As the Dutch lifted the naval blockade of Bacheng, the war situation in West Java began to spread to all directions. When the news arrived in Borneo, the various Chinese forces on the island were collectively confused. Only then did they realize how thick Beihai Town's waist was. If someone wants to clean themselves up, it will definitely take a matter of minutes.
So whether it was the Lanfang Company in Dongwanlu or the Heshun Company in Daluolu, all the leading figures could not sit still. They no longer dared to send envoys just to build relationships. Instead, they brought gold, diamonds and other heavy gifts themselves. , Baba's boat came to Ba City. Among all the people coming from different companies, Lanfang Company acted the fastest. But this is normal. Who allows people to occupy the mouth of the Capuas River, which is the busiest place for shipping?
Luo Fangbai spent most of his time in the deputy office of Xinbu these days, during which time he went back to Dongwanlu once. So as soon as the news arrived, he took Wu Yuansheng, Jiang Wu and others on the bus bound for Bacheng the next day. merchant ship. He knew very well that if he wanted to continue to grow Lan Fong Hui's business in West Borneo, he must hold on to Beihai Town.
Three days later at noon, when Luo Fangbai's boat sailed into Bacheng Port, he saw neither the rumored "Thunder" nor the "Nanhua No. 1" that had haunted the Kajiang River. There were nine ships. Giant sailing ships of various sizes parked quietly on the water in the port. Although the huge "VOC" lettering on the stern of the ship has not been replaced, the flags on the top of the mainmast have all been replaced by the red flag of the Northern Navy, and soldiers with guns can be seen walking back and forth on the decks of each ship. .
"Oh my God! Beihai Town is really making a lot of money this time!"
Wu Yuansheng was holding a telescope, his eyes widened with envy on his face. Even though he has been in Southeast Asia for so many years, he has never seen so many large sailboats gathered in one place. It's no wonder that he has been king and hegemon in Daiyan for more than ten years, but Daiyan is deep in the interior of West Borneo and can only rely on the Kapuas River to conduct trade with Lanfang.
Jiang Wudao on the side said: "I heard from people from Zhanglin that the King of Zhao now has thousands of miles of mountains and rivers outside the pass, and the imperial court has even lost the land of Longxing. Their big iron ship even went to Dagokou .”
"Where is Dagukou?" Wu Yuansheng is also from Jiaying Prefecture, but he is not familiar with the north. He has been away from his hometown for many years, and he no longer cares much about things on the mainland.
Jiang Wu thought for a moment and said, "Well, it should be in the northeast of Shandong. I heard it's very close to the capital. It seems to be more than three hundred miles away."
"Oh~~~" Wu Yuansheng nodded, but he said curiously: "Fifth brother, I don't understand. Since they have all arrived at the door of the capital, why don't they attack the capital in one go?"
"Yuan Sheng, how can the capital be so easy to fight?" Jiang Wu chuckled and continued to explain based on the gossip he heard from Guangdong: "That is where the emperor is, guarded by hundreds of thousands of troops."
Wu Yuansheng suddenly sighed and said sadly: "Let alone the capital, I have never even been to Guangzhou. I'm afraid I won't be able to go back in this life."
His words hit home the thoughts of all the Hakka people on the ship, and everyone remained silent. At this time, Luo Fangbai, who was standing not far behind the two of them, suddenly said: "Yuan Sheng, what you said is not necessarily true. Maybe we can go back to Jiaying soon."
"Hey!" Wu Yuansheng slapped his forehead, wondering how he could have forgotten this! As long as you are satisfied with worshiping the "true Buddha" in Bacheng, everything is possible.
Luo Fangbai twirled his gray beard and smiled, then turned his gaze to the dome of Bacheng Church in the distance. He had heard before he came that the reason why the Northern Navy was able to defeat the Dutch this time was because King Zhao, whose name he only heard but not his person, was personally in command. He didn't know much about how to deal with such people.
Because there were a lot of merchant ships arriving at the port today, Luo Fangbai and the others waited for a long time before a pilot ship came over. After the Bacheng customs officers boarded the ship, they learned that these people were from West Borneo to visit King Zhao. The two customs clerks from Zhangzhou couldn't help showing a somewhat proud look and said to themselves, you Hakka guys finally know how to bow your heads. .
When checking the cargo list, a clerk spoke in Fuzhou vernacular and said in a serious tone: "Is there any opium in the cargo? Don't blame me for not mentioning it in advance. If there is any private possession, hand it over early. Once it is sold ashore, it can be sold or smoked." Those found to have more than one kilogram will be beheaded without negotiation, and those found to have less than one kilogram will be sent to plantations for six months of hard labor."
A group of visitors from West Borneo were shocked when they heard this, thinking what kind of rule is this? After hearing this, Wu Yuansheng was not angry but laughed: "That's funny! Do I have to behead myself when I take it myself?"
"My King Zhao hates opium the most. As his old man said, opium is a poison that deceives people's will and ruins their lives. If the poison spreads to the world, it will be as devastating as floods and ferocious beasts. Therefore, the law should be strict."
