The first ray of sunshine at dawn penetrated the dark clouds before the typhoon. On the humid and hot Beimen River bank, the last remaining officers and soldiers fought desperately to resist the swarming Chinese army. At this time, the advantages of the Chinese army in weapons were fully exerted. .During night hand-to-hand combat, the explosive flames of flintlock muskets often become the targets of crossbows and bows. Therefore, during night battles, the Sailor Musketeers gave up their firearm advantage and used various cold weapons to fight hand-to-hand with the officers and soldiers. Sirah, who is good at jungle warfare Because many of their brothers died, the Ya natives regarded the officers and soldiers as their enemies and fought with all their might.
At daybreak, there were only more than a hundred people left around Yu Zigao. They gathered by the river and prepared to fight. However, when the superiority of Chinese weapons and weapons was unleashed, the officers and soldiers were almost unable to fight back. I can lie down on the river bank without daring to raise my head.
Suddenly, Lin Shuisheng ordered to blow two short and two long conch horns. The Chinese army stopped the siege.
Someone on the Chinese side shouted: "Master Yu, we will stop attacking. You can cross the river. We promise never to shoot in your back."
…
Yu Zigao was exhausted after crossing the Beimen River. He was almost dragged ashore by his own soldiers. On the other side of the narrow river, the Chinese army officers and soldiers cheered and saw Yu Zigao off with cheerful cheers.
"I will not avenge this revenge. I, Yu Zigao, will never die in peace."
Yu Zigao gritted his teeth and stood up with all his strength. He took one last look at the Chinese army and turned around to leave.
…
Although the Battle of Beimenjiang was small in scale, almost all of the Guangxi Yao Medicinal Crossbowmen, the most courageous and skillful among the official army, were wiped out. It still shocked all the official troops on Hainan Island.
In all the Li rebellions, the Yao medicine crossbowmen have always been the ace troops of the government army. They are used to deal with the Li people in the mountains and dense forests. But this time, the Yao medicine crossbowmen were almost completely wiped out. This caused the government army to lose its only Troops skilled in jungle warfare.
After Yu Zigao fled back to Lingao, he was recalled to Qiongzhou by the Jin Qi family. When he arrived in Qiongzhou, a piece of news once again shocked all branches of the army: Maple Ridge and Shigu Ridge at the northern foot of Wuzhishan Mountain were occupied by the Li people. .This means that the entrance to the middle road of the government and army is wide open. However, why the Lebanese rebel army has such strength to capture the government and army's stronghold is confusing. The morale of the government and army has been low at this point. Especially the guest troops in Guangxi and Guangdong. .Even more so, I don’t want to fight anymore.
A month later, Lingao fell and Wuwanshui was breached. On the surface, it was the rebel army of the people who attacked these places. In fact, it was the Chinese army driving the people to fight. They also sent people to use explosives to blow up the official and military camps.
After the surrender of Luo Huoli, Yan Siqi reached an agreement with various tribes of the Li people. As long as the people continued to march north to attack the official army, after the official army was driven away, the Chinese army would allow them to obtain the land previously occupied by the Ming Dynasty government.
In Yan Siqi's view, it was not a big deal not to honor these promises afterwards. The original Yan Siqi, who had political mysophobia and was upright, had grown up.
Maple Ridge and Shigu Ridge were captured under the command of Yan Siqi. A month later, the Chinese army surrounded Qiongzhou City with tens of thousands of armed civilians.
At the same time, the Chinese fleet, under the banner of the Fujian Navy, appeared in the Qiongzhou Strait in the name of chasing down the Qinzhou pirates, completely cutting off the connection between Qiongzhou Prefecture and the mainland.
Qinzhou pirates have been famous for a long time. This is a good excuse. In the seventh year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, Qinzhou pirate Ruan Yao rebelled. After that, the "Qinzhou pirates rebellion" repeatedly attacked Guangxi and the coast of Guangdong. Historically, it lasted until the 29th day of Emperor Kangxi's reign in the Qing Dynasty. The pirate family business has been operating for a total of more than 280 years. It has lasted for such a long time. It is rare in the history of piracy. Of course, the Ruan family pirate gang has now cooperated with the Chinese company and joined the grand alliance agreement. .They now occupy some islands at the junction of China and Vietnam in the Beibu Gulf. They use the coastal fishermen of Guangxi and Vietnam to engage in smuggling business. This time, they also came to the Qiongzhou Strait under the banner of their own family and blocked the strait with the Chinese company's fleet.
Lin Xiao was about to return to Taiwan. Yin Feng's secretary Chen Dong came to replace him, mainly to arrange and implement the administrative work after occupying Hainan Island.
Lin Xiao took his own soldiers and returned to the port of Taiwan along with the logistics fleet. On this day, Long Huamin, president of the Chinese Diocese of the Jesuits, and Xiong Sanba, the missionary, came to Taiwan to inspect the teaching affairs. They landed almost at the same time as Lin Xiao. .
You Wenhui, who came to greet you, accompanied Long Huamin through the pier. He said carefully: "Father, your arrival has not been notified to the management agency here. You must register at the pier immigration management office."
"Why. I came here from Quanzhou on a merchant ship of the China Company." Long Huamin was a little surprised. In fact, he had many accidents on the way to Taiwan. Originally, he thought that Taiwan was under the rule of the Ming Dynasty, so he came from Zhejiang The governor, the governor of Fujian, etc. obtained the road approval documents. However, the government documents were completely useless when traveling to Taiwan. No one was willing to take people with government background across the sea.
As a result, Anhai Fushang, a Catholic shareholder of China Company, carried him across the sea to Taiwan on his own merchant ship.
