Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 41: Flagship of Light

The arrival of these four large Western sailing ships greatly enhanced the strength of Zheng Guohui's local group, supplemented the shortcomings of the navy, and enabled it to have a certain degree of dominance in the waters of the Yangtze River and the southeastern coastal areas.

This is not nonsense.
In today's European continent, many powerful countries gather together. Any second- or third-rate player, such as Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, or Belgium, has the maritime military strength to dominate the world.

These four authentic armed merchant ships from Europe are much stronger than the legitimate naval warships of East Asia.

During the siege of Jinling City
Peng Yulin, a naval commander of the Hunan Army, led more than 300 warships down the river to assist the Ji Camp army on land in blocking the river and cutting off water supplies from northern Anhui.

This sounds quite impressive, but in reality, there are only a dozen or so people on a warship, and most of them are small dinghies weighing a few tons or even more than ten tons.

Commander Peng Yulin's own warship was just a thousand-stone Fu ship, weighing about a hundred tons, and the portable guns and mountain cannons he used were even more outdated.

Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Chinese mainland has been complacent and isolated, with ocean shipping and trade being a taboo, and the relevant shipbuilding and navigation technologies lagging far behind.

With these four large Western sailing ships in hand, Zheng Guohui can form a powerful naval force.

In his great joy, he personally named the 820-ton three-masted sailing ship "Guangming", which became the flagship of the navy, after the fact that it was anchored in Guangming Town.

The remaining three schooners of more than 500 tons were named "Fenwei", "Fenyong" and "Fendou" and included in the navy sequence.

On weekdays
The Portuguese flag is still being hoisted in order to hide the real owner behind the scenes and avoid being exposed and causing criticism.

Zheng Guohui ordered 500 officers and soldiers who were good at swimming to be dispatched from Nanjing to board the ship and practice ship handling techniques with Western captains. The port was located in Guangming Town.

After everything was arranged, Zheng Guohui left Chongming Island with his trusted subordinates and returned to his hometown, Tongzhou City.

As for subsequent matters, there are dedicated people to follow up, such as setting up Tzu Chi schools, training sailors, preparing for the upcoming winter rice harvest, etc., so there is no need to be distracted.

Tongzhou Old House
As soon as I returned to my hometown, I encountered another difficult problem.

It turned out that the Wang and Zheng salt merchants from Weiyang had connections and somehow found out that Zheng Guohui's biological mother, Zheng Qian, was born into the Qian family, a wealthy family in the suburbs of Rugao County.

So he used 600 acres of high-quality paddy fields to persuade Qian Tongqing, the patriarch of the Qian family, to bring his family to Tongzhou City. Although he said he wanted to take a walk, his meaning was self-evident.

Qian Tongqing is his uncle and the eldest brother of his mother Zheng Qian. He cannot be taken lightly regardless of emotion or reason.

"Your Excellency, General, Master Qian and several guests are waiting in the front hall. The Fourth Master is accompanying you and requests an audience with you, Your Excellency."

"Where's the master?"

"The master has caught a cold and is feeling unwell. He is resting in the backyard."

"Where's Madame?"

"Madam met Master Qian yesterday and hosted a banquet to welcome him and his entourage. She is now in the backyard, chatting with the Qian family."

"I understand. Please go down."

"As you command, General."

Zheng Guohui watched the servants retreat and shook his head with a slightly unhappy expression.

Almost all the distant and close relatives of the Zheng family in Tongzhou, as well as several wealthy families in Tongzhou City, were brought into his sphere of influence and tightly bound together with interests.

The Weiyang salt merchants Wang and Zheng were unable to exploit any loopholes, so they found another way and started from their uncle's family.

This is also because the Qian family of Rugao is short-sighted. They bought 600 acres of good paddy fields without knowing the seriousness of the matter and ran over to say good things.

The illegal salt trade is Zheng Guohui's biggest source of income, and he will never let it go no matter what.

Every day we can suppress it is a day, and every day is worth thousands of taels of silver.

Some people may ask, does the imperial court not care?
Throughout the dynasties, there have been both public salt and private salt. This is something that cannot be banned. The only difference is the amount.

With the rampant corruption among officials in the imperial court and its growing weakness in ruling over the provinces, private salt trafficking has become increasingly rampant.

This was the case in Jiangnan, and other provinces in the southeast were not spared either.

No one is a fool. Local powerful people have intervened in the illegal salt trade and made huge profits. It has become a common practice.

After the war, the Lianghuai Canal Governor's Office and the Capital Salt Transport Commissioner's Office suffered a great blow. They could only defend their own territory and issue salt permits, but they could not reach the south of the Yangtze River.

Nowadays, the trend of Han governors and governors-general in the southeastern provinces becoming increasingly powerful is difficult to reverse, and the imperial court relies heavily on them, otherwise there will be a huge risk of losing control.

Who wants to meddle in other people's business at this moment?

Don't be fooled by the fact that Jiangning Governor Elongman and other Manchu court officials, such as Jiangning General Xianghou and Jiangnan Governor Fuzhuhong'a, seem to have full control over the Jiangnan province.

Not really
These provincial governors, military commanders and provincial governors sent from the capital are like rootless duckweed, floating high above.

Zheng Guohui, together with Jinling prefect Cao Yucheng and Han officials from other prefectures and counties, could easily sideline them. There were no reliable manpower available, and government orders could not leave the government offices.

This situation was prevalent in other southeastern provinces, and even more serious, and the imperial court was well aware of it.

Both Empress Dowagers were extremely intelligent people. They could only maintain the superficial prosperity of the imperial court, which was full of leaks. They would not stir up a hornet's nest, which would only accelerate the demise of the Qing court.

Back to topic
You have to give the Buddha some face instead of the monk's. You have to be hypocritical to the eldest uncle of the Qian family so as not to make things difficult for your mother. This is not filial piety.

Having made up his mind, Zheng Guohui stood up calmly and walked out.

"The General has arrived!"

Hearing the singing of the ceremony, people came out to greet them. Leading the way were a well-dressed old man with a white beard and a middle-aged man. Their faces were full of humble smiles. They must be the heads of the two major salt merchants, Wang and Zheng.

You can tell without even thinking about it because you haven't seen Zheng Yufang, who is dressed like a butterfly.

After these few months of suffering, Zheng Yufang, who had a high opinion of herself, was hit hard and may have been left with serious psychological trauma.

Fourth uncle Zheng Shouye also came out. When Zheng Guohui saw him, a smile appeared on his face.

Father Zheng Shouren knew the seriousness of the matter. In order to avoid putting his son in trouble, he wisely chose to pretend to be sick and pretend that he didn't see anything.

In the end, his mother Zheng Qianshi sided with Zheng Guohui and stayed in the backyard without showing up.

When Zheng Guohui looked towards the hall, the smile on his lips gradually faded, replaced by a stern expression.

In the lobby
A thin, dark-skinned old man with a white beard and a cane sat in the first seat without any hesitation. He neither stood up to greet people nor showed any intention to exchange pleasantries.

This person must be my uncle Qian Tongqing. There are two middle-aged men standing next to him, looking Zheng Guohui up and down with frivolous eyes. They must be two good-for-nothing cousins.

Look at this look

He wanted Zheng Guohui to take the initiative to meet the elders, so he acted like a superior.

I really want to eat shit!

Zheng Guohui joined the army at the age of 16. He had never seen his uncle Qian Tongqing since he was born. He was not familiar with him, let alone any feelings for him.

This local rich father and son are in trouble.

(End of this chapter)