Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 260 "Monster" is out
"Bang bang bang~~~bang bang bang~~~"

With the sound of heavy machine guns on the Thunder God, the hard sails of a two-masted black boat belonging to the Zheng Shihong Gang were smashed to pieces in an instant.Immediately afterwards, the mainmast began to catch fire.

The black boat that was shot is a unique type of ship in Dongguan, commonly known as "big-eyed chicken".The whole ship is made of iron wood. The length of the ship is ten feet, the width is three feet, and the thickness of the board is seven inches.The cost of each ship is as high as 800 to [-] taels of silver. For the same price, you can buy five Fuchuan of the same tonnage in the Minzhe area.

When the Raytheon first started shooting, the Red Flag Pirates were unaware, so when they heard the loud noise of lightning and thunder not far away, they looked at each other, looked at you, and looked up at the sky. Drought and thunder.

But as the wooden skeleton on the top of the hard sail was smashed, bamboo chips and wood fell to the deck, all the pirates on the big-eyed chicken reacted, and ran around the deck in fright, crying for their father and mother.

At this time, other ships lifted their anchors and oars to escape, but only a few people on board shouted at their subordinates: "Come over! Save the people on board!"

Hearing the continuous explosions outside, Zheng Lianchang and others didn't understand why, but Zheng Yi's face changed drastically.He rushed to the round porthole and looked out, only to see that it was Zheng Lianchang's boat that was shot and caught fire.

In the entire Red Gang, there are only two of these sturdy big-eyed chickens in total. The others are white clam boats, tugboats, and even a lot of single-masted fishing boats.

At this moment, Zheng Lianchang and the others also leaned over to the porthole, and when they saw their boat on fire, their complexions suddenly turned pale.

"Captain Zhao, Mr. Zhao, please stop the fire! There are still many people on board!" Zheng Yipong knelt down to Zhao Xin, begging.

"Cease fire." Zhao Xin gave an order into the walkie-talkie.

The movement of the Thunder God caused the entire Tanzi Island Bay to explode again.The resting crew members of the merchant ships came to the deck to check what was going on, and the Danjia fishermen who were selling food and fresh water were frightened and hurried back to the shore.

Among the crews of the various merchant ships, there were those who often came to Macau, and when they saw the flags of Zheng’s fleet, they understood what was going on, and secretly applauded; those who didn’t understand were at a loss, and asked other old sailors.

Seeing that the Thunder God dared to challenge the order of the Qing Dynasty and Macao and Portugal in this area again, all the foreign captains were afraid and jealous; they thought that if they had such a big iron ship, the fort in Humen would be nothing. How dare I drive directly into the Pearl River!

After the gunfire stopped, the people on the big-eyed rooster were busy putting out the fire, and several nearby boats also came to help.After a fuss, it was finally splashed with water, but the deck was already in a mess.The top of the cabin between the two masts was burned with a large hole by the falling sail. The burning mainmast looked like a half-burnt matchstick; the upper half was steaming, It was scorched black.

Zheng Lianchang and the others looked very ugly, they turned around and looked at Zhao Xin, who was standing behind several soldiers with guns, and said, "Captain Zhao, I, I agree."

Zhao Xin's expression was still calm, and he looked at Zheng Lianchang coldly and said: "Master Zheng, the conditions have changed. Within ten days, fifty shipwrights, one hundred sailors and their families, you send them here, and I will pay you." Pay as you like; 50 taels per person for relocation."

Zheng Lianchang knew that the other party was slapping a sweet date, but he was under the eaves, so he nodded helplessly.

"In addition, Zheng Yi and Zheng Qi should wait here for a few days until everyone arrives. Don't worry, as long as you don't mess around, they won't lose a single finger." Zhao Xin got up and left the conference room after speaking.

Looking at the soldiers who came to take him and Zheng Qi away, Zheng Yi sighed and said to Zheng Lianchang: "Father, do you understand? He can beat us with a quick cannon. In the future, the Pearl River Estuary It's going to change!"

Zheng Lianchang came aggressively and left in a hurry, but he still left a few boats nearby to watch.

