Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 506

Just when Ruan Guangping and his men entered Tsinghua Mansion, the first wave of urgent reports came in from all over the country. From Jiangping in the east to Donghai in the middle, all the water villages of the Xishan Army along the coast were attacked by a wave of unknown origin. fleet attack.

Nguyen Quang Binh's first reaction was that Nguyen Phuc Anh sent troops to attack, but he immediately rejected this idea because the season was not right.

You must know that ships in these years have to sail with the wind, but Annan has a southwest wind every summer, and a northeast wind in winter. Ruan Fuying can only choose summer to attack.Moreover, Annan's terrain is long and narrow. Whether it is the Xishan army going south or Ruan Fuying's army going north, they have to cooperate with land and water. It is impossible to simply send an army or navy.Right now, Nanruan is training troops and building ships with the help of the French, rectifying taxes and farming, and its food and grass are not enough to support such a large-scale raid.

When Nguyen Quang Binh rushed to Hue non-stop and arrived at Phoenix City in Nghe An to inspect the progress of the project, the second wave of reports arrived, and he was really out of breath.

All the warships of the water battalions were burned, the cannons were destroyed, and all the military supplies, food and grass were also burned.What surprised those local officials the most was that the fire set by the raiders could not be extinguished with water.Moreover, when fighting the fire, some people were splashed by the flames because they were too close, and they couldn't extinguish them by jumping into the water.Local officials pleaded guilty one after another in the memorial, not because they didn't work hard, but because they really couldn't do it.

Moreover, not only the Xishan Army under his command suffered heavy losses, but many of the Guangdong pirates he had recruited were also killed; Chen Tianbao's right-hand man, the commander-in-chief Mo Guanfu, was also killed.After two years of painstaking efforts, most of the Xishan navy that was finally gathered together lost more than half, let alone go to the coast of Guangdong to plunder, Ruan Fuying would be terrible if he came over next year.

Just when Ruan Guangping and his subordinates were guessing who was so vicious, an urgent report from Hue finally made him understand who the opponent was.When they saw the content of the emergency memorial, Ruan Guangping and the ministers who went to Chengde with him suddenly felt numb in their hands and feet, and felt cold all over.

Three large ships of unknown origin suddenly appeared in the sea east of Hue the day before yesterday and blocked the Xiangjiang Estuary.The opponent came up without saying a word, and directly bombarded the Xiangjiang Water Camp and the Haiphong Fort.The commander-in-chief Baodehou Chen Tianbao led the navy warship to meet the enemy, but was sunk in less than an hour on the boat, Chen Tianbao died in battle, and the rest of the navy was also completely destroyed by the intensive artillery fire on the opponent's ship. Enter Xiangjiang to hide.

The terrible thing is that no matter it is the fort on the shore or the cannon on the warship, they can't hit the invading enemy at all, and can only be beaten passively.Whether it is the elephant army or other troops, the corpses bombed by the opponent's artillery are scattered all over the field.

The most frightening thing is a blue and white sailless ship with the words "Thor" written on the bow, and a huge cannon on it, which can hit the imperial city of Hue directly from a distance of more than 20 miles; Several shots were fired in an instant without stopping.

At present, the gate of the imperial city, Jinhua Hall, and Guanghua Hall have all been bombed and collapsed, and many parts of the city wall have been damaged.Prince Ruan Guangzan and the two empresses have gone to Baoshan Temple outside the city to take refuge under the protection of the officials.At this moment, the city of Hue was in chaos, and the people took their families and went out of the city to escape.Taishi Pei Dexuan and Zhongshu Ling Chen Wenji asked Queen Pei for instructions and were about to send people to negotiate.

Thor?After being reminded by his subordinates, Ruan Guangping immediately thought that this was the Beihai town where the soldiers came to Dagukou last year and fought against the Manchus without any power to fight back.I never expected it!Beihai Town, which is far away in the bitter cold outside the pass, is not fighting with the Qing Dynasty, but unexpectedly came to "stop" by himself from a long distance.

In a palace in Phoenix City, Ruan Guangping was trembling all over, and said angrily: "What's going on?! I have never had any contact with the North Sea bandits. Why did they come to Hue and destroy my imperial city?!"

