Chapter 1194: Everyone's Counting on the Great Shun to Save Them

"King Saddha, why don't you tell us — why didn't we go to Penang Island and instead came to Mrauk U?"

Inside the royal palace of Mrauk U, Li Jicheng, the Shun Imperial Grandson, was all smiles as he asked Saddha Duthamma, who had been led before him, a question.

This was not an easy question to answer. Answer wrong and you'd very likely be "taken out and shot" — dragged outside and shot dead!

Li Jicheng's words were translated into Portuguese by Li Anna and relayed to Saddha Duthamma, and the little beauty even added a line of her own — the King must answer carefully, and absolutely must not anger the Imperial Grandson!

How was he supposed to answer that! Saddha Duthamma thought to himself: you faithless bandits have already stolen my kingdom, and now you want me to say nice things too?

The more he thought about it, the angrier Saddha Duthamma became, and he was about to burst out cursing when, at that moment, the sound of weeping reached him again. Saddha Duthamma turned his head to look, and instantly his anger vanished. It turned out his entire family, old and young, had been hauled over — by the look of it, the whole family would be making the journey together!

"His Highness the Imperial Grandson has — has come to save Mrauk U and the Kingdom of Arakan!" In his desperation, the King of Arakan actually managed to squeeze out a correct answer!

"Right on! We have indeed come to save the Kingdom of Arakan!" Li Jicheng smiled. "Who can blame Us for being so righteous! Master Fan, what do you say?"

Bruce van Diemen snorted, then asked the King of Arakan in Portuguese, "Your Majesty, what disaster has befallen your country and Mrauk U, such that the Great Shun Empire needed to send troops to save you?"

The King of Arakan glared at Bruce resentfully — the Shun bandits' question was already hard enough to answer, and now you've added another one! Have you no conscience at all!

Li Anna had already translated Bruce's words into Chinese, and Li Jicheng nodded with a smile: "Master Fan asks a good question. King Saddha, answer it well!"

Answer poorly and it was still "taken out and shot"!

Saddha Duthamma racked his brains, and then he thought of Aurangzeb!

"It's all Aurangzeb's fault!" the King of Arakan said through gritted teeth. "This base and shameless tyrant launched a sneak attack on the peace-loving Kingdom of Arakan."

Poor Aurangzeb, what an injustice! Tyrant though he was, he never launched sneak attacks. He always followed the principle of "slipper first, troops later" — that is, he would place one of his own slippers on the back of an ornately decorated elephant, then send men to lead the elephant into the country about to be attacked to demand surrender. Throwing away the slipper and killing the elephant (the elephant was innocent) signified resistance, while kneeling to welcome the slipper signified submission.

But Aurangzeb's slipper had never been delivered to Arakan. In fact, during this period Aurangzeb was not in India at all — he was in Samarkand recruiting troops and buying horses, and incidentally considering whether to send the slipper over to Sengge, the Khong Tayiji of the Dzungars!

"Right! Right! It's all that Aurang-whatever's fault!" Li Jicheng laughed. "King Saddha, rest assured, with Our Great Shun dynasty here, We guarantee that Aurang-whatever won't take your kingdom."

That was a true statement!

Saddha Duthamma's capital had already been taken by the Great Shun, so even if Aurangzeb wanted to take it, it was too late.

"King Saddha, why don't you hurry and kowtow to thank His Highness the Imperial Grandson for his grace!" After translating Li Jicheng's words, Li Anna added a line of her own.

Upon hearing this, Saddha Duthamma hastily prostrated himself on the ground and performed the grand ritual kowtow to Li Jicheng.

Li Jicheng burst out laughing: "In that case, issue a decree so that the entire Kingdom of Arakan knows that We, the Great Shun's celestial troops, are the rescue force you invited — here to help you put down rebellion and resist the Mughals! Say that a great disturbance broke out in Mrauk U, that traitors colluded with Aurang-whatever to launch a coup, seized control of the court, and issued orders in your name, preparing to turn Arakan into Mughal territory!

So you sent envoys to the prefecture of Syriam and invited Our Great Shun's army of righteousness to help put down the rebellion. Now the rebellion has been suppressed, but the Mughal army is already marching toward Arakan. For the sake of the people of the Kingdom of Arakan, so that they not be slaughtered by the Mughals, you have resolutely thrown in your lot with the Great Shun, declared yourself a subject of the Great Shun Celestial Dynasty, and requested enfeoffment as Military Governor of Arakan.

Master Fan, do you think the people of Arakan will believe Us if We put it that way?"

