On the cold spring coast of the Bohai Sea, on the long beach mud, more than ten temporary trests were laid with wood, branches, and even door panels and roof beams. Tens of thousands of people were waiting to board the boat, most of which were dressed by farmers. ordinary people.
After the official army recovered the capital and the ranks of the local people, they forcibly increased their income of food, pay and taxes, and often robbed and killed people in the name of "brethren". Those literati who had done things for the Chinese company during the Chinese army's occupation were even more sought by those officials. In revenge, some relatives and friends of landlords and gentry who were killed and plundered by the Chinese army also came out to report these scholars who had done things for the Chinese army. After government officials at all levels returned to their jurisdiction, the first thing they did was to enlist the "sea" "The clerks and yamen runners who hid in the countryside during the war have returned. They have become more and more serious and increased their incomes from various taxes at a time, hoping to make up for the losses during the occupation of the Chinese army.
In the early months of the 46th year of Wanli, the Jingqu area was in chaos. Compared with the situation during the Chinese army's occupation, the people were desperate to find that the orthodox court officials and official troops in their minds were even more so-called pirates. To be vicious, so, taking advantage of the Chinese army still in Tianjin, a large number of people fled their homes and came to join the Chinese army.
Fortunately, Chen Zhongji paid more attention to ensuring the safety of the troops when they retreated, and sent cavalry troops to patrol along the Wei and Dagukou in Tianjin day and night. The scouts went far away to Wuqing, Baoding and other places, and the officials did not dare to go with them. Fighting, hiding from them from afar, so the government army did not form a blockade on the front line, and a large number of people successfully fled from the Ming government-controlled area and defected to the Chinese military-controlled area. Now, the Chinese army only controlled Tianjin Wei to Dagu The narrow area along the canal is convenient for the Chinese army to leverage the water advantages and use the river channel to quickly withdraw troops. However, their troops were more than a hundred miles long and there was no depth on both sides. Chen Zhongji was a bit risky to do this. The bet is that the official army dare not take the initiative to launch an attack, and the fact is indeed the case.
The arrival of a large number of fugitives posed a problem for the Chinese army. With Yin Feng's character, he would not give up any seekers. Chen Zhongji received a written order from Yin Feng brought the Sea Soul Clippers, and the requirements were very clear.
Chen Zhongji had to order the First Fleet Ryukyu Squadron to send gunships and auxiliary ships to the Bohai Sea to transport people. He also requisitioned more than ten merchant ships that the Chinese company returned from Japan. The merchant ship's cargo was unloaded and piled up in Naba Port. In the warehouse, the Chinese army was transported urgently to the Bohai Bay to carry the refugees. The retreat speed of the northern Chinese army was greatly slowed down, and it was still transporting refugees away from Beijing until April.
Xu Guangqi came to Dagukou Beach in March.
After he was restored to his post, he wrote three notes in one breath: begging the court to amnesty the whole world, ask the court to practice the new army, and ask to stop the sea salary.
He asked Emperor Wanli and the cabinet to pardon the world, pardon the scribes who followed the thief and the poor, and to do so without any blame, and to stabilize the hearts of the people in the world. At the same time, he also asked the court to allow him to train a new army, use Western priests to introduce new firearms, and revitalize the Ming army. and during the peace talks with China Company, sea wages cannot be collected again, especially in newly recovered areas, where people need to stabilize their hearts and recuperate, and they must never charge all kinds of wages.
These three notes shocked the government and the country, and there were many different opinions. Fang Congzhe, the chief assistant of the cabinet, was in a dilemma: suspending the collection of silver and sea wages in the newly recovered areas, which would make it more difficult for the Ming Dynasty court, which was seriously short of money, and the unorganized and unorganized government troops The atrocities of discipline and various taxes have pushed so many people and scholars to the Chinese army. They are simply driving fish for the abyss and making the Chinese army pirate group cheaper. This is also obvious to all: the imperial village in the capital. , the official village, the manors of noble families, and almost all the tenants and slaves in it have fled.
The amnesty order was issued soon, and some arrested scholars and small landlords were released. The governor of Ji Liao, Wenqian, organized a batch of food and money to transport it to Tongzhou, which slowed down the looting of the officials.
However, almost no one in the court agreed with Xu Guangqi's opinion on stopping the collection of maritime wages. The reason was very simple. Without maritime wages, the Ming Dynasty's court completely went bankrupt in terms of finance.
Xu Guangqi's suggestion on using Western firearms to train the new army was regarded as a shocking remark by most people, and few people agreed with it, but the military failure made most officials feel that using Western firearms to train the new army may It is a way to save the crisis. You might as well try it. However, when training troops and buying firearms, it is a lack of fat related to money. Everyone was jealous. Xu Guangqi was promoted to the cabinet by rockets. He can no longer take advantage of this lack of fat. Got the first place.
So, Xu Guangqi was appointed as the Grand Secretary and promoted to the position of Minister of Rites. He served as a negotiator and went south to Nanjing to negotiate with the leader of the Chinese company Yin Feng.