Wu Wenchu, the Duke of a country who accompanied him to Chengde, said: "I think that Nanruan and Beihai pirates have colluded with each other, so that's why we raised our troops."

The other ministers looked at me and I looked at you, and then they all lowered their heads.It's not that they don't want to express their opinions. The problem is that no matter who is present, they don't know Beihai Town at all.

What they heard in the capital was rumors, and the officials of the Qing court naturally wouldn't tell them such embarrassing things, and the folk rumors were all myths.All the North Sea pirates know sorcery, they travel [-] miles a day and thousands of miles at night, they like to eat raw Rakshasa ghosts and so on.

Besides, what Wu Wenchu ​​said was just speculation, without evidence!
Ruan Guangping thought that if Beihai Town and Ruan Fuying really colluded, then he could only run to Thang Long Mansion.It was hundreds of miles away from the sea, and the cannons of the Northern Pirates would certainly not be able to reach them.Although it is possible to go upstream from the sea through the Red River and the Taiping River, it is impossible for the big ship on the other side to sail into the Red River.

Although Fenghuang Zhongdu is good, like Hue City, it is only twenty miles away from the sea.The cannons of the Northern Pirates can hit the Hue Imperial City, so naturally they can hit here as well.

Thinking of this, he said to Wu Wenchu: "Prepare an order. Order Ruan Wenxun to lead two thousand troops to guard the queen, the crown prince and Grand Master Pei to the Shenglong Mansion. Order Chen Guangyao to be the general, and send Qinghua soldiers to the north to guard the Shenglong Mansion! Wu Wenyong will immediately investigate Ruan Fuying's movements."

Wu Wenchu ​​bowed to accept the order, and then said: "Then how will His Majesty arrange here?"

After all, Ruan Guangping was born immediately, and dared to fight with the Qing army in Fuliangjiang Hard Steel. He was somewhat courageous. After thinking for a while, he said: "I am sitting in Fenghuang Zhongdu, and I will wait for the news before making a decision!"

On the sea twenty miles east of Hue City, the three large ships of the Beihai Navy lined up, whether it was the two D30s raised high on the Thunder God, or the 75mms ​​exposed in the gun windows of Beihai No. [-] and No. [-]. Millimeter guns all look murderous and frightening.

In the past few days since the bombardment began, the people in Hue City had left the city to escape due to the bombardment of the imperial city, and the fishermen along the coast did not dare to go fishing at all.After the soldiers and horses of the Xishan court experienced the artillery bombardment of the Beihai Navy, the brigade withdrew westward to protect the prince and queen of Baolin Temple. Only a few sentries were left along the coast to monitor the movements of the Beihai Navy at all times.

Regardless of whether it is the ministers and generals of the DPRK and China or the common people, what they are most worried about right now is whether the Beihai Navy will send troops to land and loot the city of Hue.

At the moment, in the meeting room of the Thunder God, Deng Fei and Wang Yuanfang are negotiating with the envoys sent from Hue City.

"Two generals, Grand Master Pei entrusted Nazi to pass the message, and implore you not to fire any more cannons into the city, so as not to stain the lives of the people."

"My country has always admired China. Last year, it fought against the Manchu Qing and broke it. For some reason, it violated our border and killed my soldiers?"

Among the two people talking, one is Zen Master Xingquan, an eminent monk of the Linji Sect in Annan. This person went to Qingyun Temple in Dinghushan, Guangdong Province to seek Dharma in the first year of Qianlong, so he can speak Chinese very fluently.The other is Ruan Wenming, Minister of Industry of the Xishan Dynasty. He was a member of the mission of the Xishan Dynasty and sent an envoy to the Qing Dynasty to seek peace.

Deng Fei said with a blank face: "This is not right. May I ask you, apart from the imperial city, have we bombarded other places in the city?"

"Uh..." Xingquan and Ruan Wenming were speechless.In their view, this matter is quite miraculous. The giant artillery of the Beihai Navy was very accurate. During the days when the two sides were fighting, all the shells that landed in the city of Hue were in the imperial city. None.

