn't expect Lan Yu to act so quickly, Zhu Ying hadn't yet finalized the officials he was going to send there.

Now we can only inform the cabinet, draw up a list as quickly as possible, and set off immediately.

As the old saying goes, it is easy to conquer a country but difficult to keep it.

The word "shou" here also means to govern.

Champa in Yunnan is not so bad. After all, it has been infiltrated for so many years. Because of the high welfare, there are quite a few Han people who have migrated there, so it is relatively easy to govern.

But Cambodia and Siam are completely different.

Although Ayutthaya was destroyed and even the royal family was emptied, in fact most of the areas are not yet in the hands of the Ming Dynasty, but are controlled by local nobles in other cities.

But just like Zhenla, even their king has been defeated, so there is no point in struggling.

The biggest trouble in governing Cambodia and Siam lies in the differences in cultural ideologies.

They do not belong to the Central Plains civilization circle, and very few of them understand Chinese. Except for some high-level nobles who need to learn Chinese because they need to communicate with the Ming Dynasty, other small and medium-sized nobles and lower-class people do not understand Chinese at all.

The combined area of ​​Cambodia and Siam is larger than Yunnan, and their population is in the millions.

It was impossible for the Ming Dynasty to send a large number of personnel in at once.

It is conceivable that there will be a certain degree of chaos in the Cambodia-Siam region for a long time to come.

This is also a situation that cannot be avoided.

"It's a pity for Zhu Gaochi here."

Zhu Ying sighed a little. Now they had to arrange a governor to govern Siam. In Zhu Ying's opinion, Zhu Gaochi was undoubtedly a very suitable candidate.

Because of the distance, loyalty to the Ming Dynasty must also be taken into consideration, and the princes and grandchildren are undoubtedly the best choices.

However, Zhu Ying had already promised Zhu Gaochi to return to Japan some time ago, and it was not appropriate to arrange for him to go to Siam now.

After thinking about it, Zhu Ying decided to let Qi Tai go.

Qi Tai is still very capable. He has served as the Minister of War for many years. It is estimated that after the Minister of War Ru Heng retires, he will inherit the position.

Zhu Ying has been in control of the military power over the years, and Qi Tai has also made a significant contribution.

Although Qi Tai is not seen in major events, his importance cannot be ignored. Without his cooperation, it would be difficult for many students who graduated from military academies to get involved in local garrisons.

Qi Tai's greatest advantage is his excellent memory. He is very familiar with the Ming Dynasty's garrisons, especially those around the capital, and he makes good arrangements for the students of the military academy.

On the same day, Zhu Ying called Qi Tai to the back hall of the Eastern Palace and asked him about his ideas on the governance of Siam.

"I recommend one person, and it should be effective."

After listening to the crown prince's question, Qi Tai said respectfully.

Zhu Ying didn't expect him to recommend someone else, so he asked curiously, "Who did Lord Qi recommend?"

Qi Tai said in a deep voice: "The person I recommended is currently serving under the command of King Wu, and that person is Huang Zicheng."

Zhu Ying frowned and asked, "Why did you recommend him?"

Zhu Ying did not have much good feelings towards Huang Zicheng, but she did not have any bad feelings towards him either.

However, from a historical perspective, this man was indecisive and although he was loyal and righteous, he was undoubtedly a hero in Zhu Di's successful suppression of the rebellion.

Therefore, he was also rewarded by Zhu Di and was given ten clans.

Zhu Ying felt that it was unreliable to let such a person govern Siam.

Qi Tai said: "Your Highness, you don't know that Huang Zicheng has many disciples. If he were to govern Siam, a large number of students would definitely go there. Currently, the biggest problem in Siam is education. The natives do not know the language of the Ming Dynasty, so communication is difficult."

"If we want to educate Siam, we naturally need a large number of scholars to go there bravely. Huang Zicheng will play a very crucial role in this."

