The attack on the Imperial City of Hue was an earth-shattering event in Annan. As the ships of the Northern Navy stayed anchored outside Hue Port for longer and longer, relevant news seemed to have wings, spreading rapidly along the post roads to Thua Thien Prefecture and Quang Tri Prefecture and Quang Nam Prefecture on the north and south sides.
Just four days after the Imperial City of Hue was bombarded, in Hoi An City, more than 200 miles away from Hue, a group of Chinese businessmen from Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong left their homes and gathered at the foreign merchants on the banks of the Thu Phnom River. Guildhall.
Starting from the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, with the rise of Hoi An Port, Chinese businessmen on the southeast coast of China set off a boom in trade with Vietnam, which also led to the formation of the Chinese community in Hoi An. By the mid-seventeenth century, the Chinese community in Hoi An's "Great Tang Street" had already become quite large. Among them were merchants from Fujian, Guangdong and Zhejiang who went south to seek gold, as well as survivors of the Ming Dynasty who went south to seek refuge during the changes in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
In the early days of Hoi An, the majority were Chinese and islanders. After the Tokugawa Shogunate promulgated the maritime ban, the Japanese towns in various parts of Southeast Asia declined rapidly. However, the number of Chinese businessmen coming to Hoi An for trade increased day by day, and the size of Tang Street also followed. swell.
In the early eighteenth century, Annan had two major trading ports, namely Hien Nam at the port of the Red River in the north and Hoi An in the south. Their prosperity could not be compared with that of Hue, the capital. However, since the Xishan Uprising, the commercial environment has suffered serious damage.
Fifteen years ago, the Trinh Army and the Tay Son Army fought in Kam Sa, twenty miles north of Hoi An. After that, Hoi An changed hands several times between the old Nguyen, the Trinh Clan and the new Nguyen, and suffered from wars. Nowadays, many houses in Hoi An were newly built after the founding of the Tay Son Dynasty. However, broken walls and shelters made of straw and bamboo can still be seen in the streets.
In the light rain, the bluestone courtyard in front of Thean Hou Temple was kept spotless, like a big mirror, reflecting the surrounding flower-tree houses.
In the conference hall in the east wing of the hospital, a businessman from Fuzhou took out a small white flat box with text patterns on it. After opening it, he took out a match from inside, and then put the red match head on the side of the box. A stroke was made on the black strip, and with a "click" sound, the match immediately lit.
"Everyone, this is a thing made by Beihai Town. It is called a match. It can light a fire instantly and is very convenient. The current selling price in Jiangnan is one thousand two hundred coins per box, one hundred sticks per box."
"Ouch~~" The eyes of the Hainanese businessmen and Guangdong businessmen in the conference hall suddenly dropped to the floor, and they all stood up and gathered around to take a closer look. Several local Chinese who were engaged in sea trade business were even more curious. In an instant, everyone in the room Everyone spoke in Fujian and Cantonese dialects and talked a lot.
"Brother Lin, have you ever had sex with Beihai Town?"
"It's embarrassing to share the benefits (you are joking), how could Lin do that? I bought this from 'Huang Shengtai' in Shanghai County. It was just a novelty at the time. It is said that the high-ranking officials in the capital are now using this thing to start fires. It has been No one uses flint and fire sickle anymore.”
“This thing is easy to tie, but it’s too expensive!”
"It's a tie! It's 12 cents a piece. It's not a fire hazard, it's just a waste of money!"
Another businessman from Guangzhou whispered mysteriously: "You guys don't know. Chai heard from people in Thirteen Lines that this product is very popular among Westerners. It is sold to Europe. A box is worth at least five silver coins. .”
Uncle God! Several local Hokkien businessmen in Hoi An opened their mouths, thinking that if they bought hundreds of boxes and sold them to the local Francois and Dutch, what kind of rice and wood would they waste? If it can be loaded on half a ship and transported to Hoi An, it will be worth a lot of money if it changes hands.
"Lin once heard that since the imperial court lost Ninggu Pagoda and other places last year, Beihai Town has controlled most of the ginseng supply outside the customs. Nowadays, ginseng supplies from Fujian and Guangdong are scarce. If we can get involved..."
An old man interrupted: "Brother Lin, be careful! Although we make a living by sea trade, not everyone can touch it. The Beihai was a rebellion of the imperial court, and last year they even attacked the mouth of Dagong . Now that they are attacking Hue, they have become a serious enemy of the Nguyen Dynasty. If we look for them at this time, they may be killed if they are caught by the government."
"Yes, yes, what Mr. Yu said is true! Someone once heard a rumor that the leader of Beihai Town is a descendant of the Ming Dynasty, and is said to be a descendant of King Zhao."
A Guangdong businessman said in surprise: "Ah?! Isn't that from Huizhou?"
"Oh? Brother Wang, tell us quickly."
"Want to be rough..."
