Chapter 37: Chapter 36: Past Memories of Jinbian

Phnom Penh, the residence of the Guan Jin family.

Seated around a square table were some of the most powerful Khmer individuals in Chenla. To the left sat Xie Su, the Chief of Internal Affairs, and Deng Changbu, the Chief of Punishments.

To the right sat Guan Jinjie, the Chief of Trade, and Guan Jinpan, the Chief of External Affairs.

Facing south, the elderly man seated in the center wearing a purple robe was named Palasu; he was the Grand Chancellor of Chenla.

Seated opposite the old man was Hong Bufu, the Commander-in-Chief of the Chenla Imperial Guard.

Palasu spoke first.

"Since we are all gathered here today, I shall not waste words. The Viet people's desire to destroy our Chenla remains undiminished. Under the guise of suppressing rebellion, they practice the reality of reducing our population; they breach our cities and plunder our people. The entire clan of Keleha, the Governor of Chai Zhen, has been exterminated. If we continue to allow the Viet to act willfully, today's fate of Keleha will be our fate tomorrow."

Deng Changbu, the Chief of Punishments, slammed the table hard and sighed helplessly.

"Where is the law? Where is justice? Do the Nguyen Viet not fear the manifestation of the Buddha and the retribution of reincarnation?"

Most of the Chenla and Vietnam regions practiced Buddhism.

Xie Su, the Chief of Internal Affairs, detested Deng Changbu's weakness and, distrusting Guan Jinpan, said

"You still expect the Buddha to manifest at a time like this? Let us focus on studying how to save ourselves. Lord Guan Jinpan, are these Westerners you mentioned reliable? Or are they merely Frenchmen masquerading as Vietnamese lackeys to trick us?"

The French had previously funded the Vietnamese, and once the Vietnamese grew powerful, they began to suppress the French at every turn. Thus, the Khmer mistakenly believed the French were a vassal state of the Vietnamese.

"No, their language is different, and according to Western merchants, the Austrians are the arch-rivals of the French," Guan Jinpan replied.

Xie Su naturally understood the logic that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and continued to ask

"Are their firearms truly that formidable? How do they compare to our matchlocks?"

Hong Bufu, the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard, said

"Formidable! Compared to these new Western guns, our matchlocks are nothing more than fire-sticks. The new Western guns fire fast, accurately, and with great power; even under iron armor, rattan armor is useless against them. Most importantly, they are not afraid of moisture and will not fail to ignite."

The climate of Chenla was hot and humid, making the slow matches of matchlocks prone to dampness, which severely affected shooting.

By this era, flintlock technology had already developed for several centuries, and the granulated black powder brought by Ambrosius was incomparable to traditional black powder dust.

Granulated powder consists of small grains, so even when compressed by a ramrod, they do not clump together, whereas black powder dust is highly likely to turn into a lump under the combined effects of pressure and moisture.

The gaps left between the granules allow oxygen to assist in the combustion, making the burn rate more even and increasing the efficiency of the powder's combustion.

Furthermore, during firing, a significant portion of unignited powder in dust-based firearms is often blown out of the barrel, whereas granulated powder burns more controlledly.

However, the officials of Chenla did not understand these technicalities.

Though Xie Su was unwilling to accept the cost, he believed in Hong Bufu. Had it not been for this Commander-in-Chief, the powerful clans of Phnom Penh would have long since been wiped out by Zhang Mingjiang.

Zhang Mingjiang was a trusted general of Emperor Minh Mang of Vietnam, appointed by the Emperor as the Governor-General of Chenla to implement policies of extermination and assimilation.

The elderly man in the center spoke again.

"But one hundred taels of silver per piece is simply too expensive. No matter how good the barbarian weapons are, we lack the means to purchase them. If we only acquire a few thousand, they will be of little use; the Nguyen Viet possess an army of a hundred thousand."

"Lord Ambrosius has three conditions."

"Let us hear them."

