Chapter 505: The sea of miasma is the end of the world
After the Northern Navy's fleet left Ryukyu, it spent two days passing through the waters off Fujian and Guangdong. In order to avoid alerting the enemy, Deng Fei did not intend to go through the waters off the Pearl River and the Qiongzhou Strait. The fleet first passed southward through the Dongsha Islands, and then headed southwest to arrive
Wanli near Changsha.
When the fleet sailed to the shallow water area in the northern part of the Zhongsha Islands, Deng Fei ordered the ship to stop and anchor, and called people on other ships to come to the Thor for a meeting to arrange the following tasks in advance.
Because it was so hot on the deck, the conference room of the Thor, which only accommodated a dozen people, was packed with people, making it difficult for anyone to stay. Deng Fei, Wang Yuanfang, Hong Tao, Jiang Fan, Zhong Huai, Hai Pingzhi
, Zheng Wenxian, Guo Xuexian, Lin Daosheng, as well as officers from the Marine Battalion and the Special Operations Battalion were all present.
At the beginning of the meeting, Deng Fei explained the plan to wipe out the pirates in Jiangping Town.
"Our next plan is for the fleet to pass through the north of Wanli Changsha, spend a day on Ganquan Island in Xisha to replenish fresh water, quickly enter the Beibu Gulf, take half a day to capture Nightingale Island, and then head north to Jiangping.
Don’t give the Xishan pirates a chance to breathe!
The Thor and Beihai No. 1 and No. 2 blocked the sea access to Jiangping Town and Bailongwei from the east and west directions respectively. At the same time, the men and horses of the special operations battalion must quickly seize the Bailongwei Peninsula and prevent the enemy from escaping eastward.
I need to remind you that the coastline in this area is tortuous, there are many large and small islands, and the conditions on the seabed are unknown. Therefore, the fleet can only park ten nautical miles away from Jiangping Town. The Marine Battalion and the Special Operations Battalion need to use kayaks for night landings.
.The people from the Red Flag Gang will send guides to accompany them.
Now everyone can raise their hands to discuss, express their opinions, and speak freely!"
This is the first time Jiang Fan and Zhong Huai have participated in a war meeting. However, based on their understanding, the military meeting is not just about the commander and his staff planning in advance, and then issuing orders to dispatch the generals, and everyone takes their orders and fights.
.Now Deng Fei actually asks the officers below to discuss and express their opinions. Isn't this a mess? Where is the authority of the coach?
While the two were thinking about it, Guo Xuexian raised his hand, then stood up and said: "If our army attacks Bailongwei, will the Qing army in Guangxi be dispatched?"
Wang Yuanfang nodded and said, "That's a good question." After that, he began to tell everyone present about the situation in Jiangping Town. Many of the information here were provided by Zheng Wenxian's father, Zheng Lianchang, and several old men from the Red Flag Gang.
If the Bahamas Islands were a pirate den at the beginning of the 18th century, then Jiangping Town, located in Wanning Prefecture on the Qinghai-Vietnam border, was a pirate den at the end of the 18th century. Historically, the Bahamas pirate den only flourished for three years before declining, and the main
The Xishan pirates in Jiangping Town have been rampant for more than ten years.
In the history of another time and space, with the demise of the Xishan regime, the Xishan pirates who were expelled from Jiangping eventually evolved into the "South China Pirates" with 1,800 large and small sailing ships and more than 70,000 gang members.
It has plagued the coastal areas of Fujian and Guangdong for more than ten years.
In later generations, there will always be people who say that Cheung Bao Tsai or Shi Xianggu "crossed the seven seas". The bullshit Seven Seas were just from Leizhou to the Pearl River! In 1810, pirate gangs in South China practiced on the coast of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, and were encircled and suppressed by the joint navies of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties and Macao.
Everyone came ashore and surrendered.
Another point that needs to be explained is that whether they are party members or pirates, they have never had anything to do with resisting the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty.
In the official archives of the Qing Dynasty from the late 18th century to the 1890s, no party or pirate ever took "anti-Qing" or "restoration of Ming" as their slogan and goal. The main activity of these people was robbery and kidnapping.
, plus murder. Once the government takes action, no one will be afraid!
So, the Tiandihui, Hongmen, Ge Laohui, and the Five Ancestors all just go away! Some time-travelers think they can rely on these people to fight against the Qing Dynasty, so wake up!
The reason why Jiangping Town can be called a pirate nest is mainly because it is located on the border of Qing Dynasty and Vietnam, far away from the political center of Annan, and has been in a state of anarchy for a long time.
After the establishment of the Taishan regime, Ruan Guangping and his son connived and connived, plotting to plunder the Guangdong coast to enrich the national treasury, which resulted in Jiangping Town becoming a paradise for pirates. The entire town prospered because of pirates. There are more than 2,000 households in the town, and almost every family is engaged in selling stolen goods.
For business, they resold the things looted by the pirates to merchants in Guangdong and Guangxi, and sold food supplies to the pirates.
