[Volume 2: The New World] Chapter 197: Shandong’s Chess Pieces
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Chapter 197 Shandong’s chess piece
Zhao Yingong returned to his lower place, feeling quite satisfied. [Read the latest chapter] With Sun Yuanhua’s support, things will be much easier to handle. But he had a lot of things going on, especially the work of collecting refugees from Zhejiang was about to begin. He had to arrange things as soon as possible and rush back to Hangzhou to take charge.
There were so many things at hand, and he sat behind his desk and worked hard for almost half the night. While he was busy, the doctor who came with him came to report that the young man who had been rescued had regained consciousness and had the strength to speak.
Xie Yao is a naturalized general practitioner trained by the Ministry of Health itself. He speaks Shaanxi dialect and looks very special among the naturalized people in Lingao. Whether it was language or living habits, Xie Yao felt a little out of place, so he took the initiative to sign up when someone was sent to Shandong this time.
"Oh? Did he say anything?" Zhao Yinqiao continued to write the letter without leaving his pen.
"He asked us who we were and how his partners were doing," Xie Yao said.
"Who is he and what is his name?"
"This man calls himself Wang Qisuo. He is a local military household and a small flag." Xie Yao said enthusiastically, "There are two stab wounds on his body. They are not serious, but he is a little weak."
"Since there's nothing wrong, let him take care of him." Although Zhao Yingong rescued this man on a whim, he hadn't thought about what to do with him - maybe he could be used as a channel to contact the local salt dealers and military households? He doesn't have a detailed plan yet - there are too many things to do, "Watch it carefully, don't let him move around."
"Yes." Just as Xie Yao was about to exit, Zhao Yiggong stopped him: "Call Huang Xiong here by the way."
Huang Xiong had originally been transferred to the northward detachment, where he also met his distant cousin Huang Ande - they were all preparing to participate in Operation Engine. This time Zhao Yingong wanted to go north to Shandong, so he took Huang Xiong as one of his attachés.
Huang Xiong's job as captain of the mine protection team in Jiazi Coal Mine was boring. I heard that many people made meritorious service and were promoted in the Chengmai Battle. Many people who were just soldiers when he was a platoon leader became second lieutenants after the war, but he was stuck in the coal mine practicing militia with no way forward. He was a little anxious at first, but this time he was transferred to the northward detachment to go to Shandong Zhengsui. His wish.
He came to Zhao Yingong excitedly and saluted: "Chief! Army Second Lieutenant Huang Xiong has been ordered to report!" He was wearing servant's clothes and a wig bun, but he was full of energy and looked capable and modern. Soldiers show off.
"Take a break!" Zhao Yingong said, then raised his head and looked at him, "You can't do this. From now on, you have to put this thing away for the time being. If you want me to meet Mr. Lu Chief, I will fight you thousands of times. Please greet me."
"Yes! Chief!" Huang Xiong quickly corrected, "Master!" He smiled sheepishly, "I felt a little uncomfortable for a while."
"You have to get used to it." Zhao Yingong said, "I will be leaving here soon. We are going to build a fortress here. You are a soldier from Shandong, and you will be the military commander of the fortress from now on."
Huang Xiong quickly stood at attention and saluted again. Zhao Yingong then explained his specific tasks: in addition to leading some soldiers to defend fortresses or farms, he was also responsible for training and arming the recruited refugees to ensure that the base could protect itself during the Dengzhou Rebellion. .
"Of course, here you will be just a servant leader or a village hero teacher for a long time. You have to adapt to this disguise. This place is still the territory of the Ming Dynasty for the time being. Do you understand?"
"Yes, I understand!"
"You have to know that we don't have cannons for you. I'll give you a class. You have to use them as seeds to train the recruited refugees into qualified militiamen - at least qualified rural warriors."
"This is easy, that's what I do all day long in the Jiazi Coal Mine -" Huang Xiong said, feeling frustrated. He was now the captain of the mine protection team again, but this time he was on a farm.
Zhao Yingong saw the difference in his expression, and probably knew what he was thinking - the Political Security Administration had given him all the latest ideological trends of the personnel who were going to be assigned to work in Shandong before departure to read.
"You have to know that Operation Engine is a national policy-level operation of the Senate. Everyone involved in the operation must do their best to contribute all their strength to this mission!" He said with a slight smile, "Do you understand?"
"Yes, I understand!" Huang Xiong perked up and immediately understood the meaning of the "chief"'s words: after the operation is successful, as the person in charge of a project, he will be promoted and rewarded. He said loudly: "Serve the Senate and the people!"
"Well, you go down first, sort out the ideas of organizing Xiangyong, and report to me tomorrow how many weapons and equipment are needed. Come up with a list."
After Huang Xiong left, Zhao Yingong immediately sent someone to find Lu Wenyuan. Lu Wenyuan is a young man who used to be engaged in water conservancy engineering and also has certain civil engineering skills. Since the dth, he has been responsible for the agricultural infrastructure work of the Committee of Agriculture in the General Construction Company. When he came to Shandong this time, his professional counterpart, who was young and strong, was chosen to be the person in charge of the Shandong base.
