In mid-October last year, just before Deng Fei signed the contract with the Qing court on behalf of Beihai Town, Zhao Xin sent a telegram to Xuzhuang, ordering Xu Dayong and Wang Changsheng to return to Xuzhuang and prepare to deal with the refugees.
Since Xu Dayong and Zhang Beihai were both in Chongqing at the time and did not carry a radio, Wang Changsheng sent someone to Chongqing to deliver the message. It was thousands of miles away from Xuzhuang to Chongqing, and it was the winter when the water was dry, so sailing was not easy. When the messenger arrived in Chongqing, it was already the eve of the Spring Festival in the 55th year of Qianlong's reign.
At this time, Xu Dayong had already established a foothold in Chongqing. He opened a cotton shop in Jiangbeitingcheng on the north bank of the Jialing River, and a grocery store in Ba County. On the surface, Wu Desheng was in charge of the business, but secretly, Luo Sankui helped recruit trackers. At the same time, with the help of Cha Mei, they quietly rescued the abducted women from various brothels in the barbarian camp in Jiangbei.
It is said to be a rescue, but in fact, except for a small amount that can be bought with money, most of them are directly robbed. When the brothel owners realized that they couldn't defeat these people, they started to sue the officials.
However, the barbarian camp in Jiangbei has long harbored filth, trafficked people, coerced prostitution, and done all kinds of evil things. Xu Dayong saw this clearly, and while he spent money to bribe the government officials, Zhang Beihai and his men secretly dealt with the brothel owners one by one. After four people died in a row, the brothel owners in the barbarian camp in Jiangbei all surrendered, and no one dared to go to the Yamen to complain.
As mentioned before, the local government in Chongqing has a "liability commitment" system that is different from other provinces. Officials and yamen must maintain their salaries and administrative expenses through this gray income; without these gray income, the yamen will close down in minutes.
The Manchu and Qing government even pretended to be deaf and dumb, and even openly protected people from buying and selling people. It didn't matter if a few young women were thrown into a brothel. In such an absurd and unruly reality, officials and government servants had to support Xu Da after they collected the money and things he used.
So by the second half of last year, Xu Dayong, a foreigner from the north, became the "One Hegemon in Jiangbei." Outsiders thought he was also involved in human trafficking, but in fact the rescued women were sent to Xuzhuang one after another.
Finally, after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Xu Dayong left two of his men behind, and temporarily entrusted the shop business in Chongqing to Wu Desheng and Luo Sankui, and then hurried back.
When a group of them arrived at Qingjiangpu and contacted the intelligence point there, they learned that Xuzhuang had been completely exposed, and the contacts in both the Huai'an government office and the Funing county government office could no longer be used for the time being.
Although the Qing government escorted the captured refugees to Xuzhuang one after another, in order to ensure the safety of the canal, Jiangsu Governor Chang Lin and River Governor Kang Jitian sent a large number of soldiers to surround the north, west and south sides of Xuzhuang. Leave an exit at sea so that Beihai Town can transport people.
Except for the refugees who were escorted here, it is difficult for outsiders to enter and exit. If he wanted to pass through Funing at this time, he would have to tell the Qing soldiers that he was from Beihai Town.
So after Xu Dayong discussed with Zhang Beihai, they decided to go north to Shanghai first, and then find a boat from there to take the five sands back to Sheyang Lake. In order to deceive others, a group of more than 30 people took two sand boats, and ended up running into Liu Qirong.
After the three of them were tied up, Liu Qirong was sweating profusely in pain, moaning, kneeling on the ground and kowtowing, which meant that he had something to say and wanted to talk to Xu Dayong.
Xu Dayong also wanted to learn about the power of the Sanyang Sect in Hubei through Liu Qirong. Zhao Xin had warned him before that he should be careful about the refugees in the old forest of Nanba, as there were probably many White Lotus sects.
So he first threatened Liu Qirong, and then someone took out the rag that was stuck in his mouth. Liu Qirong knew in his heart that these people were not even afraid of the imperial court. They killed three of them as if they were just kidding, so he didn't dare to scream at all. After that, he poured beans out of a bamboo tube and told all the details he knew about the Sanyang Sect.
Two years ago, Xu Dayong was more thoughtful and sent people to set up an intelligence point in Haizhou City. So on the next day, with the help of my own people, I found a 1,500-stone sand boat from Shanghai in the afternoon.
The captain was also a ruthless person, often involved in the business of smugglers. Hearing that there were more than thirty people in Xu Dayong's group, he offered a price of three hundred taels of silver, and the money had to be paid first.
Although his asking price is extremely high, it is actually not expensive. Half of the three hundred taels of silver had to be bribed to the customs in Yuntai Mountain.
