The war on Hainan Island is still going on - of course, this can no longer be regarded as a war. [No pop-up novel website] There are cities everywhere that look out for the wind. Although some counties have not officially opened cities, they have successively established aftermath bureaus. then. Fubo's army encircled the city of Haikou, and the navy blocked Baisha Water Village from the sea. The typewriter on the spy boat quickly thwarted Tang Yunwen's last hope of a showdown at sea. After losing six warships and a dozen fire ships, all operations in Baisha Water Village stopped. The last remaining strength of the Ming army on Hainan Island was divided and surrounded. It was unable to fight and was unwilling to fight.
Qiongshan County is still under siege, but the Executive Committee has not launched a forceful attack on it because of the final negotiations. However, negotiations with the city are already underway in secret. Zhao Ruyi of the Hainan branch patrol was not in the city, and the prefect, with the support of the magistrate and the city's gentry, carried out surrender activities without any hindrance.
On the entire Hainan Island, except for the southern states and counties that have always had little information, Ming's prestige on the island has plummeted. The gentry from all over the country sent people to contact them one after another, saying that they wanted money for money and food for food, as long as their own place was safe.
Almost overnight, the prestige of the Senate was established above all others on the island. The Jin gentry realized that no matter how many years the Ming Dynasty ruled, at least on Hainan Island, there would be a new master.
The wealthy gentry families are not worried about new masters - no matter who becomes their master, they will rule according to the same old methods.
Even the officials of the Ming Dynasty have nothing to worry about. If they do not intend to die in the city, they can continue to serve as his officials in the county government. Some officials even sent special personnel to come and have secret talks to discuss plans for how to continue to get along with each other.
"This group of officials are so shameless." Xiong Buyou sent away another group of envoys and complained, "I can understand them as gentry and wealthy people. After all, they are people with a family and a career. They can't walk with their houses on their backs. "
"What's wrong?" Liu Muzhou's body was buried in a large pile of documents. "As an official, you really serve the people and the emperor? The key is to serve yourself. Isn't it strange?"
"Three groups of people came today as never before." Xiong Buyou raised his finger: "First the group from the county magistrate, of course, they want us to protect his ability to continue to be an official - whether it is from the Ming Dynasty or ours; then there is the group from the county After a series of classics and history, he said that as long as he was allowed to be the county magistrate, he would definitely do a better job; in the end, it was a big businessman in the county who did not know his origins, and he also wanted to get an official position. He also lay on the ground and called the Emperor of Song Dynasty three times. Long live……"
“Didn’t he shout Long Live Chairman Moon?”
"He called Chairman Moon Chitose Chitose Chitose Chitose Chitose."
"Isn't this great? It shows that people's hearts are towards me..."
"This person is so shameless."
"There are dissatisfied people in every era. If everyone sincerely loves, loves wholeheartedly, is fully satisfied with their own situation, and has five times the happiness, will latecomers like us still have a chance?"
The situation in Hainan Island has developed rapidly. The raging situation in Hainan dealt a fatal blow to Guangdong officialdom.
News of the Ming army's disastrous defeat in Hainan soon spread to Guangdong. Wang Zunde's already weakening body could not bear this heavy blow and fell ill.
In order to facilitate the central dispatch of military operations and supplies, Wang Zunde led his staff and subordinate officers to Guangzhou as soon as the military operation across the sea began. There was a wealthy man's garden near Baietan on the Pearl River, and he set up the governor's residence here.
The first news of defeat was an urgent document sent from the Qiongzhou prefect. He was still doubtful about the defeat at the front. After all, this is an army mobilized by the entire province. If he couldn't win like this, he simply couldn't imagine what would happen in the future.
Then, news of the defeat came from Hainan one after another, each one more accurate than the last. The official army suffered a disastrous defeat in Chengmai, the entire army was wiped out, and many imperial armed forces were killed. This news was like a bolt from the blue, which greatly affected Wang Zunde's spirit. Then, the news that the Kun bandits captured Danzhou and surrounded the city of Haikou and Qiongzhou Mansion made him completely despair.
From the mouths of the defeated soldiers who had been defeated and returned from Hainan, and from the cryptic documents written by He Rubin and others, he knew that the Kun thieves not only had sharp firearms, but also had extremely powerful military power.
Soon, there was no more military affairs to deal with in Guangzhou. News from Hainan Island was completely cut off. The warships of the Kun thieves blocked the Qiongzhou Strait, and the official ships could no longer enter the strait.
Rumors in official circles spread faster than anything else. Everyone knows: Wang Zunde is finished. Not only was it impossible for the emperor to allow such a disastrous defeat, but his political opponents and enemies in the court and local areas would not give up this great opportunity. Many people are already secretly talking about the day when Wang Zunde will be dismissed from office or even arrested in Beijing.