As for the Manchu and Qing dynasties, which are only separated by a river, their control over the Bailongwei Peninsula is not much stronger than that of the Annan people. Because of the long-term conflicts between the locals and the Hakka people in Guangnan, bloody battles often occur, which will cause
Traffic was disrupted. As a result, Gaozhou, Leizhou, Lianzhou and Qiongzhou in southern Guangzhou have almost become a legal vacuum zone.
"...So, even if something happens on Bailongwei Peninsula, it's not certain when Lianzhou Prefecture, three hundred miles away, will know about it!"
Everyone present had smiles on their faces when they heard this.
The commander of the special operations battalion raised his hand and asked: "What should I do if there is resistance at Bailongwei?"
This is Serdan's son Erlu, the former deputy captain of the Northern Navy's reconnaissance brigade. After the Hunchun Battle, Wang Yuanfang planned to form a special operations battalion mainly composed of Ewenki and Daur people; the candidates for the battalion commander were picked back and forth, and Zhao Xin
In the end, I made the decision to choose Erlu. His father, Serdan, has taken a back seat since the end of last year because of his old age. He is currently responsible for training wilderness survival skills at the training base.
Wang Yuanfang said: "The staff will send you a combat mission statement later. This time we want to completely eliminate the navy of the Xishan Dynasty. Bailongwei is separated from Jiangping Town by a water, and many people there help sell stolen goods.
Yes, if anyone dares to resist, they will be suppressed directly!"
Deng Fei then said again: "In this battle, all land and sea forces must act quickly and accurately, and cannot be sloppy! After fighting Jiangping, we will turn around and go south, clearing all the water in Haiyang, Shannan, and Donghai along the way.
Stronghold, and then take Hue directly from the mouth of Linh River to teach the Nguyen clan of Xishan a good lesson! We only have less than a thousand people here this time, and we don’t have time to fight a protracted battle. Therefore, no prisoners will be taken in this battle. Do you understand?
?!"
When Hong Tao, Jiang Fan and Zhong Huai heard Deng Fei's "murderous" words, they couldn't help feeling cold in their hearts. They all understood what it meant to not take prisoners.
However, this time the Northern Navy crossed the sea to teach Annan, who despised China, Jiang Fan and Zhong Huai were quite excited. In this way, the reputation of the Northern Navy will definitely spread to Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan, which will be of great benefit to future recovery.
One day later, the fleet arrived at Ganquan Island and began to go ashore to replenish fresh water. At this time, seven or eight Qianliuguang ships returning from Nanyang were moored outside Ganquan Island, all waiting to replenish fresh water. The Thor and the Beihai One
, the arrival of No. 2 shocked and frightened the merchants and sailors on each ship.
In these years, ships taking Qing to Nanyang usually departed from three places, Guangzhou, Qiongzhou Prefecture, and Yazhou Prefecture. Because of the strong winds and waves in the ocean and the danger of sailing, all merchant ships followed the coastline to Hainan, Xisha Islands, and Kunlun Island.
Route, then either to Siam or diverted to Java and Batavia.
Merchant ships from Hainan usually leave for Siam in January every year, while those from Guangzhou depart relatively later. All merchant ships have to wait until after September of that year to return home, and only then will the southerly and westerly winds blow in the South China Sea.
It is already the twelfth lunar month, when the west wind is at its strongest, so it is normal for there to be so many boats on Ganquan Island.
Some of these people had heard of large iron ships from the North Sea, but had never seen one. However, the reputation of North Sea goods had spread in the south over the years, so some people emboldened themselves and sent a firewood boat to inquire. Deng Fei
They brought a lot of goods south this time, with the purpose of selling them in Nanyang to show the industrial strength of Beihai Town.
At the moment, Beihai Town's most famous product is matches, not to mention the cigarettes that sell well in the northern provinces and south of the Yangtze River. Other items such as large pieces of flat glass, lanterns, aluminum products, animal skins and ginseng are also popular.
After several years of development, there are now many types of cigarettes produced in Beihai Town, such as Changbaishan, Ginseng, Saibei, etc., ranging from one hundred cents per pack to three cents per pack, which dazzled people from all walks of life in the Qing Dynasty and fully
Meets the needs of different groups of people.
So two clerks from the Ministry of Trade came forward and started doing business while they were replenishing fresh water. The first, second, and third stores also came one after another. What the merchants wanted most was matches and cigarettes.
, animal skins and ginseng. For a time, the deck of the Thor became a small market.
Basically, after 1780, the maritime trade in Southeast Asia reached its peak, and Chinese merchants monopolized the product trade of countries around the Strait of Malacca, which lasted until the early 19th century. Among the commodities they brought back from various parts of Southeast Asia, rice,
Wood, copper, lead, coconut oil, brown sugar, pepper, cardamom, shellac, indigo, rhinoceros horn and ivory.
Of course, these are also the favorite goods of pirates. Whether it is in Jiangping or Bailongwei, as long as the ship docks, someone will collect it.
Although pepper and cardamom are good things in this era, they were cheaper in another time and space, and Beihai Town does not need them. After looking at the list of goods, people from the Ministry of Trade were more interested in rhino horn, indigo, and hardwood.
