Lu Ming

The meet and greet was exactly as predicted before: without the slightest sense of beauty.The host and guest sat in the hall, apart from a few polite words such as "watch your seat" and "thank you sir", the scene was once so embarrassing that they had to call 110 to call the police.

In the end, it was the Chief Master of the Governor's Mansion who saw that the situation was not good, and was afraid that he would come with the momentum, and the arrogance Cao would leave in a rage--in that case, his master would be really embarrassed.So the master quickly jumped out and made a few jokes regardless of his status.

After a few lines of stand-up comedy, the master asked General Cao for the booklet with a smile, and then ran to the public case holding the booklet, and continued to smile and ask the governor with a frosty face to sign it.After the boss finished signing, the master swiftly picked up the public and private seals on the case and stamped them, then ran down and returned the papers to General Cao... so it was all done.

After getting the booklet, Zhang Dongdong didn't delay for a second, cupped his fists hastily, turned around and left.

The front hall and the main hall of the ancient yamen were on the same line, that is to say, until General Cao walked out of the gate, he could feel the angry eyes from behind.

Shaking his head and laughing bitterly, General Cao said to Hou's subordinates at the Yamen Gate: "Go back to Guangzhou."

To tell the truth, Comrade Zhang Dongdong, who was ordered to act as a substitute, had never been so stiff with any court official since he was "recruited to be an official".

The idea of ​​equality and sophistication in dealing with people from later generations, coupled with the ability to bring money to people, made Zhang Dongdong more than capable in the officialdom.Whether it is Fujian or Guangzhou, whether it is a governor or a small county official, everyone has a very positive impression of General Cao.

I don't want to encounter a hard hand this time, and I'm still the boss of Guan Jun.

"No wonder people hate upright officials. Such people have no way to communicate!" Sitting on the swaying carriage, Zhang Dongdong accidentally realized a social truth: "Fortunately, this old man will die of overwork next year, alas , and bear with him for a while."

It's no wonder that the people who travel through the world have headaches, Wang Zunde is actually a shrunken version of Hai Rui.

According to records, this king was an official "upright and upright, and there is no fear of impeachment. When he went to Guangdong as an envoy, the officials were purged, and he lived a simple life. Clothes and vegetarianism were no different from Confucianism. On the day of his death, the family had no money left."

That is to say, no matter whether Lao Wang was the governor of Guangxi or the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, he has carried out large-scale anti-corruption activities.

"There is no fear of impeachment"-Pharaoh's six relatives refused to recognize him, and officials were severely punished.

At the same time, probably in order to match his fair and honest image, Lao Wang "vegetarian in plain clothes is no different from a poor scholar", and he didn't even save two dollars that day.

The time-travelers hate this kind of upright officials the most.I don't know anything about government affairs, but I have occupied the moral high ground because of my incorruptibility.

"It's still the old bear!" Zhang Dongdong finally concluded.

Normal officials like Xiong Wencan, who are promoted to earn money, are the people who travel through time like to cooperate the most, because everyone can get what they need in the process, and their interests are bound together.

Thinking of this, Zhang Dongdong decided to emphasize to the SAR government and the cabinet of the senior officials after returning home: From now on, we will start to operate the matter of Xiong Wencan's entry into Guangdong next year.Whether it is reminders, hints, and luxury assistance from Transit Zhong, or Xiong Wencan's Zhezifang (office) in Beijing, these steps must start now and cannot be delayed any longer.

……

Full of complaints, General Cao returned from Zhaoqing smoothly, bringing back the most important props for the next step of upgrading: the governor's joint recommendation booklet.

With this note, Cao's transfer from Fujian deputy general to Nanao deputy commander-in-chief is a certainty: Chongzhen will definitely not reject the joint recommendation of the top local officials in Fujian and Guangdong.

And this transition is also extremely important.The Nan’ao deputy commander-in-chief of Jianya Nan’ao Island is the “deputy commander-in-chief of Nan’ao stationed in Zhangchao and other places.” It was an important official position set up by the Ming court in the border area between Fujian and Guangdong to maintain the military presence in southern Fujian and eastern Guangdong.

Although this official position is from Guangdong, it can also manage Fujian affairs, and it is most suitable for the current General Cao.

With this position, from now on, soldiers and horses pouring out of the Taijiang River can justifiably enter any wharf and water village in Guangdong, and ask for local support.