Standing on the deck, Zhao Xin looked at the fleet of Hongqi Gang going away, and said to a platoon leader beside him, "I inform everyone that from today onwards, no one is allowed to go shopping when there are fishing boats coming to sell goods. Boom away. After dark at night, everyone went back to the ship building to take turns on duty. If someone dared to climb onto the deck, he fired a warning shot for the first time, and shot directly for the second time."

"Chief, what do you mean?"

"The fishermen in this sea are Dan family members, we have to be careful."

"Yes! I will notify everyone immediately."

Zhao Xin went to the communication room without looking back. He asked the communication soldiers to connect to Beihai Town, and then drove the two of them out.

"My lord, I'm here." The person speaking opposite was Li Ji.

"Have Katsu Kaishu and Jiuzang come?"

"My lord, we are all here."

"Don't miss a single word of what I'm going to say!"

"Ha ha!"

Zhao Xin's call lasted more than an hour.

In the past few days, Zhao Xin was not very interested in doing anything because of Yupei's affairs at the beginning, and all he thought about was how to survive in the future.In addition, he is also speculating on how those time travelers will react once they know they can't go back.

After going through the initial panic, despair, and even discouragement, Zhao Xin calmed down and made a decision, he was going to start preparing for the fall, just in case.

Since yesterday, he has been on the phone with Li Ji and made some arrangements. After learning about the current situation in Beihai Town, he asked Li Ji to find Sheng Haizhou, Jiu Zang and others.After Liji received Zhao Xin's order, although he was a little strange, he still followed Zhao Xin's order to find Sheng Haizhou, Jiuzang, Wanzao and the others to communicate secretly.

Today, Zhao Xin explained to Li Ji and the three of them separately.And when Zhao Xin finished the arrangement, Sheng Haizhou and the others started a private connection that night.

In addition to the seven people who followed Zhao Xin at the beginning, Pan Xiucheng, Seldan and his son, Yalha, the old man in charge of the military warehouse, several small bosses in the workshop, and a certain nurse in the hospital who was second only to Director Liu The person in charge of the department, Wan Zao's wife, Zhi Nai and others were also notified secretly in the next few days.These people finally came up with a letter of allegiance, and the relevant people all pressed their bloody fingerprints on it.

If it wasn't for Zhao Xin's control over the number and hierarchy, maybe the platoon leaders of each squad in the army would have to sign their names with blood marks.

Many times, people often do things that deviate from their original intentions in order to survive.If nothing happened to Yupei, Zhao Xin didn't care much about many things.The big deal is to do it alone and send all these people back, and it is nothing more than difficult for me.

Although Beihai Town is now seeing improvement, the living environment is still very severe, and the industrial development has only made a small start.Historically, agricultural societies engaged in industrialization, all through the scissors difference between industry and agriculture, sacrificing farmers to promote industrial development.Zhao Xin avoided this situation by relying on the jade pendant. Now that the jade pendant is unusable, as large-scale equipment cannot be used in the future, the development of the industry will enter a period of stagnation.

If civil strife occurs at this time, Zhao Xin's hard work and investment in the past few years will be in vain, and Beihai Town will not be able to get out of the black land.

Zhao Xin didn't know what kind of "monster" he had released at this time, but when he realized it, it was already a few years later.

In the afternoon of the next day, Liu Sheng and his group returned, accompanied by dozens of Portuguese, men, women and children, and several of them were of Chinese-Portuguese mixed race.

"Your Excellency, my name is Rodrigo Joao Pereira. My colleagues and I are very happy to work for you in the future." The speaker was a middle-aged man in his 30s, with a medium build and a thin build. Fluent in Cantonese, with a big beard on his chin.

According to Liu Sheng, this man named Pereira is an engineer who graduated from the Faculty of Science of the University of Coimbra in Portugal. After coming to Macau, he has been engaged in engineering design work in the municipal council.Pereira has a wife and two children. He was living a good life when he was young, but he was cheated because of his silk investment. Not only did he lose all his savings, but he also owed a sum of money.

