Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 251

Speaking of which, this person who was called "Brother One" by the pirates was Zheng Yi, the young gang leader of the Red Gang among the four surnames "Danjia Thieves" at the Pearl River Estuary, whose real name was Zheng Wenxian.

After Kangxi recovered Taiwan, some remnants of the Zheng family in Taiwan fled to the Pearl River Estuary and became pirates.Gradually, the Dan family thieves in the Pearl River Estuary evolved from the four surnames in the late Ming Dynasty to the six gangs of red, yellow, blue, white, black, and purple.

Zheng Yi's father, Zheng Lianchang, is the boss of the Red Gang. He is mediocre in intelligence, but he seldom provokes troubles; but his son is not willing to be ordinary. He has determined to be the most powerful pirate in the South China Sea since he was young; Zheng Yi, who has practiced a good skill, led a group of minions to rob those small merchant ships that were alone in the Outer Lingding Ocean, and gradually gained some "fame" in the sea off the Pearl River Estuary.

When the two single-masted wooden boats approached the Thunder God, from a distance, they saw that the Thunder God was completely dark, and there was no light at all.And wait for the two wooden boats to reach the position of the bow anchor chain.Just then Zheng Yi brought out a lantern from the cabin, and by the dim light, he saw that the thick anchor chain was dark, and when he touched it with his hand, it was actually cold to the touch.

"Iron!" Zheng Yi was taken aback, what a guy!How rich it is to be able to afford such a long and thick iron chain!Today is really going to be rich.

He waved violently at one of his men, and a skinny pirate with a bundle of hemp rope on his back and a dagger in his mouth climbed up along the anchor chain barefoot.When they climbed to the position of the anchor hole, the tilted hull could no longer climb; the pirate took out a flying tiger claw made of fine iron from the back waist, estimated the height of the ship's side, and swished. Throw it up.

There was a light "clang" sound, and the flying tiger's claws had firmly hooked the edge of the ship's side.The man grabbed the rope on the flying tiger's claws, yanked it hard a few times, then swayed slightly, and climbed up.

After a while, two hemp ropes were hanging down from the side of the ship. The pirates were overjoyed when they saw it, leaving two watchers behind, and the others lined up to climb up the ropes.

Zheng Yi was the second to board the boat. When he climbed over the railing and stepped on the deck barefoot, he couldn't help being stunned. He touched it with his hands in disbelief, and found that the deck was made of iron!

He hurriedly leaned against the railing, stretched out his hand and touched the hull of the boat outside, God, Mazu!The hull is actually made of iron!

"How can iron build a ship? It's so wicked that it can still float on water! Can this be done by humans?!" By this time, Zheng Yi was really a little scared.

How to do?Just when Zheng Yi was hesitating, his subordinates quickly climbed up, squatted on the deck with weapons in hand, and looked around.

At the bow of the Thor, around the high mast are two windlasses surrounded by railings and a cable car wrapped with thick cables; these cables are used when docking; besides the bow, there are also stern.All the pirates looked at the big black guys in front of them, and they were all terrified. Could these be monsters?Several guys didn't even have the courage to stand up.

A bold guy stretched out his hand to touch it, and said in a low voice, "It's an iron block."

Iron, iron everywhere!Zheng Yixin said, what else is there that is not made of iron?

"Brother Yi, what should we do next?" The subordinate called Xiao Qi came over and asked.

Zheng Yi gritted his molars, and fucked your old mother!Fight!

Thinking of this, he turned around and whispered to the men who came over: "Find the hatch door, rush down and kill him first! I won't stop, you can't stop!"

All the pirates nodded regardless of whether Zheng Yi could see it or not.Then they got up one after another, taking advantage of the faint moonlight on the sea, and walked forward in the dark.Unexpectedly, just a dozen or so steps away, the sky suddenly brightened above their heads. When everyone looked up, they saw the top of a tall white mast emitting an incomparably dazzling light, which made the pirates unable to open their eyes.

"Mother!" All the pirates, including Zheng Yi, immediately screamed, and fell down on the deck, terrified.These people were so frightened that their limbs became stiff and unable to move any more.Including the guy named Xiao Qi, several pirates were already wet under their crotches, and the liquid that flowed out meandered on the deck.

