It is the eighth day of August in the twenty-sixth year of Yongli.
The Tianzi Wharf area in Nanguan outside Guangzhou became a secluded and desolate place after the Qing Dynasty began to implement the maritime ban on relocation. It only gained a little popularity after the people in Guangzhou were driven out of the city by Shang Zhixin. But three months after Zhu Heji took control of Guangzhou, it had become a bustling and dusty place.
There are many sails on the wharf and the adjacent Pearl River, including Chinese-style Guangzhou boats, Fu boats, and sand boats, as well as Western-style soft-sailed large ships.
Although the war between the Ming and Qing dynasties was raging again, Zhu Heji's incident of hijacking a British East India Company merchant ship to attack Macau almost ignited the war between the Ming Dynasty and Britain and Portugal...but business was still there. Got to do!
After Zhu Heji took control of Guangfu, he immediately lifted the maritime ban and announced the opening of Guangzhou as a treaty port. In June and July, a group of Macao Portuguese were moved to Guangzhou to live and do business.
In the process of establishing his rule in the eleven counties of Guangfu, Zhu Heji also spread technologies such as "collecting saltpeter", "sugar cane wine" and "special white sugar". Starting from July, high-grade white sugar produced in Guangfu and sugar cane wine of various flavors began to appear in the market in Nanguan, Guangzhou.
This is a huge business opportunity!
Not to mention whether the Ming Dynasty and England and Portugal will really go to war. Even if a war does start, business will not be done? If the English and Portuguese really stopped doing business, there would still be businessmen from other countries doing business!
At the same time, Zhu Heji also used the strong men among the "people in Xingshizi's Mansion" who were taken in by him and the silver seized when conquering Macau and Guangzhou to carry out infrastructure construction inside and outside Guangzhou.
The main projects include the expansion of docks, road renovation, construction of Nanguan Food Market, Huangpu Food Market, Guangzhou Outer City Commercial City, opening of Guangzhou Huangpu Island Camp and Military Academy, Tiannan Dao Law School, and the Yuexiu Mountain Sifang Fort expansion project, etc. wait.
At the same time, Zhu Heji's Xingshizifu also began to stockpile grain and grass in Guangzhou in order to prepare for the possible siege of Guangzhou. The iron merchants in Foshan Town, controlled by Zhu Heji, also stepped up their reserves of ore and charcoal to prevent the Qing Dynasty from blocking Guangfu.
This is to collect grain at a high price, to purchase wood and stone, and to reserve iron ore and charcoal. These are all good deals! Can local businessmen in Guangdong and Guangxi seize the opportunity to make a lot of money?
The high-ranking officials in charge of Guangdong's military affairs now seem to have collectively forgotten about the economic blockade. Anyway, the Qing court was a little busy during this period, and they seemed to have forgotten this. As for the Qing officials in Guangdong, they all suffered heavy losses due to the sudden fall of Guangzhou... Years of being corrupt officials were all in vain!
Now let's take advantage of the opportunity that Emperor Kangxi didn't think of imposing a blockade, and get whatever you can!
Therefore, during this period of time, there were actually more merchant ships traveling on the Xijiang, Dongjiang, and Beijiang rivers in Guangdong than when Shang Kexi ruled Guangzhou!
What businessmen from all over Guangdong and Guangxi saw in Guangzhou, the "first city in the south of the world" that had just become the place where the Ming Dynasty was resurrected, was a world of great harmony where the world is for the common good!
Well, placards such as "The world is for the common good", "The world is unified", "Divide the land and divide the rich and poor", "Everyone has food to eat, everyone has books to read, everyone has fields to farm" are hung up everywhere. ...At first glance, it seems very public and very sympathetic!
These placards are also of various kinds, some are wooden signs, some have characters tattooed on white cloth, and some have large characters written on the outside of the house walls.
On the side of the newly installed tax card on the pier, there are several "original Confucians" wearing "Confucius suits", with long swords and grenade hammers hanging on their belts, and big beards doing propaganda.
I saw them carrying gongs in their hands. When they saw someone crossing the border, no matter who it was, they would bang the gong first, and then start talking about the principles and the policies of the Jieyang court.
"Folks, the sage, the prince, has said that from now on, the world must be governed by justice, the world must be harmonious, and Confucianism must be restored..."
"Folks, the sage, the Prince, has said that the newly opened imperial court is a universal imperial court, with eleven former Confucian scholars in charge of the power!"
"Folks, the sage has said that after the autumn harvest this year, Guangfu will start to equalize the land. For all the people in Guangfu, men can equalize 30 acres of land, women and boys will be halved, and girls will be halved again. So. Junzhitian can be held by individuals or by clans..."
