In the winter moon, the Baigu people who fled to Ava migrated south again under the influence of the notice of the people.

The war inevitably caused the ancient city of Bai to temporarily lose its status as the most prosperous city in Burma, and for two months, only a few thousand people returned to Bai Ku.

"People are afraid of another war here, and they would rather live in the jungle than come back." Old Pinto pushed the glasses on the bridge of his nose and said this, the small movements in his hands increased, and he asked Chen Mu thoughtfully: "General, because the attack of the two marshals in the north is too fast, our mercenary defection has not been fulfilled, is your promise still valid?" ”

Chen Mu didn't know what his foreign aides were nervous about, and he asked, "What promise?" ”

Pinto's cloudy eyes looked at Chen Mu behind his glasses, carefully trying to find out the clues on his face whether this was a truth or a lie, and said: "The general said that if the Portuguese are willing to fight for you, you will give them the same salary from Mang Yinglong, and ensure that they still have the right to have a Burmese daughter-in-law." ”

It seems that Pinto has obtained information that Chen Mu does not know.

Chen Mu's expression was difficult, and he raised his hand to the durian that was about to be opened in front of Pinto, and said, "If you decide not to eat it now, and let people move this stinky thing full of thorns out, I think there is still something to talk about." ”

"It's delicious despite its strong smell, and you should try it, General." Needless to say more from Chen Mu, Lao Pinto immediately recruited the Portuguese entourage who followed him to move the huge durian out, and then raised four fingers to Chen Mu and said: "As far as I know, there are now four mercenary groups in Myanmar that have lost their employers, they have no source of income, and they have to avoid the search of the Ming army, I don't want the general's subordinates to catch them and kill them." ”

"They consisted mainly of the Portuguese, including the Malays, the Siamese, and the Burmese and Mon who fled during the war, and if the general did not recruit them, it might affect the general's rule over the place over time."

The implication is that the behavior of these people now is no different from that of the rebels.

But it's clearly too late to talk about hiring.

"If, four months ago, recruiting them would have prevented my brother from losing his hair and beard while attacking the Baigu Fortress, even if the commission was fifty thousand taels of silver, I would do it; If two months ago, if they had been hired to prevent General Yu's subordinates from being killed or wounded, they would have tied up Mang Yinglong and handed it over to me, fifty thousand taels of silver, I am willing; But now it's clearly not a question of whether I hire them or not. ”

Chen Mu leaned back in the chair and leaned back slightly, spread his hands and said, "What can they do for me?" And what do you want from me? ”

"They don't know what they can do for the general, they just want to have a job, they don't know what they can get from the general, they just want to be protected, as the general can see, in the land close to the Ming Dynasty, Portugal, Spain, no country has a general who can protect them more."

Old Pinto stood up as he spoke, walked tremblingly to the outside of the tent, took the Portuguese map cartridge and walked back, opened it in front of Chen Mu, the scroll inside was not the latest map drawn by the Ming army in Burma, but a map from Portugal, and said: "I just happened to know these things, for example, Arakan did not seem to be willing to fight for the general before. ”

"If the general wishes, they plan to attack Arakan, and after they succeed, they hope that the general will protect them and recognize the independence of the Portuguese in Arakan, and the governor of Goa will help them in the war, and the main army inside Arakan is also controlled by the Portuguese, and the mercenary group is more numerous and powerful, including the Ming, Portuguese, Japanese, and Malays, accounting for half of the country's military strength."

"If successful, the general will be able to get their help in attack and defense in future battles, although they are not as good as the general's banner guards, but they have centipede ships, powerful crossbows with their waists, Fran cannons and war elephants."

Chen Mu's face was different, the Portuguese planned to attack Arakan?

In fact, he didn't plan to deal with Arakan, not sending troops was not a big deal, and it didn't affect the battle situation, at most, let Lin Afeng go there to make trouble.

Because Arakan is easy to defend and difficult to attack, the huge moat of Myaowu City is a large lake, and if you release the sluice, you can drown the besieging army half to death, and the land it occupies is not unique, it is nothing more than guarding the Bay of Bengal, even if you need war, it is not too late to fight it in the future.

Chen Mu knew very well that his greatest mission at present was to fully promote the establishment of prefecture, county, and capital administrations in Baigu, Yangon, and Thang Long, to dispatch officials from the country, and to completely control the whole of Myanmar from the religious and economic points through the hands of monks and caravans, so as to reap the fruits of this war to the greatest extent.

Without that, these two battles will be meaningless.

As for Arakan, it's not a threat.

However, the Portuguese had the intention of opening up new land in Indochina, which reminded Chen Mu, and he asked old Pinto: "These four and five mercenary groups have conquered Arakan, and they plan to incorporate this land into the Indian Viceroyalty?" ”

"The general's conquest of Nanyang reminded the Indian governor, they hoped that the Portuguese would follow the governor's orders and occupy more places on the border with the Ming as soon as possible, hoping that the mercenary group would follow the Indian viceroyalty after attacking Arakan, but they came to me and hoped to get the protection of the Ming Empire and allow them to live and enjoy power in the Arakan region."

It is difficult to see Pinto's position in this matter, he seems to be more in favor of the mercenary group to break away from the control of the Indian governor, and said to Chen Mu: "The establishment of the country here does not need to be canonized by the pope, if the general can let the great son be canonized, they will be grateful." ”

Chen Mu almost laughed when he heard Old Pinto say these words seriously.

Several Portuguese adventurers went to Indochina to get a large number of cheap troops in their wars, trying to attack a small country with foreign alliances, and hoping to escape the domination of the Indian governor after victory, so they sought the help of the Ming Dynasty, hoping to be canonized by the Ming Emperor.

"I don't need the emperor to canonize them, my official position and authority can canonize them and give them protection, subordinate to the Nanyang Military Government, the command of the envoys in Zhongnan, and the establishment of two guards. Half of the local fields and minerals are used for the money, and half are handed over to the command and envoys. ”

"The protection of the Ming Empire is not in vain, they have to practice the Chinese dialect and use the Han customs in the local area within a year, especially to learn the Ming law well, the advantage of this is that when the Ming and the Portuguese Indian governors have a disagreement, they don't have to fight me first."

Chen Mu laughed as he spoke, it was impossible for him to play a book to the emperor for these Portuguese and help them get a king, although he would definitely pass the imperial court, but he wished that there was only one Ming in the world, how could he make a country by himself.

"Let them think about it, time is running out, how to decide, as soon as possible."