Lu Ming

Chapter 489 Situation in the Special Economic Zone ([-])

The Fuyuan, which is a full circle larger than the Zhenman, is even more majestic. It is undoubtedly the largest ship in the East Asian Ocean today.

The fleet going retrograde from the lower reaches of the Pearl River rampaged all the way, and the ships along the way gave way one after another.As for Yu Sibao and his group, they all jumped and shouted on the barge, and even blew the whistle, trying to attract the attention of the big ship.

It's a pity that people didn't pay attention to the civilian ships at all, and went straight all the way. The huge blue-gold hull and the barge passed by, and swaggered towards the Huangpu Military Port upstream.

Even so, as official officials of the empire, the people on the barge were still very excited.Now that everyone is eating Marshal Cao's food, they naturally hope that Marshal Cao's military strength will flourish.

After blasting the landlord's house in Shanghai, the Zhenman returned to Taiwan for repairs, and was then transferred to Guangzhou.The fleet with Zhenman as its core began to slaughter the Pearl River Estuary and the Hong Kong and Macao oceans, killing many scattered pirates and private businessmen who sneaked through the customs, and announced the establishment of a new order in the sea off Guangzhou.

This series of actions is mainly aimed at the Portuguese in Macau.Because it is enough to use a frigate to fight scattered pirates, a monster like the Zhenman is ready to fight the Portuguese at any time.

Unfortunately, the Portuguese were not fooled either.

European countries have such professional warships of more than [-] tons in their homeland.But East Asia is a place for trade, and no one would be foolish to bring this kind of ship. Everyone used armed merchant ships with a high cargo capacity, and it was impossible for the Portuguese to send armed merchant ships with a much smaller tonnage to fight their opponents.

Besides, the Portuguese also know a lot from the Spaniards about the number of various warships hoarded in Taijiang and the true military potential of the passing crowd.They knew that even if they won this wave, it would be equivalent to stabbing a hornet's nest, and they might be attacked by land, so the red hair chose to shrink its head.

Although there is no confrontation, the red hairs are still scared enough these days-dozens of powerful 24-pound heavy guns smash a small boat to pieces from time to time at the door of the house. This is a naked show of muscle and provocation, see People naturally understand.

But the red hair has no choice but to endure it now.After all, they are outsiders. Faced with the sudden emergence of the powerful "Ming Kingdom" navy, is it possible that they still went to Guangzhou City to sue?

In the official circles of the Ming Dynasty in Guangzhou, there have always been voices calling for the expulsion of Franji people.If things get serious now, no matter what the outcome is, no one will say good things for Hongmao.

So in the past few months, the new order in Guangzhou's outer seas, under the command of the Zhenman, has been established in this way.

Nowadays, all ships departing from the Guangzhou ocean have to declare water at the customs stationed by Marshal Cao, and accept the "official army" patrol ship inspection.Those who do not follow will all be thrown into the sea to feed the fish.

In this process, the open water pumping pattern jointly controlled by pirates and Portuguese was eliminated overnight, and all trading ships had to carry designated commodities on designated routes.

It was very common in the past for Ming people to take a boat to Manila to ask for a living, but now it is not allowed.All migrants on board ships traveling from the coast of Guangdong to Nanyang will be forcibly transferred to Taiwan.In addition, metal raw materials, including gold, silver, copper, iron, and mercury needed by Nanyang colonists, are now all under control.

The twisted rope has slowly tightened.

The reason why Macau has not been attacked yet is because the formalities in the capital city have not been completed and the emperor has not nodded; the second is because the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi Wang Zunde is still in office, and the cross-travelers cannot let themselves go here for the time being, so this confrontation is maintained now situation.

However, with the passage of time, the situation is developing in the direction planned at the beginning - Wang Zunde became seriously ill in early June this year, and by the middle of this year, he was already unable to get out of bed, and it seemed that he was about to die.

The cross-travelers who got the news urgently notified Fuzhou Xiong Wencan, and at the same time notified the intelligence agencies of Beijing and Tianjin, including Xiong Wencan and Cao Dashuai's zhezifang in the capital, and asked all departments to coordinate and make arrangements in advance. After the news of Wang Zunde's illness arrived in the capital, The emperor decreed that Xiong Wencan be the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi.

At the same time, the battleship Fuyuan, which had just completed sea trials, was also ordered to go to Guangzhou to replace the Zhenman and come back for repairs.

The above is the background of Fuyuan coming to Huangpu Port today.Among them, not only the matter of the Portuguese in Macau was involved, but also the official circles in Guangdong and the capital were involved, and the internal reasons were more complicated.

Although the 1400-ton Fuyuan is huge, it was just a small ship to the Pearl River in the 3000th century. Directly to Zhaoqing.

Therefore, the Fuyuan ship is unimpeded. You only need to pay attention to the reefs and sandbars that have not been cleaned up in time, and you can directly reach the Huangpu Military Port.

Huangpu Port is at the turning point on the east bank of the Pearl River, 40 miles away from Guangzhou City.Since Cao Zongbing took down the surrounding pirates in November last year, Huangpu Port has entered the construction stage. Today, seven months later, it has become an important military base controlling the periphery of Guangzhou.

