As the heavy machine gunfire from the Thor rang out, the hard sail of a two-masted crow boat of the Zheng's Hong Gang was instantly beaten to pieces. Immediately afterwards, the main mast began to catch fire.
The black stern boat that was shot is a unique type of boat in Dongguan, commonly known as the "big-eyed chicken". The whole boat is made of iron wood, with a length of ten feet, a width of three feet, and a thickness of seven inches. It is extremely strong; this boat can even withstand Buddha
The iron bullets fired from Lang machine guns. Each ship costs up to seven or eight hundred taels of silver. The same price can buy five ships of the same tonnage in the Mining and Zhejiang areas.
When the Thor first started shooting, a group of Red Flag Gang pirates didn't know what was going on. They heard loud thunder and lightning not far away. They looked at me one by one, and then looked up at the sky. They all thought they were there.
Thunder in drought.
But as the wooden frame on the top of the hard sail was smashed, bamboo chips and pieces of wood fell on the deck one after another, the pirates on the big-eye chicken finally reacted, and they were so frightened that they ran around on the deck, crying for their fathers and mothers.
At this time, other sea ships lifted anchors and rowed to escape. Only a few people on the ships shouted to their men: "Get closer! Rescue the people on the ship!"
Hearing the continuous explosions coming from outside, Zheng Lianchang and others still didn't understand why, but Zheng Yi's expression changed drastically. He rushed to the round porthole and looked out, and saw that it was Zheng Lianchang who was shot and on fire.
Take a boat ride.
There are only two of these sturdy big-eyed roosters in the entire Red Gang. The others are white clam boats, towing sailboats, and even quite a few single-masted fishing boats.
At this time, Zheng Lianchang and others also came to the porthole. When they saw that their boat was on fire, their faces suddenly turned pale.
"Captain Zhao, Mr. Zhao, please cease the fire! There are still many people on board!" Zheng knelt down in front of Zhao Xin as soon as he spoke, and couldn't help but hold his hands in his hands and beg.
"Cease fire." Zhao Xin gave the order into the walkie-talkie.
The movement of the Lei Shen caused the entire Tanzai Island Bay to explode again. The resting crew members of various merchant ships came to the deck to check the movement. The Danjia fishermen who were selling food and fresh water were frightened and fled back to the shore in a hurry.
Among the crew members of various merchant ships, there were those who often came to Macau. As soon as they saw the flag of the Zheng family fleet, they understood what was going on and secretly cheered in their hearts. Those who did not understand were confused and asked other veteran crew members.
Seeing that the Thor dared to challenge the order of the Qing Dynasty and Macao and Portugal in this sea area again, the foreign captains were afraid and jealous; they thought that if they had such a big iron ship, the fort in Humen would be nothing.
I dare to drive directly into the Pearl River!
After the gunfire stopped, the people on the big-eyed chicken were busy putting out the fire, and several nearby boats came to help. After a lot of fuss, they finally poured water on it, but the deck was already a mess. Between the two masts,
A big hole was made on the roof of the cabin by the fallen sail, which was on fire. The mainmast that was on fire looked like a half-burned matchstick; the upper part was scorched black with water vapor coming out.
Zheng Lianchang and others looked extremely ugly. They turned around and looked at Zhao Xin, who had several soldiers with guns standing behind him, and muttered: "Captain Zhao, I, I agree."
Zhao Xin's expression was still indifferent, and he looked at Zheng Lianchang coldly and said: "Gang Leader Zheng, the conditions have changed. Within ten days, fifty shipbuilders, one hundred sailors and their families will be appointed. You send them over and I will pay you."
Pay as you please; fifty taels per person as accommodation allowance."
Zheng Lianchang knew that the other party was giving a sweet date a slap in the face, but he was under the eaves, so he could only nod helplessly.
"Besides, Zheng Yi and Zheng Qi should wait here for a few days until everyone arrives before leaving. Don't worry, as long as you don't mess around, they won't lose a finger." After Zhao Xin finished speaking, he stood up and left the conference room.
Looking at the soldiers who came to take him and Zheng Qi away, Zheng Yi sighed and said to Zheng Lianchang: "Abba, do you understand? A quick cannon can defeat us without any power to fight back. From now on, the Pearl River Estuary
Things are going to change!"
