Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1238 Dinghai ([-])

"There are a lot of 'foreigners' in the city now." Tian Xing sat in the preparatory office of the Bank of Taiwan in Dinghai County, jokingly said: "Some gentry in the stability maintenance associations of various townships are now starting to take the lead. You can get in touch with them when you are engaged in the trade of raw silk and tea. Well, Director Huang (Huang Yi) knows better than me about this. We often drink together, if he can speak, there will be many businessmen selling face and signing contracts with the Bank of Taiwan."

"Thank you, Brother Tian." There are only two or three big cats and kittens in the preparatory office, and they are so idle all day long. Shao Shuguang is planning to send people out to investigate the situation of raw silk and tea in Ningbo Prefecture in the next few days. Production and sales status, now hearing what Tian Xing said, I suddenly had a clue in my heart, so I immediately expressed my thanks.

"Thank you, you'll understand after staying here for a while, and it's not hard to find out." Tian Xing smiled and said, "When will your preparatory office be converted into a real bank branch?"

Shao Shuguang's so-called "preparatory office" near the Dinghai County Government is actually not as small as an office at all, but a large compound with more than a dozen houses in front and back. It can be used as a treasury and staff quarters, which is very convenient.

"In a few days, I will start the preparations, and it will start before the end of the year. Well, in fact, the business has already started, but it is just a salesman. Liao Xiaoyao Commander Liao sent someone to deposit 3000 yuan in cash a while ago, saying it is for support. The opening of our Bank of Taiwan is our bank's first deposit business." Shao Shuguang said, "At this moment when everything is waiting to be done, Commander Liao's deposit really helped a lot."

"Hehe, the Bank of Taiwan has policy support. As long as there is no change in the general manager's trade with the Netherlands, the prospects are still very promising." Tian Xing said: "Well, Commander Liao has supported the development of your bank, and I will save it too. 2000 yuan, you can ask the salesman to come to my residence to find me tomorrow. Don’t be late, I will go south to the east of Zhejiang the day after tomorrow. After a few months of fighting, they only restored Cixi County. The Qing army was strong in this generation, and the logistics were sufficient. It would be quite difficult for this group of people to go further—such as capturing Guanhaiwei. Commander Liao was very grateful for this. Outraged, he ordered to open the situation in the south and teach the Qing army a lesson! At present, the New Army’s 11th Division and No.4000 Division (temporarily organized into the 7500th Division, with a staff of 2000 people, Bogdan is the division commander, and the line of defense is North Korea After recapturing Ninghai County, [-] people from Yuanshanjin began to march south, trying to capture Tiantai and Linhai counties under the control of the Qing army. However, the mountain roads in this area were difficult and the troops could not be deployed, and the progress was slow for a while. Therefore, Liao The commander ordered Hu Xingbang's independent regiment (with a staff of [-] people) to land in the Haimenwei area of ​​Taizhou Prefecture. Together with more than [-] troops from the King of Lu's army, he planned to open a second battlefield on the flank to attack the Qing army, so as to cooperate with the main force to capture the above two counties. "

Tiantai County and Linhai County are administratively subordinate to Taizhou Prefecture, and have always been the thorn in the side of the Southern Theater Command.This time, the Qing army took advantage of tens of thousands of allied troops fighting fiercely in Huai'an Prefecture, and sent troops to attack Ninghai County from Tiantai and Linhai counties. Killing seven "progressive gentry" including the chairman and vice president of the Stability Maintenance Association, destroying two East Coast commercial stations, killing and injuring more than [-] people (five of them are cadres who graduated from Bingtuanbao), is really a heinous crime and must be severely punished!

Therefore, the two main divisions of the South Route Army began to march towards the hinterland of Taizhou Prefecture after regaining Ninghai County—more than [-] enemies were wiped out in this battle—planning to retaliate against the Qing army.However, as Tian Xing said, the mountain roads here are difficult and dangerous, and supplies are inconvenient. It is difficult for the Qing army to attack, and it is also difficult for the people on the east coast to fight!The two divisions of the new army drilled in the mountains for several months and fought more than a dozen battles, but they failed to reach the edge of Linhai County.Moreover, due to the long-term battle (the department had fought in Huai'an Mansion for a whole year before, and did not take a good rest after returning), the soldiers of the two groups complained a lot, their morale was low, and they were reluctant to fight, so they fought with the Qing army. It is not difficult to understand playing hide-and-seek and tacit battles in the mountains.

But how could Liao Xiaoyao accept such a thing to happen!He specifically asked Chang Kaisheng to transfer the independent regiment from Shandong, and changed its line of defense to Changguowei (which has since been included in the combat sequence of the southern theater), and then rushed to Ninghai County from Yin County with the Fifth Brigade of the Volunteer Team. Many officers of the [-]th Division and [-]th Division who were slow to fight were executed on the spot, which greatly improved the discipline of the frontline troops.Later, as the main force of the Qing army began to attack many forts set up by the people on the east bank from Yuyao County, Liao Xiaoyao had to lead his troops back to the base camp in Yin County to command the battle. As for the battle situation in the south, he could only entrust the experienced Junio Commanded by Captain Al.