"In the past few years, Huang Zicheng has been assisting the King of Wu in governing Wucheng. He has already gained rich experience. Now he is familiar with governing Siam. I heard that Huang Zicheng has been devoted to learning during his years in Wucheng. He has learned the languages ​​of various places in Southeast Asia. I think he is also familiar with Siamese."

"Therefore, I believe that Huang Zicheng is the best person to govern Siam."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Ying thought about it for a while.

Although he did not agree directly, he was already persuaded by Qi Tai.

Qi Tai was right. Huang Zicheng was quite famous in the literary circle, otherwise Zhu Yuanzhang would not have designated him as the companion reader of the Eastern Palace.

If you take a quick look around Wucheng today you will find that, although it is not prosperous and wealthy, it is well organized.

Moreover, many scholars in the Ming Dynasty liked to go to Wucheng. Now Zhu Yunwen had few military generals under his command, but many civil officials, and this was inseparable from Qi Tai's contribution.

Why does a small city like Wu need so many civil officials?

After Qi Tai left, Zhu Ying decided to let Huang Zicheng go to Siam, taking his group of disciples with him.

Anyway, no matter what, the final situation is not that bad.

So Zhu Ying called Xu Miaojin to help him draft the decree.

…

Wucheng.

This was the vassal state of King Wu Zhu Yunwen.

After the end of the Northern Expedition last year, Zhu Yunwen was allowed to return to Wucheng.

After all, unlike the four Japanese kings Zhu Chong, Zhu Gang, Zhu Di and Zhu Gui, he went to the capital just to join in the fun.

He couldn't help much in the Northern Expedition, and he was just having fun in the capital, so there was no need for him to stay in the capital.

I have to say that Wucheng is developing quite well now.

With the support of the Ming Dynasty, he also had 50,000 elite troops given to him by Zhu Ying.

Oh, now there are only 20,000 or 30,000 soldiers transferred to Zhenla.

However, this had no impact on Wucheng. Annan and Champa had already belonged to the Ming Dynasty, and 20,000 elite soldiers were more than enough.

Wucheng is developing well. Zhu Yunwen has been influenced by Confucianism since he was a child, and he emphasizes a peaceful and well-governed world. Now Wucheng is also a prosperous scene.

There were nearly seventy civil servants in Zhu Yunwen's small court.

Many scholars who felt it was difficult to survive in the Ming Dynasty came to Huang Zicheng and tried to get a position under Zhu Yunwen.

Zhu Yunwen's court meetings were held every three days, just like those of the Ming Dynasty. This was not to say that Zhu Yunwen was lazy, but because of Huang Zicheng's advice.

If the court meetings in the vassal states are more frequent than those in the Ming Dynasty, doesn't that mean the King of Wu is more diligent than Your Majesty?

Wu Cheng was so diligent in holding court meetings, did he have any extra thoughts?

Huang Zicheng's words made Zhu Yunwen give up the idea of ​​holding daily court meetings.

He still enjoyed court meetings very much. After all, he was once very close to the throne of the Ming Dynasty.

If it weren't for the sudden appearance of his elder brother, he would have been the heir to the Ming Dynasty.

The decree issued by Zhu Ying took only seven days to reach Wucheng.

Such speed is naturally due to the steam ironclad ship. The order takes a dedicated channel, and there are always ready ironclad ships waiting.

In Champa, a station for replenishing coal for steam ironclad ships was built two years ago.

"According to the order of the Crown Prince, Huang Zicheng of Wucheng is transferred to be the Left Governor of the Siamese Provincial Administration Office. He will temporarily lead the Siamese government affairs and have the power to appoint people."

"Left Envoy Huang, please accept the order."

Under the eunuch's urging, Huang Zicheng, who had not yet reacted, knelt on the ground and shouted: "I will obey the order of the Crown Prince."

Then he stood up and took the order with a happy face.

He really didn't expect that one day he would be able to serve the imperial court. He thought he would spend the rest of his life in Wucheng.

This person is a full-fledged court official, and also a frontier official of the second rank who holds real power.

The other civil officials who heard this also looked happy. Perhaps the only one who was unhappy was Zhu Yunwen who was sitting on the throne.