Lu Ming

As a rule, high-level military documents need to be delivered urgently.In other words, except for crossing the river by boat, the messengers galloped on fast horses during the rest of the time, and then changed horses at post stations every 20 miles, with a daily journey of about 300 miles.

In Daming in 1628, the postal industry had not yet been abolished by Chongzhen, and Li Zicheng, the first postal brother throughout the ages, was not unemployed; it took less than half a month for the urgent military situation to travel from Fujian Kuaima to the capital, usually about twelve or three days. .

Therefore, before the second negotiation between Alonso and Tang Xiaoqiao in early October, the imperial court's promotion documents had already been issued.

The official position this time did not exceed everyone's expectations: Cao Chuan's official was promoted to a level, from a guerrilla to a general.What is different from Zheng Zhilong in history is that this time there is an extra title of "acting lieutenant general".

"Proxy" means agent.Then Cao Chuan's current official position is: Commander of the Navy of the Xiamen Military Region and Deputy Commander of the Fujian Military Region.Of course, from the word acting, it can be seen that Cao Chuan, the deputy commander, is false, and the coastal defense officer who guards Xiamen is his real official.

Generally speaking, this position is still satisfactory to the people who travel through.You know, Chongzhen in history was mean and ungrateful, and showed no mercy to his subordinates who made mistakes; but now, in order to reward Cao Chuan for his efforts to wipe out the pirates in Fujian, the imperial court actually gave one more lieutenant general with the false title than Zheng Zhilong in history. It's not easy anymore.

In addition, unlike before, this time the official document of the court clearly pointed out Cao Chuan's garrison: Xiamen.

Before that, the guerrilla general Cao Chuan was an official, to put it bluntly, he was an empty commander: not only did the court not pay the soldiers, but he didn't even assign him a garrison location... It is not so easy for recruiters to mix the system.

This exclusion is very disturbing.Although Cao Chuan and Zheng Zhilong both have territory and subordinates, but they are private - a dignified guerrilla general. If Xiong Wencan hadn't temporarily transferred the Maweishui camp, theoretically Cao Chuan could only go to the General Military Mansion in Fuzhou City ...in one of the offices, this office is the site of Cao Guerrilla in terms of law.

But now it is different: in the Ming Dynasty, the real power general was the third rank, and the deputy general was the second rank, and both ranks were qualified to open a mansion and build a government office.This time, the imperial court finally stopped crowding out Cao, who had made great contributions, and directly allocated the established city of Xiamen Zhongzuo to Deputy General Cao—this is equivalent to crossing Ming Road, and the imperial court admitted that the vicinity of Xiamen is Cao Sichuan's territory is like the Guanning warlord stationed in Shanhaiguan.

……

The words are divided into two parts.

Tang Xiaoqiao, who was negotiating, would naturally not tell the Portuguese about the mere complications in Cao Chuan's new official position.He simply told Alonso: The big boss here, the Pirate King, has been promoted again, and the Ming Empire has officially sealed the area around Xiamen as the territory of Cao Chuan—this explanation is for the convenience of Europeans to understand.

After explaining this point, Tang Xiaoqiao stretched out his second finger: "Mr. Alonso, since your family is an aristocrat with a long history, you should be no stranger to the bureaucratic system."

After seeing the Portuguese nodding his head, Tang Xiaoqiao continued: "As far as short-term actions are concerned, we can completely pass through the bureaucratic system in Guangzhou and block the lotus gate. Let's starve you for a few days before we talk about it."

"As for the long-term behavior..." Seeing Alonso whose face turned pale, Tang Xiaoqiao made a fool of himself here: "You just need to know that by this time next year at the latest, when you stand on the city wall of Macau, you will I can see the fleet starting from Dayuan, hehe."

"Tang, the conditions and threats you raised are beyond my authority. I think it's time for me to go back to Macau."

"It's good to leave."

... The decadent Alonso finally had to leave to deal with the aggressive Tang Xiaoqiao.

Chapter 278 Raiders to Macau

The layman roars lively, the expert listens to the way.

When Alonso heard the other party's threat to close the gate, he felt as if he had been pinched, and he could no longer be arrogant.