Immediately afterwards, the lights on the deck and the stern building more than 100 meters away were brightly lit, illuminating the surroundings of Thor like daylight.Under the glare of the lights, seven or eight figures suddenly appeared from behind several windlasses and cable cars; more than 30 people lying on their stomachs in the middle of the deck also got up and ran over, and surrounded the pirates with guns in hand.

Zheng Yihe and the other pirates were horrified. Looking around, they saw that these people were all wearing colorful short clothes and trousers, wearing short boots, wearing a semi-circular green helmet on their heads, and holding a spear in their hands. A strange musket, and the short spear at the tip was silvery from the overhead light.

"Be honest! Put down your weapon! Put your head in your hands!"

On the surface of the sea, the two pirates who were waiting on the wooden boat saw a sudden ray of light above their heads, illuminating every detail around them, and they were also frightened out of their wits, their upper teeth hitting their lower teeth.I only heard someone shouting above my head: "Those two on the boat, dare to shoot you to death!"

The two pirates didn't dare to raise their heads, so they knelt down on the deck and said in a tearful voice, "Don't move, don't move."

At this moment, Liu Sheng separated from the crowd, stood more than ten steps away from Zheng Yi and his group, laughed and cursed: "Fuck your mother! What a bunch of desperate guys. Tie them up! Those who dare to escape and resist shoot directly!" kill!"

"Yes!" Seven or eight soldiers came up with plastic straps and began to tie up the group one by one.When it was Zheng Yi's turn, he felt a tightness on his feet, his ankles were bound tightly, and he couldn't break free at all; then his hands were pulled behind his back, no matter how tight his wrists were, he couldn't break free. move.

Zheng Yi fell on the deck and shouted loudly: "Are you people or ghosts?!"

Liu Sheng had a laugh, and teased in Cantonese from another time and space: "Which one is Lao Tzu?"

It was only then that Zheng Yi realized that he had been tricked by others.He couldn't help cursing: "What kind of a hero are you! Let me go if you have the ability, let's fight again!"

"You think I'm as stupid as you?" Liu Sheng switched back to Mandarin and laughed, and then said to his soldiers: "All of them are escorted to the forepeak!" .)
The forepeak cabin of Thor is divided into two compartments, the innermost one contains some tools, and the cabin door has been locked at this time; while the outer compartment has been vacated in advance.In order to prevent these water thieves from jumping into the water and escaping, the sailors on the Thunder God took the ropes and tied them up, then strung them together, and finally wrapped them around a pillar in the cabin. When the skin is close to each other, it is extremely intimate.

At the same time, several soldiers had descended to the two sloops by rope, and restrained the last two pirates.These two guys were the worst. After being tied up, they were tied up with the rope that fell from the boat, and then lifted up little by little.

When everything was ready, everyone on the Thunder God came over to watch the fun, even Wang Ping came over.Facing Zheng Yi who kept shouting and cursing, Wang Ping pointed at him and cursed: "Thousand-killing thing! When you get to the shore, I will send you to the navy's office. No one will survive this autumn!"

Zheng Yi glanced sideways at the other party and sneered silently.

Everyone watched for a while, and saw that these people were just begging for mercy or cursing in a language they didn't understand, and finally lost interest, and went back to the cabin to rest; in the end, only one squad of soldiers was left to guard them.

In the early morning of the next day, before the Raytheon was about to weigh anchor, Liu Sheng took people over to have a look.Seeing more than [-] pirates listless due to thirst, each of them standing in a drowsy state next to each other, Liu Sheng ordered someone to wake them up with sea water.

After waking up, Zheng Yi and his cousin Zheng Qi didn't know what happened. They only heard the loud bang above their heads, and they were dizzy from the shock.After a while, he felt the boat move slightly, and Zheng Yi couldn't help staring out with his eyes straight, this boat can really start!

At exactly 11 o'clock in the morning, the Raytheon stopped at the ocean five miles southeast of Wailingding Island.With the sound of several whistles, a three-masted blessing boat sailed out from the east of Wailingding Island.On the upper part of the mainmast, an apricot-yellow flag with a flame-red edge flutters slowly.

Dozens of people on the Fuchuan looked at the Thunder God not far away, all dumbfounded, especially the guys in silk and satin who came out of the cabin.

"This, this is the big ship of the rebels in the north?! My God! Who are these people!" On the deck, a man with the appearance of a middle-aged wealthy businessman muttered to himself, and after he finished speaking, he urged the sailors on the ship to say : "Quick, come over!"

When Fuchuan was only 200 meters away from the anchored Raytheon, the crew on the deck began to manipulate the equipment to lower the gangway.The few people on the Fu boat were far more experienced and knowledgeable than the pirates like Zheng Yi. The middle-aged businessman listened to the rumble of the motor on the opposite boat, and watched the end of the gangway gradually approaching the water, and the expression on his face became extremely exciting. .

"This is a Westerner's machine!"

"Master, let's get on the firewood boat." The servant behind the middle-aged man said quickly.

After a while, a firewood and water boat rowed out from the back of the lucky boat. The middle-aged wealthy businessman sat on the boat with a few men. The wealthy businessman stared at the big boat in front of him, and kept urging the boatmen: Paddle fast!"

Heshen's domestic slave, Wang Ping, was already waiting on the deck, while Liu Zheng, who was standing aside, was a little nervous and his palms were sweating.

When the middle-aged wealthy businessman came up from the gangway, Wang Ping smiled and cupped his hands and said, "Master Cai, we haven't seen each other for several years!"

The wealthy businessman surnamed Cai withdrew his wandering gaze, stepped forward, flicked his sleeves, gave Wang Ping a slap, bowed and said, "Wan He Xing Cai Shiwen, please greet Mr. Wang."

Wang Ping chuckled, stepped forward to support the other party and said, "Master Cai is too polite! Mr. Wang really doesn't dare to be the one. This time Master Zhongtang sent Mr. Wang here to disturb you!"

Cai Shiwen was all smiles, not even saying he didn't dare.

Wang Ping brought Cai Shiwen to Liu Zheng, and introduced: "Master Cai, this is, this is! The trade representative of the Great Ainu Kingdom, Mr. Liu Zheng Liu."

Wang Pingxin said that this group of rebels had such a weird name, who the hell remembered it, I recited it dozens of times and almost got it wrong!
Liu Zheng cupped his hands at Cai Shiwen, and said in a loud voice: "My servant, Liu Zheng, is now the trade representative of the Great Ainu Kingdom stationed in Guangzhou. I have heard about Boss Cai's name for a long time. Three, it's a pleasure to meet you!" Fortunate" all bald out.

Cai Shiwen smiled slightly, cupped his hands and said: "Master Liu's official words are really good! It's a pleasure to meet you!" Cai Shiwen thought in his heart that he would take me for a fool?I know everything about the situation in the north!The bullshit big Ainu is a group of rebels under the banner of the former Ming Dynasty!
This Cai Shiwen was a merchant in charge of Western trade under the Guangdong Customs of the Qing court. His English name was Munqun, which means "Cai Wenguan".

Agents like Cai Shiwen have existed since the early Ming Dynasty.Qu Dajun, a poet in Guangzhou in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, once wrote that "foreign ships compete for officials and merchants, and the cross gates open to the ocean; five silk and eight silk satin are good, and thirteen rows of money are piled up."

The so-called "thirteen schools" is just a name, but in fact there are more than thirteen schools.Since Qianlong's reign, there were 26 at the most (22 years of Qianlong), and only 4 at the least (46 years of Qianlong).As for the present, there are a total of 20 "Thirteen Banks" in Guangzhou City. The general manager of the Prime Minister's foreign firm is the Pan family of Tongwen Bank. As for the most famous Jardine Bank in later generations, it ranks sixth.

The Cai Shiwen in front of Liu Zheng's family runs a firm called Wanhehang, which ranks second among all firms.

The strangest thing about the Manchu Qing Dynasty was that the Guangdong Customs did not deal directly with foreigners, and all the orders of foreign businessmen who came to Guangzhou were conveyed by the merchants of the Thirteen Banks.The original intention of the Qing Dynasty was to directly manage foreign businessmen with merchants, and directly blackmail the merchants of the Thirteen Banks in case of emergency, and use this to control foreign merchants.

It is said that this method has been implemented well since the 23rd year of Kangxi until the rise of the large-scale opium trade.
On the compass deck, Liu Sheng and Ding Guofeng looked at Cai Shiwen below with binoculars while listening to Zhao Xin's explanation of Thirteen Elements.Only Zhao Xin finally said: "The water here is too deep. If you want to say it clearly, you can't finish it for three days and three nights."

Liu Sheng put down the binoculars and asked, "Then what do you think is going on next?"

"He, He Shen's dog leg in Guangdong. In fact, Guangzhou Customs has another name, called Tianzi Nanku. These people are actually working for the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

Liu Sheng said: "So you are considered a professional manager?"

"No." Zhao Xin shook his head and continued: "They, when they are good, are extravagant and lustful, and when they are unlucky, they confiscate their homes and exile. They are just the emperor's slaves, and they will fall if they say so."

At this time on the deck, Liu Zheng's guard platoon was ready to go, and the two correspondents were also on standby with backpacks equipped with radio equipment.The guards lined up in all-terrain camouflage training uniforms and boonie hats.In the large backpacks on their shoulders, in addition to personal daily necessities, there are packs of gunpowder bullets, and a black holster is pinned to the back waist, which contains the "84-style" revolver produced by Beihai Town.

Next to them, there were more than a dozen one-meter-square boxes with wooden shelves, all wrapped in a layer of canvas, and it was impossible to see what was inside.

Cai Shiwen looked at the 32 people in front of him and was secretly shocked.In his eyes, the unsmiling soldiers of the guard platoon were seen as murderous, which made people frightened.Pointing to the boxes on the deck hesitantly, he said, "This, are these all to be brought on board?"

Liu Zheng nodded and said, "This is already the minimum supplies."

Cai Shiwen's housekeeper said: "Master Liu, how long will you have to transport all these things with our firewood boat?"

"Don't be rude! Don't back down!" Cai Shiwen stared and snapped.He Shen's master sent him a letter in May, which emphasized that they should not neglect this group of people. If something happens, only Cai Shiwen will ask.

Liu Zheng smiled and said, "Boss Cai, don't worry too much, you can bring the boat over, and we will use the crane on the boat to send the supplies down."

"Crane?" Cai Shiwen's eyes lit up, and he cupped his hands quickly and said, "Mr. Liu, to be honest, Mr. Cai has been in business for many years, and he has seen many ships of all kinds going south and north. But your big ship is really rare in the world. Can you take Cai to watch?"

Liu Zheng smiled slightly, raised his hand and said, "Please."

After a visit on the deck, they learned that the Thor was made of steel. Cai Shiwen and his men were extremely surprised, and they wished they could stuff ten eggs into their mouths.He kept asking Liu Zheng how iron could float on water.Liu Zheng explained the relationship between buoyancy, density and acceleration of gravity. Cai Shiwen was amazed and nodded; in fact, he didn't understand a single word.

Afterwards, while the Fuchuan was approaching and the crane was carrying the goods, Liu Zheng took Cai Shiwen to visit the first and second floors of the poop building. As for the third and fourth floors, he was absolutely not allowed to go.However, the first and second floors have already shocked Cai Shiwen, especially when he saw the huge portholes in the restaurant on the second floor, his eyes almost popped out!And Cai Shiwen's housekeeper wished he could cut all the big glass with a carving knife.

Seeing Cai Shiwen yelling when he didn't move, or gasping for air and being speechless, Wang Ping, the servant of Hefu, showed a look of contempt on his face from time to time, thinking that he was really a bunch of ignorant bumpkins!

At this time, Wang Ping seemed to have forgotten that when he first boarded the Thunder God, he was so scared that he peed on the spot.

　The reason why the Thirteen Banks had a special status throughout the history of the Qing Dynasty was that in addition to collecting tariffs on behalf of the Guangdong Customs for trading ships in China, as the "diplomatic department" of the Qing court, it also shouldered foreign economic functions.First, the merchants jointly determine the prices of import and export commodities; second, customs duties are collected on behalf of the customs.In the early days, when foreign merchant ships came to Guangzhou for trade, in addition to paying shipping notes and excise taxes, there were 38 kinds of "regular gift silver" with various names and various names.As for the export, it is even more outrageous, with as many as [-] kinds of charging items, which makes the businessmen who come to China have a big headache.At first, these stipends were collected privately by officials, servants, etc., and later they were paid by insurers.Whenever a foreign merchant ship comes to Guangzhou for trade, one of the thirteen lines is first selected as a "guarantor".The insurer is responsible for all affairs of foreign businessmen, including sales and purchase of goods, board and lodging arrangements, safety of life and property, delivery of government orders, collection of import and export duties and other fees.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)