Moreover, as a senior general in Guangdong who ranks second only to He Rubin, Cao has the right to make suggestions on the military strategy of the entire Guangdong, and when He Rubin is unable to perform his duties, he will take over the entire province's troops. The rights of the lieutenants in the local area are completely different.

Naturally, such an important document cannot be neglected.So when Zhang Dongdong returned to Guangzhou City, he dispatched a frigate to send Zhezi to Fuzhou and handed it over to Xiong Wencan, who was in charge of sending it to the capital at the military post.

After completing this step, all the accumulation in the previous period will be cleared.General Cao now needs a little new credit to consolidate the foundation and attract attention.

Fortunately, there are still a lot of cards in the hands of the time-traversing crowd.So when the time came to mid-August, after all the old men and horses were digested here, the fast fleet set sail again.

The fast fleet sailed this time, not only did not bring miscellaneous soldiers, but after going out to sea for a circle, they brought back another pirate team of 2000 people: the Yang Liu Yang Qi Group.

Yang Liu and Yang Qi are two brothers, members of Zheng Zhilong's Shibazhi team earlier, and veteran pirates.In fact, these two brothers were the first pirate group to plan to recruit security in history.Long before Zheng Zhilong called for security, they had already hooked up with the general manager Xu Xinsu and Xu Xinsu's senior soldier Yu Zigao.

After this, the two brothers quickly turned their faces against Zheng Zhilong - because of the mess of Zhaoan, the two sides dismantled each other, became jealous, and changed from brothers to enemies.

According to the original history, brothers Yang Liu, Yang Qi, Xu Xinsu, and the general soldier Yu Zigao were all eliminated directly or indirectly by Zheng Zhilong in the end.

But in the plane of crossing people, Yang Liu and Yang Qi, like Xu Xinsu, survived because of Zheng Zhilong's death.

After the troops of the Crossing Congregation wiped out Li Kuiqi's gang in Zhangzhou Bay, Yang Liu, Yang and Seven brothers who were driven to Guangdong by Zheng Zhilong to seek a living, soon contacted the Crossing Congregation through Mr. Xu, intending to recruit again.

However, at that time, the traversing crowd was digesting a large number of captive resources, and there was no way to spare another big pirate.In addition, there was a need for secrets in Guangdong, so after receiving some private support, the brothers Yang Liu and Yang Qi were placed in Guangdong and became the idle flags of the cross-travelers.

It was not until today that the two brothers had truly achieved a positive result—they appeared in front of the soldiers and civilians in Guangzhou at the moment when they were most needed to recruit security.

And the popularity of this action also coincided with Zhu Cailao's wave.The continuous large groups of pirates were either eliminated or recruited, which made Cao's reputation among the military and civilians in Guangzhou reach its peak for a while.

Therefore, the sense of rhythm of traveling through the crowd is still good. When needed, they can always play a hole card to maintain the situation.

As for the final boss, Liu Xiang, this man's rhythm should not be messed up. He must wait until the imperial court's letter of appointment is officially issued before he can use this final hole card.

So in the rest of August and the whole of September, the people who traveled through did nothing, but settled down and kept transporting goods from Taiwan to Guangdong, and by the way, transported away a large number of pirates one after another when the fleet returned. .

In the second half of 1629, some major events in history still happened on time.

……

The first is Mao Wenlong.While the fast fleet was stationed in Guangzhou and mobilized miscellaneous soldiers to prepare to raid Zhucai Lao, a major event about the Ming Dynasty, Hou Jin, and history happened on time: Yuan Chonghuan, on July 1629, 7, without Zhao Killed Mao Wenlong, the commander-in-chief of Dongjiang Town.

There is no way for this kind of thing to pass through the crowd.The current sphere of influence of the emerging empire is only limited to the southern waters of the Ming Dynasty, and even Shanghai cannot get through.Therefore, for such a major historical event that happened in the north, the people who traveled through could only stare blankly.

In the two months after Mao Wenlong was killed, the transmigrators fought and won victoriously in Guangzhou, wantonly eradicating the pirates. Great opportunity, ready to move in.

In the coming October, Huang Taiji will personally lead the Eight Banners army, detour through the Mongolian region, break through the pass of the Great Wall and enter the pass, and for the first time in history, invade the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty and surround the capital.

Of course, with regard to this matter, the time travelers far away in the southern country are still beyond their reach.

Chapter 387 Everything is in chaos

After the recommendation book was uploaded to the capital through the military station in early August, the imperial court's appointment document on Cao Chuan's promotion was finally sent back to Guangzhou in mid-September.