Zhao Xin shook hands with Pereira with a smile, and said, "Welcome, Mr. Pereira. But excuse my ignorance, is the University of Coimbra famous?"

Pereira said respectfully: "Yes, Your Excellency. This is a school with a long history, which is comparable to the University of Paris and Oxford University. It has been established for almost 500 years. The famous priest Christopher Claude Graduated here."

Zhao Xin blinked, never heard of it.He didn't know that the University of Coimbra was founded in 1290 and is one of the oldest universities in Europe. The earliest colleges established were the Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Law, the Academy of Canon Law, the Academy of Medicine, and the Academy of Art.Historically, the school was the only university in Portugal from its foundation until the beginning of the 20th century.

As for the Christopher Claude Pereira mentioned, he lived in the 17th century, and he made extraordinary achievements in the fields of mathematics and astronomy.But this man was also Copernicus' staunchest opponent.

A dozen or so Portuguese craftsmen with their families came with Pereira.These people have all worked in Macau shipyards, including three carpenters, five blacksmiths and four general shipbuilders.Now the shipyards in Macau can only manufacture Cantonese boats and fishing boats. Chinese craftsmen are far more proficient in these types of boats than Portuguese, and their salaries are also lower. Naturally, some Portuguese are unemployed.After these people heard from the Macau Municipal Committee that Liu Sheng was going to recruit craftsmen, they applied with the mood of giving it a try. Liu Sheng and Ding Guofeng finally selected these people.

The income of senior shipbuilders in Europe these days is very good. In addition to being able to draw design drawings by themselves, they can also get commissions from apprentices; but the income of ordinary shipbuilders and apprentices can only maintain basic survival.

Although Liu Sheng mentioned that Beihai Town is far away from Macau, the salary he offered was not low.Except for Pereira's annual salary of 300 double-column silver coins, the basic annual salary of the others is 150 double-column silver coins, as well as bonuses and accommodation arrangements.The Spanish double-column silver coins of this year are the main currency in Southeast Asian trade, with an average weight of 26.8 grams and a silver content of about 90.3%.Converted to the silver coins of Beihai Town, the 150 yuan Shuangzhu coin is almost 540 yuan of Beihai silver coins.

"These people can only be recruited. No matter how many people there are, the shipbuilding industry association in Macau will not be happy."

Dozens of Portuguese looked at the Thor with different expressions, and let out bursts of exclamation from time to time.After Zhao Xin greeted these people one by one, the sailors of the Thunder God took them to arrange accommodation.

"Did you buy the wood?"

Liu Sheng handed Zhao Xin an envelope, and said: "I ordered a batch of iron wood and teak wood, which cost about 5000 taels of silver; in addition, there are some tea leaves, export porcelain, cotton and woolen cloth. They are responsible for handling the formalities, and they will pay the export tax on their behalf, and they will send a ship to deliver it in three days, this is the contract."

When the three of them returned to the cockpit, Zhao Xin said to Liu Sheng and Ding Guofeng: "Tell you two something, we have to wait here for more than ten days before leaving."

"Ten days?! What happened?"

Zhao Xin said helplessly: "As soon as you left, the communication point at Sheyang Lake was connected."

When Zhao Xin finished talking about the situation, Liu Sheng and Ding Guofeng asked strangely, "Why are they here?"

Zhao Xin shook his head and said, "I don't know. No one can contact me now, so we have to wait!"

Then, he told the two about Zheng Yi and the others, and reminded them to be careful these few days.Although it is said that big fists are masters, but this group of people belong to the guys who are more delicate than monkeys with glued hair.

Liu Sheng slapped his head at this moment: "Look at my memory, I almost forgot something. I found out the British opium base, which is in Swallow Bay on the west side of Hengqin Island."

Zhao Xin said in surprise: "Hey? You can find out all this! How do you know?"

Liu Sheng said proudly: "I invited everyone to drink at the bar last night, and then I spent five double-column silver dollars to get it from an Irish sailor."

Ding Guofeng said with a smile: "Da Liu is shaking this time, the governor personally received him. Several Portuguese women kept winking at him, but unfortunately he didn't appreciate it."