Alonso knew: General Cao's fleet could not enter Guangdong in large numbers...it would violate the taboo of the empire.But it shouldn't be difficult if the opponent manipulates several gate operations through the bureaucratic system of the Ming Empire.

This is what the Portuguese are afraid of.

……

Since the Portuguese occupied Macau, the food problem has not been resolved.Because Macau is a small place, and the white skins didn't come here to farm, so all the food and daily necessities in Macau were purchased from Daming.

In 1574, the imperial court set up a gate in the lotus stem of Xiangshan County, and when it was closed, a general in charge of Xiangshan Village was set up to guard it to remotely control Macau.

In the beginning, the gate was closed every 5 days.Portuguese people who received tickets from Xiangshan County could go through the gate to buy food and daily necessities from Ming merchants in the market.

However, with the increasing number of Portuguese people and the accumulation of conflicts between Ming and Portugal, the gates became open every 20 days after that... The Ming government began to use food supply to control Macau.

For the Portuguese, this trick is still very effective. According to Milo Castro’s record: “There is food in Cochin China, but it is 100 leagues away in the southwest of Macau. There are people living on the surrounding islands, and they can Provide food, but only for cows, pigs, chickens, ducks."

"The market was once every 5 days, and then once every 2 weeks. As a result, some poor people in Macau starved to death..."

At that time, Cambodia, which was closer to Macau, could also provide food, but under the instigation of the British and the Dutch, the king of Cambodia not only refused the stay of the Macau priest, but also did not allow the Macau special envoy who came on the same boat to stay...

Therefore, during this time period, although the Portuguese have been entrenched in Macau for decades, they still have weaknesses.

The Guangzhou officialdom also made full use of the weakness of food to deal with the Portuguese.

Just 3 years ago, in 1625, He Shijin, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, ordered his old friend, Comrade Cai Shanji, who was then a member of the Lingxi Taoist priest, to go to Macau to convey the governor's order: demolish earth walls, bunkers and forts.

However, the governor Ma Shijia Luye, who was born in the royal family, not only refused to obey the order, but also prepared to disobey the order by force...then the gate was closed.

Overnight, the price of grain on the black market rose three or four times. Under the complaints of the Portuguese residents, Mascarino finally had to send someone to contact the customs and expressed his willingness to demolish the fort.

……

In general, from the mid-Ming Dynasty to the colonial invasion during the Republic of China, the government's response became more and more difficult: no matter whether the government was the Ming court, the Qing court, or the Republic of China.

With the growing power of the colonists, the official circles in Guangzhou can no longer do whatever they want in Macau: In order to arrest some Portuguese criminals and demolish the fort, the governor of a province had to order many times to "go to war" to close the gates of a tiny place out of food...

Strength is strength, and it cannot be stopped by some small means for a long time: the biggest action the Ming court finally made was nothing more than banning the Portuguese from trading in Guangzhou in 1640.At this time, the government was already powerless to drive away the Portuguese with strong ships and guns.

Cutting off food and business, which seems clever but actually passive and weak, was inherited by the Qing court in one continuous line. There are countless examples of the braided court treating Britain, France and other big powers in this way, until the weak were completely smashed by the strong , to establish a concession, at that time naturally no one dared to cut off the food and grass of the foreign adults.

……

And in the plane of crossing the public, as the beginning of a series of intimidation and threats against the Portuguese, the stalk of closing the gate and cutting off food is still somewhat useful.

In fact, this stalk is impossible to achieve - it is impossible for the cross-travelers to command the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi to close the gates of Macau. Doing so will cost too much political resources, and it will not have a substantial effect: Guangdong officials do not have the guts to block Portugal for a long time people.

However, the Portuguese don't know this, so Alonso now habitually believes that the crossing crowd is capable of causing trouble to Macau remotely.

In this situation, whether it is the statement of the cross-border public that they want to snatch Macau's right to collect taxes, or the threat to close the gates and cut off food, Alonso found that these are not things that can be decided by his small envoy.

This is completely different from the information he received when he set off.This force entrenched in the senior officials seems to have a special dislike for the Portuguese.

So, after a preliminary understanding of the terrifying industrial strength and sinister political intentions of the crossing country, Alonso decided to leave—leaving everything to Governor Mascarino and the Macau City Council. Narrow shoulders, can't bear it anymore.

