Author: Zero Romance

Chapter 3172

In the early morning of March 30, 1657 in the Haihan calendar, in the east of Hangzhou City, at the mouth of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal.

As the starting point of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, this is one of the busiest shipping locations in Hangzhou. Sea trade commodities imported from Zhoushan and Ningbo via the Qiantang River, as well as various inland goods transported from the north to Hangzhou via the canal, all need to be here.

Only after completing delivery and transshipment can you go to the next destination.

But this large inland river port, which operates around the clock all year round, is at a rare standstill today. Several miles of riverbanks along the river were completely cleared yesterday. In addition to several East China Sea Fleet patrol boats, not even a single civilian ship

Can't see it anymore.

Needless to say, such a large formation is naturally to welcome the upcoming executive committee and his party.

According to instructions issued by the local government, the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal estuary will be closed until at least noon, and will not be unblocked until the executive committee lands in the city. Before the government lifts the blockade, all civilian ships must stay in the designated area.

outside.

This is not purely for security reasons. The Executive Committee's fleet is accompanied by nearly half of the East China Sea Fleet for escort. There is no other armed force in the Qiantang River basin that can threaten its security.

However, if the docking area on the river bank is not cleared in advance and such a huge fleet is mixed with the large number of civilian ships leaving the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, the scene will definitely be chaotic.

Fortunately, when Bai Kesi came to Hangzhou for an inspection last year, the government had already done this once. Afterwards, they checked and filled in the gaps and further improved the plan. This time they started clearing the site again, and the process was much smoother than last year.

Various ceremonial guards prepared to welcome the Executive Committee, as well as Hangzhou's local civil and military officials, celebrities and gentry, also arrived here early before dawn, waiting for the arrival of the Executive Committee. Just the carriage drivers, sedan bearers and entourage...

There are nearly a thousand people.

However, this is not the main venue for the reception event, but a place specially provided for local prominent figures to show their faces. In the early morning, when you go ten miles out of the city to greet you, you can show respect and sincerity.

There were also some people who went out of their way to watch the excitement, but they were unable to enter the area where martial law had been implemented and could only stand far away from the pier to watch.

According to Shi Diwen's arrangement, the executive committee will enter the city through Qingchun Gate in the east of the city, where the official welcome ceremony will be held.

A large number of people will line the streets inside and outside Qingchun Gate to welcome the arrival of these high-ranking officials. The government estimates that the number of people may reach 100,000, which is almost half of the population of Hangzhou.

The city defense army and the 7th Army Division stationed outside the city have been dispatched, and more than 3,000 soldiers are expected to participate in maintaining order.

Almost all local people have heard the news. One of the purposes of the Executive Committee's visit to Hangzhou is to take advantage of the 30th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China to announce the relocation of the capital to Hangzhou.

For the people of Hangzhou, this is undoubtedly a more important event than the National Day celebration. The last time Hangzhou became the capital of the country dates back to the Southern Song Dynasty more than 500 years ago. And Haihan, a new empire that originated in the South China Sea, has a huge national power.

It was obviously much stronger than the original Southern Song Dynasty.

Anyone with a little knowledge will think that this decision of the executive committee will probably not only change the future of the city, but also very likely change their own future and destiny.

Among the many people who had this idea, Zhu Zhongyun was one of the very few who could put his idea into practice. However, his idea was contrary to others, and his goal was to prevent Haihan from establishing his capital in Hangzhou.

Zhu Zhongyun couldn't close his eyes because of the strong excitement. Finally, he went to the attic and lay down next to the predetermined shooting position. Only then did he finally feel more at ease and closed his eyes and fell asleep for a short while.

But before the second watch, he couldn't sleep.

He stood up and walked to the window and looked at the street not far away. The Haihan Army to maintain order had begun to enter the scene and set up roadblocks at various branch intersections to ensure smooth traffic on the main road.

Many people chose to leave the city early and go to the open area outside Qingchun Gate to occupy a place to watch.

The space on both sides of the main roads in the city has long been divided up by shops and private houses facing the street. Each house has set up its own partitions to leave the limited space facing the street in front of its house to its relatives and friends.

Of course, there are also many smart people. After the government announced the arrival of the executive committee yesterday, they put the street location of their homes for sale. There are countless people who want to watch closely. Hangzhou is a prosperous place, so there will naturally be many people.

Be willing to pay for a good location.

Even the house where Zhu Zhongyun and others are hiding does not face the street, but because it has a three-story attic with a relatively wide view, several groups of people came to the door last night and asked if they could pay to watch the execution in the attic.

The committee entered the city.

Even verbal refusal could not make these people give up. Zhu Zhongyun could only ask the head of the household to show them the seal posted by the government before sending these uninvited guests away.

Zhu Zhongyun took out the rifles he had received and inspected them one by one.

This was at least the tenth time in a day that he had done this. He repeatedly reviewed the plan he had made. If there were any unstable links, it might be that these rifles had not been calibrated by himself and could not be fired.

Confirm whether it is as accurate as the seller claims.

But judging from the quality of these rifles, Zhu Zhongyun also felt that his worries were somewhat unnecessary. The manufacturing level of Haihan rifles was far higher than that of the Ming Dynasty. These guns were still weapons used by the Haihan army, so there should be nothing wrong with them.

.

Zhu Zhongyun recalled that he had gone to the craftsmen of the Arms Department a few years ago to ask about the difficulty of imitating Haihan guns. The craftsmen said that the materials alone were doomed to make the Ming Dynasty unable to mass-produce weapons of the same quality.

The fine steel used by Haihan to make guns and weapons could not be produced in large quantities in the Ming Dynasty. As for the processing technology, there was a huge difference.

The inability to mass produce meant that the combat effectiveness of the Ming army would not be greatly improved, and the gap in the performance of weapons and equipment made it impossible for the Ming Dynasty to engage in large-scale battles with the Haihan army on the frontal battlefield.

This is precisely why Zhu Zhongyun could only choose to assassinate senior officials of Haihan, and even had to use weapons made by Haihan in the operation to ensure the probability of success.

"No matter how good the weapons are, what can we do? We are not going to die under such weapons!"

While Zhu Zhongyun was wiping his rifle, strange thoughts flashed across his mind. Of course, he knew that this was just a self-comfort thought, but as long as a few hours passed and he succeeded in hitting the target, these details would not be important.

"The traitor Haihan will kill you all at the point of my gun when he enters the city!"

Zhu Zhongyun raised his gun and looked out the window, and there seemed to be a target in front of him who was waving to the onlookers.
Chapter completed!