"General Zhen Guo's Shangqingche Duwei Department commanded Tong Zhi Xie Shou Zhang Chao and other places to be stationed in Nan'ao Deputy Commander-in-Chief" is General Cao's latest title.

Probably because in the gloomy life since taking over the throne, Cao Pirates in the far south was the only subordinate who often brought good news in the avalanche of bad news; He got an official position and issued all the supporting titles together, which can be regarded as helping Pirates Cao to completely rectify his name and repaying a series of solid military achievements.

General Zhen Guo is a high-ranking military official from the second rank, used for the initial award.Sanguan is somewhat similar to the military ranks of later generations. It does not correspond to positions, but only represents ranks.

Just like there are colonel heads and lieutenant colonel heads in later generations, General Zhen Guo only represents the second-rank rank.As for whether this general is a son of the clan who just receives his salary and waits to die, or a frontier general who holds a heavy army, it is entirely up to the individual.

The same is true for the subsequent ranks: Lieutenant of Shangqingche.This second-rank honorary title is usually only obtained by nobles and hereditary generals.After reaching the top level in the future, it will be the "Pillar Kingdom" that later generations can often see on TV and archways.But when Cao Zhongchen rises to that level, it is probably time to become a national thief.

The department is commanding Tongzhi, and this thing is also from the false post of the second rank.Adding this title is just a convention, which means that General Cao has an official idle second-in-command office in the Guangdong capital.Another thing that is more practical is that General Cao can justifiably mobilize the slaves and beggars in the Guangdong Guards system to join the war in wartime.

After the empty title is over, the unranked field army position of "Associate Zhangchao and other places stationed in South Australia" is the real position of General Cao.

Although the previous series of titles are empty and have no real power, for Cao Zhongchen, there are still some hidden meanings in it.

The first is Chongzhen's recognition and compensation for the previous military achievements.Generally speaking, only those who have made military exploits will skip consecutive ranks in the ranks of casual officials and honors overnight.The series of second-rank titles awarded by Chongzhen this time is to settle the previous military achievements at one time, and officially "fix the title and position" for General Cao.

Furthermore, for the unorthodox people of "reckless origin", this series of titles is quite powerful.It fills in the institutional recognition that the reckless people naturally lack. Cao Zhongchen is now equivalent to Emperor Chongzhen personally wearing the second-rank epaulettes on him, and his descendants will also get Enmeng in the future. This can be mentioned in the news broadcast.

In terms of time, this appointment is not considered a delay.You must know that after a document arrives in the capital, there will be discussions and deliberations by a series of departments such as the Ministry of War, the inner court, the outer court, the emperor, etc., before it will finally become a decision.

Unless it is an urgent military situation, otherwise, it usually takes more than a month to send an ordinary post from Guangzhou to the capital and wait for a reply there, and half of the time will be spent on the road during this period.

This is the root cause of the feudal empire's inability to expand its territory: the speed of information transmission is too slow.

In the industrial age, this problem no longer exists.As long as there is wireless telegraphy, theoretically, the land area of ​​a country can occupy the entire earth... The British Empire almost reached this level before World War II. The prime minister can control all the colonies on the five continents in real time while sitting in the official residence.

……

The moment he got the official document, General Cao officially took over the position of commander of a certain field army in Guangdong and deputy commander of the provincial military region, and the crossing crowd finally put their hearts back into their stomachs.

You must know that in the coming October, the capital will be besieged by the Eight Banners soldiers.If the official document is delayed for a while, the variables will increase greatly by then: Chongzhen may change the content of the official document and ask Cao Zhongchen to go to King Qin, or withhold the official document and re-discuss the appointment of generals in various places after the war.

In short, once it is delayed until October, the situation will be chaotic, and some people's prophetic function will be temporarily disabled.

Although the crossing people did not refuse to send troops to the king of Jingqin, but things are one thing at a time. Right now, Guangzhou is already ready to go, and it is waiting for the general to start work after he takes office. This is the most important job at present.

Fortunately, the plan was successful in the end, so the Guangdong SAR government began to issue orders as soon as it was appointed.

The first job is to enclose the land.

Although the Yamen of Zhang Chao's deputy general is far away from Nan'ao Island, it is possible to set up a recruitment and logistics base in Guangzhou.Because according to the establishment, General Cao originally had two battalions on Nan'ao Island, including one battalion from Fujian and Guangdong.Note that these two battalions are regular "battalions" organized by the Ministry of War, which belong to field recruits who can enter and exit, and are different from those hereditary beggars in the guard.