Ruan Wenming fought in wars, and he also participated in the Qing-Vietnam War.In his understanding, it is common to injure innocent people with cannons during sieges these days, and no one can guarantee where to shoot their own cannons; besides, cannonballs are made of iron balls, and they will jump when they hit the ground!

That's not right. The shells of the Northern Pirates don't jump, they explode when they hit the ground, and they blow up a large area.

Just listen to Deng Fei continue: "I advise you two, stop talking about your admiration for China. In the past 200 years, what you admire is really good enough! Not to mention, the borders of Guangxi and Yunnan have been eroded by you How do you count the territory you invaded?"

As soon as this remark came out, Ruan Wenming's face suddenly changed, and he immediately realized that these people in Beihai Town could never be kind.Without thinking about it, he blurted out: "It was rewarded to us by Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty!"

"A reward?" Deng Fei sneered, staring into Ruan Wenming's eyes and said, "What about Nanlang and Celery Pond? What about cattle, sheep, butterflies, and Puyuan? And the Six Villages of Kaihua Mansion Don't think that we don't know anything because we are far away!"

When Ruan Wenming heard this, cold sweat broke out on his forehead.But Xingquan next to him was at a loss.

In the Qing Dynasty, the main conflict between Annan and China was the border issue.Like the Li Dynasty, since the south is the sea, it can only plot the northern territory.However, unlike Li Chao who was beaten up by Hou Jin, An Nan was much more blatant.Li Chao relied on playing word games and used geographical name differences to steal chickens; Annan was as long as the Manchu Qing was unstable or there was chaos in the northwest, he would first openly grab it and then write a letter to ask for it.

It is said that from the Tang Dynasty to the late Ming Dynasty, the position of the Sino-Vietnamese border has not changed much, and the big swath river is always used as the dividing line.From Qinzhou in Guangdong in the east to Nanning, Taiping and Zhen'an in Guangxi in the west to Guangnan and Kaihua in Lin'an in Yunnan, the total length is more than 800 miles.However, when the Ming and Qing Dynasties changed, the Li Dynasty at that time felt that there was an opportunity to take advantage of it, and intended to take advantage of it to loot.

Regardless of the Li Dynasty, the Mo Dynasty, and the later Xishan Dynasty, they all adhere to a "principle", that is, the territory of the heyday of the Annan Post-Li Dynasty is the basis of inheritance. Territories, no matter how repeated they are and who they belong to, must all be included in their own boundaries.This includes the land of North Vietnam that was taken back by Ming Chengzu Zhu Di after he wiped out the Hu Dynasty.

It is precisely because of this that from the Ming and Qing Dynasties to the late Qianlong period, whether it was the Li Dynasty, the Mo family, or the later Xishan Dynasty, they repeatedly engaged in three and four actions in the border areas of Yunnan and Guangxi, constantly eroding China's territory.

Think back to when the Qing army went south, the Qing court appeased Annan, but the Li Dynasty did not respond in order to obtain the orthodox status of the Ming Dynasty.Do you think he has a heart for China and a firm support for the Yongli regime that just came to power?
In fact, the Li Dynasty saw clearly the defeat of the Nanming Dynasty. The so-called "Ming people ran southward, and the situation was poor, so the one who hopes to save our country is Xinxi." The Qin Dynasty returned the land of Zhudong in Qinzhou to the Ming Dynasty, and even Guangdong wanted to annex it.

At that time, the Gaoping Mo family, who only lived in a corner, even invaded Guangxi many times under the banner of helping the Nanming against the Qing Dynasty, and was dealt with by the Nanming and the Manchu Qing successively.

At the time of the San Francisco Rebellion, Kangxi ordered the Li Dynasty to send troops to help suppress it, but the then king Li Weizheng waited and watched the development of the situation.It was not until the victory of the Qing army in the 18th year of Kangxi that Li quickly wrote a letter to express his allegiance.

In general, during the Kangxi and Qianlong eras, Annan submitted several letters to the Manchus to make territorial claims, but they were all rejected by the Qing court, so they could only be playing tricks.If the local officials of the Qing Dynasty found out, they would play rogues; if they didn't find out, it would be theirs.