Bruce van Diemen merely smiled coldly: "Even if the Arakanese don't believe it, what can they do? Can they still rebel against your Great Shun Celestial Dynasty?"

Li Jicheng nodded: "Well said! We reckon they wouldn't dare rebel either. At most they'd be angry but not dare speak up!"

Bruce continued: "But after taking the Kingdom of Arakan, your Great Shun will share a border with the Mughal Empire. The Mughal Empire is the hegemon of India — it holds three of the four quarters of India, and also possesses half of Afghanistan and the land of Samarkand by the two rivers of the Western Regions. Its emperor, Aurangzeb, is called the Conqueror of the World, one of the rare great sovereigns under heaven!

Moreover, within the Kingdom of Arakan, quite a few people's hearts lean toward this Conqueror of the World, hoping his great army will come!"

The little country of Arakan was a "contested zone" wedged between the Buddhist states of Southeast Asia and the Islamic territories of South Asia, and the situation was extremely complex. To sum it up simply: "Islam held the strategic offensive, while Buddhism temporarily had the tactical upper hand." But the struggle between the two great religions was not fiercely intense at every moment — if it were, life would have been impossible. At least until outside powers intervened, the interior of the Kingdom of Arakan could still remain calm.

If the Great Shun Empire had not acted on its own initiative, then the Mughal dynasty to Arakan's west most likely would not have acted rashly either. But now that the Great Shun had made its move, would that Conqueror of the World still sit by and do nothing?

The troubles in Arakan, I'm afraid, had only just begun!

Li Jicheng furrowed his brow and stroked his beard: "Aiyo, looks like We've gone and poked a hornet's nest. Now what are We to do?"

"Now what are we to do!"

The same question was being asked in the royal palace of the Kingdom of Johor.

The one asking was Prince Ali, the Temenggong of the Kingdom of Johor. Temenggong was the title of the high minister who held military power in the various sultanates around the Strait of Malacca — a title that sounded very intimidating.

And right now, more than one Temenggong was gathered in the royal palace of Johor. There was not only Johor's own Temenggong, but also the Temenggong of the already-exiled Sultan of Patani, and the Temenggongs of the Sultan of Aceh, the Sultan of Perak, and the Sultan of Kedah — the fiercest men around the Strait of Malacca had all arrived! And none of them had come alone; each had brought a bit of his own military force.

Among them, the Johor Temenggong had the most troops under his command — as many as 5,000! The Aceh Sultan's Temenggong brought 2,000 men, the Perak Sultan's Temenggong brought 3,000 men, the Patani Sultan's Temenggong also brought about 3,000 men, and the Kedah Sultan's Temenggong brought the fewest — only 1,000 men.

Besides these fierce men, there was also a European named Frederick Coyett, a senior official of the East India Company and Governor stationed at Malacca, who had now come on orders from Batavia, bringing 3,000 native mercenaries to garrison Johor Fortress.

At the same time, he was the immediate superior of these Temenggongs, responsible for directing them in resisting the Ming army.

The Ming army had now landed on Temasek Island and the northern shore of the Johor Strait, with the landing ground about a hundred-odd li from Johor Fortress. They had already taken several villages and towns, and the small Johor forces stationed there had all fled at the first sign of danger, bringing the news of the Ming army's arrival in force back to Johor Fortress.

This frightened the group of "fierce men," and they all looked at Frederick Coyett, waiting for him to make a decision.

Coyett was a Swede, but he was not an officer of the mighty Swedish army — merely a merchant who knew a little about military matters. And his military knowledge told him that not one of the fierce men before him could fight. If they truly had to rely on them, they were all dead men.

Fortunately, however, Bruce van Diemen had already gone to Burma to fetch reinforcements — fifteen thousand genuinely combat-capable Great Shun troops should already have reached the Malay Peninsula!

"Don't be anxious!" Frederick Coyett said to the "fierce men" in the local language of Malacca. "The East India Company has already brought in twenty thousand elite troops from the Great Shun Empire in the north (he was a crafty merchant, after all, so of course he had to exaggerate a bit). They have already reached Penang Island and will soon come to the relief of Johor Fortress. So as long as we hold the fortress, we will be in an invincible position!"

"Excellent!"

"Thanks be to the True God."

"Now we're saved!"

The fierce men all breathed a sigh of relief, but Frederick Coyett's expression was grave as he said: "From Penang Island to here takes at least ten days' march. During that time, we must hold Johor City. I will now begin laying out the defenses, and I hope you will obey orders and fight hard!"

(End of Chapter)