Because he was too young, he was afraid that it would be difficult to deal with the local indigenous people-after all, it was Zhao Yingong who made the start-Lu Wenyuan was Zhao Yingong's cousin. In order to facilitate the work, Lu Wenyuan was baptized at the Lingao Church before departure. Later, Zhao Yingong led him around Hangzhou and gained the trust of the Hangzhou Church.
Lu Wenyuan's grand ambition is to open a large harem, but he has not succeeded yet - the maid reluctantly bought one, so at least there will be someone to wash and cook. When this group went to Shandong for a mission, Lu Wenyuan's hormones were secreted in large quantities: as the saying goes, first come first, first get the moon, if you don't take this opportunity to recruit a group of Shandong girls to enrich your harem, your mission will be in vain.
"Little deer——"
"Call my name, I'm not Junko." Lu Wenyuan said dissatisfied.
"Okay, Junko - no, Wenyuan," Zhao Yiggong said, "I will explore suitable land with you recently and buy it as the base for our Shandong operations. Then it will be your job."
"I'm good at farmland water conservancy construction," Lu Wenyuan boasted, "Farming land is relatively lacking."
"Di, you can do whatever you want. There will be a fight here in Shandong soon. Build the wall first, build the pier, and wait for the people to be installed."
Lu Wenyuan understood.
"In a few days, I will take you to see Sun Yuanhua and prepare a way for you - you are a Catholic now. Don't forget to participate in the religious activities of the local church, especially the weekly services!" Zhao Yingong warned, "Don't be exposed. Got it!"
"Okay, I understand." Lu Wenyuan nodded helplessly, "Dean Wu has given me enough religious classes."
Zhao Yingong knew from historical data that the Shandong Church in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties had more than 3,000 believers in the mid-17th century. This was after the war and chaos in the late Ming Dynasty, when Sun Yuanhua was the governor of Denglai, the size of the church would not be lower than this figure at least.
Although the number of more than 3,000 people is not large, the believers are involved in all aspects of society, and their internal cohesion is relatively good. Trying to use the power of the local church as a basis for local activities is the best way Zhao Yingong planned to quickly open up the situation in Shandong.
As for where to choose this Shandong base, there are many different opinions. The list of candidates includes Dongying, Yangkou, Longkou, Huangqibao, Jimo and even Qingdao. There are proposals for all ports along the Shandong Peninsula. Among them, Rizhao and Qingdao had the most proposals.
However, the General Staff Headquarters studied the data and found that although Kong Youde's rebels were powerful in Shandong, their scope of influence was very small. The rebels basically only operated along the Bohai Bay coast of the Shandong Peninsula. The terrain of Dongsanfu was relatively rugged. In the Ming Dynasty, Under the poor traffic conditions, neither refugees nor rebels can go very far. The base chosen is too far away from the Denglai area, making it difficult to accommodate refugees. Therefore, various ports along the Jiaozhou Bay were canceled first.
As for Dongying and Yangkou, although they are also along the Bohai Bay, they are too far away from the Denglai area. The land distance is more than 300 kilometers. In comparison, they are closer and more convenient to Cangzhou, Hebei.
It seems that in order to effectively collect and transfer refugees, I am afraid that the only way to occupy a base is along the Bohai Bay. The final choice was Longkou. Longkou is not only a good port, but also very close to Zhaoyuan - the main gold producing area in China. The disadvantage is that Longkou is located in Huang County, which is where Kong Youde's rebels and the Ming army fought. There is great military pressure to maintain existence in the chaos.
"But there are advantages. Longkou is not a wealthy place now, it is just a small fishing port at best. Kong Youde may not be interested in making a special trip to Longkou to attack us. As long as we can get the support of the navy, it will not be a problem to occupy the population of Longkou."
"The dragon's mouth is the dragon's mouth." Lu Wenyuan said, "When it comes to building fortresses, no one in this time and space can match us. I don't believe that Kong Youde has the ability to capture our fortress?"
"Don't talk too much. Kong Youde is very good at playing with red barbarian cannons. There are Portuguese people in Dengzhou and many Western cannons. Didn't they be shot down by him?" Zhao Yingong said, "If we don't have cannons in our own hands, how can we still defeat them?" It’s really not possible to hold on.”
"Wouldn't the northward detachment be here by then? They may not be the opponents of the northward detachment." Lu Wenyuan said, "I want to do it this way-"
Specifically, with the support of the government, construction was first carried out in the Longkou enclosure and armed shops and farms were set up. At the same time, people were sent to Yizhou and other places to recruit refugees to Longkou first. These people were organized first as the basic armed and construction force of the Longkou base. When the war breaks out, as long as they show enough strength to stabilize the place, the refugees will naturally flow to the business houses protected by armed forces. After the war, they quickly occupied or supported agents to completely control Longkou and Zhaoyuan.
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