Chapter 4 Chapter 3 King Zheng of Thailand

Siam (Xianxian) (before 1939, Thailand was named Siam) was a close neighbor of China. Historically, the two countries had close political, economic and cultural exchanges, and there were many overseas Chinese who immigrated there. At the end of the 17th century, there was a "special residential area" for Chinese in the northeast of Ayutthaya, the capital of Siam, with an estimated population of 3,000. After the 18th century, the trade between China and Siam became more frequent. There were fifty or sixty merchant ships sailing from the southeast coast of China to Siam every year, and many overseas Chinese emigrated with the ships.Some overseas Chinese also moved from the border of Yunnan into the northern part of Siam.They settled and made a living in Siam, spread advanced Chinese culture, and gradually assimilated to the local area.Some also served as government officials.During the Ming Dynasty, several of the envoys sent by Siam to China were overseas Chinese. In the middle of the 18th century, Siam was invaded by Burma. In the defense of Ayutthaya from 1765 to 1767, overseas Chinese actively participated, and a national hero of Chinese descent, Zheng Xin, emerged.After repelling the invaders and restoring Siam's independence, he established the Thonburi dynasty.

This is how the defense of the big city happened.Siam and Myanmar are adjacent to each other, and there have been many wars in history. In the mid-18th century, Siam was ruled by the Ayutthaya Dynasty (Ayutthaya Dynasty). The ruling group was full of internal disputes and its power was weakened.And Myanmar, whose national power was relatively strong, took the opportunity to intensify its aggression against Siam. In 1760, a Burmese army of up to 60,000 soldiers, including infantry, cavalry, elephant teams and foreign mercenaries, invaded Siam and besieged the capital.Although it later withdrew due to internal strife, the heart of Myanmar's death in Siam has never died. In 1764, Burma invaded again, and Wangcheng was besieged for 14 months.At that time, about 6,000 overseas Chinese were scattered in various fortresses in the city to resist the Burmese army.The reigning king of Siam was incompetent, and on April 7, 1767, the royal city was captured by the Burmese army.The Burmese army entering the city carried out burning, killing and looting for half a month. The capital city with a history of more than 400 years was turned into ruins, and the Ayutthaya Dynasty fell.

At this time, Siam was in a state of anarchy without a leader and the country was in chaos.Local separatist forces have set up their own footholds one after another, and Siam is facing the danger of subjugation and division.Jeong Shin was the leader who carried out the struggle to exorcise Burma and restore the country and save Siam. Zheng Xin, or Zheng Zhao, Phaya Taksin (P'ya Taksin). "Zhao" means "king" in Thai.Because Zheng Xin was once the military and political chief of Tak City, he was knighted as "Praya", so people used to call him Phraya Daxin.Zheng Xin was born in Siam in 1734, and his ancestral home is Chenghai, Guangdong.His father's name was Zheng Yong. He went to Siam to make a living during the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty. He gradually became rich and held official positions.Zheng Yong married a Siamese woman and gave birth to Zheng Xin.Soon after Zheng Xin was born, his father passed away. He was adopted by Chao Phraya Chakri, the Minister of Finance of Siam at that time, and received the traditional education of noble children.Zheng Xin served as a court guard in his youth, and later served as the military and political chief of Dacheng, and was awarded a knighthood.Dacheng is an important pass from Myanmar to Siam, and only by defending it can the capital Ayutthaya be kept. Zheng Xin is determined to build military facilities here.Therefore, when the Burmese army invaded, it was resisted by the Siam army in Dacheng and was forced to detour to attack Ayutthaya.

In 1766, Dacheng was besieged, and Zheng Xin was ordered to defend the city.Before the fall of Dacheng, Zheng Xin led 500 elite soldiers to break out from the southeast of the city.The Burmese army immediately sent a team of 2,000 people to pursue it.Zheng Xin held a long knife and led his troops back to fight.He took the lead and confronted the pursuers. The soldiers were greatly encouraged. As a result, they defeated the enemy with less and repelled the pursuers.The victory in the battle inspired the fighting spirit of the Siam army and also made Zheng Xin powerful.Zheng Xin led his troops to fight and retreat, and finally came to Chanthaburi, which is close to the eastern bay.It is not only close to the sea, but also has sufficient food and grass, so this area is used as the base for resisting Burma and restoring the country.Here, while building warships, he dug ditches and built fortifications, recruited troops, and called on the Quartet.Most of the people concentrated under his command are overseas Chinese children.

In October 1767, Zheng Xin led an army of 10,000 people with 100 warships, went up the Mekong River, and opened the prelude to the war against Myanmar and restoring the country. At the beginning of November, the city of Thonburi was captured, and then the army went straight to the big city.Although the Burmese army resisted stubbornly, they couldn't stop Zheng Xin's rapid attack, so they had to sacrifice the city and surrender.The restoration of Ayutthaya declared the victory of the Restoration War. After the country was restored, Zheng Xin first did something to calm people's hearts.He relieved the displaced people, found the remains of the King of Siam, and held a grand reburial ceremony.In view of the fact that the Ayutthaya, which was ravaged by the Burmese army, was in ruins and it was not easy to rebuild, and from the geographical point of view, it was vulnerable to attacks by the Burmese army, and it was far away from the sea, which was not conducive to foreign trade and transportation. Therefore, Zheng Xin decided to move the capital to Thonburi. City (Thon Buri).Because Zheng Xin completed the feat of expelling the invaders and restoring Siam's independence in just a few months, he was proclaimed king. He ascended the throne on December 28, 1767. Since the capital was established in Thonburi City, it was called the Thonburi Dynasty in history.

