The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 168: Mountains of Gold and Silver in Southeast Asia

Ye Xianyang knew very well that in order to fulfill the task he promised Mo Zibu to bring 30,000 Hakkas to Southeast Asia within ten months, he had to open up three links.

The magistrate of Jiaying Prefecture, the Green Camp system in Jiaying Prefecture, and the tacit approval of the magistrate of Huizhou.

First of all, we have to take away three to four thousand people every month, which is not a small number.

In this era when ordinary people are checked every time they enter the county town, it is extremely difficult to do so without the cooperation of the officials in charge.

The Green Camp system in Jiaying Prefecture is the main controller of local checkpoints, villages, towns, and ferry crossings. They also have the duties of interrogation and investigation of adultery.

Moreover, the Green Camp in Guangdong is not considered corrupt now. Where are most of the corruption in the Green Camp of the Qing court now? They are in places that are safe and have little money.

For example, the once famous Shaanxi-Gansu Green Camp immediately declined after it stopped fighting in the northwest.

Because at that time, Shaanxi and Gansu were places where there was peace and no money.

In addition, the Green Camp in inland areas such as Henan, Shandong, and Hubei has also mostly become a mess.

Although there was no war in Guangdong, troops were often deployed to Guangxi, where ethnic conflicts were acute, and the province still had some money.

Although they do not need to pay a large bribe to join the army like the Guangdong Navy, the basic treatment is still very good among the Green Camp in the country, and the control over the garrison is also reliable.

Therefore, if this link is not opened up, there is no hope of successfully taking people away from the ports controlled by the Democratic Progressive Party.

As for Huizhou Prefecture, it is because Jiaying Prefecture is not near the sea, so people can only go out to sea from Chaozhou or Huizhou.

Now, the news that Taksin became king has spread back to Chaozhou. The docks and boats in Chaozhou are not enough for themselves, so how can they be allocated to the Hakka people?

In Jingtang Village, it was now the turn of Master Zhou and the two young masters from Guangzhou to be imprisoned in the small dark room where Ye Xiaomei once hid.

Uncle San gently pulled Ye Xiaomei's arm from behind, but Ye Xiaomei shook it off, ignoring her father's worry.

She looked at Ye Xianyang, who was about the same height as her, with admiration, with her big, bright black eyes.

Ye Xianyang naturally knew the value of this distant cousin, and he did not drive her out. Instead, he wanted to let his younger sister see the strength of them, who had returned from Nanyang.

Young Master Zhou was frightened, but the two young men from Guangzhou were not.

In other words, they are not real rich kids, but the second generation of famous businesses in Guangdong.

Under the name of young masters, they are actually shrewd businessmen. They approached Master Zhou in order to obtain the privilege of sand mining and mining along the banks of Meixi from the state government.

With huge benefits right in front of them, they naturally refused to give in. These people were also more informed than Master Zhou. Not only were they not scared, they were even trying to trick Ye Xianyang into talking.

Moreover, Ye Xianyang wanted them to admit that the civil unrest was caused by their abuse of power, but they refused to do so even if he killed them.

Provoking a civil uprising is a matter of great or small magnitude. If someone covers it up, it will be just a minor civil fight. If someone deliberately makes a fuss about it, they will lose their head.

"I underestimated you, but do you two recognize this thing?" Ye Xianyang took out a jade-carved Maitreya Buddha token.

"Are you from Jade Buddha Mountain?" The two 'young masters' were shocked, and finally a look of fear appeared on their faces.

The so-called Jade Buddha Mountain, also known as Jade Buddhism, is a secret sect founded by Mo Xinfeng from Dongguan. They are dressed in the cloak of the White Lotus Sect, but are actually the Heaven and Earth Society.

At this time, the Hongmen had great influence in Guangzhou and even in the whole of Guangdong and Fujian, and they would come to cause trouble almost every two or three years.

