Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 267 Beihai Town's Warning
Two days later, when Zheng Lianchang saw Zhao Xin and the others on Tanzai Island, he asked eagerly, "Captain Zhao, is my Zheng Yi okay?"

He came to send people to Zhao Xin; fifty shipwrights, a hundred sailors, and their families.

A day earlier, the Danjia fishing boat responsible for investigating the situation of the Leishen reported to the Zheng family in Leiyumen that the Leishen had defeated the Qing army's water camp.After Zheng Lianchang heard about it, he no longer dared to be negligent, and brought Zhao Xinyao's people to Tanzai Island the next day.

Zhao Xin was very happy when he saw the Shrimp Ball family among the people sent by Zheng Lianchang; and when Zheng Lianchang saw Zheng Yi, Zheng Qi and others intact, he finally felt relieved.

After two days of talking with Zheng Yi, Zhao Xin heard a somewhat familiar name, Guo Podai.So after exchanging greetings with Zheng Lianchang, he proposed to ask for another person.

When Zheng Lianchang covered his face and saw Vice Admiral Shi and Li Dagang who were tied up like hairy crabs in Tong'an boat, he no longer wanted to wrestle with Zhao Xin, and quickly ordered his men to go back and bring Guo Po's family over.

A small number of shipbuilders have built lucky boats and driven boats, while others have only repaired boats.The sailors looked strong and strong, but all of them had black faces and short bodies, and clearly discernible rib forks were clearly visible in the open plackets; at first glance, they were overstretched and malnourished.

As for the family members, it was even more unsightly. The old people, women and children were all barefoot, with hungry faces, and their clothes were torn like mops.They carried a tattered bundle containing all the belongings they could carry.

Zhao Xin asked A Miao to take a group of crew and soldiers to bathe, disinfect and change their clothes first; as for those belongings, they were thrown on the deck for the time being and sprayed with disinfectant.Soldiers wearing masks picked and picked among the rags, leaving the useful ones, and throwing all the rags and the like into the sea.

Seeing such a scene, Zhao Xin sullenly said to Zheng Lianchang who was wearing a satin shirt, "Master Zheng, can't you even feed and clothe your subordinates?"

"Captain Zhao, there are more than 3000 people in the Red Gang, I, I can't take care of them at all." Zheng Lianchang didn't even believe his reasons.He eats big fish and meat every day, and the woman on the Guangzhou flower boat hugs him, so he doesn't care about the lives of the people under his hands.

At this time, Zheng Yi, who was standing aside, pondered for a moment, glanced at Zheng Qi, and Zheng Qi understood.The two walked up to Zheng Lianchang, knelt down on the deck with a puff, and kowtowed three times to Zheng Lianchang.

"Ah Yi, what are you going to do?!" Zheng Lianchang trembled in his heart, as if he understood what his son meant.

"Father, forgive my son for his unfilial piety. My son decided to go north with Mr. Zhao to learn his skills for a few years." Zheng Yi still rested his head on the deck, and continued: "These days, Mr. Zhao, Mr. Liu and Mr. Ding give me It made a lot of sense. I want to work with Ah Qi to find a different way for our Dan family!"

Zheng Lianchang was heartbroken, and stared angrily: "Ah Yi, you are the eldest son! You are leaving, who will I pass on to?!"

"Father, I finally figured it out these days. Dominating the Pearl River Estuary is not a real hero; going ashore to kidnap and loot is not chivalry! I want to fight against the Qing Dynasty with Captain Zhao and the others! For Grandpa and Guo Xingye, fulfill their wishes !” Zheng Yi raised his head with a determined face.

"Alas!" Zheng Lianchang regretted to death at this time, he would have known that he would not let Zheng Yi go out in the first few days.But now it seems that everything is too late.He walked back and forth on the deck several times, stomped his feet heavily and said, "Okay! You go. I won't treat you as my son! But please remember, if you don't look like a human being, you are not allowed to come back!"

He then said to Zheng Qi: "Xiao Qi, you have taken a good look at your brother Wen Xian. You two have grown up together since childhood, you."

"Uncle, don't worry. If I risk my life, I will protect brother one!" Zheng Qi kowtowed three times after finishing speaking.