As for the time-travelers, no one took Alonso's departure seriously.Just like a bulldozer on a construction site, no matter how the Portuguese respond, the stronger side just needs to push it over.

……

It's still the same sentence: long distance and close attack.Crossing the country has a detailed timetable for solving the Portuguese.

First of all: Regarding the issue of entering Guangdong on a large scale, the people who travel through the world are not worried, because history has clearly given the answer.

In real history, due to a complete rift with Zheng Zhilong after he was recruited, the Liuxiang Group began to aggressively invade the coast of Fujian.

And Zheng Zhilong also mobilized all his forces, and with the help of the Ming Dynasty's official army, fought the Liuxiang Group in six battles.Between 1632 and 1633, the two sides launched a series of battles on the sea of ​​Fujian: "One was broken at Shiwei, then at Dinghai, three at Guanghe, four at Baigemen, and five at Baigemen. Yu Da Dan, Liu Po ​​is about Qian Ao."

And Liu Xiang fled back to the waters of Guangzhou after the defeat-at this time, please note that Zheng Zhilong's army chased and killed them to the Guangzhou ocean in a reasonable and legal manner.And Liuxiang Group wanted to recover quickly, so during this period of hide-and-seek, it began to plunder the merchants and people in Guangzhou. The so-called last madness was nothing more than that.

Then Liu Xiang had a tragedy: Fujian Fuyuan quickly reached an agreement with the furious Guangdong and Guangxi Ministry and Press Academy.

Then Zheng Zhilong was hit on the head by the official hat from heaven: Nan'ao Deputy Chief Soldier.

You know, Nan'ao Island is the territory of Guangdong... In order to support Liu Xiang, the Guangdong officials did not hesitate to give Old Zheng the title of Deputy Chief Soldier.

The morale was boosted by Zheng Zhilong, so he gathered the best of the whole division, and launched a decisive battle with Liu Xiang in Tianweiyang on April 1635, 4; after he caught up with Zheng Zhihu, a fierce general, he finally wiped out Liu Xiang completely.

Therefore, the traveler can clearly judge the next action strategy from the above historical facts: just stick to the front line of Xiamen, so that Liu Xiang can't go north, and force Lao Liu to plunder on the border of Guangdong.

In history, Zheng Zhilong eliminated Liu Xiang only in the seventh year after the recruitment, and it didn't take that long for the crossing crowd: no large-scale pirates could escape Xiamen's destroyers, radars and drones.

So Liu Xiang is now a wolf in captivity, and the people who travel through the world just need to wait for him to do things in Guangdong. At that time, Guangdong officials will naturally have a memorial to "lead the wolf into the house".

Chapter 279 Longyan Battle ([-])

Regarding the reaction of the Portuguese, the people across the board are very certain: they will definitely not compromise.

No one would agree to such a garrison condition of "defeating power and humiliating the country". Even my Qing Dynasty had no choice but to kneel down after the face was completely swollen in the Opium War, and the Portuguese have not been beaten in the face yet.

Both negotiating parties are now well aware of one thing: the time-traveling people want to make trouble, and they don't bother to hide it, and the malice is always on the table.

As for why the time-travelers are so straightforward, one word: useless.

Unlike the Dutch, British, and Spaniards like wild dogs, the Portuguese occupied Macau, the only Ming goods base in East Asia.They are the only colonists who can enter the city of Canton to buy goods, although there is a time limit for this.

In this situation, the Portuguese only need to ship Cantonese goods to Europe along the air route every year, without thinking too much.

And this is exactly the point of criticism from the public: the Portuguese cannot provide the industrial raw materials needed by the big officials, and the trade system with Macau as the core has actually formed an implicit competition with the big officials.

The food needed by the cross-country people and the Portuguese of various populations cannot be provided, and the existence of Macau has made the idea of ​​the cross-town people to integrate the foreign trade pattern of Fujian and Guangdong encountered a thorn in the door.

This non-complementary trade pattern is the most fundamental reason why the Portuguese were targeted by a rogue force: the Dutch wild dogs can adjust their import and export commodities at any time, but the Portuguese cannot.Even if they took time to adjust, but when the effect came to fruition, the people who had already entered the Pearl River Estuary would not be able to tolerate them anymore.