, and then Hong Tao, who came after hearing the news, added shellac to the purchased goods.
Before polyacrylic acid appeared, shellac had been a commonly used packaging excipient for enteric drugs. In addition, it could also be used in industry, such as polishes, adhesives, insulation materials and molding materials.
In the process of doing business with these merchant ships, people from the Ministry of Trade learned that pirates in Xishan have been very rampant in the past two years. Merchant ships like them with thousands of materials can easily be robbed in the Beibu Gulf if they do not travel together. Moreover, Xishan pirates are not only
The goods were robbed, and even merchants and shipowners were kidnapped for ransom.
Hong Tao asked curiously: "Who are these pirates?"
A businessman said angrily: "Who else could it be, but those gangsters? Over there in the inland sea, as long as you see a small fishing boat with seven or eight people, it is most likely a pirate!"
The Beibu Gulf in the Qing Dynasty was called the "inland sea". The coastline in this area is winding and uneven, and harbors for small fishing boats to hide and take shelter can be seen everywhere. Its most striking feature is the islands dotted along the coast, including Guangdong alone.
There are more than 700 islands. Westerners call the small islands populated by pirates "the ladrones". It was the Portuguese who first referred to them, and later the British and French also followed suit.
However, Hong Tao later received different information from several sailors carrying cargo.
With the accompanying members of the Hongqi Gang helping to communicate, the obscure Cantonese dialect was no longer an obstacle. The sweaty sailors took the cigarettes and water glasses handed to them by Hong Tao with joyful expressions, and spoke about themselves.
the opinion of.
"Sir, to be honest, those people were forced to have no way out. If they could live a stable life, who would be willing to carry their heads and rob their homes? If caught by the government, they would either be beheaded or exiled for three thousand miles!"
"Yes, those gangsters are always looked down upon by others. Life is so hard!"
The other sailor just listened silently, and when Hong Tao asked, he realized that this man was a gangster, and he was bitter when he talked about his family's affairs.
The Dan people in the Qing Dynasty were an extremely poor group. Since they had been regarded as "untouchables" for a long time, they were often discriminated against if they wanted to make a living ashore. However, they could only make ends meet by fishing at sea, and they had to endure exploitation by the government and even fish traders.
Even for the most hard-working people, it is simply impossible to make a fortune. For most fishermen, fishing is only a seasonal activity that lasts for 120 to 150 days. In the summer, fishermen who are under the pressure of livelihood take desperate risks.
In fact, the crux of the proliferation of piracy in South China throughout the eighteenth century was ultimately that the material output of fields and coastal areas could not satisfy the rapid growth of the population. Land annexation and official corruption forced many farmers to leave their fields and go fishing in the sea.
Earn a living and become a pirate.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! During the Qianlong period, due to the long-term absence of war in the inland areas, China's population more than doubled from 130 million to more than 300 million. Even in remote areas in the south.
The population is increasing day by day and the population is overcrowded. Among the provinces, Guangdong, Fujian, Henan, Shandong, and Zhili are the provinces that are facing the heaviest population pressure. As of 1787, the per capita cultivated land area of Guangdong Province was only 1.67 acres.
It is impossible to feed a family of several people.
In these more than 100 years, despite the "Dalun Mountain Massacre" committed by the Spanish in Luzon, the massacre of the Chinese in Batavia by the Dutch, and the fate of immigrants overseas by the Ming and Qing governments,
They adopted an attitude of indifference and contempt, but the tide of immigration never stopped. In these years, the ferry fare from Guangdong to Penang, Java was 20 Spanish silver dollars, which was almost 18 taels of silver. But even so, many coastal people would rather borrow
The loan sharks are also going to go.
After Hong Tao chatted with several businessmen and sailors respectively, he felt more and more that Beihai Town could not solve the pirate problem just by dealing with the Xishan pirates and Ruan Guangping this time. So he went back to Deng Fei and Wang Yuanfang and told his story
view.
"What the hell is this a prosperous age? A prosperous age for the rich, a nightmare for the poor! I think in order to solve the problem of piracy from the root, we have to recruit poor fishermen in Guangdong on a large scale."
Deng Fei nodded and said: "This trip south is a comprehensive plan, and teaching the Xishan Dynasty a lesson is only the first step. After finishing dealing with the Xishan pirates, especially Mo Guanfu and Chen Tianbao's gang, Zheng Wenxian's father can safely return to Leiyumen to help us recruit people.
.Secondly, we need to build a transit base in Ryukyu, so that the entire immigration transportation line from the Pearl River Estuary to Ryukyu, and then to Minami Kyushu, Jeju Island, and Beihai Town can be connected."
Wang Yuanfang patted Hong Tao on the shoulder and said, "Doctor Hong, if immigrants from the south continue to move northward, the pressure on your medical department will be heavy."
Hong Tao said with relief: "Don't worry, this is all a trivial matter. When the time comes when I need something, I will ask Prince Zhao for it, hahaha."