The serious ones attacked the county government office and killed the county magistrate, while the minor ones killed a dozen or twenty people and fled into the sea.

The most basic reason is that when the Manchus entered Guangdong and Fujian, the people in these two places resisted too fiercely and killed too many people.

However, the Qing government could not kill all the Cantonese and Fu Lao people as it did in Yangzhou and Jiading.

This left behind tens of millions of remnant descendants of the Qing Dynasty who had a blood feud with the court.

Especially in Guangdong, after the Eight Banners entered Guangzhou, they also rushed to grab land and occupied large tracts of fertile farmland.

You have to know that the whole of Guangdong, that is, the Pearl River Delta, is a good place with a large number of high-quality paddy fields, and this kind of place is densely populated.

The 70,000 to 80,000 bannermen occupied 30 to 40 percent of the good farmland, so the Cantonese people whose property was taken away by them could only do odd jobs everywhere.

Guangdong has a developed commodity economy and can support so many people, so the seeds of hatred are able to continue and be passed down from generation to generation.

Unlike in Hebei, the farmers whose land was enclosed basically died of starvation and freezing, leaving behind not even a seed to avenge them.

These Cantonese people have carried hatred for generations and naturally were unwilling to surrender to the Qing government. The Qing government offices and bannermen were also unable to control such a large population.

As a result, a power vacuum emerged. For decades, these power vacuums at the bottom were almost all filled by the underworld that respected the Hongmen.

The situation is relatively better now. The strength of the Tiandihui is only among small vendors, low-level shop assistants, fish market workers, vegetable market workers, and dock workers.

Twenty or thirty years later, all the yamen runners and Green Camp soldiers in the entire Pearl River Delta will become members of the Tiandihui and will have to pay homage to the underworld, otherwise they will not be able to survive. That would be terrifying.

Although Mo Xinfeng failed in his uprising in Dongguan and was killed in 1752, the Jade Buddha Mountain he founded was not destroyed.

Now, it has become the largest gang in the Pearl River Delta.

Mo Zibu would naturally not let go of such a force. Although these people who set up social organizations could not accomplish anything big without someone to unite them, they certainly could not be counted on for an uprising.

However, it is still very useful for gathering intelligence, transmitting information, spreading rumors, smuggling scarce goods to Ha Tien, and assassinating some grassroots military officers and police chiefs who do not cooperate with Ha Tien.

After receiving Lin Tong's analysis of the Tiandihui in Guangzhou, Mo Zibu immediately sent Huang Zhongtong, the second-in-command of Li Xianwen, to Guangzhou.

Although this man was from Sichuan, he was a big shot in the underworld before he met Li Xianwen. He could speak Cantonese quite fluently. Although he was not good at leading troops in battle, he was very good at contacting big shots in the underworld.

Just before Ye Xianyang returned to Jiaying Prefecture from Guangzhou, Huang Zhongtong had already sworn an oath of blood alliance with the great leaders of the Tiandihui in the six counties of Panyu, Nanhai, Dongguan, Shunde and Xin'an.

It was agreed that Mo Zibu would provide them with 5,000 taels of funding every year. If they committed any crime on the mainland, they could flee to Southeast Asia, and Mo Zibu would guarantee their lives and wealth.

They promised to smuggle more than 20,000 taels of silver worth of strategic materials such as refined iron and sulfur to Mo Zibu every year, and to recruit at least 100 skilled craftsmen such as stonemasons, carpenters, and weavers to Ha Tien.

As for whether these workers were really recruited or kidnapped, Mo Zibu didn't care, he just wanted the people.

Seeing the token from Jade Buddha Mountain, the two young merchants became dispirited. They were not afraid of yamen runners or inspectors. The worst that could happen was that they would be extorted for some money.

But if they offend the people of Jade Buddha Mountain, then they will be in trouble. These people can really take their lives, no, they can even take the lives of their entire family.

