Chapter 966

A raging fire on the sea burned like a blooming flower of flames.

On the harbor, Liu Chen and the soldiers watched all three warships sink, and a heavy weight was lifted from their hearts. After this war, they had completely annihilated the British soldiers on the island and successfully taken control of Malacca. In the future, any ship passing through Malacca would need the Great Yu Empire’s permission. After cheering for a while, Liu Chen left some soldiers to guard the battery and the others returned to Singapore City. By this time, Yue Yun had already taken control of the entire city. The British flag was lowered from the Governor-General’s Office, and the Great Yu Empire’s Dragon Flag was raised to the top of the flagpole, fluttering in the wind.

“General, the British soldiers have all been eliminated!” Liu Chen gave a military salute to Yue Yun.

“Very good!” Yue Yun returned the salute and continued, “Immediately send someone to report the results of this campaign to the Emperor and await his orders.”

“Yes, General,” Liu Chen replied. The same day, a warship departed from Singapore Harbor for Dengzhou.

On December 20th, the warship arrived in Dengzhou, and the battle reports from the Battle of Bohol Island and the Battle of Singapore reached Xiao Ming.

“Congratulations, Your Majesty, the Great Yu Empire’s territory will be expanded once again,” Qian Dafu said with a beaming smile. The master and servant were gathered around a map of Southeast Asia, with Xiao Ming holding the battle reports and Qian Dafu unfolding the map.

“It’s not that simple. We only control the Spanish Royal City on Bohol Island and Singapore City. It’s still unknown whether the natives in these two places will accept our occupation.” Xiao Ming narrowed his eyes and marked the locations of the Spanish Royal City and Singapore. Unlike the historical process of the modern era, some maps from the technology crystal could only be used as a reference, and the specific locations of these cities still needed to be explored and confirmed by them.

“The natives?” Qian Dafu rarely showed a look of disdain. The current strength of the Great Yu Empire made everyone confident. “Your Majesty, these natives aren’t even a match for the British and Spanish, so how can they be a match for us?”

“That’s true, but both the Spanish and the British had made agreements with these natives. Now that we have driven them away, we naturally have to sign new agreements with them. Moreover, after a hundred years of rule, these native dynasties have gradually accepted the Spanish and British. I’m worried that they will be angered by this, and a war with them is inevitable,” Xiao Ming said slowly.

In the colonial history of the modern era, people often overlooked these local Southeast Asian nations, and their attention was only on which colonizer occupied which colony. However, in fact, these Southeast Asian dynasties were crucial to the colonies, because most of the colonial output was provided by these native dynasties. According to some population statistics from the technology crystal, the current population of the Southeast Asian dynasties was a very substantial number.

For example, the population of the Philippines in the mid-to-late 18th century was about three million, Indonesia’s population was eight million, Malaysia’s was about three hundred and fifty thousand, and Burma’s was about five million. The population of Thailand, which was the Kingdom of Siam in this era, was three million. The total population of French Indochina was about ten million, and the population of the Kingdom of Annam alone was seven million.

Because he had these figures, Xiao Ming could not ignore these native nations. After all, during their rule, the colonizers only acted as the suzerains of these countries and did not carry out a policy of slaughter. However, despite this, he was not afraid of these natives. If necessary, he could only defeat them once, just like the Spanish and British did, because in this era, might makes right.

Qian Dafu finally understood. He said, “Your Majesty is right, this old servant was confused. In fact, our Great Yu Empire was once the suzerain of these Southeast Asian nations. Every year during the New Year, they would send people to offer various rare treasures in exchange for our protection. Now, the despicable Europeans have seized our suzerainty and are forcefully acting as the suzerains of these countries.”

“Yes, that’s right. It seems you have made some progress,” Xiao Ming laughed. “In fact, what I am competing for now is this suzerainty, to restore the Great Yu Empire’s tribute system and drive the Europeans out of the Great Yu Empire’s backyard. They have Africa, South America, and North America; it’s a pipe dream for them to try and stick a foot in Asia.”

Qian Dafu looked as if he shared the same hatred. “The entire world has almost been occupied by them. They are truly insatiable. This battle was very satisfying.”

Xiao Ming was already used to Qian Dafu’s flattery. He smiled, and then wrote a number on Singapore: 20,000, which was the current population of Singapore. Xiao Ming was not surprised by this number. Before the British arrived, Singapore was a barren land, and this number was already quite substantial.

Furthermore, according to the data provided by Yue Yun, three thousand of them were of Chinese descent. After the occupation of Singapore, the local Chinese welcomed the Naval Marines, voluntarily acting as guides and cooperating with the Marines to take over the British industries in Singapore. Xiao Ming naturally welcomed this situation. In this era, the standard for distinguishing people was skin color. The Chinese could not escape the bloodline ingrained in their bones as people of the Great Yu Empire. Using these Chinese to help them manage Singapore was more reassuring than using the local natives.

In addition to reporting on the situation in Singapore, Yue Yun also requested further orders.

After some hesitation, Xiao Ming personally wrote an imperial edict for Yue Yun. For him, there was no plan to continue marching west for the time being. By cutting off the Strait of Malacca, French Indochina, and parts of British-occupied Indonesia and Australia would all be within his grasp. Moreover, for the current Great Yu Empire, it would take some time to digest these places, establish its suzerainty system, and build trade relations. The Western powers had spent two to three hundred years managing these places, and he could not achieve it all at once.

As for the British, Spanish, or French, after the naval battle, he believed that the three countries would realize the difficulties they were facing and would not fight him to the end. After all, challenging an industrial nation in such a remote colony would be a disaster.

This was both a benefit and a hidden danger for the Great Yu Empire. The benefit was that the Great Yu Empire could use the resources and markets of these lands to accelerate the industrial revolution. The hidden danger was that such a humiliating defeat would further stimulate Europe to put more effort into technological research and weapon manufacturing. Xiao Ming believed that they would not be willing to accept defeat, and once they found an opportunity in the dark, they would definitely make a comeback.

With this in mind, he quickly finished writing the imperial edict and sent someone to deliver it. In order to completely control Malacca, he would permanently station ten thousand ground troops in Singapore, turn it into the Great Yu Empire’s overseas naval port, and leave thirty warships to protect the shipping lanes and patrol the South China Sea.