In a word, the crossing country welcomes everyone to do business in East Asia.But there is a premise that everyone must trade on the owner's territory and pay taxes to the owner... A place like Macau that refuses to obey the king must be uprooted.

With Alonso's hasty departure, from this moment on, with the 23° north latitude as the dividing line, the fog of war against the Portuguese has been opened.The crossing country has officially entered into a "confrontation" with Macau: all Portuguese ships trying to go north will be detained.

And the deliberately provoked cold war between the two sides will continue until the day Master Wang comes ashore.

……

From Xiamen Port along the Jiulong River, less than 20 kilometers away is the Zhangzhou Plain.

From Zhangzhou, continue along the upper reaches of the Jiulong River, and after 200 miles of waterway, it is Longyan County.

Surrounded by mountains, Longyan County has a long history. It was recorded in the Jin Dynasty that it was inhabited, and it was called Kucao Town in history.Although this place has always been remote, there are many outstanding people in the past dynasties, and it can be regarded as an ancient city with a thousand years of culture.

Backed by mountains and facing water, surrounded by jade belts around the waist, Longyan County is surrounded by a Longjin River on three sides, with beautiful scenery, quiet and peaceful.

October 1628, 10, at noon.There is a Zhigu Pavilion next to the Longjin Wharf outside the south gate of Longyan County, and at this moment a group of people in official robes are taking small seats in the pavilion.

The one sitting at the top is about thirty years old, dark skinned, short in stature, plump, with a big head and wide mouth, and bright eyes.Seeing that this person is dressed in a blue robe, with a seventh-rank (xiniao) Zibuzi, he is naturally Yu Yinggui, the main hall of Longyan County.

Yu Yinggui, courtesy name Erji, was born in Duchang, Jiangxi Province, and was a Jinshi in the last year of Wanli (1619).

Comrade Erji has left a good reputation in history - since he took office in Longyan, he has not only "picked up beetles and brushed against traitors", ruled Qingping, but also raised funds from many parties to build Longjin Bridge, and even "exported warehouses at a low price" during the hungry years , the relief is useless."

Later, after Ying Gui was promoted to the supervisory censor, "Yi Li Sheng Temple", this was the highest level of remembrance that parents and officials could get in ancient times.

"Since the Ming Mansion took office, the government of Longyan County has been well-organized, people are harmonious, and all businesses are prosperous. Unexpectedly, officers and soldiers have come to help suppress bandits recently. It is really gratifying. The Ming Mansion is well-governed and well-governed..."

The name of the flattering man was Dong Daxing.This man was sitting at the bottom of the pavilion. He was in his forties, with a plain appearance, big cheeks, squinting eyes, wearing a blue poplin ingot robe, with gold and jade hanging all over his body, just what a successful businessman should have in this era. image.

"A mere 200 people, what is there to do? Hmph, you can't even live in a tent. You really are a man from the mansion. Seeing how he behaves, I can't bear the slightest bit of grievance."

As soon as Dong Daxing finished speaking, a middle-aged man with thin cheeks and dressed in a military officer's uniform next to the county magistrate took up the conversation indignantly.

Who is this unruly man?Just look at the fifth-grade Xiong Buzi on his chest, and you can tell: Longyan City is home to a thousand households, Li Kaichun.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, culture was more expensive than military, so it was not against harmony for a fifth-rank military officer to sit next to a seventh-rank county magistrate, not to mention that this county magistrate was born as a 985 official Jinshi, not someone who raised people and supervised students.

After Li Qianhu finished expressing his opinion, the scene immediately cooled down.As for why Master Qianhu uttered disdainful words?This started half a month ago.

Half a month ago, the officials in Longyan County suddenly received several official documents.The county magistrate Yu Yinggui was the first to bear the brunt.

The official document was sent by Shi Bangyao, Zhangzhou Futai, the immediate boss. The content was to ask Longyan County to make preparations. The government will send a team of soldiers to suppress the bandits in a few days.

At the same time, the official document of Tingzhang Military Preparation Road was also sent over.In addition, the immediate superior of Longyan Suocheng: Zhangzhou Wei Commander Shi Liangying's military order was also passed on to Li Qianhu.