Huangpu Port is not open to private ships. In addition to warships, there is a battalion of soldiers stationed in the port area.

The identity of the soldiers in this battalion is changing at any time.Sometimes they are local poor men recruited publicly, sometimes they are battalion soldiers who have undergone basic training. Of course, when needed, a battalion of elite imperial troops will emerge from the closed Huangpu military port, maybe two battalions and three battalions Maybe.

When the Fuyuan ship slowly berthed at Wharf [-] of Huangpu Port, Mu Longcheng, wearing a white rear admiral uniform, got off the ship with several officers and came to the trestle.

He was greeted by Ding Liqiu, the mayor of the Guangzhou Special Economic Zone, who was cheering and embracing.

After seeing Ding Liqiu, Mu Longcheng was a little surprised, and hurried forward to shake hands: "Oh, this is amazing, Lao Ding, why did you come in person, Lao Mu, I am flattered!@"

"Stop coming." Ding Liqiu scolded with a smile: "I'm also the director of Huangpu Port, why don't I come and see it often?"

"That's a good relationship. Let's drink a few cups today."

"It's hot, let's just have beer, I'm fine if I don't drink two glasses."

After that, the two set up tables and chairs on the roof of the small red brick building of the Port Authority and drank their own brewed beer.

After drinking for two rounds, Ding Liqiu slowly talked about the current military threat facing the Guangzhou Special Zone—he, the head of the special zone, who is busy with every day, will naturally come to pick up the ship.

The special zone plot located in the future Guangdong South Railway Station on the map is currently in the process of infrastructure construction.

To engage in construction, you first need things like cement, bricks and steel bars.In addition, the special zone plots only plan administrative areas and commercial and residential areas, and do not plan industrial areas, because the planned industrial areas will not be crowded with administrative areas, but should be scattered in places with resources.

For example, steel factories will be close to areas with iron mines in northern Guangdong, and cement brick factories will also be located in areas rich in limestone resources.

All in all, since Guangdong will be regarded as the headquarters of the cross-travel community for a period of time to come, both industrial and commercial layouts must be planned in accordance with scientific planning, focusing on the whole province, and we can no longer squeeze everything together like Tainan. up.

In this way, Ding Liqiu faced a problem: banditry.

The water system in the Pearl River Delta is well developed, and there are rivers everywhere. In the late Ming Dynasty, it is no exaggeration to say that there are bandits everywhere.

The so-called bandits are just a general term, which includes many types: water bandits everywhere, bandits in mountainous areas, Xu people who live in no fixed place, boat gangs who are half merchants and half bandits, private soldiers who set up traps to pump water, etc. wait wait wait.

In short, if the people across Guangdong want to set up factories and enterprises in various places in Guangdong, and want to distribute their products in various places, the urgent problem they face right now is to suppress bandits.

Compared with this incident, the Portuguese in Macau are actually not that serious, because if they really want to do something, the Portuguese probably won't last three days in the hands of the crossing crowd.As for the densely woven waterways in various parts of Guangdong, as well as the numerous bandits hiding in them, it is not something that can be done in three days.

Therefore, Ding Liqiu, who is currently in charge of the province's planning work, specially came to pick up the station today to communicate with the military personnel and see what countermeasures are available.

Mu Longcheng was not surprised when he heard this: "Old Ding, I have read the staff report on the situation you mentioned before, but the topic you gave is too big, and we can't handle it alone."

Having said that, Mu Longcheng picked up his glass and took a sip of wine: "If it's just a small fight around here, then I have no problem, and I will be a soldier. But you want to engage in the whole province, or take a step back from the main road If we want to suppress the bandits, we will have to go to a cabinet meeting."

At this moment, Mu Longcheng stretched out three fingers and counted: "First of all, two to three regular battalions are needed, and a large number of auxiliary troops are needed, including local troops who are familiar with the situation. A large-scale mobilization has begun, and we and Guangdong officials must mobilize."

"Secondly, a large number of shallow-draft inland river vessels are necessary, and there must be a variety of models."

"Furthermore, the UAV system and the special forces will also be mobilized. Don't underestimate the gang of water bandits hiding in the river branches and reeds. Without strong detection methods, our ordinary soldiers will suffer. "

"With so many resources mobilized, there must be a meeting."

Mu Longcheng leaned back in his chair at this time, and said with a smile on his face: "The bandits in the Pearl River Delta are very complicated, and we have never experienced this kind of situation before. So I personally suggest that this matter should not be rushed, and apply for an elite small team first." When the troops come over, they will first practice around Huangpu to sum up their experience. When the time is right and the cabinet has invested all the resources, we will reorganize."

Ding Liqiu thought about it for a while after listening, and finally nodded in agreement with Mu Longcheng's opinion: "Well, it makes sense, take it step by step. Then, I will send a telegram to apply after I go back today, and the returnee and equipment will come. , just keep an eye on it and worry about it."

"It's easy to say, anyway, I've been in Guangzhou recently, so it's no problem."

In a few words, the two finalized the plan.

(End of this chapter)