Zheng Lianchang came in an aggressive manner and left in despair, but he still left a few boats nearby to keep watch.
Zhao Xin stood on the deck and watched the Hongqi Gang fleet going away. He said to a platoon leader beside him: "Notify everyone that from today on, no one is allowed to buy anything if there are fishing boats coming to sell goods."
Blast away. After dark at night, everyone returns to the ship building to take turns on duty. If anyone dares to climb onto the deck, the first warning shot will be fired, and the second shot will be fired directly."
"Chief, what do you mean?"
"The fishermen on this sea are all Dan family, we have to be careful."
"Yes! I will notify everyone immediately."
Zhao Xin went to the communications room without looking back. He asked the communications soldiers to connect to Beihai Town, and then blasted the two people out.
"Lord, I'm here." The person speaking opposite was Li Ji.
"Are Katsu Kaishu and Kuzo here?"
"Lord, we are all here."
"Don't miss a word of what I'm going to say next!"
"Ha ha!"
This call with Zhao Xin lasted for more than an hour.
In the past few days, Zhao Xin was so distracted by the jade pendant that he had little interest in doing anything. All he could think about was how to survive in the future. In addition, he was also speculating that once those time-travelling people knew that they would not be able to go back,
, what will be the reaction?
After getting over the initial panic, despair and even dismay, Zhao Xin calmed down and made a decision. He was going to start preparing backup plans, just in case.
Since yesterday, he had called Li Ji and made some arrangements. After understanding the current situation in Beihai Town, he asked Li Ji to find Sheng Haizhou, Jiuzang and others. Li Ji received Zhao Xin's call
After giving the order, although it was a little strange, he still followed Zhao Xin's order and found Sheng Haizhou and Jiuzang, and Wan Zao had a secret communication with them.
Today, Zhao Xin made separate explanations to Li Ji and the three of them. After Zhao Xin finished the arrangement, Sheng Haizhou and the others began to communicate privately that night.
In addition to the seven people who initially followed Zhao Xin, Pan Xiucheng, Serdan and his son, Yaerha, the old man in charge of the military supplies warehouse, several small bosses in the workshop, and a certain nurse in the hospital who was second only to Director Liu
The head of the department, Wan Zao's wife, Shino and others also received secret notices in the following days. These people finally produced a letter of allegiance, and the relevant people pressed their bloody fingerprints on it.
.
If it weren't for Zhao Xin's control over the number of people and levels, every squad and platoon leader in the army might have had to sign in blood.
Many times, people often do things that deviate from their original intentions in order to survive. If nothing happens to the jade pendant, Zhao Xin doesn't care about many things at all. The worst he can do is go it alone and send all these people back, and it will just be more difficult for him.
Although Beihai Town has begun to make progress, the living environment is still very grim, and industrial development has only made a small start. Historically, the industrialization of agricultural societies has always been through the scissor gap between industry and agriculture, sacrificing farmers to enhance industrial development. Zhao Xin
This situation was avoided by relying on the jade pendant. Now that the jade pendant cannot be used, as large equipment cannot be used in the future, industrial development will enter a period of stagnation.
If civil strife breaks out at this time, Zhao Xin's hard work and investment over the past few years will be in vain, and Beihai Town will not be able to escape from the black soil.
Zhao Xin didn't know what kind of "monster" he had released at this time, but by the time he realized it, it was already several years later.
In the afternoon of the next day, Liu Sheng and his party came back, accompanied by dozens of Portuguese people, including men, women, old and young, and several of them were of mixed Chinese and Portuguese descent.
"Your Excellency, my name is Rodrigo Joao Pereira. My colleagues and I are very happy to work for you in the future." The speaker was a middle-aged man in his thirties, with a medium build and a thin body.
He speaks Cantonese fluently and has a big beard on his chin.
According to Liu Sheng, this man named Pereira is an engineer. He graduated from the Academy of Sciences of the University of Coimbra in Portugal. After coming to Macau, he has been engaged in engineering design work in the municipal committee. Pereira has a wife and two children.
, I was originally living a good life, but I was defrauded because of my silk investment. Not only did I lose all my savings, I also owed a sum of money.