On the contrary, in the Yongzheng era, Gao Qizhuo, governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, and later Ertai invaded and occupied the Six Villages of Kaihua Prefecture due to Annan, and brazenly sent troops to take back Dulong, Nandan and other places between Da and Xiaozhihe, and set up new boundary markers , Set up flood control camps.As a result, because Yongzheng used troops to the northwest, in order to quell the incident, he leniented the so-called "respectful" Annanwang and rewarded the 40-mile territory occupied by the opponent to the Li Dynasty.

Do you think Annan is so grateful?No way!

In fact, since the Li Dynasty, these monarchs and ministers in Annan have already understood that the Manchu Qing court has a good face and prides itself on being a celestial kingdom. .Ruan Guangping chose to fight hard in the early stage, and took the initiative to pay tribute in the later stage, and his purpose was exactly the same.

Ruan Guangping, who heard the news, went around the capital to find out the details of Beihai Town since the Thunder God arrived at Dagukou.When he vaguely learned of the rumors that Beihai Town had defeated the Qing army several times, he felt that the opportunity was coming.Since the Manchu Qing was busy dealing with Beihai Town, he would try his best to please the overjoyed Qianlong. When the Qing court was busy mobilizing troops to deal with the north, it would definitely have no time to take care of it. It could only hold its nose and tolerate his cannibalism.When the Northern Navy attacked from the north to the south, it would send troops to the north and continue to embezzle them in the name of recovering the Han family's rivers and mountains.

The purpose of Zhao Xin's crusade against Annan this time is to kill the chicken of Xishan Dynasty in order to knock down the Ruan Fuying regime in the south.At the same time, through the crusade against Hue City, it will pave the way for the return of the land lost in the Kangxi and Yongzheng eras.If Ruan Fuying is still ready to move, then he doesn't mind pushing the border to Thanh Hoa at all.

At this time, Wang Yuanfang also said: "In addition, your king also recruited pirates from Guangdong, provided ships with weapons, conferred official positions, and robbed ships along the coast of Guangdong to supplement the country's use."

"This is a slander made out of nothing! Those people voluntarily defected to our dynasty, and my king conferred their official positions to wipe out the remnants of Nanruan!"

Seeing Ruan Wenming's distraught look, Wang Yuanfang said with a smile, "Hehe, we have evidence, both personal and material evidence!"

In the process of attacking the water villages of the Xishan Army, the Beihai Navy successively seized a large number of imprints, pass tokens and edicts issued by the Xishan court to the pirate leaders.Ruan Guangping even followed the example of the French and issued a letter of permission to plunder with the seal of the Tay Son Dynasty.

"We don't know how you dealt with Nanruan. But you did a great job of robbing the coast of Guangdong!"

After Wang Yuanfang finished speaking, he slapped the table, making Ruan Wenming jump.

Deng Fei stood up and said, "Go back and tell your grand master Pei to put away your dirty thoughts! If you want us to withdraw our troops, we can. The two parties signed a contract, promising not to recruit Guangdong pirates again, and obediently return to the south of the Great Swearing River!"

Ruan Wenming was almost dumbfounded, and after a while he said, "You guys, you are anti-Qing."

"Does Beihai Town's anti-Qing have something to do with you? Don't think about the good thing about the fight between the snipe and the clam! No matter what happens between us and the Qing Dynasty, I will spit out the land that was embezzled before."

Wang Yuanfang also got up and said, "I'll give you two days to discuss. If there is no result after two days, we will continue to bombard the palace, and then go north to flatten the central capital of Phoenix. We have cleaned up the Manchu Qing. Do you think you will be better than the Manqing? "

Ruan Wenming felt that he could persevere a little longer, so he poked his neck and said, "Although our country is small, it is not a country that can be bullied! The lesson from the battle of Fuliangjiang is not far away."

"Boneless!" Deng Fei stretched out his thumb and said with a smile: "After we blow up Phoenix Central, we will go to Jiading to talk to Ruan Fuying. I think he will be very happy. See off the guests!"

(End of this chapter)