Zheng Lianchang turned around and walked in front of Zhao Xin, and suddenly knelt down on one knee.Zhao Xin quickly stepped forward to support him, only to hear Zheng Lianchang say: "Captain Zhao, Wen Xian is determined to go with you, but I can't persuade you anymore. They are young and ignorant, and I was the one who got into trouble before. .From now on, in case the two of them offend in any way, I just beg you to hold your hand high! My Zheng family can't be extinct!"

Zhao Xin said warmly: "Boss Zheng, what you said is off the mark. Since Zheng Yi and Zheng Qi come with me to learn skills, then we are a family. In the future, we will help each other with things, and I have something to ask you here."

After finishing speaking, he took Zheng Lianchang to an empty and deserted place and whispered a few words. Zheng Lianchang hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

In the cockpit, Ding Guofeng watched the scene of kneeling on the deck, turned to Liu Sheng and said, "Da Liu, do you feel that Zhao Xin is a little different from the previous days?"

Liu Sheng stroked his chin, nodded thoughtfully, and said, "Well, a little bit. But I can't tell, maybe I was sick a while ago."

Ding Guofeng said: "I always feel weird, it seems that he is different from before."

Liu Sheng narrowed his eyes and said, "Oh? Be more specific."

"The spirit of the whole person has changed a little, and there is a posture of saying nothing."

Liu Sheng was amused for a moment, and said, "Wouldn't it work if you talked with him before?"

"That's not true, forget it anyway, I'm just thinking about it."

Taking advantage of Zheng Lianchang's farewell to his son and waiting for Mrs. Guo to be brought back, Zhao Xin found Lu Shoushan and asked, "What did Deputy General Shi say?"

Lu Shoushan said: "The order to send troops was given by the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Sun Shiyi. But Sun Shiyi also said that if he misses, let the surname Shi carry it by himself, and he will help in the back."

Zhao Xin frowned and said, "What happened to Ma Benchu ​​and those women?"

Lu Shoushan said: "This is also an order from Sun Shiyi, and it was arranged by the book office surnamed Sun. Sun Shiyi found several experts to ask about the method, saying that he borrowed from Qingshui's tricks when he taught Wang Lun to deal with the army. The woman was an old bustard who was found from various brothels in Xiangshan County; and that Ma Benchu ​​was a Taoist priest from the Sanyuan Palace outside Guangzhou. Destroy our Thor. Sir, what to do with these prisoners?"

"Hmph, I think Sun Shiyi didn't cry when he saw the coffin, so he took him back to reform through labor. There is still a shortage of people on Solenji Island!"

"Yes." Lu Shoushan nodded after listening.

Zhao Xin said in a low voice at this time: "Shoushan, this time you will go back to Beihai Town with me, let Xu Dayong watch over Sheyang Lake first. Now our communication stations are all built, even if they are far away, You'll know quickly what's going on."

Lu Shoushan admired: "The master brought it is really a magic weapon, and you can hear it clearly even thousands of miles away!"

"What magic weapon? That's science! After you go back this time, you should go to the training team to return to the stove first. If you have nothing to do, go to school to listen to two more classes. Manqing pretends to be a ghost, we can't do it!"

"This subordinate understands." After finishing the business, Lu Shoushan said with a smile on his face: "Master, you are engaged to Miss Shen's family, and this subordinate has not congratulated you yet."

Zhao Xin patted Lu Shoushan on the shoulder and said: "Our relationship is different from that of others. It is enough if you want to. After you finish training from the teaching team, I will give you a regiment. In the future, don't call 'Master' in public, but call the chief I'll think about other things first, and I'll tell you when I think about it."

Lu Shoushan immediately stood at attention and saluted, "Yes."

A day later, the Thor weighed anchor and left Tanzai Island.The first stop for Zhao Xin and the others was Swallow Bay on the west side of Dahengqin Island, and the British businessmen who were facing disaster never dreamed that the Sires would know the location of the smuggling base.

In Swallow Bay, the muzzles of the two D30 guns on the Raytheon were flattened, and without a word, they bombarded the opium base in Swallow Bay.This surprised the British merchants on the island and the British crew who stayed temporarily. They didn't understand how they had offended these Sires.