Given the mixed crowds in the Pearl River Delta, it would be easy for the Jade Buddha Mountain gang, who are familiar with the local geography, to lead the way, find a few bandits and pirates, bring them ashore, tie up a few people, and sink them into the Huangpu waterway.

At this moment, outside Jingtang Village, there was a sudden noise of footsteps. "Fang Bai is coming, Fang Bai is coming," the shouts echoed one after another. The man who came was broad-mouthed, and although he wore a long gown, he walked with a swift and graceful gait, like a man of the world.

Behind him, there were at least dozens of strong men wearing tight clothes and holding long swords like guards.

This kind of long sword is actually a continuation of the Pudao of the Song Dynasty.

Connect a long-handled pig-killing knife or hatchet with a large wooden stick. This way, you can disassemble it when going out to avoid violating the rules. If you really encounter danger, you can connect it and it will become a long weapon.

Some outstanding people, even if they have not yet entered the path they are good at, have already shown their talents.

Luo Fangbai is such a person. When he was a teenager, he was the leader in the eyes of all Hakka teenagers in Jiaying Prefecture.

Even now, although they live in relative poverty, Luo Fangbai is good at standing up for the weak and is fair in his dealings, and good men from all over the country are willing to listen to his commands.

He was so famous that he could gather dozens of people with just a wave of his hand.

If Mo Zibu were here, he would probably know why Luo Fangbai failed to pass the imperial examination.

You have such a great reputation even though you are just a scholar, especially in a place like Guangdong which has a tradition of rebellion. If you became a juren and got an official position, that would be a disaster!
Therefore, as long as the Governor of Guangdong and the Guangdong Education Commissioner were not blind, it would be impossible for Luo Fangbai to pass the imperial examination.

Ye Xianyang chuckled, "All three of you, hurry up and sign your names.

I'm telling you, if you hesitate even a moment longer, as soon as Luo Fangbai arrives, I'll hand you over. He'll take hundreds of men to the provincial capital, and by then, it'll be too late to beg for mercy."

When Master Zhou heard this, he collapsed to the ground, and the two wealthy merchants nodded with pale faces.

. . . .

Ye Xianyang was looking at Luo Fangbai, and Luo Fangbai was also looking at Ye Xianyang.

Unlike Ye Xianyang who didn't know who Luo Fangbai was, Luo Fangbai still knew Ye Xianyang.

There are not many people from Jiaying Prefecture going to Southeast Asia now, and the Ye Xianyang family is one of the pioneers.

In addition, they were digging for gold in Kelantan, so many people in their hometown spread the rumor that they had dug up a gold mountain and made a lot of money.

Seeing Luo Fangbai running twenty miles and bringing dozens of people to promote the villagers of Jingtang, Ye Xianyang was very grateful, and he also knew how Luo Fangbai got his reputation.

This is the son of the prefect. Most people would try to hide away if they met him, but Luo Fangbai still came out to uphold justice in a high-profile manner. It can be seen that he is indeed a chivalrous man.

When Luo Fangbai saw Ye Xianyang riding a tall horse, openly carrying a fine steel goose-feather knife, and even a musket, he would be lying if he said he was not envious.

Although he studied, he was still a gangster at heart and yearned for Ye Xianyang's kind of life.

"So you are Fang Bai from Shishan Fort. Haha, seeing is believing. I often heard your name in Nanyang!"

Ye Xianyang also came out to greet them, "I have captured the prefect and the few outsiders who caused the trouble. They are willing to compensate for the losses."

Luo Fangbai cupped his hands. This was the Ye family's business. As long as Ye Xianyang took care of it, there would be no need for him to intervene. So he immediately reminded:

"That's good. Brother, you still have to make sure they sign and seal the documents, to avoid being bitten back." Then Luo Fangbai asked with some anticipation:
"Brother, you've been in Southeast Asia for a long time. How could you possibly hear such a derogatory name? Are you just being polite?"