Zhao Xin smiled and shook hands with Pereira and said: "Welcome, Mr. Pereira. But forgive my ignorance, is the University of Coimbra famous?"
Pereira said respectfully: "Yes, Your Excellency. This is a school with a long history, completely comparable to the University of Paris and Oxford University. It has been established for almost five hundred years. The famous priest Christopher Kraou
I graduated from here.”
Zhao Xin blinked, never heard of it. He didn’t know that the University of Coimbra was founded in 1290 and is one of the oldest universities in Europe. The earliest colleges founded were the Academy of Sciences, the Law School, the Church Law School, and the Medicine School.
School, School of Arts. Historically, this school was the only university in Portugal from its founding until the beginning of the 20th century.
As for the Christophe Craou that Pereira was talking about, he lived in the 17th century. This man made extraordinary achievements in the fields of mathematics, astronomy and other fields. However, this man was also the staunchest opponent of Copernicus.
Accompanying Pereira were a dozen Portuguese craftsmen with their families. These people had all worked in the Macau shipyard, including three carpenters, five blacksmiths and four ordinary shipbuilders. Now the shipyards in Macau can only
Build some Cantonese ships and fishing boats. The Chinese craftsmen are far more skilled at these types of boats than the Portuguese, and their wages are lower. Naturally, some Portuguese people are unemployed. After these people heard from the Macau Municipal Committee that Liu Sheng was recruiting craftsmen, they embraced it.
Applying with the mood of giving it a try, Liu Sheng and Ding Guofeng finally selected these people.
In these years, senior shipbuilders in Europe had very good incomes. In addition to being able to draw their own design drawings, they could also earn commissions from apprentices. However, the income of ordinary shipwrights and apprentices could only maintain a basic survival.
Although Liu Sheng mentioned that Beihai Town is far away from Macau, the salary he gave is not low. Except for Pereira, whose annual salary is 300 yuan of double-column silver coins, the basic annual salary of everyone else is 150 double-column silver coins. At the same time,
There are also bonuses and accommodation arrangements. The Spanish double-column silver coins of this year were the main currency in Southeast Asian trade. The average weight of each coin is 26.8 grams and the silver content is about 90.3%. If converted to the silver coins of Beihai Town, it is 150 yuan.
The double-column coin is almost the same as the 540-yuan Beihai silver coin.
"We can only recruit these people. If there are more people, the shipbuilding industry guild in Macau will not be happy."
Dozens of Portuguese people looked at the Thor with different expressions, and exclaimed from time to time. After Zhao Xin greeted these people one by one, the sailors of the Thor took these people to arrange accommodation.
"Did you buy the lumber?"
Liu Sheng handed Zhao Xin an envelope, and then said: "I ordered a batch of iron wood and teak wood, which cost almost five thousand taels of silver; there were also some tea leaves, export porcelain, cotton and woolen cloth. These things were all made by
The commercial bank is responsible for handling the formalities, and they also pay the export tax. They will send a ship to ship it over in three days. This is the contract."
The three of them returned to the cockpit, and Zhao Xin said to Liu Sheng and Ding Guofeng: "Let me tell you two, we have to wait here for more than ten days before we can leave."
"Ten days?! What happened?"
Zhao Xin said helplessly: "As soon as you left, the communication point at Sheyang Lake was contacted."
When Zhao Xin finished explaining the situation, Liu Sheng and Ding Guofeng asked strangely: "Why are they here?"
Zhao Xin shook his head and said: "How could I know? We can't contact anyone now, so we have to wait!"
Then, he told the two of them about Zheng Yi and the others, and reminded them to be careful in the past few days. Although a man with a big fist is a man, these people are all guys who are smarter than monkeys if they have hair on them.
Liu Sheng slapped his head at this time: "Look at my memory, I almost forgot something. I found out about the British opium base, which is located in Yanzi Bay on the west side of Hengqin Island."
Zhao Xin said in surprise: "Hey? You can check this! How do you know?"
Liu Sheng said proudly: "I invited everyone to drink at the bar last night, and then I spent five double-column silver dollars to get it from an Irish sailor."
Ding Guofeng said with a smile: "Liu was very shaken this time. The governor personally received him. Several Portuguese women were ogling him, but it's a pity that he didn't appreciate it."