In these days, whenever a ship went to sea, the Qing government's customs would register every passenger on the ship and issue a customs seal. And if you are not a sailor on the ship, you must have a ticket issued from the Bank of Jamaica; it must state your place of origin, age, appearance, what you are going to sea for, and the time limit for returning home. At the same time, there must be a "guarantee agreement" issued by the Chamber of Commerce, a dental shop, and Baojia. Once something happens, everyone will be responsible from beginning to end. Not only will they be fined, but they will also be slapped with a slap on the wrist.
Taking advantage of the few days before sailing, Xu Dayong spent two days repeatedly interrogating Liu Qirong and the other three, and recorded the Sanyang Sect's strongholds and believers in Hubei and Henan. As the eldest disciple of Liu Zhixie, Liu Qirong had the best understanding of the situation within the sect and confessed many secrets that were unknown to outsiders.
When Xu Dayong could ask no more questions, Liu Qirong and the others were secretly disposed of, their bodies tied with stones and thrown into the Salt River.
On the fifth day after arriving in Haizhou, Xu Dayong and a group of 29 people boarded the sand ship at night and hid among the cargo in the corridor cabin. Sure enough, during the inspection before sailing, the customs officials and soldiers only pretended to look through the hatch and did not go down to inspect the ship at all.
After the sand ship set sail, it first sailed northeast out of Dapukou. Only then did the bow of the ship let Xu Dayong and the others out. Afterwards, after sailing southeast past Kaishan Island, the sand boat followed Wutiaosha and Dasha all the way south.
Xu Dayong's plan was to wait for the boat to arrive at the mouth of the Sheyang River, and then disembark in batches via firewood boats. Unexpectedly, just after crossing Dasha, he saw a large sailboat outside the entrance of Sheyang River. Under the surprised gaze from the bow of the boat, Xu Dayong took out his telescope and took a look. He was overjoyed and said quickly: "Lean over. !That’s our ship!”
The bow of the ship looked at the large ship in the distance that was more than twice the size of his own ship and had densely packed masts. He was also shocked and blurted out: "You, you are from the north..."
Last year, Deng Fei and others intercepted ships to forcefully buy soybeans. As those ships returned to the south, the news spread wildly among various trading houses, dental shops and shipping companies. Seeing that the tea trade season is about to begin, the ship owners and merchants who bought the needles at the beginning of the year ordered a lot of tea from Fujian and Hunan, and were waiting to go to Jeju Island to sell it at a good price.
When the sand ship approached, Xu Dayong saw the words "Beihai No. 1" on the bow, and he immediately waved his arms excitedly. He definitely didn't know Guo Xuexian, but he was quite familiar with the captain of Beihai No. 1. That man had been a sailor on the Thor.
Two hours later, when Xu Dayong was the last one to board the Beihai No. 1, he saw the captain standing on the deck and immediately went up and gave him a bear hug.
"Heihachi, why are you here?"
"Master Xu, long time no see. I have changed my name now. The master also gave me a surname of Hai. You must call me Hai Pingzhi."
"Okay, Heihachi. You haven't answered my question yet?"
"That's right," Hai Pingzhi ignored Zhuang Zhuang's rudeness and took him to the captain's room and said: "Now the Thunder and the Thunder God are responsible for transporting people, the Beihai No. 2 went to the south to pick up the fleet, and my The mission is to guard here at the outlet of the Sheyang River to prevent Qing ships from coming to harass us."
Xu Dayong said: "Did you participate in last year's naval battle?"
Hai Pingzhi said: "Don't tell me this. I get angry when you mention it. There was a battle and I didn't catch up yet. That kid Guo Xuexian was lucky and showed his face."
"Guo Xuexian?" Xu Dayong said he had never heard of this person. No wonder, when Zheng Yi, Guo Xuexian and others were taken to Beihai Town by Zhao Xin, Xu Dayong had already landed to take charge of the refugees.
The two of them entered the captain's cabin and found a place to sit down. Xu Dayong felt fresh about everything he saw and looked around.
Hai Pingzhi made tea for him and then said: "Didn't the Ministry of Trade buy a ship from Siam before? Zheng Yi was sent back last year to be mainly responsible for this matter. Calculated by days, Beihai No. 2 should have arrived in Guangdong. "
...
After the Spring Festival in the fifty-fifth year of Qianlong's reign, Zheng Wenxian, who had successfully impregnated his new wife, took Lin Daosheng, members of the Red Flag Gang, and more than 300 other recruited sailors to the Siam Shipyard in Bangkok to retrieve the long-awaited ship in Beihai Town. Ten Tang ships.
At this time, Siam had entered the Bangkok Dynasty era, and the Thonburi Dynasty had been overthrown eight years ago. However, the Bangkok dynasty still pursued a policy of preferential treatment to the Chinese. Rama I himself was half-Chinese. Before he came to the throne, he understood the economic strength of the Chinese. After he came to the throne, he still re-employed Chinese officials and gave preferential treatment to Chinese businessmen.
When King Rama I heard about the customers who could order ten large ships at a time, he sent his ministers to meet them as a show of preferential treatment.