Wu Yuansheng laughed and was about to say that Beihai Town was making a fuss out of a molehill. Jiang Wu on the side quickly stepped forward and said to the clerk: "Please rest assured, I am here to pay a special visit to King Zhao. How dare you bring prohibited items? It's bad." Have you passed local laws?”
Afterwards, when the customs officers issued the documents allowing disembarkation and said goodbye, Jiang Wu said to Wu Yuansheng: "Brother Wu, I heard in Guangzhou that King Zhao used a large iron ship to bombard Hengqin Island and Hengqin Island in his early years. Do you know the reason for the Portuguese fort in Macau?"
"Please give me some advice from Fifth Brother."
When Jiang Wu saw everyone coming over, he said: "The British once opened a warehouse there to store goods, including a lot of opium. As for the Portuguese, they also smuggled a lot to Guangdong. At that time, the entire Hengqin Island was attacked It became a sea of fire, and the fire burned for three days and three nights before it was extinguished, and the Empress Pavilion fort in Macau was also blown to pieces."
Everyone looked at each other in astonishment, only to hear Luo Fangbai say: "In that case, you must not bring opium ashore, breaking other people's rules. If you are addicted, just go back to the ship and smoke enough."
"I will obey Brother Luo's instructions!"
After the group took the pilot boat ashore, as usual, they first went along the passage to the customs office to apply for temporary identity cards. Fortunately, some of the people accompanying me had been to Beihai Town before and knew the rules inside. In order to avoid the attention of interested people, Luo Fangbai and Wu Yuansheng did not use their real names when registering, but used Luo Fangbai and Wu Sheng.
All the paper registration procedures went smoothly, but when it came time to take the photo, trouble started. Luo Fangbai, one of Luo Fangbai's men at the front of the queue, let out a hiccup in his throat when he saw the first photo of his life, his eyes turned white, and he was frightened and fainted on the spot. Luo Fangbai, Wu Yuansheng and others were shocked when they saw the photo that fell on the ground.
Since Zhao Xin arrived, he asked the Military Control Commission to take advantage of the Dutch war of aggression to start taking photos of residents inside and outside the city in batches and making identity cards. The customs also took photos of immigrants.
Don’t think that this matter is easy. Before the Bacheng Military Control Commission implemented this measure, in addition to posting notices and broadcasting them on loudspeakers for several days, the Huang family, Wang family, Lin family and other big families who were local Chinese leaders were all He was ordered to take the lead in participating, and then he had to widely publicize it to the residents of the city to eliminate their misunderstandings.
Not to mention, two Dutch spies were actually discovered at the place where they were applying for identity cards. Both of them were so frightened that they peed when their mugshots were taken. As a result, this matter reached the mouths of the common people, and rumors spread that the gentlemen in Beihai Town had a "demon mirror" in their hands. As long as they did not do anything wrong, as long as they were working as spies for the Dutch, they would be seen under the mirror. True colors revealed.
Although Luo Fangbai, Wu Yuansheng and Jiang Wu were equally upset by the clear and lifelike appearance of their mugshots, they had all participated in many battles and even wars to achieve their current status. You can fool the stupid people with things like monsters and monsters, but they won’t be afraid!
Faced with such a situation, the customs officer who had seen so many things and was not surprised first took out his ID card and work permit with a headshot to show to Luo Fangbai and others; then he used a familiar formula and said that this thing would cost 700 yuan. It existed in the Northern Song Dynasty years ago, but later due to wars, this method was gradually lost.
"Could it be that people in the former Song Dynasty could use it, but they can't use it today? What a joke!"
After hearing the slightly sarcastic ridicule of the customs clerk, Wu Yuansheng couldn't help but said: "You guys, don't wait to see people through the eye of a pin! Damn, some family will come first!"
Let’s keep it short. A group of people from Lanfang Company went through a lot of twists and turns, and finally they all got a temporary identity card and came out of the door on the other side of the customs office in a daze, all covered in white hair and sweat. Afterwards, they entered the city and checked in at a hotel. As expected, the shopkeeper asked for everyone's ID cards, read them one by one, and registered them in the book. Then he asked the waiter to take them to the upper room to stay.
After washing and changing clothes, Jiang Wu hurried to the Military Control Commission building on the other side of the river with the greeting card he had written in advance. It was not yet dinner time, so Luo Fangbai called Wu Yuansheng and planned to go out for a walk. He had heard from Jiang Wu before that the security in Bacheng was very good, so in order not to attract attention, he only brought two of his most skilled men.
When they walked out of the hotel and walked to the edge of the canal, there was a beautiful sound of silk and bamboo in their ears, and there was even a female voice singing. However, the two of them looked around and couldn't see anything at all. When we arrived at the restaurant and tea shop, we couldn't help but feel a little confused.
What surprised them even more was that both sides of the rumored to be beautiful Bacheng Canal turned out to be a large construction site. Not only was the water in the canal drained out, but a large group of workers were digging out mud with shovels; coconuts that were originally planted on the river bank Some trees have been cut down, and others are digging at the roots with pickaxes.
Although Wu Yuansheng claimed to be the "Lord of Dai Yan", in fact he was just a general under Luo Fangbai. As long as Luo Fangbai is still there, it is impossible for him to establish himself as king. Seeing the scene in front of him, he was a little curious for a moment, so he found a worker nearby who was digging tree roots and asked him intimately.
"Brother, why are these fine coconut trees cut down?"
Although the worker heard Wu Yuansheng speaking in Chaozhou dialect, he was dressed gorgeously, so he must be a person of status. He just wanted to rest for a while by replying, so he stopped what he was doing and wiped his neck with the towel. Khan, cupped his hands in salute and said: "So that the master will know. We, the adults of the Military Control Commission, have said that in the future, oil palms will be planted on both sides of the river bank. Coconut trees are of no use."
“What is oil palm?”
"Well, I heard that it is a tree that can grow oil fruits and can squeeze a lot of oil. Not to mention the city, there are many outside the city." The worker's throat quivered and he said excitedly: "The radio said that in a few years, we will not be short of oil."
"Oil grows on trees? How much oil can one tree produce?" Wu Yuansheng felt a little unbelievable. Although there are Chinese people growing rapeseed in Dai Yanguo to extract oil, how much oil can that thing produce from one acre of land?
The worker counted it on his fingers and then said: "Forty or fifty pounds, I heard about it on the radio."
Oops! Not to mention Wu Yuansheng, even Luo Fangbai who was standing behind him was shocked when he heard this. However, he heard the other party mention "broadcasting" twice, so he asked: "May I ask what broadcasting is?"
The worker knew that these people in front of him must have been to Bacheng for the first time, so he looked around, raised his hand and pointed a dozen meters away and said: "That's the radio. Listen, "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai" is playing on it now. !”
Luo and Wu came to the pillar with the big speakers hanging on them and looked up for a while. Only then did they realize that the sound of silk and bamboo they had just heard came from the two bright gray speakers above their heads. They were very surprised. Surprise.
"Brother Luo, what's the point of this? How can someone still be hiding in there and singing songs?"
Luo Fangbai was born as a scholar. He crossed the ocean to Pontianak because he repeatedly failed in the provincial examination. When he first arrived, he taught for two years. His cultural level is already among the top in West Borneo, and it is precisely because of this that he can win the support of a group of lower-class immigrants. But even though he had read a lot of books, he still couldn't explain what he saw in front of him.
Whether it was the ID card, the mugshot, or the "oil palm" mentioned by the worker and the "broadcast" in front of him, they all made him feel incredible. The methods of governing the people in Beihai Town were so weird that Luo Fangbai, who was new to Bacheng, felt Falling into the clouds, I want to see the legendary "King Zhao" even more.
It is said that although Zhao Xin made a public appearance in Bacheng, not many people knew his specific appearance; except for a few high-ranking figures like Huang Mianshe, ordinary people had only seen him from a distance. So in the market rumors, Zhao Xin was described as being nine feet tall, with ears hanging down from his shoulders, hands above his knees, and even double-pupiled eyes with pointed sun angles.
Seeing that Brother Luo didn't recognize him, Wu Yuansheng was stunned for a while, and suddenly suggested that he want to go to the fort at the port to see the cannons of the Northern Navy, which are now famous in Borneo.
"Hey~~Yuan Sheng, how can those military and national weapons be seen by ordinary people?"
"Brother Luo, you can still see the layout of the fort even if you are far away. Maybe we can use it when we return to Pontianak."
Luo Fangbai knew what the other party said was reasonable, so he nodded in agreement. When they took the pilot boat before, they saw the forts on the left and right sides of the shore. The west fort is on the southwest side of the pier, farther away, while the east fort is on the east side of the bastion on the east bank of the canal, closer.
The four of them crossed the wooden plank bridge built over the dry canal, then walked north, then came to the coast and walked under the outer wall of the castle. The fort was only three hundred meters away.
Sure enough, when they arrived 200 meters away from the fort, they saw a big sign stuck on the ground, which read "Strong Military Area, No Crossing", with a big red cross on it. However, the four people's eyes only stayed on the sign for a moment before they were attracted by several people dozens of steps behind the sign.
Under a huge parasol, a tall man wearing a straw hat was sitting in front of an iron frame, fanning constantly with a cattail leaf fan. White smoke rose up from the iron frame, and there was a bed above it. It was full, as if something was being baked. A few steps behind the man, a burly man sat steadily on the horse, looking at Luo Fangbo and the other four.
Wu Yuansheng wrinkled his nose and thought to himself, he was actually grilling prawns?
Through the curling smoke, I saw an extremely pretty young woman running and jumping barefoot on the beach on the beach opposite the man. When the sea breeze blows, her long hair like clouds and waterfalls rises with the wind, looking very elegant and agile. And under her feet, there was a big yellow cat following her.
The man holding the fan had already seen Luo Fangbai and the others, and was about to stand up to greet him when he saw the woman picked up something from the beach. She held it in her hands and ran to the man. She raised her hand and sprinkled it towards him. Although the man hurriedly dodged, some sea water still wet his clothes. The woman laughed happily when she saw this.
Luo Fangbai couldn't help but feel a little dazed looking at the scene in front of him. What a shame!
(End of chapter)