"Folks, the sage, the prince, has said that starting from next year, all boys in Guangfu who are eight years old or above must go to school. The tuition fees will be borne by the school land allocated by the clan, and the imperial court will grant the school land tax exemption... ....”
"Folks, the sage, the prince, has said that the world is for the common good and the world is unified only when the people of the world take up swords and guns to protect it. Therefore, all men in Guangfu who have equal land must be soldiers!"
"Folks, the sage, the prince, said that this winter Guangzhou will hold a large-scale examination, and all scholars can participate..."
Slogans were shouted loudly and slogans were hung everywhere, but most of the merchants coming and going from Tianzi Wharf in Guangzhou frowned slightly and looked sad.
What haven’t you seen of these profiteers traveling all over the country? The coastal areas of Guangdong and Fujian have been in chaos since the middle of the Ming Dynasty. Until now, the rest of the world is almost peaceful. The coastal areas of Guangdong and Fujian are still stuck in the chaotic times of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Which profiteer can work hard in this extended version of troubled times, who is not more ruthless than a wolf and smarter than a monkey?
How can they believe that "the world is for the common good and the world is one and the same"? That's hell!
As for the original Confucianism and retro-retrofit... Haha, I don’t quite understand it, and I can’t even understand it.
Are those bearded men wearing linen robes, kerchiefs, and swords at their waists the original Confucians? They look like both liars and lunatics. Can they really succeed in bringing back the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty?
If Guangzhou and Chaozhou's third prince Zhu and his third grandson mess up again, and the Qing heavenly soldiers come to kill them, Guangzhou and Chaozhou will definitely be slaughtered to the point where no chickens or dogs are left, right?
Although these profiteers who travel to Guangzhou Tianzi Wharf are ruthless and sophisticated, most of them are Chaozhou and Guangfu people... No matter where they make their fortune, their roots are always in Chaozhou and Guangfu!
When I think that my hometown will soon be massacred by the Qing soldiers again, can I not feel heavy?
Yang Qilong and Liu Xuanchu, who were riding a merchant ship selling rice, took the Xijiang Waterway, entered the Beijiang River through an artificial canal at Sanshui, then went straight down the river to the Lion Ocean at the Pearl River Estuary, and finally headed north to get off the ship at Tianzi Pier in Guangzhou. Now I feel the heavy atmosphere permeating Tianzi Pier. However, it was the first time I saw so many "original Confucians" Liu Xuanchu, but I didn't feel that the "sage third grandson" acted like a liar and a madman.
"These original Confucians...haha, they are still interesting!"
After traveling for more than half a month, Liu Xuanchu dressed up as a businessman and arrived in Guangzhou with a boatload of Zhaoqing sugar. When he was waiting for the tax official to come to collect the tax and go through customs clearance on the pier, he happened to see a few "Confucius uniforms" "Yuan Ru" was doing propaganda, and I suddenly felt like my eyes were brightening.
"Mr. Liu, do you really think so?" Yang Qilong, who was with him, came closer.
He now has a long section of hair on the back of his head and has it braided. He is dressed like a ship merchant traveling on the Pearl River and Xijiang River. Even the accent he speaks has a Hakka accent.
I have to say, this Yang Qilong is still a genius spy, no matter what he is pretending to be!
Liu Xuanchu was dressed as a scholar, waving a paper fan, nodded and said: "Look at their clothes, they should be imitating the Confucian scholars who preached with swords and traveled around the world during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period... Although they may not be able to But if you can imitate the skills of the Confucian disciples seriously, it is a good start. It seems that Zhu San Taisun really has some ideas."
Yang Qilong smiled and said: "Zhu San Taisun can be more reasonable than the Confucian disciples... They have Zhuge Divine Thunder that explodes in a large area! Reasonable to those who can make sense, and those who cannot, haha , with a bang, he lay flat!"
His fallacy is certainly unacceptable to good scholars, but Liu Xuanchu is not a good person either.
At that time, he was the counselor of Liu Wenxiu, one of Zhang Xianzhong's four adopted sons, and later he switched jobs to work under Wu Sangui. Because he was full of bad ideas and was very good at coming up with bad ideas, he was reused by Wu Sangui and became Wu Sangui's number one strategist!
In the eyes of such people, no matter what they do, thunderous means are necessary!
And at least half of his purpose in coming to Guangfu was for Zhuge Shen Lei. Wu Sangui said in a secret letter written to him that he must try to get Zhuge Divine Thunder... Only with the divine thunder can Wu Sangui dare to fight against the Eight Banners Heavenly Soldiers!
I just wonder if Zhu San Taisun is willing to take out the secret of Zhuge Shen Lei and share it with King Ping Xi?