……

After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the system of garrisons originally established by Zhu Yuanzhang has gradually degenerated into a semi-serf feudal landlord group. From a military point of view, the guards who have long been reduced to private slaves of generals are no longer useful.

The main military force supporting the Ming Empire's southern and northern wars has gradually changed from a conscription-style guard to a recruiting-style "battalion" system.

The battalion controls the army according to the order of chief soldier, deputy general, general, and guerrilla, which has nothing to do with the semi-full-time mode of thousands of households in the guard.The relationship between the two parties is somewhat similar to the difference between the Land Reclamation Construction Corps and the Field Army in later generations.

Like all Cao Chuan's subordinates, they are now theoretically Ming's battalion soldiers, but Cao Chuan himself is in charge of the army and weapons.

Since the battalion soldiers are all recruits, the soldiers are relatively elite, with personal freedom, and they are really soldiers.Of course, combat power is directly proportional to wages: the high cost of battalion soldiers is all borne by the government, and such soldiers are not responsible for farming.

As for Longyan, a remote county in the mountain depression, it is naturally impossible to have battalions stationed there, so the daily anti-bandits and robberies are mainly completed through the joint defense system composed of guards and the public.

It stands to reason that the Zhangzhou government sent troops to Longyan County to arrest bandits, which was a good thing that could not be asked for for the state and county in the late Ming Dynasty where the security situation was deteriorating.

However, what happened this time was quite weird, not to mention only 200 soldiers who came, and they were all uncle soldiers: before the people arrived, all the requests arrived first.

The government officials who came with the documents, after going around outside the county seat, not only demanded that the Tianhou Palace be vacated for the lords, but also explicitly asked Yuzhi County to mobilize manpower to repair the Tianhou Palace, so as to prepare for the arrival of the lords ...

Tianhou Temple is the Mazu Temple. Although it is dilapidated, it is the largest building outside the county.There are five entrances to the palace, not to mention 200 people, 400 people can perform it.

And the county magistrate Yu Da was sitting on his knees: I have never seen such a domineering guest army!

Fortunately, since Yu Ming Mansion can keep Wan'er in history, he is naturally not a fool, so he urgently edited a book and sent it to Zhangzhou Mansion together with a letter from his master.

Within two days, Changsui came back from Zhangzhou.After reading the private letters from his colleagues in the Zhangzhou Mansion and the confidential documents sent by the master group, Master Yu finally knew the roots of these uncles: the trilogy of the new general Cao Chuan who made a big splash in the mansion newspaper a few days ago!

Well, since this is the case, Mr. Yu is not doing too much for himself: a powerful general with more than [-] troops under his command sent people to suppress the bandits with good intentions. cooperated.

Ever since, after insinuating two sentences about Cao Tubie's ignorance of official rules, Li Qianhu of Longyan City was shot. Send the military households under his command to "help with the military camp affairs".

Li Qianhu, who usually does not interfere with the well water and river water in the local area, vomited blood: the military households are all his tenants, and now he wants to send the tenants out to serve as errands for others, and he has to bring his own dry food. Li Qianhu is too good to give up what!

However, the county magistrate knew about the official document sent to Li Qianhu by the commander of Zhangzhou Guards, requesting Lao Li to fully cooperate with the reception work of the guest army.Moreover, the tone of the official document this time is more severe, obviously not the kind of errand that can be shirked - this is exactly the reason why the county magistrate asked Li Qianhu to bleed.

Helpless, Li Qianhu could only send his military households to the Tianhou Palace to "join the grand event" amidst the scolding.

So half a month later, at noon on this day, when the officials in Longyan County, the "villagers" and a few "enthusiastic merchants" were sitting together in the Zhigu Pavilion waiting to "pick up customers", Li Qian, who was already reluctant Hu was caught now, and he seized the opportunity to sarcastically say a few words about these uncles who have not met yet...

After listening to the complaints and sarcasm full of complaints, Mr. Yu Yinggui smiled slightly, and then said gently in a Jiangxi dialect: "Master Li, the matter has come to an end, so don't complain anymore. I always come here to help calm down the situation." Local, a little care is also the meaning of the title."

"Oh, my lord, you know that Mingwu (Li Qianhu's character) is someone who doesn't understand the overall situation. It's just that I'm not used to this generation's extravagant behavior!"