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Chapter 284: Secret visit to Bopuyi
Ignoring it seems to have worked. Read the full article. After a while, Lingao's petition document, which originally came once every seven or eight days, disappeared. Tang Yunwen was deeply afraid that Lingao County had fallen - if this were the case, if any of his enemies tried to "fail to save him", things would be in trouble. He sent people to inquire at the government office in Fucheng and reported that the post road to Lingao was still open and the county seat was also in good condition. He breathed a sigh of relief. Since everything is safe, there is no need to worry.
Tang Yunwen simply forgot about the big iron ship. He had more troublesome things to deal with than this big iron ship in front of him: First of all, Liu Xiang, a rising star in the Guangdong ocean, harassed and robbed the Pearl River estuary in an attempt to monopolize Guangdong's overseas trade. He also came from time to time. Qiongzhou, Leizhou and Lianzhou took advantage of the ocean and robbed salt and sugar ships. The veteran pirate Zhu Cai Lao was not willing to be outdone and had a great fight with him on the Guangdong ocean. The chaos on the ocean surface in Fujian also disturbed the coast of Guangdong. For a while, there was a lot of back and forth, smoke was everywhere, and messages came one after another to mobilize his troops for "suppression". Tang Yunwen led his troops to fight everywhere, and moved to the sea of Fujian and Guangdong. He had no time to warm up every day and was extremely busy.
With Zhu Cai Lao defeated and killed in Nanri, Tang Yunwen finally had a chance to take a breather and withdrew his troops back to his old camp to rest. But soon after returning to Baisha Water Village, he received disturbing news. The scattered pirates captured by the patrol ship confessed that in the past, a remnant of Zhucai's men went to Lingao. There were seventy or eighty boats and more than a thousand people.
These remnants of the pirates who have gone to Lingao are now sending people to recruit surrender and rebels on the Guangdong ocean, constantly luring the remnants of Zhu Cailao to go to Lingao and "defect to the Australians". This is the first time Tang Yunwen has heard the name "Australian". He quickly sent spies to Lingao again to inquire about the news.
The news he came back from after inquiring surprised him. It turned out that the Australians who came to Lingao in large iron ships not only did not leave, but also built houses and docks in Bopu, which seemed to mean they would stay in Lingao for a long time. This reminded him of the past when the Francois tried to build a city and settle in Tuen Mun - and later they established a foothold in Heung Shan O. Is it possible that this Australian is also planning to do the same thing as the Francois?
This is a major event that cannot be avoided. Tang Yunwen became nervous. He knew very well the imperial court's attitude towards these overseas people - except for Macau, they were absolutely not allowed to stay in the Ming Dynasty's land, let alone build city docks. Whether it was Shuangyu, Tuenmen, or Penghu during the Tianqi years, the attitude of the imperial court was always the same. The only thing that Westerners wanted to stay and build cities on the land of the Ming Dynasty was "fight".
Thinking of this, he didn't dare to pretend to be deaf and dumb anymore. Counting from the arrival of the iron ship in Lingao, this group of overseas "Australians" has been in Lingao for almost a year. In the past year, they have probably established a firm foothold in Lingao, which is why they wantonly recruited the remnants of Zhu Cai Lao. Expand strength.
From this point of view, the situation in Lingao was worrying. Tang Yunwen quickly sent people around to inquire about Lingao. What turned out to be a surprise was that in the past year, Lingao not only had not sent out a call for help from a pirate invasion, but had also repeatedly presented captured pirate heads and various seized seals, flags, documents, etc. to the government. Among them are notorious pirate leaders who are wanted by the government. Even the heads of Western pirates were presented.
"Lingao County Magistrate Wu Mingjin has recently become a first-class red member." Jiang Youling told him that piracy activities on the Lingao ocean are now almost extinct, and the prefect thinks highly of him.
“What about the so-called Australians?”
"That's what's strange." Jiang Youling said, "The letters from Magistrate Wu to the government office never mentioned the presence of Australians."
"You mean," Tang Yunwen whispered, "Magistrate Wu has colluded with the Australians."
"It's hard to say whether there was collusion or not. At least there was a tacit understanding not to offend each other."
"Wu Mingjin is too bold." Tang Yunwen said, "However, it seems that Lingao is quite quiet."
"It's more than just quiet." Jiang Youling said that Lingao has now become a big place in Qiongzhou Prefecture. There is an endless stream of local merchants going to Lingao to do business. Every day, many merchants from the mainland transfer ships to Lingao at Shenying Port. .
"Now there is an outer counter of Gaoguang Boat Company in Shenying Port. Anyone who wants to go to Lingao can buy a ticket at the counter and take a boat there. It is very convenient."
Lingao has experienced rare prosperity and prosperity on the island, which is obviously also related to the Australians. Wu Mingjin had been the magistrate of Lingao County for several years and had not experienced this situation. The big iron ship had made rapid progress within a year of its arrival. No one believed that there were no Australians here.
Tang Yunwen decided to go to Bopu himself to take a look at the situation. Information obtained through hearsay is always unreliable. We'll make a decision then.