Ye Xianyang laughed out loud. At this time, Luo Fangbai had failed in the provincial examinations twice and had realized that he might not be able to take the imperial examination. However, he didn't know what to do. He was very confused and still cared about his reputation.

"Fangbai is too modest. I'm not being polite, but there's a great man in Nanyang who really admires Fangbai."

As he spoke, Ye Xianyang moved closer to Luo Fangbai and whispered, "The man I'm talking about is not just an ordinary hero, but a great king of our Han people in Southeast Asia.

If Fangbai is free, please stay here for one night so we can have a good talk. "

Luo Fangbai looked at Ye Xianyang in surprise. Are there any kings among the Han people in Southeast Asia?

It seemed like those Chaozhou people were saying that someone from the Zheng family had become the King of Siam, but as a Chaozhou person, how could he have heard about a Hakka like him?
Ye Xianyang stopped talking here because the Ye family’s fellow villagers rushed over.

They looked at Ye Xianyang's steed, steel sword, and musket, and felt his generosity in giving away five taels of silver with a single wave of his hand. They all shouted:
"Brother Ayang, I heard you guys found a gold mine in Southeast Asia and made a fortune!"

"Brother, I heard that as long as we Han people go to Xiangluo (Siam), we will give money, land, and girls, is that right?"

"I heard that someone from the Zheng family in Chaozhou became the King of Siam. Brother, if you don't get one to be king, why don't we Hakka people go to Southeast Asia and become officials and masters like the Chaozhou people?"

Ye Xianyang laughed so hard that his nose was bubbling. The King of Chu's words "If you don't return home when you are rich and powerful, it is like walking in fine clothes at night" are absolutely true.

Ye Xianyang had been flattered by Mo Zibu, but he did not lose his mind at all and remained quite vigilant.

But facing the flattery and praise from his relatives and fellow villagers, he was already feeling ecstatic and immediately waved his hand:
"If I told you there was a gold mountain, you wouldn't believe me. It's not that easy to find a gold mountain. But after seeing this, you should believe it."

Ye Xianyang walked to his mount and opened a sack, revealing silver ingots of various sizes that shone white with a dim glow.

Luo Fangbai took a breath of cold air. There must be at least one or two hundred taels of silver in here.

The countryside was quite poor at that time. Not to mention large ingots of silver, there were not many copper coins of good quality.

Everyone had never seen such a scene before, and their eyes widened.

Ye Xiaomei came over to Ye Xianyang eagerly, squeezed the faded red rope in her hand, and her eyes gleamed with gold.

"Brother Ayang, how much is this? It must be at least twenty taels?"

"Twenty taels? Hahaha!" Ye Xianyang laughed, "My silly sister, this is two hundred taels!"

"Two hundred taels?" The Ye family, the Wen family, and the men from Gedutu brought by Luo Fangbai all screamed in surprise. Now, they began to believe that the Ye family had really struck gold in Southeast Asia.

"Uncle San, you are a scholar who can write and calculate. Today, I, Ye Xianyang, have returned home rich and powerful, and I would like to treat all the villagers in Wan'antu to a meal.

Calculate how many pigs and sheep you want, and buy as much as you want. We'll have a feast in our well and eat for three days straight!"

Uncle San's eyes widened. "How generous, my nephew! There are more than 3,000 people in Wan'an. If you treat them all, you'll have to feed at least 100 or 200 pigs. If you keep feeding them for three days, your 200 taels of silver will be gone!"

Ye Laoliu knew that the opportunity had come, and he immediately patted the saddlebag on his horse and shouted proudly:

"That's nothing, Third Uncle, just go ahead and arrange it. It's just a few hoes. Ahem."

Ye Xianyang deliberately slapped Ye Laoliu, as if to remind him not to talk nonsense.

This immediately made all the relatives and fellow villagers feel anxious.

In what kind of place can you get two hundred taels of silver with just a few hoes? Are there really mountains of gold and silver in Nanyang?
(End of this chapter)