Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1388 Countermeasures ([-])

Nanming Xintai Marquis Hao Shangjiu and Tian Xing sat face to face in a certain teahouse outside the Haizhu Island Commercial Station. The place is quiet and quiet, unlike ordinary people coming and going in Guangzhou, so it is suitable to talk about some more private things.

Hao Shangjiu drank his tea slowly, still remembering the model of the East Coast commercial station he had seen before.Judging from his many years of military experience, this commercial station is full of weirdness: the wall is tall and thick, with a row of battlements on the top, well, people in the Eastern Dynasty called these shooting holes and observation holes; the walls are not straight, but Hao Shangjiu, who has fought several battles with the East Bank, knows that this kind of wall is not easy to be damaged after being bombarded; moreover, this commercial station is octagonal instead of the traditional quadrangle, protruding There are large balconies at the four corners of the building, Hao Shangjiu thought darkly, if these balconies are tidied up a bit, installing some cannons should not be a problem, and even, there are cannons hidden in the commercial station of the Eastern Dynasty people, right?

Hao Shangjiu didn't dare to think too much. In his opinion, this thing is more like a fortress than a commercial station. Since Huiguo Gong agreed to build it, then he is so worried, thinking that he has done too little to offend others. What?Moreover, the fortress built by the people of the Eastern Dynasty with great effort - well, it is a commercial station - is also of great reference value to them.You know, he, Hao Shangjiu, has been handpicked by Lord Huiguo, and he will soon lead a large team to Chaozhou Prefecture to compete with Zheng Damu, who does not obey the rules and crosses the border without authorization. Fortress, then it is necessary to learn from this design of the Dongguo people. Well, it is best to let their technicians go together, so as to save some unknown tricks.

And when it comes to the dispute between Zheng's Li Chengdong, it started a few months ago.At that time, Zheng Damu didn't know what he did, probably because of his brain twitch or his self-confidence, he actually went south to Chaozhou Prefecture for the second time under the instigation of his subordinates. This naturally aroused strong dissatisfaction from Li Chengdong, who regarded himself as the king of Guangdong. Emperor Yongli of the Southern Ming court accused Zheng of provoking disputes and embezzling Chaozhou prefectures and counties without authorization. He sent envoys to Fuzhou to negotiate with Zheng Sen, asking them to withdraw from Chaozhou prefecture and compensate for the losses. He refused mercilessly, which annoyed Li Chengdong very much.

Therefore, in such a situation where there was no room for change, Hao Shangjiu, who had always been capable of fighting, was ordered to lead more than [-] of his troops to the north to expel Zheng's southward invasion troops.At the same time, young and middle-aged generals such as Hao Yaotong and Li Yuanyin were also called back from the defense area urgently, stationed in the suburbs of Guangzhou, and practiced day and night as a reserve team. The possibility of an attack from the sea—of course, this possibility is unlikely, after all, they belong to colleagues, and the conflict in the remote Chaozhou Prefecture can be explained as reasons such as lack of strict control and arrogance of warriors. This kind of famous city has a different nature, and Zheng Damu can't bear the risk.

It was also the first time Tian Xing had heard of such a thing, so he didn't know how to answer the question for a while.You know, he was ordered by Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant Colonel Liao Xiaoyao, the captain of the Southern Exploration Team, to invite Li Chengdong to reorganize his army and send capable men to the north to help in the battle. After receiving such depressing news, it really makes people feel sad Uncomfortable—this Zheng Sen is really a dou who can't help him. He is still attacking each other at any time. He has the ability to completely drive the Qing court's armed forces out of Fujian!Zheng Damu, who defeated and killed Zhao Guodong, the admiral of Fujian Province in the Qing Dynasty, and moved to Fuzhou, is gone and will never return. He is almost in the same virtue as his father, and has gradually degenerated into a warlord through and through.The so-called loyalty to the emperor and patriotism is nothing more than a means to win people's hearts, and it is in vain that I once thought he was a hero.

It's just that no matter how much I disdain Zheng Damu, I can't change his mind and make him work together with Li Chengdong, Wang Deren, Zhang Huangyan and others to fight against the Qing army. Infighting.Of course, this goal is indeed more difficult, because these people are not from the same way at all, they are very suspicious of each other, and it would be strange if they could pee in a pot.Not to mention that the conflicts of interest between each other are also quite large. For example, before Li Chengdong did not turn his back on, the Zheng family had fought several battles with him in Chaozhou Prefecture. Many people in the Zheng army were also from Chaozhou Prefecture, so the interests of both parties The entanglements continued, and the relationship became extremely bad over time. This time Zheng Jun went south to attack Chaozhou for the second time, which was a symbolic event of the specific intensification of the conflict between the two sides.