"To grant them a township of land to reside in. I have already arranged for people to carry this out."

"Hmm, not bad. Chenla is a land of vast resources; let alone a township, we could even grant a whole county." The old man nodded; he felt nothing wrong with allocating Chenla's land for foreigners to live on, as long as they paid taxes.

"They also wish to build churches to worship their ancestors."

"Longing for home and ancestral worship is human nature. It seems these Westerners are not entirely uncultured."

"Their leader wishes to meet Her Highness, the Princess."

"Impudence! How dare these barbarians be so disrespectful! This is an absurdity of the highest order! How can the Princess's countenance be seen by such foreign savages?" The old man's beard and hair bristled with rage.

However, the others present were not particularly indignant.

"His Majesty Ang Chan is still in the hands of the Vietnamese. If we can bring His Majesty back, let alone meeting the Princess, it wouldn't be impossible to send the Princesses for political marriages," said Guan Jinjie, the Chief of Trade, who had remained silent until now.

Grand Chancellor Palasu intended to reprimand this lawless fellow, but everyone around him remained silent, seemingly tacitly accepting Guan Jinjie's reasoning.

Palasu thought that it made sense; when the nation was on the brink of destruction, what use were these formalities?

"If we agree to these three conditions, how much of a discount can we get?"

"Thirty taels," Guan Jinpan replied.

The old man thought for a moment and then said

"Tell them we can grant them a whole county. But the Western guns must be sold to us at fifty taels per piece."

"I will do my utmost not to fail the Chancellor, nor to fail Chenla," Guan Jinpan replied with great righteousness.

***

Night, Phnom Penh, East Bridge Restaurant.

"Now, I ask everyone to contribute what wealth you have and what strength you can muster to face this national crisis together!" Palasu raised his wine cup and drained it in one gulp. "I am the Chancellor of Chenla, so let it start with me. I will contribute two hundred thousand taels."

Two hundred thousand taels was an astronomical figure in Chenla. One must realize that under the exploitation of the Vietnamese, the Chenla national treasury could only receive thirty to fifty thousand taels of silver annually, which was barely enough to pay the salaries of soldiers and officials.

Palasu was truly bringing out his entire reserve, but because the number was so staggering, no one responded for a long time. Everyone's arms grew numb as they looked at one another, waiting for the next person to speak.

Guan Jinpan could not stand it any longer and drained his wine.

"I am willing to contribute ten thousand taels of silver and ten thousand bushels of rice."

Although Guan Jinpan was a second-rank official of Chenla and the Guan Jin family was a powerful clan, this amount was truly significant for his family.

Next, Guan Jinjie also drained his wine.

"Like my elder brother, I will contribute ten thousand taels of silver and ten thousand bushels of rice."

After speaking, Guan Jinjie and Guan Jinpan embraced and wept, for this was nearly the entirety of their family's mobilizable assets; anything more would require selling their ancestral homes.

Afterward, Xie Su, the Chief of Internal Affairs, was willing to contribute 5,000 taels, and the Commander-in-Chief Hong Bufu contributed 1,000 taels.

After that, it became absurd. These merchants, officials, landlords, and gentry contributed two hundred here and three hundred there. Most absurdly, Deng Changbu, the Chief of Punishments, contributed only fifty taels.

This infuriated Palasu, because Deng Changbu's bribes were never less than two hundred taels at a time. He said with a trembling voice

"You bunch of parasites! The state is in such decline, and since you cannot take to the field to fight the enemy, are you not even willing to contribute a bit of your private wealth? Deng Changbu! You, as the Chief of Punishments, why do you only contribute fifty taels!"

Deng Changbu had his reasons, and said with great disdain

"My annual salary should be one hundred and fifty taels, but now they only pay me twenty taels a year. I have been an official for seventeen years, and the state of Chenla still owes me two thousand two hundred taels."

Palasu was so angry he nearly fainted; he deeply understood the helplessness felt by the Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty.