Ships going to sea from Quanzhou Port in Fujian generally pass through Kinmen. The patrol troops stationed in Kinmen are actually stationed there all year round. Officials in Quanzhou Prefecture know that this force has ten large gunboats. .A number of speedboats and small boats. They belong to the Second Fleet of the Navy under Qianhu Yinfeng on the other side of the Taiwan Strait. It is called the First Squadron within the Chinese Army.
Kinmen Inspection City is the closest maritime base of China United Company to the mainland.
Most of the government servants, subordinate staff, and regiment officials in Quanzhou Prefecture were actually members of the Zhonghua Company, but they still hung the flag of the Ming Dynasty on the surface.
In the midsummer, typhoons are frequent in Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong, often causing disasters. Due to the geographical characteristics of the land area of Fujian Province, which has eight mountains, one water and one farmland, famine will occur when a disaster occurs. The hungry people wander around, threatening the "harmony of the Ming Dynasty" "society.
However, in recent years, there has been a wave of immigrants in Fujian; groups of poor men and women flocked to the seaside. They took a sea ship at one of the hundreds of harbors along the coast of Fujian and crossed the Taiwan Strait to Taiwan; some people continued to travel by ship. Some Some go south to Luzon, or to Borneo, Sumatra, Java and other places in Southeast Asia; some go north to Ryukyu and Jeju Island.
Under the rule of the Chinese Company, farmers can at least have enough to eat. Although working in farms, plantations, mines, and factories is tiring, they can get paid. Farmers can be serfs for a few years at first, and then they can become Zhonghua Tenants under the company or tenants of local farmers or landlords; tenants who cultivate the company's land can obtain permanent tenant rights after paying full rent for five consecutive years (three years on Luzon Island). Families serving in the military can obtain With preferential treatment, you can get your own land after retiring from the army. Moreover, the land allocated will be different according to the level of military merit. It can also be converted into shares of China Company.
These policies are preferential conditions that landless farmers, refugees, and tenant farmers who are oppressed by exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes simply cannot resist.
Therefore, this year there were many floods due to typhoons. The number of immigrants to Taiwan also increased. Within a month, nearly 8,000 people crossed the sea to Taiwan Port. This year, Zheng Zhilong, the nephew of the company's major shareholder Huang Cheng, came to Taiwan. By Yin Feng was specially approved to study in the military academy.
This year, a teenage boy named Shi Daxuan also came to Taiwan. He signed up at the recruitment office at Jingang Pier and was recruited into the navy fleet to become a sailor. This Shi Daxuan was Shi Lang's father in the original historical time and space.
In the same year, Guo Huaiyi, a native of Tong'an, Quanzhou, Fujian, also came to Taiwan. After being fooled by the company's recruiter, he boarded a merchant ship bound for Luzon Island and went to work in the sugar cane plantation owned by the company on Luzon Island. Because he was a generous and kind-hearted man, Brave and good at fighting, he became the small leader of the Zhuang Ding team. In the original historical time and space, he once raised the flag to start a rebellion against the Dutch in Taiwan.
The fate of many people has changed irresistibly. However, the Ming Dynasty still followed its own inertia and headed towards the end of a dynasty.
Yin Feng returned to Taiwan Port in a relatively low-key manner. He was accompanied by Taiwanese indigenous soldiers. All units of the 1st Brigade will return to Taiwan. Li Xing's 3rd Regiment will be stationed in Luzon. Zhao Xuanming's 4th Regiment and Yan Siqi's Nanyang Task Force will temporarily They are stationed in various colonies in Southeast Asia. Chen Zhongji has been transferred back to the headquarters of the Taiwan company. The defense of the northern Ryukyu and Jeju Islands will be managed by Fan Tao, commander of the Northern First Fleet. In Ryukyu today, ordinary people still think that King Zhongshan is still giving orders. And ordinary officials and the gentry class have long acquiesced to the reality of the actual rule of the Chinese Company.
Tokugawa Ieyasu issued a proclamation in January 1614 and ordered the expulsion of missionaries in Japan. He also began to persecute Japanese Catholics on a large scale. The secret envoy of the shogunate was waiting for Yin Feng to return at the headquarters of the Chinese Company in Taiwan.
Tokugawa Ieyasu is already old. Before he passed away, the thing he was most worried about was the Toyotomi family in Osaka Castle. He couldn't wait to eliminate the last worries of the Tokugawa family. Now, the incident of the bell inscription at Hokoguang Temple in Kyoto has caused a stir There was a huge uproar. This incident was a typical example of "it's easy to find a way to blame". It gave the Tokugawa family a chance to finally deal with the Toyotomi family out of thin air.
The envoys from the Tokugawa family who came to see Yin Feng were Itakura Shigemasa, an important minister of the Tokugawa family, and the minister Xiaoranosuke. They were all old acquaintances who had negotiated with the Chinese army in Kyushu on the disposal of the Shimadzu family.
Itakura Shigemasa and Xiaoranosuke followed the rules of meeting a daimyo and bowed to Yin Feng in a formal manner.
Accompanying the two of them was Xu Xinsu, the shopkeeper of the Zhonghua Company in Japan. He now works part-time as a translator.
The envoy of the Tokugawa family first congratulated Yin Feng on his defeat of the Kanji people. Then he made a request for Tokugawa Ieyasu to pass on. After Yin Feng listened to Xu Xinsu's translation, he looked at Itakura Shigemasa, who was less than 30 years old, and smiled and said: "Sir Itakura, according to the terms negotiated by your general and us in Satsuma, in the past two years, we have successively sold ten bronze cannons to you at the lowest price, half sold and half given to you. Now you suddenly demand that within half a year I will supply you with 20 cannons. Then the price will no longer be the same as before."