"It's a pity that the elite Hui Guogong was tied up in the east of Guangdong! Xintaihou, since your ministry is going to move the town of Chaozhou, then I wish you a successful start this time." Tian Xing cupped his hands helplessly, and then Undeterred, he asked: "Next year the Qing army is inevitable, and Duke Hui really can only draw out the troops of General Chen to follow me to the north?"

"That's the case." Hao Shangjiu was also a little embarrassed when he said this, because Lord Hui Guogong was really perfunctory this time, which made him, who thought he had some friendship with the officials of the Eastern Dynasty, feel ashamed.Hui Guogong actually planned to send more than [-] people from the bandit Chen Yao's unit recruited back then to Ningbo to make up the numbers. In Hao Shangjiu's opinion, this is simply a child's play!

The more than 4000 Huizhou soldiers under Chen Yao's command are basically bandits. At the same level as the local Xiangyong (it is said that they were born as bandits, they seem to be at the level of strong men), and it is no wonder that Hui Guogong Li Chengdong cleaned them out like sweeping garbage-neither direct descendants, nor did they reflect their own value. What's the use?Even Duke Hui Guo said to Hao Shangjiu cryptically that he didn't want to see these bandit soldiers return to Huizhou, a relatively affluent place, so as to make room for his direct relatives. I mentioned it to Tian Xing in a half-concealed way, I don't know if the "Head of Jinyiwei" on the east bank understood.

Although he had expected it in his heart, Tian Xing was still a little disappointed. He silently compared the vigorous Guo Sheng's subordinates he saw in Jiangxi with the relatively pragmatic Dashun monarch and ministers he saw in Changsha, and then compared them. After comparing it with the fucking Nanming sects, I was completely speechless.

According to his understanding, if the people on the east bank did not fasten the iron chain around Dashun's neck, then they would be able to tear Nanming into pieces and devour them easily, although they would be followed by the Qing people because of indigestion. army, but there is no doubt that they have this ability. There is no need to doubt this. The Southern Theater Command has long made a judgment in this regard-in fact, what the Dashun Dynasty lacks today is nothing more than a relatively good one. The reputation, the talents of governing the country, and the opportunity to recuperate and recuperate from the main attack of the Qing army are nothing more than that, so it seems that it is difficult at present, but there is no doubt that their situation is gradually improving. Over the years, Li Guo has not only dismissed a large number of old Weak soldiers opened up wasteland in various counties in Hunan (this strengthened the Dashun regime’s control over the localities), and at the same time began to implement what Shao Shude called the “revisionist” policy many years ago, that is, reconciliation with the landlords, opening courses to recruit scholars, etc., Compared with the emperors and ministers of Nanming who have done nothing and have been drunk and dreamed to death so far, they are really much stronger. It is no wonder that Liu Tichun, Hao Yaoqi and others looked down on this dilapidated court, and ran back to Dashun after a few years Here, there is really no future to follow them!

And since Li Chengdong has a lot of shit to wipe, Tian Xing will naturally not spend it here anymore. He still has a lot of things to do, such as interviewing a group of businessmen from Guangzhou and Huizhou on behalf of the Bank of Taiwan. For example, go to Macao City to deal with immigration and business affairs, such as going to the branch of Bank of Taiwan in Zeelandia Port to explain the intelligence work. After finishing these tasks, he will return to the mainland by boat. This "adventure journey" in the Far East This is the end, and the intelligence affairs here will be taken over by Captain Guo Puxia.

After bidding farewell to Hao Shangjiu, Marquis of Xintai, Tian Xing returned to Haizhu Island Commercial Station, and exchanged his views on the next stage of work with Han Ku, the person in charge of the commercial station. , but he paid more attention to the continuous search for Danmin and ordinary immigrants from Guangzhou Prefecture.

After communicating with Han Ku, Tian Xing learned that people from the east coast can now collect six or seven thousand Dan people from the coastal waters and inland rivers of Guangdong to go to sea every year.Especially after some Dan people who immigrated to Ningbo in the past few years returned to their hometowns to testify, the Dan people in the coastal waters of Guangdong are not exploited, buy and sell at the same price, do not discriminate too much, and earn a lot of money (the resources of the Zhoushan fishing ground are naturally not comparable to those in the South China Sea) The Ningbo Mansion in Ningbo was fascinated for a while, so the number of Dan people who were willing to follow the people from the east coast reached a new peak this year, and everyone in the Haizhu Island Commercial Station was overjoyed. This is an indelible achievement!

Of course, among the Cantonese people in Guangfu, it is not that no one spread "rumors", saying that many people went to Ningbo and disappeared, and they seemed to be betrayed by Dongguo people to work as coolies elsewhere.There is a certain market for these words, but with the ingenious public relations of the East Coast people and the tireless bragging of the Dan people who returned home, these so-called "rumors" did not produce much lethality. The actions of the East Coast people to recruit Dan people are generally It's been relatively smooth. In recent years, more than 3000 Dan people have gone to Ningbo through various channels, and then moved to Xinhua Island, Yicheng area and the mainland, which played a good role in local construction. .

"The matter of immigration must continue, and it must not be sloppy." Tian Xing said in a tone of confession, "We must also pay close attention to the matter of monopolizing Guangdong's foreign trade. I will find time to meet some businessmen in Guangfu in the past two days—ah, This is not my job at all—I will beat and tell them more, and only resolutely crack down on foreign ships that secretly come to trade, no matter whether they are British, Portuguese or Dutch ships, they are not allowed to approach! The "Cadiz Rock" also Stop at the port of Macau, you can contact the navy at any time if you need anything, they have been instructed and will dispatch patrols, as long as your trading station can pay for the maintenance costs of them and some affiliated ships. Remember, monopoly trade is the top priority The most important thing is that even if we can’t achieve a complete monopoly, we must try our best to crack down on merchants who dare to trade with other European merchants. If we persist in this way, we will achieve great things. Even if the mainland decides to exchange the city of Macau to the Kingdom of Portugal in the future, we can definitely do it Don't be afraid, because we have already monopolized most of the supply, and others can only compete for the little bit that leaks through our fingers..."

"I understand, Officer Tian." Han Qian immediately said submissively after hearing the words.

In the next few days, Tian Xing hurriedly met several waves of businessmen from Guangzhou and Huizhou in the Haizhu Island Commercial Station, and negotiated with them the purchase agreement for various goods next year, and paid a part of the deposit.Later, he inspected the training of the armed guards at the trading station. This small force consisted of one hundred Transylvanian prisoners of war, fifty Indians, fifty Japanese ronin and fifty Korean soldiers. , has been changed, and now he has been practicing all day long, and the sound of shooting is deafening, and can be heard on the entire Pearl River, which is hard enough.

After Tian Xing encouraged them a few words, he hurriedly left for Macao City by boat, and it was already November 1664, 11.Many Portuguese people in Macau have been exiled in recent years, and now the rest of the city are on the verge of running out of ammunition and food. Life is very hard-why let them sit in a city of sorrow now, since they cannot communicate with the outside world. trade, then there is nothing to do but to sit and eat, and there is no other way - and these people now have no hope for the Kingdom of Portugal to win, and even they cannot be sure when the war will end, so as to relieve their current embarrassment state of life.As a result, many people are in a poor state of mind, and despair pervades the entire city. This naturally provides a great boost to the recruitment of people from the east coast. Every time someone comes and pays part of the salary in advance, the total Can easily pull away hundreds of people.Repeatedly like this, over the past few years, people from the east coast have already pulled thousands of people away, and it also made the big figures and bishops in the city very anxious, but they have no good way to stop them, after all, people always have to eat of.

On November 1664, 11, Tian Xing arrived at Zeelandia Port on a merchant ship from the east coast. He had a casual chat with the person in charge here, Han Yin, Hashiguchi Junnosuke, and others, and explained the affairs. He had a secret discussion with Kui Yi, the governor of the Dutch East India Company, and finalized a large amount of rice import agreement at a price slightly higher than the market average level-this is related to the Qing and Shun wars that may occur next year. Don't be sloppy, otherwise, once the overall situation is affected due to insufficient military rations, no matter whether it is Chang Kaisheng or Liao Xiaoyao, they will all scold their mothers, and Tian Xing naturally does not want to touch this brow.

After finishing this task, Tian Xing, who had been spinning around for a long time, finally calmed down, and finally he could relax completely.According to the prior agreement, there will be an immigrant transport ship stopping at Zeelandia Port for supplies. By the way, Tian Xing will be picked up, and they will go to Jinshan Port in Australia together, and then find a way to return to the mainland.

Friendly recommendation: "Han Xiong" written by a friend, if you are interested, you can go and read it.

(End of this chapter)