In fact, the shape of the so-called Tang boats is the Guangzhou boats in the Chaoshan area during the Qing Dynasty. The reason why it is called a red-headed boat is because the Qing government stipulated that the bow and the upper part of the mast of Guangdong merchant ships should be painted red. The most obvious feature is the big eyes painted on both sides of the bow. This kind of ship has a huge sail hung high on the middle mast, and there is a sail on each mast at the bow and stern. The speed of this kind of ship is quite fast when the wind is downwind.
One of the reasons why Zheng Wenxian brought people from the Red Flag Gang to pick up the ship was to let these guys who only have eyes for the sea outside the Pearl River see what Beihai Town is like. His other purpose was to deter the pirate gangs who had taken refuge in the Xishan regime.
Since Nguyen Hue and his son sued for peace three times within one month last year, Qianlong believed that the Le Dynasty had lost its support, so he sent officials from the Ministry of Rites southward and canonized Nguyen Hue as King of Annam on October 15th. From then on, the Ruan family and his son took charge of the state affairs legitimately. This was the Xishan Dynasty.
Since Annan has been devastated by war for a long time, it has left the country empty and facing financial difficulties. Therefore, Guangdong pirates Chen Tianbao and Mo Fuguan, who had always been in contact with Annan, suggested to Ruan Hui that they recruit seafarers, grant them official titles, subsidize military supplies, and go abroad to rob, so as to supplement the national supply.
Ruan Hui adopted his suggestion and dispatched more than a hundred black ships. He also created 12 positions of general military officers and awarded them the seal (Yizhao). He asked Chen and Mo to go back to Fujian and Guangdong to recruit more Chinese pirates, and let these people serve as guides to invade the coasts of Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang.
When Zheng Wenxian got married to the daughter of the Xu family in November last year, Mo Fuguan personally came to the house with heavy gifts to congratulate him, with the intention of recruiting him. If he hadn't followed Zhao Xin to Beihai Town to see the big world, Zheng Wenxian, who lives in Lei Yue Gate, would definitely have agreed. By the way, even if he is the commander-in-chief of Annan, he is still the commander-in-chief, and he is also protected by the Xishan court.
So, stop saying that the pirates from Cai Qian and Cheung Po Tsai's tributaries are anti-Qing martyrs. They were transformed from impoverished gangsters and boat owners. They had only one purpose in becoming pirates, lack of money. Robbery and collecting protection fees are what they like to do most. After making enough money, people will think about recruiting people to land.
However, not to mention Zheng Wenxian at this time, even his father Zheng Lianchang was dissatisfied with the "benefits" given by Mo Fuguan. You bullshit commander, go eat shit!
Zheng Lianchang and his son first pretended to be grateful and tried to test them. Then they learned that the pirate leaders Wushida and Wushier who were entrenched in Leizhou Peninsula had defected to Annan. Mo Fuguan came specifically to recruit the Zheng family and Ma family from the Pearl River Estuary this time. , and the Xu family in Fujian. The more people he recruits, the more stable his position will be in the Xishan Dynasty.
When Mo Fuguan was exhausted and his mouth was dry, Zheng Wenxian said to him: "Brother Mo, we have known each other for many years. I would like to advise you as brothers, do you know what you are doing? Collude with foreign barbarians to harm our Chinese people!"
"I'm telling you, just because the Manchu and Qing court didn't care about the Ruan man, it doesn't mean that others won't. If Ruan Hui and his son dare to do this, the only outcome will be the ruin of the country and death! My last advice, little brother, is that this kind of immoral thing , can’t do it.”
Mo Fuguan has been traveling outside the Pearl River for many years, and now he is an official in the Xishan court. The Zheng family's Red Flag Gang is simply incomparable. However, he was told by a young man from Zheng Wenxian that his nose was not a nose and his face was not a face, and he suddenly became furious. However, due to the Zheng family's wedding, he couldn't get angry, so he walked away immediately.
Then Mo Fuguan went to the Xu family to recruit, but the Xu family was now married to the Zheng family, which was as good as wearing a pair of trousers. The eldest son of the Xu family has heard a lot about Beihai Town from his son-in-law. It is true that he can hug this big tree, so he doesn't feel good about it. Although Mo Fuguan hated him so much, he still didn't dare to offend the Zheng and Xu families openly.
After the Chinese New Year, when Zheng Wenxian took people to pick up the ship in Siam, the Xu family also sent a lot of people, just to catch the big ship in Beihai Town.
However, when everyone was driving ten large boats back, no one expected that Mo Fuguan had already led many people, including Wushida, Wushier, Ma Jia and Dapao Fu, to ambush various islands off the Pearl River Estuary with the intention of killing Zheng Wenxian captured the ten Guangzhou ships.
So under such a situation, Guo Xuexian happily returned to his hometown in Beihai No. 2.
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