…
Just when Yin Feng was trying to rip off the Japanese, a group of people walked among the crowd in the most prosperous market area in Taiwan.
The ones who cleared the way for this group of people before were four dark-skinned men. They were all black men from the Bantu tribe in East Africa. As long as they stood there, the bustling crowd would naturally give way.
Behind them, a pretty little girl was lingering at a snack stall. Two maid-looking girls in fine silk dresses were accompanying her, bargaining with the stall owner. Behind them, two people in black clothes The big man stood there, looking seriously at the people coming and going. He seemed to be carrying something bulging around his waist.
The little girl is about four or five years old. She has a round head and a round head. She has bracelets on her chubby hands and feet. She wears a red bellyband. She always runs and "walks" when she walks. The braids on the back of her head flick to the ground. Because the little girl walked with no rules at all. She turned left and right. As a result, the loyal bodyguards around her had to work hard to follow her and block the crowds in all directions for her, causing quite a stir on the street. mess.
After the pedestrians discovered the mastermind of the trouble, they did not get angry or annoyed. They all happily made way for the rampaging little girl.
A new vendor asked his fellow vendor: "Brother Qian, what's going on? Whose girl needs so many companions to accompany her on the street?"
A middle-aged vendor named Qian ran a fruit stall. He looked down upon the interrogator and said, "Brother, you have been here for a few months. Doesn't the mastermind know who this little princess is?"
"Little princess, is this... a girl from Captain Yin's family?"
"It's not this little aunt. Who else? This Miss Yin has a beautiful nickname. She especially likes the excitement. She comes to the market area to go shopping every other day." Brother Qian said with a smile. He put the things in his cargo basket He took out a few sections of cut and washed sugar cane. He shouted to the little girl from a distance: "Little miss, come and eat sugar cane. Sugar cane is round and long. It is irritating and stimulating. It is sweet and delicious. We can discuss it every time."
His shouting indeed attracted the pretty little girl. She waddled over. The big black man and the man in black clothes beside her also followed immediately.
A thin maid came over and took the little girl's hand. She smiled and asked Brother Qian: "Brother, where does your sugar cane come from? The lady likes to eat the crispy and sweet sugar cane from Luzon..."
"That's right. This eldest sister, this is the sugar cane produced in Luzon. It's fresh and just shipped from Luzon. There are also olives here, produced in Yazhou, Hainan. Come on, little lady, come and try it..."
The maid shook her head: "Olives taste astringent. Don't..."
The little girl reached out and grabbed the olive handed by Brother Qian. She said firmly: "I want to eat."
Brother Qian laughed happily: "The little princess is still sensible. Look, my olives are pointed at both ends. They salivate when you see them. They taste sour in the mouth. The more you chew, the sweeter they become. Come on, I will give you this section of sugar cane to try. .The sugar cane is long and the olive is pointed. When the yin and yang are matched, it is called Hehe Shuangmei Pill. It is very beneficial and its taste is indescribable. Sister, please try it too."
The maid blushed and spat at Brother Qian. She picked up Miss Yin and started to leave. The little girl firmly refused to leave: "No. I want to eat olives."
The maid had no choice but to buy a large bag of olives from Brother Qian. Before leaving, Brother Qian insisted on giving the sugar cane to each of Miss Yin's bodyguards. Everyone couldn't resist, so they accepted it. However, before leaving, Brother Qian still left it with Brother Qian. Got half a tael of silver.
This street vendor area is surrounded by restaurants and restaurants. It is midday in the summer. Every restaurant and restaurant is full. Business is surprisingly good.
On the second floor of the Nancheng Branch of Leshan Building, there was a seat next to the window. Zhang Fenglai, deputy envoy of Haidao, and Luo Pingwei of Fujian Xingquan Bingdao transformed into two businessmen and were drinking. They only brought two guards and came to Taiwan incognito for a private visit. It's been two days.
The deputy envoy of Haidao is a fourth-rank officer, and the Xingquan army is a fifth-rank officer. It is probably the first time since the founding of the Ming Dynasty that these two officials came to the Taiwan Inspection Department to inspect. Originally, they were under the orders of the governor-general. I think. They want to come to Taiwan for inspection in a big way, but no ship is willing to carry them to Taiwan. No matter whether it is a merchant ship or a fishing boat, no matter how much money the government pays, they are unwilling to go to sea. Once forced by official coercion, these people simply abandon the ship and flee; while along the coast The naval officers and soldiers in various water villages mutinied almost immediately when they heard that they were sailing to Taiwan. Zhang Fenglai, the deputy maritime envoy, simply sent someone to inquire about the Wuyu water village and asked if it could be transported to Taiwan by naval ships. The result was that The next day, Wuyu Water Village reported that a fire accidentally broke out in the village. The boats were completely damaged and nothing could be done.
As a result, Zhang Fenglai was delayed for three months in Chaozhou, Quanzhou and other places. He still failed to board the ship and go to sea.
In the end, it was his junior fellow student Luo Pingwei from Fujian Xingquan Bingdao who came up with the idea to conduct a private interview incognito.
Although I feel it is very embarrassing, the experience of these three months has made Zhang Fenglai, the deputy envoy of Haidao, very interested in Taiwan. He feels that there is no harm in taking the risk. Moreover, if something happens, he can also reveal his identity. After all, the group opposite He claims to be a citizen of the Ming Dynasty. He should not do anything dirty to a fifth-rank official of the imperial court.