I can't die

The diversion of the Yellow River was in 1855, that is, seven or eight years ago.Since then, the course of the Yellow River hundreds of miles east of Tongwaxiang (north of Lankao County, Henan Province) has ceased to flow, and the river that originally flowed through northern Jiangsu into the Yellow Sea quickly became a relic.This is the most recent major diversion of the Yellow River.After the river was broken, the Yellow River widened the mouth of the river by seventy to eighty feet. Overnight, the Yellow River flooded the north, and many areas in the three provinces of Henan, Shandong, and Zhizhi were affected.

This catastrophe not only caused huge floods at that time, but also left many remaining problems.Bear the brunt of the water transport.Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Beijing-Hangzhou Universiade has become the main waterway for the north-south river transport in China. However, with the diversion of the Yellow River, countless sediments flowed into the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal from the new waterway of the Yellow River, causing the main waterway of the canal to silt. There is more and more sand, and the imperial court is busy with wars and has no time to clean up. The draft of ships is getting smaller and smaller, and the river transportation capacity of water transportation is getting worse and worse.

It is for this reason that the Green Gang helped Pan Ren consider the current difficulties of the court, and finally decided to change to the sea route.

The grain requisition in the southeast was ordered by the imperial court, the governors of the provinces implemented it, and the Green Gang tied the knot.Now Li Hongzhang, as the top leader in southeast China, is also a loyal minister who cares about the country and the people. In the face of such important military affairs, he dare not neglect.This has always been the case in China. Once the top pays attention, the bottom will not dare to play tricks. This will also facilitate the grain collection work.

Therefore, within one month, the Green Gang collected enough rations to support a [-]-strong army for three months. They rushed to collect food from all over the country to Shanghai through waterways, and then set off from Wusongkou in Shanghai to Dagukou by land and sea.

The sea has been different from the river since ancient times. It is more magnificent and unpredictable.Therefore, since ancient times, even though many people know that sea transportation is much faster than river transportation, everyone will subconsciously choose river transportation.Just because the two words are safe.The wind and waves on the sea are often greater than the river, and at the same time, the pirates who appear on the sea from time to time add a bloody color to the sea.

The wooden boats of Water Transport sailed towards the north one after another, forming an extremely eye-catching landscape between the sea and the sky.Naturally, it has become fat in the eyes of some people.

Japanese pirates, based on the islands around Japan, are active maritime invaders on the Korean Peninsula and the coast of mainland China. Since the Ming Dynasty, they have been a serious problem in the eyes of the Central Plains courts.

In Japan in 1863, it was the time when the storm was blowing up.At this time, Japan was in the late period of the shogunate, and the western powers did not let go of this island country even after they had opened the door of China with gunfire and opium for many years.

Accompanied by the invasion of Western powers, a large number of native Japanese workers and farmers were invaded by capitalism and lost their jobs and farmland. These refugees exacerbated the social unrest in Japan.Similarly, along with these social turmoil, a large number of mid- and lower-level samurai began to protest, advocating "respect the king and fight against barbarians", that is: respect the emperor and drive away foreign invaders.These middle and lower-level samurai colluded with refugees and carried out "patriotic terrorist attacks" secretly, assassinating those in power in the shogunate in collusion with Western forces; attacking businessmen and diplomats from Western countries in Japan; attacking ships of Western powers, etc.

Of course, these assassination organizations with a strong terrorist color have been jointly suppressed by the shogunate and Western forces.In order to survive and obtain development materials, they inevitably set their minds on robbing merchant ships at sea.

"Master Takasugi Shinsaku, my subordinates have been staring at the strait for a long time, and finally found a big deal."

On an island near Nagasaki, a samurai dressed as a Japanese ronin whispered to the leader.

Shinsaku Takasugi is a well-known samurai in Japan today.He not only holds the cavalry, but also several armored ships, among which the "Chitose Maru" is the most famous.He once led his men to drive the "Chitose Pill" and came to Shanghai in 1860, had a dialogue with the British and French powers stationed in Shanghai, and learned advanced military training techniques. But it still made "Chitose Maru" the leading warship in Japan at that time.

"How many ships are there?" Takasugi Shinsaku's eyes lit up, thinking in his mind how much he could increase the military pay for the barbarian warriors under him if he ate this batch of grain ships.

"More than 20 ships." The Japanese ronin replied.

More than 20 ships?Takasugi Shinsaku was thinking about the power of each other. "Which country's grain ship?"

"Back to my lord, from the Qing Dynasty."

Hearing that it was from the Qing Dynasty, Takasugi Shinsaku felt relieved, as long as it wasn't an iron warship from Britain and France, there would be no chance: "Get the 'Chitose Pill' out, and I will go out personally, and I must eat all the goods." Takasugi Shinsaku said swearingly.

In this way, under the order of Takasugi Shinzuo, all the rogue warriors boarded the boat in the dark, and quietly sailed towards the grain ship of the Green Gang.

Nagasaki is close to the Korean Strait and very close to the Bohai Sea, so Shinsaku Takasugi also made a clear plan when he selected the location to prevent ships from leaking into the inland waters of China. It should be noted that the inland seas of China now have advanced Equipped with cannons, once the grain ship is close to Dagukou, the Japanese are doomed to return without success.

In the quiet night, the Senmaru relied on its huge size and fast speed, and quickly headed towards the grain ship, while dozens of small boats followed closely behind the Senmaru.At this time, some sailors found these ships of unknown origin through binoculars on the grain transport ship.

"My lord, what are we going to do?" the younger brother of the Green Gang said to the steward.

"What should we do?" Hearing the words, the steward smiled coldly: "It's really emboldened, and Tai Sui's head is breaking ground. Let them come anyway, everyone is ready, and they will never come back!"

As I said before, although many of these rogues were of samurai origin and skills, their equipment was very old, and they were still samurai swords. Obviously, there were only a few foreign guns, but they were few and far between.

On the other hand, the Green Gang, not to mention the relationship between the current Green Gang and Li Hongzhang, has long since traded knives for foreign cannons. Coupled with the support of Ding Richang, the Governor of Water Transport, the combat effectiveness is terrible. . .Furthermore, the members of the Green Gang are all from the underworld, and most of these people are also outlaws. Would they be frightened by these Japanese warriors?Then there is a ghost.

"It's just in time. I haven't sung about the taste of blood for a long time after I returned to the imperial court." Hearing the sound of fighting, the manager of the Qing Gang couldn't help showing a bloodthirsty smile on his face. With a machete in one hand and a musket in the other, he rushed forward He went out: "Brothers, go slaughter pigs!"

Accompanied by the steward's shout, all the children of the Qing Gang laughed loudly.No, it means that no matter how fast your knife is, how fast can you pass the gun?

There were only "bang, bang." Several times, blood bloomed on the sea soon.That is a beauty.The corpse of the Japanese pirate was kicked from the splint to the surface of the sea by the youths of the Qing Gang. It was so messy that it attracted countless sharks from the bottom of the sea, fed the belly of the fish, and was completely dead without a whole body.

"Foreign guns?! Not good! Go back!"

Shinsaku Takasugi was also taken aback when he saw that everyone in the Qing Dynasty had a gun in their hands. He was too busy to pester them, so he could only give an order to retreat.

Fortunately, the "Chitose Pill" has a large draft and a fast speed, otherwise it is possible to be blacked out by the Green Gang.