Captain Junior has fought in the Far East for many years and has a deep understanding of the forces of all parties. After synthesizing the information sent back by the gendarmerie, he formulated a frontal feint to attract the main force of the Green Camp in Taizhou Prefecture, and then took advantage of the navy to suddenly attack behind the Qing army. Landing, conquering Haimenwei and Huangyan County, which are guarding the emptiness, and approaching the plan of Taizhou Prefecture governing Linhai County by land and water - if it is done well, it is not a problem to capture most of Taizhou Prefecture in this battle, but the The political risk is not small. After all, openly expanding the army and expanding the territory are things that are tabooed by the local executive committee. Commander Liao's political prospects are extremely promising. He may not dare to take this risk. Go to your own control area.As for the territory of Taizhou Mansion, whether it is the King of Lu or the Zheng family, whoever wants it can take it, and the people on the east bank don't bother to care about it.

To be fair, the success rate of this program is still very high.Because there are many mountains in eastern Zhejiang and southern Zhejiang, the population and products are not rich, so the number of troops that can be supported is also small.Coupled with the fact that the war in Fujian was tight at the time, many elite soldiers from eastern and southern Zhejiang were transferred to garrison in northern Fujian, and they have not yet returned. Therefore, it is normal for Linhai County, Haimenwei, Huangyan County and other places to be empty of troops. People mobilize more than 1 troops to land from the flanks, and there is a navy to transport supplies and block the battlefield. There is no reason for failure. Therefore, it is a high probability to quickly advance to Taizhou Prefecture before Linhai County.At that time, the Qing army could not take care of each other from head to tail, and failure became inevitable.

Of course, the flames of war in Eastern Zhejiang haven’t subsided over the years, and the small local population may be hiding everywhere. In addition, Lu Fang has been sending people to "trick" immigrants to go to the East in the first half of the year. (The Chen family and Xu family who immigrated to the east bank in the early days also moved a large number of township relatives), so it is very difficult for the people on the east bank to get any more money.But no matter what, this battle must be fought, because once the King of Lu is helped to restore eastern Zhejiang and southern Zhejiang, the Qing army in northern Fujian will be in a disadvantageous situation of attacking from both sides. To deploy troops to the south for reinforcements, the pressure on the people on the east bank in Ningbo Mansion will be greatly reduced.

After Tian Xing finished talking about the situation in Zhejiang, Shao Shuguang was silent.However, this has little to do with him, and the Bank of Taiwan has no plans to conduct business in southern and eastern Zhejiang, as long as there is no accident in the rear area of ​​Ningbo Mansion.The tea from Ninghai and Fenghua, and the raw silk from Yinxian, Dinghai, and Cixi are what he cares most about. After all, it is impossible to trade with the Dutch without these things.

Therefore, after listening to Tian Xing's words, he immediately said: "Then I wish Brother Tian a victory in Zhedong Banner and make new achievements. If you find something good at that time, don't forget our Taiwan Bank, hehe."

"Hehe, let's talk." After handing Shao Shuguang the 1 yuan Northwest Reclamation Bank Promissory Note (the start-up fund given to the Bank of Taiwan by the government of the Blackwater Pioneering Team), Tian Xing chatted casually for a while, and then left.

After Tian Xing left, Shao Shuguang sent someone to the county government to find the county magistrate, and asked him to exercise his right to expropriate corvee to help build a large warehouse and grain depot at the wharf. At the same time, the refitting of bank stores and treasuries in the county town was also carried out. .Because of the official letter issued by Chang Kaisheng, the county magistrate who was born as a cadre in Bingtuanbao agreed without refusal, but this matter still needs to be coordinated by the county with the local stability maintenance chairman to recruit manpower and purchase materials (well, the money for materials is naturally apportioned For the "patriotic gentry" of the Stability Maintenance Association), it will take about a week for the personnel and materials to be in place.

After this matter was settled, Shao Shuguang recruited several new employees, and the leader was Han Yin, the son of Han Keda, the eldest son of the Han family who surrendered in Huai'an Prefecture.This guy can write and count, and has experience in managing stores, so Shao Shuguang plans to send them to Zeelandia Fort to step on the spot in advance-the Ministry of Industry and Commerce has already handed over the details to him when they set off from the mainland, and the Netherlands basically does not Reject the request to trade in Formosa Island, so although the instructions of the Dutch government and the East India Company have not yet reached the Far East, it does not prevent the people on the east coast from making preparations in advance.

If possible, Shao Shuguang also asked them to purchase a real estate there as the future residence of the Bank of Taiwan.In order to ensure the safety of this trip, he also summoned Junnosuke Hashiguchi, a wild samurai hired on Rishiri Island, and asked him to take more than a dozen ronin under him to follow Han Yin and others.I believe that as long as the Dutch don't turn their backs and do something, with these more than a dozen guards, they should be able to protect the property in the local area.

"The Dutch will not get the news from The Hague and Amsterdam until the end of June, so before that, you can only operate various affairs there as businessmen, and I will also bring you more than two months later. People go to Zeelandia City by boat, and transport the first batch of goods here." Shao Shuguang said to Han Yin, "So it is best to finish the purchase of real estate and build warehouses near Zeelandia City in advance. Of course Well, if the Dutch refuse us to buy real estate and start a trade there, then of course we’ll forget about it and we’ll go home first, but I don’t think the Dutch would be so unwise.”

(End of this chapter)