As crates of opium were turned into powder in the artillery fire, the smuggling base that the British had worked so hard to build for many years was wiped out in less than an hour.The Trust and Eliza anchored in Swallow Bay tried to fight back, but the next few shells sank the two three-masted merchant ships in the bay.

Dr. Higgins was drenched and swam onto the beach with a plank in his arms. In front of his eyes were groups of bursting flames and screaming compatriots. Shah; the sea is full of crew members who fell into the water and called for help.And farther away, the blue and white Thor was still spouting anger.

"God! Even if you want to monopolize the opium business in Guangzhou, why do you ignore innocent lives!"

Zhao Xin couldn't hear Higgins' complaint. In his eyes, none of the British who came to this sea area was innocent.

Not long after the British screamed in bewilderment, the Niangma Pavilion Fort located on the west side of Xiwan, Macau was also bombarded by the Thor.This is the largest fort except the Sanba Fort in the center of Macau City, with a total of 25 artillery pieces.

When the first shell fell, most people in the city thought that the powder depot exploded somewhere.But immediately after two shells fell one after another, the defenders on the fort of Niangma Pavilion realized that they were under attack.

By the time the artillery on the Sanba Fort was loaded and ready to fire, the Niangma Pavilion Fort had already been killed and wounded. All kinds of copper and iron cannons were blown up in disorder, and some even fell into the sea from the high fort. The impenetrable stone fortress was bombed beyond recognition.

Just when the Macao and Portuguese authorities were at a loss and launched a city-wide mobilization, a Danjia fishing boat sailing from Tanzai Island sent a letter to the Macao City Hall.

The letter was written by Liu Sheng. He gave two silver dollars from Beihai Town to a fisherman on Tanzai Island, and asked him to send them to Matos.When Matos opened the letter in surprise, a line of Chinese characters appeared in his eyes, and the signature was "Victory Lau".

Seeing this familiar name, Matos quickly thought of the tall Siris in a white navy suit.Although he could speak Cantonese, he was not familiar with Chinese characters, so he immediately sent for a Chinese translator.But when the Chinese saw the contents of the letter, his face turned pale.

"What did the letter say?!" Matos roared angrily.

"The above said, said" the Chinese translator was so frightened that he stuttered and couldn't speak.

Matos grabbed the other party's collar and said angrily: "I swear to the Holy Mother, if you hesitate again, you will be hanged immediately!"

"The above said that if they dare to smuggle opium to Guangzhou again, they will blow up Macau." The Chinese translator rolled his eyes and was already out of breath by Matossler.Only then did Matos loosen his collar, letting the other party collapse on the ground and gasp for breath.

"Crazy! These Serisians are crazy!" Matos yelled angrily.He yelled and cursed for a while, and then translated to the Chinese: "Get up! Come with me to see the governor!"

At the same time, on the Shamian Wharf outside Guangzhou, a man with a greasy face and a smell of sweat jumped quickly onto the trestle from a watermelon boat that had just docked.He rushed up to the pier quickly, saw the carriage waiting to take the guests, and jumped over in a few strides. While climbing onto the carriage, he said to the driver: "Quick! Go to the governor's office! Go!"

The coachman smelled the other party's sweat and was wearing a dirty satin gown. He stretched out his hand and said, "Master, I owe you twenty coins!"

The man said anxiously: "I don't have any money with me now, I will give it to you when I get to the Governor's Mansion! Go away!"

Unexpectedly, the coachman was also a temper tantrum, squinting his eyes and said: "I've seen a lot of people like you. When you arrive at the Governor's Mansion, if you still have no money, who should I talk to?"

The man held back his anger, rubbed his body for a long time, finally unbuttoned it, took off his long gown and threw it into the driver's hand.

"Is it okay to use this clothes?"

The coachman pinched his nose and looked at the clothes. Although it was a little dirty, it was not torn, and it could be worth dozens of dollars if sold at a pawn shop.Only then did he release the brakes and lead the horse towards the city gate.