At the beginning of the establishment of the new dynasty, it was faced with a very severe situation; the country was torn apart and the heroes were separated; the economy was sluggish and the people were in dire straits; the threat of Myanmar still existed.Therefore, after Zheng Xin took the throne, he spent a lot of effort to unify the country and consolidate the political power.Although he has only been in office for 14 years, he has done a lot of work for the country. Flatten the local separatist forces and realize the unification of Siam.At that time, there were several large separatist forces: the prefect of Luang (Ruang) in Phitsanulok in the north and the monk king who ruled Nan and Phrae; the "Musika King" in Liukun City in the south; The son of the king also ruled over there.Separation is not conducive to the life of the people and the development of commerce and trade. Therefore, the restoration of national unity has become the urgent desire of the people.Zheng Xin obeyed the will of the people, first solved the largest separatist force, the prefect of Phitsanulok Luang, and played a deterrent effect of killing one and others.Afterwards, the troops were divided into two directions and pointed to the city of Pimai in the east, and quickly wiped out the power of the original Siam prince.He organized 5,000 people to conquer Liukun from the south by land, and led the navy to help out.Although after some twists and turns, he finally surrendered the "Musika King" there.In this way, only the monk kings in the north remained in Siam.Zheng Xin sent a team of 500 people to set off by land, and he led 12,000 navy troops to set off by water, and defeated this separatist force in a very short period of time.It took Zheng Xin three years to eliminate the four major separatist forces, and the country of Siam was basically unified. In November 1770, Cheng Xin held a three-day celebration in Phitsanulok City to celebrate the reunification of the country.

Restore the economy and rebuild homes.Years of wars have severely damaged the social economy of Siam.There is a historical work describing the social situation at that time: "Looking up, countless people were killed by hunger, disease, and war, and the corpses were everywhere. Those who survived were yellow and hungry, like hungry ghosts." Zheng Xin Determined to restore Siam's prosperity.In order to solve the food problem, he did not hesitate to buy food from foreign businessmen at high prices to relieve the victims.The sharp decrease in population and the shortage of labor force were another major social problem at that time.Zheng Xin used methods such as distributing food and clothing to recruit refugees who fled to the mountains and forests, encouraging them to return to their homes and engage in production.He also paid special attention to stimulating economic development through the development of commerce and trade, and adopted various measures to attract foreign businessmen.At this time, a large number of Chinese businessmen and laborers entered Siam. In addition to engaging in Sino-Siamese trade, they were also active in the commercial circulation field of Siam, which promoted the social and economic development of Siam.During the Thonburi Dynasty, the relationship between overseas Chinese and Siamese aborigines was very harmonious.

Consolidate national defense and safeguard national independence.Although Siam's Restoration War was won, the threat from Burma has not been lifted. Siam and Burma are at war with each other and the relationship is tense.The establishment of the Thonburi Dynasty was a blow to the aggressive forces of Myanmar, so it always wanted to use troops to occupy the fertile land of Siam again.During the more than ten years of Thonburi Dynasty's rule, there were nine large-scale wars between the two countries.The Siamese army not only repeatedly defeated the invading Burmese army, but also took the initiative to retake Chiang Mai, an important northern town occupied by Myanmar for a long time.The war ended with Siam's victory.Zheng Xin also fought abroad, expanded the territory, controlled Laos and Cambodia, and expanded the territory of Siam to the vast area of ​​the Indochina Peninsula.

On April 6, 1782, Zheng Xin died in a civil strife at the age of 48.Following the Thonburi Dynasty came the Bangkok Dynasty in Thailand today. Zheng Xin's contribution to Thailand's country and nation has won people's admiration for him, and he has always been praised by the Thai people as a national hero. In 1950, the Thai government allocated funds to build a memorial statue of Zheng Xin in Thonburi. The statue completed in 1954 is engraved with the stele: "This stele was built to commemorate King Zheng and promote his honor. He is a good man in Thailand. He was born in 2277 in the Buddhist calendar (AD 1734) and died in Buddha. Calendar 2325 (AD 1782). The Thai government and people erected this monument on April 17, Buddhist calendar 2497 (AD 1954), in order to remind the Thai people to remember his kindness in resisting foreign enemies and restoring Thailand's independence and freedom." The king of Thailand personally cut the ribbon for the completion of the monument. In 1955, a set of three Zheng Xin statue commemorative stamps were issued. The longest road bridge across the Chao Phraya River built in 1982 was named Daxin Dadi Bridge.The Thai government also stipulated in 1955 that December 28, when Zheng Xin ascended the throne, was the "King Zheng Festival", and commemorative activities were held in front of the statue every year on this day.