People in the officialdom are the coldest people in the world. In this situation, he became an ignored governor in Guangzhou. No one came to discuss anything with him except his staff. Even the prefect of Guangzhou and the magistrates of the two counties became indifferent. In desperation, he moved back to Zhaoqing.
There is also nothing to do in Zhaoqing. His face became very haggard. Due to the fatigue of traveling and traveling, he fell ill soon after arriving in Zhaoqing.
Newspapers and documents are still sent to the governor's office in a steady stream, but the staff are rarely summoned to discuss the next military strategy. In fact, the staff knew very well that Guangdong's troops were already empty - except for the anti-Yao generals in Dongxi Mountain, Guangdong no longer had any organized troops.
His condition became worse day by day under such anxiety. What made him most anxious was that he didn't know whether the Kun thieves would take advantage of the situation to invade Guangzhou - if so, Guangdong would have few soldiers to defend against the enemy.
Not many days later, there were reports that strange-looking ships were peeping at the Pearl River estuary. These ships sailed briskly and had slender hulls. They were different from Chinese ships and red-haired ships. They were obviously Australian fast ships.
The crisis he faced forced him to struggle to support himself and summoned his staff several times to discuss countermeasures. Strengthen the defense of the Pearl River Estuary.
This day he was in slightly better spirits. In the study, the imperial censor Gao Shunqin brought a document. He had submitted a request to blockade Guangzhou Bay and completely cut off trade with the Portuguese in Macau "to eliminate bandits."
Wang Zunde could only smile bitterly at this time - if the Australians came to attack Guangzhou, the Portuguese in Macau would probably be the only maritime force that could be counted on to defend the Pearl River Estuary, and there would be no talk of "defeating bandits". The Australians, a bigger bandit, are coming.
"Master, Li Zanhua is here." A servant whispered.
He said feebly: "Please come in."
Li Xijue came in. Ever since Lu Yizhong went out with the army, he had become Wang Zunde's most powerful and trusted aide. Many times, only he can see the Governor.
Wang Zunde asked someone to serve tea and tried his best to show a calm smile. Li Xijue's face was pale. After sitting down, he looked at the governor's expression and leaned forward and asked:
"Is your health feeling better?"
Wang Zunde smiled and shook his head and said, "I feel the cold occasionally, but it's nothing serious." When he saw a document in Li Xijue's hand, he asked, "What document are you holding?"
Li Xijue replied nervously: "It's Lingao who got the secret message——"
"What?" Wang Zunde's fingers trembled, "Who wrote it?"
"It's Mr. Lu." Li Xijue said in a disdainful and nervous tone, "The letter came yesterday. Because the Lord is ill, I read it first."
Wang Zunde's fingers were trembling as he took the document and asked, "Lu Zan painted him...?"
"He is still alive. He became a prisoner of the Australians." Li Xijue couldn't help but sigh, "What was said in the letter is very detailed."
Wang Zunde hurriedly read the document with trembling hands. Unable to hold on any longer, he threw the letter in his hand to the ground without caring about the dignity of the court officials.
"Damn this shameless villain"
Li Xijue saw that his face was flushed and his breathing was rapid, and he was afraid that he would become ill from anger, so he quickly tried to persuade him. The governor's personal servant also ran in to help him back to the inner bed to rest.
"No, I'm fine." Wang Zunde shook his head and said with great sadness, "I didn't expect this person to be so shameless - he can't die to serve his country, and he can't live as a prisoner of Chu. He actually wrote such a letter."
"Sir, please calm down." Li Xijue quickly comforted him, "The letter was not written by Mr. Lu, but it was stamped with his official seal. Moreover, Mr. Lu is in jail, so even if he wrote it, he might have had a lot of reluctance. For now, let's read it first. The content of the letter is important”
It doesn't matter whether the letter was written by Lu Yizhong or whether it was his true meaning. The key is that this secret letter revealed the Australians' intentions.
Since the Australians are willing to use Lu Yizhong's name to pass the money, there is still something to be done, and they will not have to go to war with each other - the officers and soldiers can no longer afford to lose.
The content of the letter is divided into several sections. First, Guangdong was asked to redeem people. Including the captured officers and staff, the Australians have all issued prices according to their official ranks. For example, each prisoner was worth ten taels of silver. In addition to his net worth, each prisoner had to pay one tael of silver per day for food and accommodation according to the number of days he stayed in the Lingao prisoner-of-war camp. In other words, redeem early and save early, otherwise the "late payment fees" will become astronomical.
Secondly, it is about matters negotiated by both parties. Lu Yizhong relayed in his letter: The Australians had no intention of attacking the Ming Dynasty, but they just wanted a place for trade and residence. But now they were attacked by the army and suffered heavy losses. Now the Australians are very angry and are preparing to send dozens of large iron ships from Australia to attack Guangzhou.
However, when swords and swords meet, both sides suffer losses. In particular, the Australians came here for trade, not to occupy land. For this reason, the Australians hope to negotiate peace with the government "to put an end to the war." v! ~!