Therefore, from now on, the cross-travelers can set up recruiting points under the banner of "recruiting young and strong supplementary battalions".

It’s not easy to be a soldier these days, every day there are people who run away and resign and fire the General, plus those who retire at an advanced age, those who died of illness, those who died fighting bandits, etc., so theoretically these recruiting sites can exist forever—as long as The one surnamed Cao is rich.

Recruitment points will not only be set up in Guangzhou City, but also in densely populated counties like Foshan and Shunde.

These are called recruiting, but they are actually strongholds for recruiting laborers, and will become important layout fulcrums in the local area: the strongholds with schools, houses, and business offices can also temporarily station troops in the future. Both the grandfather and the concubine were arrested.

After sending some master tents to buy land everywhere, the fast fleet in Bai'etan is also preparing to move.

The fleet was temporarily stationed in Baietan before, but if it wants to maintain a long-term presence in the future, it will be impossible to stay in Baietan.Those sail warships and sailors are not suitable for going in and out of the city of Guangzhou every day.

So the military chose Huangpu as the new port and barracks. The Huangpu District in the 17th century was just an ordinary agricultural area under the jurisdiction of Panyu County.The Whampoa Military Academy, which is famous in later generations, is still underwater these days—the area of ​​Cheung Chau is still very small.

The detailed location of Xingang is in the area of ​​Huangpu Old Port in later generations.There used to be some small private harbors built by the Ming people. After the General Military Mansion is requisitioned, it can be used and built at the same time.

In the future, after the Liuxiang Group is wiped out, Huangpu Port will become the base camp for suppressing bandits in the inland river.In the Pearl River Delta in the 17th century, there were many waterways and dense ports. There were countless water bandits, Xumin, and local tyrants entrenched in these waterways to suck blood.

Since the SAR government wants to invigorate business and trade, the premise is to get rid of these ubiquitous water bandits first.This task will be much more difficult than suppressing bandits along the coast of Fujian, because there are too many waterways in the Pearl River Delta, which requires slow work and careful work.

In the future, a group of inland river shallow-draft vessels will be stationed in Huangpu Port for a long time.In addition, high-tech equipment including drones will also be deployed here: the terrain of the Pearl River Delta is too complicated, and without drones, the efficiency of troops will be very slow.

……

After the start of the land acquisition and construction tasks of the recruiting point and the port, all the energy of the SAR government was quickly exhausted, so other plans for the layout in Guangdong will have to wait a little longer, including the previously planned land acquisition for the new industrial zone Waiting will be postponed.

However, there is one thing that cannot be postponed: Liu Xiang.

Now that the official has been promoted, there is no need for Comrade Liu Xiang to continue to be the eldest brother in Causeway Bay.

So on October 1629, 10, the day before the Houjin Eight Banners soldiers and horses broke through the Great Wall Pass, the fast fleet with all preparations ushered in the last big pirate force on the Fujian-Guangdong Ocean in Bai'etan, Guangzhou. surrender.

Since someone's official position has already been obtained, there is no need for Liu Xiang to surrender with much fanfare.The total number of pirates who traveled all the way from Hong Kong to Baietan was only 1000 people and about [-] boats.

As for the rest of Liu Xiang's large force, they have already been "accompanied" by another fleet and have directly crossed the sea to Taiwan.

This arrangement is the most efficient.Previously, in order to build momentum in the city of Guangzhou, the traversing people had to reship a large number of defected pirates to Taiwan. This kind of transshipment was very troublesome, and it was also difficult to manage these pirates under the city of Guangzhou.

This is why Liu Xiang delayed his surrender until the end of October: Taiwan needs time to organize another fleet with a larger number.

Although the number is relatively small, when shopkeeper Liu set foot on the wharf of Baietan, many people from the military and civilians in Guangzhou came to support him: shopkeeper Liu left a deep impression on this city, and he is really famous.

According to the instructions of the crossing people, after taking his own belongings and delivering them around the city of Guangzhou, shopkeeper Liu finally got a short guerrilla rank under Cao Zongbing's command—the same rank as Zheng Zhilong's when he recruited security.

From this official title, it can be known that shopkeeper Liu finally chose the path of joining the army... If he wants to become a rich man or start a business, there is no need to bribe Guangzhou officials to buy this guerrilla title.