He does not mean that. In the evening, the discussions among the businessmen in the Foreign Merchants Guild Hall quickly reached the ears of two groups of people.
Needless to say, the local officials in Hoi An immediately compiled the rumors about Beihai Town into writing and sent people to Hue. But to another group of local people, the rumors in Beihai Town were like a bolt from the blue.
"What did you say? Descendants of King Zhao?!"
In the back house of a store called "Lian Changji" on Datang Street, an old man in his fifties was stunned when he heard his son's words. He stood there for a moment, then stood up and hurried out of the flower hall, leaving the whole family sitting at the dining table waiting for the meal to stare in confusion.
The old man walked to his dormitory, opened a camphor box, and pulled out a wooden box from the bottom. The old man placed the wooden box on the table in front of the window. After opening it, he uncovered the layers of yellow satin and finally revealed a gorgeous and exquisite gold hairpin.
The head of the hairpin is a hollow golden phoenix, which is stacked layer by layer using the tired silk technique. The gold wire on the belly, wings and tail of the phoenix is more suitable for fine and complex ones. The head and neck are made of thin gold sheets, even the feet. The auspicious cloud is also made of gold sheets stacked and hollowed out, looking extremely graceful and luxurious.
Although this golden hairpin has become a little darkened due to being stored for too long, and it no longer looks so golden, the workmanship is unique in the world and is no less luxurious.
"One hundred and twenty years, two Jiazi..." The old man murmured to himself, his eyes getting moist.
"Father, what's wrong with you?" Ye Chengxiang, the old man's youngest son, opened the door and walked in. Seeing that his father didn't even bother to eat, he felt a little worried, so he came over to see what was going on.
"Chengxiang, please sit down. Dad has something to tell you." The old man wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeves, and then said in a deep voice: "Do you know why our Ye family took root in Hoi'an?"
Ye Chengxiang said to his heart that he just said a few words about Beihai Town at the dinner table. Why did his father ask about this again? However, he still said seriously: "Father said before that during the revolution between the Ming and Qing Dynasties, our great ancestor was unwilling to serve in the Qing Dynasty and was afraid of harm from the Qing court, so he asked our great ancestor to take his family to the south and settle in Hoi'an to ensure the safety of his descendants."
"Alas, that was just what your great-grandfather said back then because he was afraid of causing trouble to the family. I have told your eldest brother before, but he... Alas, now that you have passed the age of weakness, as a father you should also deal with that incident. I’ve told you old things.”
Ye Chengxiang's heart skipped a beat, feeling that what his father was about to say might have something to do with the King Zhao of Beihai Town mentioned earlier. As expected, the old things his father told him next made him feel frightened and he couldn't help but sigh. However, what surprised him even more was the true identity of the owner of the large tomb in the family cemetery.
After talking for a long time, the old man was a little tired. He took a sip of tea and pointed to the wooden box on the table and said, "You can make arrangements for tomorrow and take this with you by boat to Chengtian Mansion."
Ye Chengxiang's eyes narrowed and he said in astonishment: "Father, do you want your son to find someone from Beihai Town? But what if King Zhao is fake?"
The old man thought for a while, shook his head and said: "Since the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, I have heard of someone who used the banner of 'The Third Prince Zhu' and pretended to be King Zhao. He was just a vassal king. What did he want?"
"My Ye family has helped him keep secrets for more than a hundred years, and now it's time for him to give an explanation." The old man's originally smooth face turned to a look of resentment, and he looked at Ye Chengxiang and said, "It's been eight years. , among all the shops in Datang Street, who doesn’t have a relative who died in Jiading? I can’t control others, but your eldest brother’s family cannot die in vain. If this revenge is not avenged, I, Ye Zhanrong, will have no face to face the ancestors of the Ye family!”
Outside the window, the rain fell more heavily, and the cool breeze blowing from the river made the bamboos in the courtyard sway.
It is said that after Ruan Wenhe and Xingquan went back to declare their return to the Grand Master Pei Dexuan that day, Pei Dexuan and other civil and military ministers were very angry by Bei Haijun's aggressive words.
At this time, the Xishan Dynasty regime was attacking Jiu Ruan in the south and rejecting the Manchu Qing in the north. They were all crazy. After experiencing the initial panic of failure, I slowly woke up. No matter how big the ship in Beihai Town is and how fierce the cannon is, there will always be a time when the cannonballs will be used up, right? So the next step is to log in?
According to what Ruan Wenming and Xingquan saw and heard on the Thor, Pei Dexuan learned that the men of the Northern Navy were all tall and tall, and most of them spoke with Northern accents. After learning about this situation, Pei Dexuan was no longer anxious.
"Humph, my Annan has always been a smog-stricken place. Of the people from the north, only four or five out of ten will survive. I will fight with you to see who can't bear it first!"
Starting from General Fubo's southern expedition, what restricted the Central Plains Dynasty's management of the southwest frontier and large-scale military operations was never a problem of soldiers and officials, but an abysmal miasma. Not only would people fall ill from the miasma, but even horses would fall ill and die.
Previously, Sun Shiyi led troops to campaign in the autumn and winter seasons, also because the miasma in the border areas had subsided. In the Qing-Burmese War, infectious diseases caused by acclimatization and miasma were the main reasons why the Qing army became war-weary in the later period.
Although the miasma in various areas in the south occurs after the Qingming Festival and disappears after the Frost Festival, the miasma in southern Annan is different from other places. It can be said that it lasts in all four seasons, especially in winter and spring.
Most of the places with miasma are stacked mountains with few trees. They are exposed to rain and sun, and the climate is hot and humid. Many rivers and streams are either green or red.
Pei Dexuan relied on this. He and other civil and military officials of the Xishan Dynasty agreed that as long as the Northern Navy dared to land and fight, the Xishan Army would withdraw all the way to the west and lure the enemy deeper. If they succeeded, the opponent would definitely lose due to water, soil and miasma problems, and our side would be able to Seize the opportunity and turn defeat into victory.
However, what Pei Dexuan didn't know was that the Manchu and Qing Dynasties were unable to deal with the miasma, but the Beihai Navy was clear! On the way south, Hong Tao and his medical team members repeatedly emphasized to everyone that no one was allowed to drink raw water or eat raw or cold food after landing. Violators would be deemed to have violated military discipline.
Isn't it just Plasmodium infection caused by mosquitoes? That's not a big deal. The biggest "magic weapon" Hong Tao prepared for this trip south was artemisinin. Of course, he also prepared a lot of quinine, chloroquine, and pyrimethamine.
Although the soldiers can't go ashore these days, and it's very hot on the ship, the Thor has an ice machine, so it's easy to cool down. Although some people have a stomachache due to craving for cold drinks, a few anti-inflammatory drugs or anti-diarrheal drugs can solve the problem.
Two days later, because the Tay Son Dynasty did not agree to the conditions of the Northern Navy, Deng Fei ordered the two D30s on the Thor to continue bombarding the Imperial City of Hue. With the cooperation of drones, successive explosions destroyed Ruan Guangping's palace into a mess. All the palaces were reduced to ruins, and even a large section of the outer wall of the imperial city was blown down.
At the same time, Beihai No. 1 and No. 2 also approached the mouth of the Haikou (pronounced the same as Nuan), which was later Hue Flood Inlet, intending to pass through the mouth and enter the lagoon between the seawall and the land.
At this moment, a small fishing boat suddenly sailed out of the lagoon and was immediately stopped for questioning by a speedboat sent by Beihai No. 1. The person on the boat claimed to be a Tang man from Hoi An, surnamed Ye, in his early twenties, and accompanied by two men. This person repeatedly stated that he had important secrets about Prince Zhao and asked to see the leading general of the Northern Navy.
When Deng Fei, Wang Yuanfang and Hong Tao learned about it, they all felt very funny and said to themselves that the biggest secret of "Prince Zhao" was that he was a Xibei. However, in view of the young man named Ye's pleading, the three of them couldn't help but become a little more curious, so they asked Hai Pingzhi to send him over.
Two hours later, Ye Chengxiang was sitting in the conference room of the Thor, looking around curiously. After a while, the door opened, and a thin man wearing a white coat, glasses, and a white face walked in, followed by two guards.
Ye Chengxiang stood up in a hurry, saw the other person smiling and said, "Hello, my surname is Hong, what do you call me?"
Ye Chengxiang hurriedly bowed his hands to the ground and bowed: "The villain Ye Chengxiang, whose name is Zhi Fang, is from Huizhou, Guangdong. Our ancestors crossed the sea from Guangdong in the fourth year of Yongli and now live in Datang Street, Hoi'an."
"Datang Street? Where is that place?" Hong Tao immediately asked the other party to sit down and asked someone to bring him a glass of water.
After Ye Chengxiang gave a brief introduction to Ananda Tang Street, Hong Tao blurted out: "Oh, Chinatown."
Ye Chengxiang was stunned for a moment and then said, "That's right, sir."
After finishing the gossip, Hong Tao went straight to the topic: "What do you want from us?"
"I wonder if King Zhao is here? I have made a special trip to see King Zhao this time."
Hong Tao shook his head slightly and said, "I'm not here. If you have anything, just tell me."
Ye Chengxiang thought for a while, and since the rightful owner was not here, he naturally couldn't talk about that matter. However, he finally came here and couldn't return empty-handed, so he hesitated for a moment and suddenly stood up. Before the guards behind Hong Tao could stop him, Ye Chengxiang knelt down with a pop, cupped his hands and said, "Yes, Ye As entrusted by thousands of Tang people, I sincerely ask you to uphold justice for us!"
()
Set a small goal first, such as remembering in 1 second: Shukeju