This was the scene where he dressed as a fisherman and personally sailed out to sea to find out the truth.
"Raise the sail and go to Changgong Bay." Tang Yunwen ordered his men.
Changgong Bay is just west of Lingaojiao. It is a traditional fishing ground in Lingao with many fishing boats operating. There are a lot of sails on the sea, so it should be easy to blend in.
Unexpectedly, the captain of the boat, who was acting as a guide, shook his head and said, "It's not that I'm unwilling to go, my mate. Fishing on the Lingao ocean requires something called a license, and you also need to get a small flag to hang on the mast. Little one is willing to go." If you haven’t done it before, the clipper boat that netted the Australians will come to investigate as soon as the boat passes by, and the catch may be confiscated, or even the boat may be confiscated.”
"That's what this license is about"
"Young ones have also heard that you are allowed to fish on the Lingao ocean only after you have received the flag, and you have to pay one-fifth of the catch as a tax every day."
Tang Yunwen nodded, Australians really have a good way of making money. The seafood catch in the Lingao area is very rich. By controlling the land here and extorting fishermen, the profit is very considerable. He himself receives more than three to four thousand taels of silver every year from fishermen all over the island.
"In this case, there is no need to lower the net to catch fish. Just move the boat closer."
The boss of the ship was helpless. He didn't know Tang Yunwen's specific identity, but there was no doubt that they were officers in the Baisha Water Village. Naturally, this kind of person cannot be offended by people who live on the water, and coveting the promised benefits of "more money", they risked the boat to go to Lingaojiao.
Driven by the big oar, the boat quietly approached Lingao Cape. It was the fishing season at this time, and there were many fishing boats on the ocean. This two-masted fishing boat quietly blended into the fleet without being noticeable.
The boss of the ship was very worried. He looked around from time to time and urged him to "hurry up." Tang Yunwen secretly laughed at the captain of the ship who was too timid. How could the so-called Australians take care of these many ships?
Tang Yunwen and his patrol boat had passed by Lingaojiao at least dozens of times. This is a natural rock embankment with nothing on it.
Now the top corner of the mountain has been completely changed. At the top part that goes deep into the sea, a circular shape has been built with multiple protruding bastions on the outside. The fort is not high, but it is extremely solid and thick, and the whole body is made of large stones. On the pier, a huge iron cannon can be vaguely seen. It looks much bigger than the Hongyi cannon purchased by the imperial court.
Many trestles were built on the high corners, all paved with large stones, as wide and flat as a road. There are boats of all sizes berthed on it, and people and cars are coming and going on the embankment, which is very lively. There are also many identical tall wooden frames with large wooden wheels built on the embankment, with long cranes extending out to lift goods back and forth, which seem to be orange-type things.
Tang Yunwen was secretly frightened. Not to mention the power of the cannon, if such a strong pier and these stone trestles were built on this high corner, if the government was responsible for it, even if they had enough money and food, they would have nothing to worry about. It is estimated that it will take at least two to three years.
"My lord, Feng Sui," Zhang Wen, his general next to him, reminded him in a low voice.
Feng Sui also changed his appearance. Not only did most of the bricks and stones on the original surface of this beacon fall off, but the soil collapsed in some places. It was also covered with weeds and small trees, like a small mountain of earth. Now, the beacon has been rebuilt with bricks and stones, the trees and weeds have been cleared away, and a small house has been built on the top. A large iron cannon can be vaguely seen on it.
Tang Yunwen felt strange: Although the beacon tower has a wide view and can be seen very far, there seems to be no point in erecting iron cannons on it - the Hongyi cannons purchased by the imperial court can only hit a distance of four to five hundred feet at most, and they are not at all Not sure. This beacon is five or six miles away from the sea on the Bopu side. When the cannon fires, wouldn't the cannonballs hit the land?
Is it possible that cannonballs can hit the sea? This cannon can hit at least five or six miles away. Tang Yunwen is a military commander with practical combat experience and has dealt with Europeans. He is different from the literati who write about firearms tactics. . He knew that the so-called Western French artillery "reached ten miles away" was nonsense, but the thought of the Australians in front of him having such heavy artillery made him tremble with fear. The largest cannon on his ship is not as good as the Franco's red cannon. If he comes to Bopu to attack the Australians, he will probably be beaten to a pulp without even getting close to him.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel glad that he listened to Jiang Youling's words. If Lai really came to attack, it would be easy to lose the battle, and the whole army might be annihilated.
After thinking about it, his mood became very heavy again. Looking at this situation, the Australians have the same plan as the Francois and the red-haired people in the Year of Apocalypse in the past, and are planning to build a city here in Bopu and stay there for a long time. If this is the case, the imperial court will issue an order to punish him sooner or later.
But it won't happen this year, Tang Yunwen thought. Recently, the Donglu suddenly entered the pass through Mongolia and fell into several cities. Their troops were directed towards Zunhua, and the capital was shocked. The imperial court probably didn't have time to deal with this matter at the moment. If encirclement and suppression is carried out at the local level, it will most likely be in Guangdong and Fujian.