Zhao Xin joked: "That's right, Liu is thinking about the little stars in Heilongjiang Estuary."

Liu Sheng ignored the teasing of the two, and continued to Zhao Xin: "I did think about the opium thing simply before. I have to apologize to you."

Zhao Xin waved his hand with a smile and asked, "The changes have been so great, what did you see when you went to Macau?"

Ding Guofeng said solemnly: "All the foreign firms in the city are selling opium, and the Portuguese are also smuggling it. Although the Qing Dynasty had a ban, the investigation is not strict. According to what we learned in the bar, opium that flows into Guangdong every year There are more than two thousand boxes of opium."

Zhao Xin nodded and said: "The Man Qing only cares about how much money the trade can bring. As for the life and death of the common people, no one cares. If you want to manage this matter, you must commit the same crime as the traffickers."

Liu Sheng said: "We have to come up with a law when we go back, and shoot if we find it."

Zhao Xin said with a smile: "Come on, I still think it's a waste of bullets, so I send them to mine coal in Ezo."

Ding Guofeng asked: "What about the opium stronghold on Hengqin Island?"

Zhao Xin thought for a while and said, "It must be destroyed! Let the British know our attitude."

Liu Shengdao: "But what if we go ahead and the British build on the back?"

Zhao Xindao: "So as I said before, this is not a matter of simply venting anger. It is useless to destroy a stronghold and a few ships. A steady stream of opium will still be brought in. The forces of all parties here at the Pearl River Estuary are intertwined, unless We have brought in all the power at sea. The effect is not great, and the gain outweighs the loss."

Liu Shengdao: "Then what do you think? You don't know. I was so angry that I almost smashed the foreign company. Guofeng said that you must have a way."

Zhao Xin changed the subject and asked, "How many forts are there in Macau? Have you both figured it out?"

Liu and Ding nodded and said, "Six forts and more than 120 small cannons. We also bought a hand-painted map of Macau from a Frenchman."

Zhao Xin nodded and said: "You two first talk about what you have learned in the past two days. Allow me a few days to think about this matter carefully."

Liu Sheng and Ding Guofeng spent more than two hours describing their experience in Macau in detail, and Zhao Xin gradually got a clue, but it was still difficult to solve.

If you want to control the inflow of opium by force, you must control the waters off the Pearl River Estuary, including the various islands.This task is too heavy, and it is necessary to establish two fleets to patrol and be on duty for a long time.Besides, if the Pearl River estuary is blocked, will these people take the risk and go to Fujian?
The only way right now is to negotiate with the British and Portuguese to see what alternatives are available.But the question is, in what capacity does Zhao Xin talk to others?Guangdong is still the territory of the Manchu Qing, why should people listen to you? !
In fact, if you really want to do it once and for all, you need to send a fleet to take down and occupy Malacca externally, blocking the passage of opium into and out of Southeast Asia; internally, you must strictly control the opium trade, implement a medical monopoly system, and use thunder to ban opium users.

Unfortunately, with the current strength of Beihai Town, neither of these two things can be done.

Time passed day by day, and in the next five days, two merchant ships from Macau delivered all the supplies ordered by Liu Sheng and the others.Zhao Xin paid for the goods with the bank note that Ma 83 had given him earlier.

Seeing the crane on the Raytheon easily hoist the heavy timber from the sailboat to the ship, this aroused the surprise of many crew members on the surrounding sailboats; some sailboats even sent people to inquire about the price of the marine crane.

During this period, Liu Sheng and Ding Guofeng used drones to conduct surveys of the opium smuggling base on Hengqin Island more than a dozen times in a row, and determined the location of the other party's warehouse and the number of people stationed there.During the investigation, Liu Sheng accidentally discovered the figures of the Eliza and the Trust.

However, the accidental stay of the Thunder God on Tanzai Island has caused uneasiness among officials in Guangzhou.

　Big-eyed Chicken: A type of Cantonese Fuchuan, with two or three masts.The shape of the ship is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, the bow is like a fish, the bottom of the ship is pointed and round, and the stern has a hollow, forming a platform with railings. stateroom.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)