Half an hour later, the carriage finally arrived at the gate of the Governor's Mansion of Guangdong and Guangxi.Before the coachman could speak, the person sitting in the car had already jumped out of the car, one of the soles of his feet was covered with garlic, and he fell hard on the ground.The man scrambled to his feet, and ran towards the side door of the governor's office in a disheveled manner.

Mr. Qian, who was guarding the door, saw a disheveled guy running towards him, and was about to go forward to chase him away, only to hear the man say, "I'm Sun Shuban, is Sun Zhitai here? I have something very urgent! "

When Mr. Qian saw the man's face clearly, he was surprised and said, "It's really Mr. Sun! Who is this?"

Sun Shuban took out a crumpled letter from his coat, handed it to the Chief Qian and said, "Quick! Hand it over to Sun Zhitai right away, if it's too late, it's too late!" After speaking, he crouched on the ground .

A quarter of an hour later, there was a "clang" sound from the signing room of the Governor's Mansion, and then an old man shouted angrily, "How dare you, a thief!"

Sun Shiyi in the room was trembling with anger, and two staff members were consoling him.The teacup on the ground was smashed to pieces, and on the table in front of him was a letter written by Zhao Xin:
"Governor Sun of Guangdong and Guangxi, if you want to steal chickens, don't be afraid of losing rice. Today's bombardment of the former cottage is to teach you a lesson! If you dare to harass our people in Guangzhou, I will bombard Guangzhou City and block the Pearl River waterway. I think What are you going to tell Qianlong! In addition, your subordinates are too cowardly, I will take you to the north to practice for you. Zhao Xin."

"Come on!" Sun Shiyi shouted to the door.

As soon as the words fell, a personal soldier Goshha came in, knelt on the ground and said: "Please order the platform."

"Immediately pass on my order! Let the forts of Nanshan, Hengpan, and Sanmen prepare to meet the enemy, charge and load ammunition, and if an enemy ship invades, fire and destroy it!" Sun Shiyi took a token from the stick after finishing speaking , to Ghoshha.

The three forts mentioned by Sun Shiyi are the Humen forts in the Qianlong period.Humen, known as Hutoumen in ancient times, generally refers to the Pearl River waterway between Nansha District of Guangzhou and Humen Town of Dongguan. It is named after the two mountains of Dahu and Xiaohu protruding from the Pearl River.In the Qing Dynasty, successive governors of Guangdong and Guangxi proposed to the Qing court to strengthen local defense management facilities.

In the 56th year of Kangxi, the Qing government started to build fortifications in Humen, and then successively added battlements, artillery holes, barracks, gunpowder bureaus and other facilities, forming the initial state of the Humen fort group.Therefore, the current defense system in Humen consists of only three forts at Nanshan, Hengpan, and Sanmen, and the two counties of Nanhai and Panyu jointly undertake the "integrated inspection and prevention".

The main task of Humenkou right now is to collect taxes.The Guangdong Customs sent officers to board the ship at Humenkou to measure the length of the Western merchant ships coming to Guangzhou, and then collected the ship notes at Huangpukou.At the same time, it supervises the unloading of gun positions and prohibited goods by imported merchant ships, and collects registration miscellaneous fees here.

It is about the emperor Nanku, can Sun Shiyi not be angry, can he not be in a hurry?If Humenkou is bombarded, the income of Guangdong Customs will inevitably be greatly reduced. At that time, whether it is Qianlong or the princes and ministers of the Manchu Dynasty, they will eat him!

On July 51, the 23st year of Qianlong's leap, the former Shanzhai military camp located on the northwest side of Macau Island was bombarded by Beihai Town.On that day, there were constant explosions throughout the former cottage, and the docks, warships, and barracks of the Xiangshan Xie Navy Battalion were all shelled.The people in Xiangshan County also heard the sound of the rumbling guns, and the neighbors from the surrounding villages helped the old and the young to flee to Xiangshan County to seek refuge.

Many people were so frightened that they hid under the beds at home and shivered, not daring to go out at all.The Xiangshan county magistrate and the Haiphong yamen were too frightened to show up. The 70-year-old Haiphong co-prefect Chen Xinhuai almost hanged himself.

As for the Australian and Portuguese authorities, of course they also heard the sound of gunfire.Liu Sheng's warning still rings in my ears. