Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 516 The Messenger of Ruan Fuying

In mid-December 1790, Annan, Jiading, Guangnan Province.

Two years ago, Ruan Fuying took advantage of the fact that the Xishan Dynasty was busy fighting against the Qing army, and led his army to capture Jiading. After that, he spent 3 people to build this red fort with a circumference of two kilometers according to the design provided by French engineers.This castle also has a name in the history of Annan, Bagua City.

Don't think about it, Ping'an Castle is actually a multi-cornered star-shaped bastion, which has nothing to do with the Eight Diagrams, but it got this name because it has eight gates.If you look down from the air, the whole castle looks like a giant tortoise lying on the west bank of the Chai Gun River.

In a palace in the center of the newly completed Ping'an Castle, the 28-year-old Quang Nam King Nguyen Phuc Anh and several of his important ministers were listening to He Xiwen's report.

When it was learned from He Xiwen that the Northern Navy took only half a day to capture the Hue Imperial City, the hall suddenly became silent, and needles could be heard.

Whether it's the Thunder God running across the sea, a cannon that hits dozens of miles away, or even the rapid guns in the hands of the Beihai Navy, all of them are beyond the cognition of Ruan Fuying and his subordinates, and even beyond the knowledge of those few French officers. understand.If the news of the fall of the Hue Imperial City hadn't arrived in Jiading at about the same time as He Xiwen, these people would think that He Xiwen was talking big.

However, after a while, Ruan Fuying's confidant, Beicheng soldiers Cao Deng and Chen Chang stood up and bowed and said: "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Now I have another strong support from Guangnan!"

Li Wenyue, a general who was born as an eunuch, said: "This is the Ruan family of Xishan who is about to perish! Your Majesty should send someone to Hoi An to contact Beihai and jointly send troops to the Northern Expedition."

The Frenchman Olivier de Pimanuel, who was in charge of training infantry and artillery, bowed and said, "Lord Ruan, I think such reinforcements must be won."

The commander-in-chief, Qi Wu Xing, also stood up and said in a deep voice: "I think that if Beihai Town can cooperate from the sea and cover it with giant artillery, I can lead 5000 people to take Pingshun Mansion again."

Binh Thuan Prefecture is only 300 miles away from Jiading. In April of this year, Ruan Phuc Anh sent 5000 troops to attack Binh Thuan Prefecture.With the Western-style army trained by the French, Binh Thuan was easily conquered.However, due to the discord among the generals, the Xishan Army took the opportunity to counterattack and took it back.

It is said that the reason why the Ruan family in Guangnan has failed in the Northern Expedition for many years is firstly the reason for the monsoon. The time for water and land cooperation is only a few months. The shrinkage of Chinese merchants' trade has brought about a substantial reduction in tax revenue.The areas that produce agarwood, ivory, pepper and other goods are located in the central part of Annan, which belongs to the control area of ​​the Xishan Dynasty.

The Jiading area, known as the "Land of Grain, Rice, Fish and Salt", has been the place of repeated competition between the new Ruan and the old Ruan for many years. The original prosperous economy was almost abandoned under the devastation of the war.Ruan Fuying has been encouraging farming and mulberry over the years, implementing the policy of "combining soldiers with agriculture", and most of the rice produced is used for military expenses in exchange for weapons.

According to the historical trajectory of another time and space, Nguyen Phuc Anh will continue to work hard, and he will be able to take back Binh Thuan Province after three years, and Hue City after 11 years.

Faced with the excitement of his subordinates, Ruan Fuying was shocked but remained calm.You must know that he has taken on the heavy responsibility of fighting against the Xishan Dynasty since he was 15 years old.More than ten years of fighting and living under the fence made his mind almost middle-aged.If he was encouraged by people's words in a few words, he would have died long ago without a place to bury him.

At this moment, he is more concerned about what kind of political and diplomatic impact the appearance of Beihai Town will have on him, and how he can deal with it with ease and use it for me.

Compared with the sudden emergence of Beihai Town, Ruan Fuying actually trusts the French more.After all, he and Peter have known each other for more than ten years, and this missionary has been running around for his own great cause of restoring the country, which is why the current situation has come about.

There is no such thing as a free lunch in the world, and Ruan Fuying never believed that Bei Haijun would help him at any cost in order to avenge the Chinese.Like the Siamese and the French, all foreign aid comes at a price.For example, the Mo family, which has guarded Ha Tien for generations, has been controlled by Siam; another example is the assistance of the French, which is at the cost of ceding Con Son Island and Hoi An.

"Duying has done a great service for this king this time! This king wants a lot of rewards!" Ruan Fuying stood up with a smile, and helped He Xiwen who was kneeling on one knee.Then he said to the eunuch at the side: "Pass on the widow's order, to reward He Xiwen, the capital patrolling the sea, with two hundred coins, one million rice, and thirty pieces of silk cloth."

"Your Majesty, thank you for your kindness!" He Xiwen pretended to kneel down and thank you, thinking that this little thing was worse than one percent of what I earned in Hue, Lord Ruan was really poor enough.

It was Deng Fei's instruction that he returned to Jiading this time.Deng Fei learned that the navy trained by the French for Guangnan was still far behind, and Ruan Fuying had to rely on He Xiwen's troops to dispatch the navy.If He Xiwen turns his back on Quang Nam now and openly joins the North Navy, then there may be more variables in the signing of Tong Deng and Lang Son in the future.

At this time, the French missionary Peter who was standing on Ruan Fuying's left hand bowed slightly and said, "Lord Ruan, if you allow, can I go to Hoi An on your behalf and talk about cooperation with the people in Beihai Town?"

Peter's current status is Nguyen Phuc Anh's adviser, Shi Zi's teacher, and overall diplomatic power.When the missionary returned to France to ask for help, he once had a famous saying, I will alone provoke a change in Indochina!In fact he did as well.

Ruan Fuying walked back and forth for a few steps with his hands behind his back, and suddenly said: "Li Wenyue, He Xiwen, Zheng Huaide, I ordered you three to go to Hoi An immediately with Priest Peter, and contact the North Navy to discuss the crusade against Xishan Ruan Ni."

"The minister leads the order."

After Ruan Fuying announced his resignation, the missionary Peter frowned while walking out, thinking hard: "Beihai Town? I must have heard the name, but where is it?"

The news that Hoi An was occupied by the Northern Navy made him very disturbed. According to the "French-Vietnamese Versailles Treaty" signed by Ruan Fuying and the French government, it will be ceded to France in the future. If the Northern Navy does not leave, it will be troublesome. .

Well, because of the appearance of Beihai Town—more precisely, because of the appearance of Zhao Xin, the development process of many people and things in East Asia in this time and space has been messed up, and it will be expanded to the entire Europe and America.

Remember Count La Perouse?The French expedition leader appointed by Louis XVI visited Beihai Town two years ago and witnessed the first electric lights in Beihai Town.

It is said that when Count Laperouse left Beihai Town, it was because Deng Fei said something too much when seeing him off, which also caused a major change in the fate of him and the crew.

Deng Fei's original words were: "Count, I don't think your government's financial crisis is that simple. If your king ignores the requirements of the third estate, and the nobles and clergy continue to maintain tax exemption privileges, then a nationwide crisis will happen." Unrest looms. The downtrodden commoners and the Third Estate will wreak vengeance on the nobility. What will your family do if you continue this journey?"

During the time in Beihai Town, Count La Perouse had many conversations with Deng Fei, and Deng Fei knew a lot about the history before the French Revolution. agree.

The Count La Perouse thought more and more on the way south, so he didn't go to Samoa, where he should have died, but went to Pondicherry, the Governor's Palace of the French Indian colony, to inquire about news.Not surprisingly, of course he got nothing.

Originally, not to mention that the French Revolution had not yet started, even if it had started, it would spread from Europe to Asia within a few months.

Coincidentally, he met Peter who recruited officers and prepared weapons for Ruan Fuying there, and the two mentioned Beihai Town in their chat.

Although Peter intends to hire Count La Perouse to go to Annan, but the other party shoulders the mission of the king after all, so when the Earl's fleet left India and continued to Batavia, Peter, who was already very busy, sailed to the North Sea. The anecdote of the town was forgotten.

Although Annan's winter sea is blowing northeast wind, but as long as it is not a naval battle, ships can go, just slow down.More than ten days later, Peter and his party finally arrived in Hoi An at the end of the Gregorian calendar. The first thing they saw was the Thunder God anchored in the southwest of Da Zhan Island.

"My God!" Except for He Xiwen and his men, the eyes of everyone else on board dropped to the ground.Even the two warships that Peter brought back from India are incomparable with the Thor.

Last year, Peter stalked the local governor Conway to get two warships, one was a frigate and the other was a third-tier battleship.Using the funds raised, Peter equipped the two ships with cannons and ammunition, recruited sailors and deserters from the local government, and then drove the two ships back to Jiading.

This was the first time in Annan's history that he obtained a Western-style warship. Overjoyed, Nguyen Phuc Anh named the two ships "Dragon" and "Phoenix" respectively, and began to build his navy.

After He Xiwen's serious contact, the next morning, Peter and his party tremblingly boarded the gangway of the Thor, just like grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden.

As soon as they boarded the ship, the impassioned "Steel Torrent March" immediately resounded around the deck, and the fifty soldiers of the North Marine Battalion, wearing white military uniforms and standing straight in two rows, looked even more murderous.

With such a situation, the envoys from Guangnan, including He Xiwen, were a little at a loss.Everyone said they didn't see a band playing, where did the sound come from?

In fact, if He Xiwen hadn't said hello in advance, the scene would have been even more embarrassing, because what made people more awkward than the music was actually the clothes of both parties.

Everyone looks at me, I look at you, each thinks that the other's dress is really weird!
The Beihai Navy are all big-brimmed hats with one water, the jacket and trousers are separated, and there is neither a round neck nor a cross-collar, but a row of buttons is shiny.He wore light-colored combat boots on his feet, and they were also hidden in his trouser legs.Let's say it looks like Europeans' clothes, at least Europeans' trousers have never touched the top of their feet.But if you want to say that Zheng Huaide, a Han Chinese, searched his guts, and felt that he had never seen such a dress in any ancient book.

In the eyes of Deng Fei and Wang Yuanfang, Li Wenyue, He Xiwen, Zheng Huaide and their entourage were all dressed in ancient official uniforms, which seemed incompatible with the environment of the Thunder God, like a group of opera singers.You must know that the official uniforms in Guangnan at this time still follow the clothing system of the Hou Le Dynasty, and those fancy things like costumes were only available after the establishment of the Hou Ruan Dynasty.

Li Wenyue and Zheng Huaide were all dressed in black gauze hats, round-necked Qingji suits, patches on the chest, and black boots, which were basically not much different from Ming-made clothes.As for those followers, they all wore flat caps and their clothes were round-necked Qingji suits.The only difference was that the hair of these people was all loose on the back of their heads, and they were not wrapped up with net towels.

Among these Guangnan officials, the most eye-catching one is Peter with a big nose and green eyes. This person is wearing a black priest robe and a silver cross on his chest.

"He Duying, this, this is the Beihai Navy?"

He Xiwen, who came back to his senses, also saw Deng Fei and Wang Yuanfang at this time, and he hurriedly led everyone forward to help introduce them.

"Everyone, this is Lord Deng, the admiral of the Northern Navy, and this is Wang Zongbing."

Peter was about to say hello when he heard Mr. Deng extend his right hand to him and said in fluent French: "Bonjour, Cher Monsieur le père."

"Ah, you can actually speak French?!" Peter stretched out his hand and shook the other party lightly in surprise, then suddenly thought of something, and lost his voice: "I remembered, Count La Perouse mentioned it to me, He once visited a magical city in the far northern continent, where there is a gentleman named Fei Deng who can speak fluent French!"

"Wrong priest, my name is Deng Fei."

"Sorry, I must have misremembered that." Peter shook his head, then coughed lightly and said, "General Deng, my name is Pierre Joseph Georges Pinieux, and I belong to the Paris Foreign Office. The Missionary Society is now serving Lord Ruan of Guangnan Kingdom, and everyone calls me Peter."

"Peter?" Deng Fei immediately realized that the name should be a transliteration of Portuguese, because the word "Pierre" is "Pedro" in Portuguese.

This meant being able to shake hands with Peter, but not others, so Deng Fei and Wang Yuanfang resumed the handshake ceremony.When I arrived at Zheng Huaide, I heard this man speak Fuzhou dialect: "I am going down to Zheng Zhishan, and now I am recruiting for the Criminal Department of the Guangnan Palace."

Wang Yuanfang, who had stayed in Fujian in another time and space for many years, asked in surprise, "Are you from Fuzhou?"

"Zheng's ancestral home is Changle, Fujian."

Zheng Huaide, whose name is Zhishan, his ancestors crossed the sea to Annan after the Qing army entered the customs because they did not want their subjects to be Manchu.Ruan Fuying let this 25-year-old young official come because Zheng Huaide is a "Mingxiang man" and he is also a rare survivor of the "Jiading Massacre".

Historically, after the establishment of the Nguyen Dynasty, Zheng Huaide became an official to co-organize the university, the Minister of the Ministry of Officials and the Minister of the Ministry of War. The "Jiading Tongzhi" that described the "Jiading Massacre" was his work.

Didn't Beihai Town's "Calling Ruan Calligraphy" say to avenge the death of the Chinese in Jiading?Ruan Fuying sent a survivor over to make connections, and by the way, he used the identity of Mingxiang to find out the situation in Hoi An.

When the two sides sat down across the long table, Peter got straight to the point: "Two generals, as the plenipotentiary representative of Lord Nguyen, I would like to know why you came all the way to start a war with Xishan Nguyen? La Perouse The Earl once told me that your territory is on the northern frontier of the Qing Dynasty."

Deng Fei smiled and said: "Mr. Peter, as a good friend of the Earl, let me tell you the truth, this time we are going south, we are here to fight the Xishan Dynasty."

After all, Jiang Fan on the side began to list many evidences that the Xishan Dynasty recruited South China pirates to plunder the coast of Guangdong.As for the revenge for the Chinese in Jiading mentioned in the call to action, I only found out after I came here.

Although Pedro and Li Wenyue were not familiar with Chinese, with the help of He Xiwen and Zheng Huaide for translation, the communication between the two sides was smooth.

Zheng Huaide became very excited after hearing this, and immediately got up and bowed to the ground, expressing his gratitude to Deng Fei and Deng Fei for their righteous deeds, and told his experience in the past under the surprised eyes of everyone.

Deng Fei, Wang Yuanfang and Jiang Fan did not expect to meet a survivor. Thinking of the tragic scene at that time, they couldn't help but sigh.

At this point in the conversation, Peter had confirmed that the Beihai Navy had no hostility towards Guangnan, so he asked, "Master Ruan hopes that the Beihai Navy can help us attack Binh Thuan Prefecture. Do you have any conditions?"

When the drama came, Jiang Fan immediately proposed to sign a treaty on the condition of Dongdang and Lang Son in the north of Annan, and also leased Conlun Island as the supply base for Beihai Town's fleet going south.

Peter nodded expressionlessly after hearing this, and said, "We need to go back and report this matter to Lord Ruan, and whether we can agree to let him make the decision."

"In addition, we request that a stone monument be erected in Jiaqing to commemorate the tens of thousands of Chinese who died eight years ago." Li Wenyue was relieved when he said this, Zheng Huaide's eyes widened, his nose opened and closed, and his breathing became short of breath. stand up.

　There is actually an interesting thing about this Count La Perouse. In 1785, when Count La Perouse was recruiting members of the expedition in France, a second lieutenant named Napoleon Bonaparte was almost selected; you must know that this person is proficient in mathematics and artillery, both of which are very important skills on warships .If the then 16-year-old Napoleon boarded the expedition ship hehe.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)