The imperial government is still trying to save face at this time: he was obviously forced to negotiate with someone with a gun, but he still wanted to come up with the name of pleading. Xu Guangqi was going to go south from the canal, but at this time Xu Hongru's in Shandong was The White Lotus Rebellion armed forces cut off the canal route, and the Shandong government army and the White Lotus Religionists were fighting each other. So Xu Guangqi, who was eager to reach a peace agreement, led his men to the Tianjin Wei.
His actions scared Zhao Xingbang, the deputy envoy of the military department, so he jumped out of his carriage and rushed to Xu Guangqi's carriage and cried, "Sir Xu, no, you can't walk by the sea, but the sea is The pirate's territory,"
Xu Guangqi ordered the car to stop, got off the car slowly and bowed to Zhao Xingbang, "Why did Lord Zhao say this? Since the Taiwanese pirates have withdrawn their troops and returned to the island, they really want to achieve the act of pacification and will not do anything to our imperial envoys. Don't worry, I spent several months safely under their guns,"
More than 20 angels who recruited pirates in the Ming Dynasty suddenly appeared in front of a fortress north of Tianjin Wei.
This news made Chen Zhongji confused for a while, so he had to send someone to welcome this group of "angels" into the Chinese army camp west of Tianjin Acropolis. Xu Guangqi directly told Cao Tai, the director of the Northern Line troops who came to greet him: I came to Tianjin Wei to use the Chinese army's warships to go out to Hainan to go south to Jinling City to have a peace talk with Yin Feng.
After hearing this, Chen Zhongji nodded repeatedly: "Haha, there were such talents in the Ming Dynasty who borrowed boats from the enemy to go to sea... Great, people with this courage and insight are definitely not mediocre people," he turned to the intelligence general manager. Zeng Qing: "Release the flying pigeon to Jinling and inform the owner: The court's negotiating envoy will arrive in Jinling in half a month and lend the Sea Soul to this angel, so that they can see what kind of ship can fly on the sea,"
...
Xu Guangqi came to the Bohai Sea and was stunned by the scene by the sea.
Tens of thousands of people carry soft and soft packages, drag their children and their children, and guide them to the command of the soldiers in Chinese military blue cloth uniforms (Sailor Musketeers) and slowly and orderly pass through the temporary trestle one after another. Go to a dinghy, fishing boat or even a raft, and then sail to a huge sailboat on the sea a mile away under the command of a sailor.
In addition to him and his deputy envoy Zhao Xingbang, Xu Guangqi and his party also had their servants and mission guards sent by the Jinyiwei. A large group of fugitives suddenly discovered that people wearing court uniforms appeared on the beach, and they couldn't help but feel a commotion.
Xu Guangqi looked at the eyes of alert, hostile, panic or silent, and felt mixed feelings in his heart. They were led by Cao Tai, squeezed through the crowd and prepared to pass the pier. Several Jinyiwei saw that the crowd was crowded in front of him, and could not help but push and shov. He got up and kicked the refugees, cursing: "...A bunch of refugees, why don't you give way quickly, let us wait for the imperial court to order the officials to come over,"
Before Xu Guangqi could stop them, the sailor musket team members who maintained order on the beach surrounded more than ten people, and the flintlock musket with the bayonet was shaky, and two sailors even stepped forward and knocked down with the gun handle. The other Jinyiwei were forced to move by bayonets. Cao Tai walked over coldly, snatched the waist of a Jinyiwei and kicked the man to the muddy beach with one kick. He turned his head to the Xu Guangqi said coldly: "Mr. Xu should take charge of his subordinates. This place is not the territory of the Ming Dynasty, but the place under the jurisdiction of our Chinese army."
Xu Guangqi's face was ashen, and Zhao Xingbang was so scared that he shivered.
...
The slender hull of the Sea Soul was hung with soft canvas masts and strange bow structures, which were beyond Xu Guangqi's knowledge. He was surprised to find that the three masts on the sailboat were equipped with winch systems and lifting sails. The sails only take a few people and are very fast. The stern rudder system uses a complex set of gear devices to drive the rudder, and only one person is needed to take the helm.
After the Sea Soul went out of the sea, it took advantage of the northeast wind to go south. The sailors, helmsmans and captains of the flying ships were all sailors and masters selected from the merchant fleet. They were experienced, bold and careful, and the flying ships were in a strong wind environment. When sailing down the sea, it often tilts in a serious direction, and only the best sailors and bold ones dare to work on the clippers.
The Ming Dynasty court peace talks messed up in the sea, leaning on the bed weakly, completely losing the majesty of the court angels. Xu Guangqi never came out of the sea, and he was completely defeated by the sea, and he vomited so much that he was thrust. Once he climbed on the side of the boat Vomiting, the hull shaking, and he almost fell into the sea.
When Xu Guangqi saw Cao Tai and the sailors accompanying him on the crooked deck, he was walking on the flat ground and calmly, he began to sincerely admire their ability.
Along the way, the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea were basically all Chinese company ships with blue-bottomed Chinese flags. Some were three-masted gunboats, and some were transport ships converted from sand ships. These ships were constantly coming from Beijing. The Shandong Peninsula transported batches of immigrants to the colonial areas of the China Company, and some were transported to the goods purchased from Northeast China and North China. Xu Guangqi saw that some merchant ships carried Northeast ginseng, mink and various medicinal materials accumulated. Rushan, the cabin cannot be loaded, and it has been piled on the deck.