"You are a foreigner, not a Chinese. So you must register after landing in Taiwan Port before you can enter."
Long Huamin had no choice but to follow a group of foreign businessmen and sailors in line at the dock management office.
The management systems of Taiwan Port are very strict. This is a sight that Long Huamin has not seen anywhere else in China. Long Huamin asked curiously: "What are these people doing?"
"This is the city's labor market. These people are here waiting for factories and farms to recruit workers," You Wenhui explained.
"Why are there so many people waiting for work?"
"There are too many poor immigrants from the mainland on this island. Several boats full of immigrants arrive here every day. Therefore, no matter what, some people will not be able to find jobs for a while. These coolies are here waiting to be recruited."
Long Huamin became a little excited when he heard this: "What a good missionary opportunity this is. These refugees from the mainland must have a difficult life. Our Father in heaven will definitely let more people defect to our church. Do you use the church's In the name of providing relief to these refugees, in order to make them feel the kindness of God.”
You Wenhui was a little embarrassed. He smiled bitterly and said: "Dear President, local wealthy businessmen have jointly organized a charity organization called Tzu Chi Hall. Various chambers of commerce and companies have contributed funds. The Chinese Company has specially set up the Ministry of Civil Affairs to manage charity. It has a complete Therefore, the resettlement and relief work of local refugees is mainly done by Tzu Chi. In name, this Tzu Chi is the major shareholder of China Company, and the wife of Chairman Yin Feng is in charge. Six years ago, he After his wife died in childbirth during the Japanese attack on Taiwan, the director of Tzu Chi Hall was Mr. Yin’s other wife, Mai Waner.”
Long Huamin’s face turned ugly: “Hasn’t our church failed to make efforts in this regard?”
You Wenhui's face twisted for a moment. He thought for a moment and said, "Actually, the staff of Tzu Chi Hall are all volunteers. Our parishioners in Taiwan also participate. But..."
Long Huamin stopped and looked at You Wenhui. You Wenhui gritted his teeth and continued: "However, the local Buddhists, Taoists and Muslims all sent people to participate in the charity work of Tzu Chi Hall. Those Westerners immigrated, regardless of the Jews. , the Dutch, the Portuguese, the British, and the French all have volunteers working in Tzu Chi Hall.”
Long Huamin's face became even more ugly: "You mean, our church members are doing charity work together with those pagans."
You Wenhui nodded: "Local charitable organizations must be approved by the Ministry of Civil Affairs of China Corporation before they can exist. Our church wants to engage in charity independently, but it has never been approved. Buddhists and Taoists have their own charitable organizations. .Even the synagogue has one.”
Long Huamin didn't say anything. He sighed, lowered his head and walked forward.
Long Huamin was a bit Catholic fundamentalist relative to Matteo Ricci. Chinese believers were not allowed to worship their ancestors, nor were they allowed to recite God's name and prayers in Chinese. Moreover, he asked the Society of Jesus to change the original missionary policy of Matteo Ricci taking the upper-level route. .Focus on missionary work on ordinary people. Moreover, he does not allow missionaries to use advanced European science and technology to attract Chinese scribes. He is unwilling to teach European science and technology knowledge to the Chinese.
This time he came to Taiwan to inspect the teaching affairs. He also wanted to adjust the missionary policy of the Jesuits in Taiwan.
However, the situation here was completely beyond his imagination. This is a commercial city with religious freedom. There is a constant flow of people. It is full of vitality and orderly. It is lively and chaotic but not disorderly. Moreover, the rulers here seem to have a certain attitude towards the Catholic Church. Precautionary mentality.
People here are organized into various factories, workshops, farms, and mines. There is a complete school education system and a sound urban management organization. The Chinese Company has newspaper readers and even professional cultural and entertainment facilities: theaters. Therefore, there are few places where the Catholic Church can intervene among the common people.
After Long Huamin came to Taiwan, he went directly to the Taiwanese church.
Yin Feng was preparing to leave for Borneo in South Asia to attend the ceremony where several gold mining companies signed a joint agreement. Company security personnel came to report Long Huamin's situation. He laughed: "Finally here. I haven't seen him in the capital. He has delivered it to your door now. Haha, we'll see..."
"General Manager Lin is back. Minister Lin is back."
He turned around and saw Lin Xiao strutting in from the front door. He laughed and punched him hard: "Good guy. Well done. The court has learned about the siege of Qiongzhou and is at a loss. "
Lin Xiao smiled and shook his head: "No, no. I didn't do anything. It was Yan Siqi, Lin Shuisheng and the others who fought well."
Yin Feng patted him on the shoulder and pulled him to the meeting hall: "Okay, don't be humble. At least you did a good job coordinating the work of all parties. Come on, I'm going to Borneo. I have some things to explain. Come on. Come to the meeting with us."
In the meeting hall, there were the main members and managers of the board of directors of the Chung Hwa Company, as well as the main representatives of the civil service system of Taiwan's garrison. They were all talking happily. Everyone kept repeating the word "tea leaves".
Yin Feng vaguely remembered that the first people to transport Chinese tea to Europe were the Dutch. Therefore, in the early days of occupying Taiwan, he wanted to transplant tea from Fujian to Taiwan. As the indigenous tribes in Taiwan's mountainous areas were conquered one after another, the situation in mountain plantations It has stabilized. Last year, the first batch of high mountain tea in Taiwan was successfully produced. And it quickly found Dutch and British buyers. All of them were sold. And the price was good. The sales prospects are bright.
These people are happy that the company has opened up a new source of income.