However, this official title will not be used for some time in the future: Liu Xiang must first get a certain position in the military system of a certain empire if he wants to command a soldier.

Of course, the crossing crowd will not let this famous treasurer come to an end—think about the scene of the gray-haired General Liu commanding battleships to fight against disobedient ministers for the "wearing expensive" in the future, it is also full of satisfaction. Feeling.

In addition, Liu Xiang's already huge private property and the funds of the boat sellers after the recruitment, the cross-travelers will not allow it to depreciate: several nephews of Liu Xiang have already purchased commercial firms and workshops under the guidance of the Ministry of Commerce. In the future, after Old General Liu retires, he will find that his family has too much money to spend.

In short, as long as Shopkeeper Liu is willing to put down his airs and learn new things, his life will definitely be more exciting.

……

After everything was settled, Deputy Commander Cao of the new department finally left Guangzhou City to take up his post in his own exclusive yamen.

Chapter 388 Enlarged Meeting

Nan'ao Island is the closest point between Guangdong and Taiwan, less than 180 nautical miles away from Dayuan.The location here is very important, "Fujian and Guangzhou are the key points in the upper and lower reaches, Esai is dangerous and difficult, the only way for foreign ships to pass, and the place for domestic thieves to contend for."

In the Ming Dynasty, the masters of Nan'ao's general town government were all deputy chief soldiers.In the Qing Dynasty, due to the increasingly complicated situation at sea and the great increase in the power of foreigners, the Nan'ao guard became the chief soldier.

By the end of the Qing Dynasty, about 170 soldiers and deputy commanders in the two dynasties were stationed in Nan'ao to maintain the defense of the southeast coast.Including the famous Master Guo Xing, who also practiced martial arts with his own soldiers on the school field in the Zongzhen Mansion.

And in the plane of crossing the public, on November 1629, 11, the Nan'ao General Township welcomed the latest master: Cao Chuan (pseudo), the deputy general of the new department.

After bidding farewell to a group of civil and military officials in Guangzhou, Zhang Dongdong rushed to Nan'ao Island, which was located in the sea off Chaoshan, with four aircraft sail warships from Bai'etan.

Sitting in the slightly dilapidated public hall, looking at the verdant cypresses on the large field in front of the hall, and then lowering his head to look at the battalion officers and the leaders of the guards kneeling in front of the hall, Zhang Dongdong stretched out his hands and stroked himself. Grow a beard, and then start calling the shots.

The first is "Conference Exercise".There are not only two battalions of recruits on Nan'ao Island, but also a group of agricultural soldiers including the local guards.

Master Zhentai will not be polite here: No matter what kind of bullshit serfs and barracks, and no matter what battalion soldiers have been emptied, they will all take a boat for me to go to Taiwan to practice and test your usual training results-wait for this group of people After leaving, there will naturally be well-trained regular soldiers coming to change defenses. Two companies of musketeers are enough.

Of course, if the few military officers kneeling in front of the hall do not want to go to Taiwan for reorganization, then Lord Zhentai will not make things difficult for them.Just like the layoffs of later generations, several officers can find ways to transfer to other defense areas, and adults will never leave trouble.

After listening to the lord's order, the little officials kneeling under the hall couldn't help but look at each other with bitter faces.

However, the new town master didn't take these things seriously at all, and waved them away with a wave of his hand.The way has been given out, so go back and think about it yourself.If you dare to make trouble, you will be dismissed and questioned. The reason is very simple: take time off.

After dismissing a group of subordinates on the island within 5 minutes, Zhang Dongdong began to discuss the relocation with Sha Zhengming and the others who came with him.

There are not only garrisons on Nan'ao Island, but also no fewer than 6000 fishermen and farmers.These people will also be transferred away one after another.Whether they go to work as farm workers in the fields in Tainan or go fishing on motor-sail fishing boats, the wealth they create will increase tenfold and a hundredfold, which is far beyond what can be compared by living on this island.

Therefore, the decree on relocation must be implemented in the future.

When Ming soldiers and residents moved out, Nan'ao Island would be transformed into a naval base.As for the original Susukida and scattered beacons on the island, these will gradually fall into disrepair.

This is done for a reason.Because Nan'ao Island in this plane does not need to bear the military pressure from the surrounding parties like the Ming and Qing courts.Therefore, for the traveler, Nan'ao Island, apart from being the garrison of the General Military Office stipulated by the imperial court, its other functions will gradually degenerate, or even be completely abandoned.