Zhao Xin joked: "That's because Liu is thinking about the little stars at the mouth of the Heilongjiang River."
Liu Sheng ignored the two men's teasing and continued to Zhao Xin: "I did think it was easy before about opium. I have to apologize to you."
Zhao Xin smiled, waved his hand, and asked: "The changes are so drastic. What did you see when you went to Macau?"
Ding Guofeng said solemnly: "All the foreign companies in the city are selling opium, and the Portuguese themselves are also smuggling it. Although the Manchu and Qing Dynasties have a ban, the inspections are not strict. According to what we learned in the bar, now every year, the amount of opium flowing into Guangdong is
There are more than two thousand boxes of opium."
Zhao Xin nodded and said: "All the Qing Dynasty cares about is how much money trade can bring. As for the life and death of the people, no one cares. If you want to take care of this matter, you must attract the same crime as the traffickers."
Liu Sheng said: "We have to enact laws and regulations when we get back, and shoot them as soon as they are discovered."
Zhao Xin smiled and said: "Come on, I think it's a waste of bullets, so I sent them to dig coal in Ezo."
Ding Guofeng asked: "What should we do about the opium stronghold on Hengqin Island?"
Zhao Xin thought for a while and said: "It must be destroyed! Let the British know our attitude."
Liu Sheng said: "But what if we take the lead and the British build on the back?"
Zhao Xindao: "So I said before that this is not just a matter of venting anger. It is useless to destroy a stronghold and several ships. A steady stream of opium will still be transported. The forces of all parties here at the Pearl River Estuary are intertwined. Unless
We mobilized all the forces at sea. The effect is not great, and the gain outweighs the loss."
Liu Sheng said: "Then what do you think we should do? You don't know, I was so angry that I almost smashed the foreign bank. Guofeng said you must have a way."
Zhao Xin changed the subject and asked: "How many forts are there in Macau? Have you both figured it out?"
Liu and Ding nodded and said: "Six forts and more than 120 small cannons. We also bought a hand-drawn map of Macau from a Frenchman."
Zhao Xin nodded and said: "You two should tell me everything you have learned in the past two days. Give me a few days to think about this matter. I have to think about it carefully."
Liu Sheng and Ding Guofeng spent more than two hours talking about their experiences in Macau in detail, and Zhao Xin gradually got a clue, but it was still difficult to solve.
If you want to use force to control the inflow of opium, you must control the waters outside the Pearl River Estuary, including the islands. This task is too large, and two fleets need to be established for patrol duty and long-term rotation. Moreover, the Pearl River Estuary is blocked, these
Will people take the risk and go to Fujian?
The only way at the moment is to negotiate with the British and Portuguese to see if there are any alternatives. But the question is, in what capacity does Zhao Xin negotiate with them? Guangdong is still the territory of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, why should they listen to you?!
In fact, if we really want to end it once and for all, externally we need to send a fleet to capture Malacca and block the passage of opium into and out of Southeast Asia; internally we need to strictly control the opium trafficking business, implement a medical monopoly system, and use thunderous means to ban opium smokers.
Unfortunately, with Beihai Town's current strength, it is unable to do both.
Time passed like this day by day. In the next five days, two merchant ships from Macau delivered all the supplies ordered by Liu Sheng and others. Zhao Xin paid for the goods with the banknote that Ma Baishan had paid him before.
.
Seeing the crane on the Thor easily lifting heavy timber from the sailboat to the ship, this aroused the surprise of many sailors on the surrounding sailboats; some sailboats even sent people to inquire about the price of the marine crane.
During this period, Liu Sheng and Ding Guofeng operated drones to conduct more than ten consecutive surveys of the opium smuggling base on Hengqin Island, determining the location of the other party's warehouse and the number of people stationed there. During the investigation, Liu Sheng unexpectedly discovered
The figures of the Eliza and the Trust were revealed.
However, the Thor's unexpected stay on Tanzai Island caused uneasiness among Guangzhou officials.
Big-eyed chicken: a kind of Cantonese-style fortune ship, with two or three masts. The shape of the ship is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. The bow is like a fish, the bottom is pointed and round, and the stern has a hollow point, forming a platform with railings. There are rollers on the platform.
There is a cave-style mat with a room under the platform; there is a cabin like a house between the two masts.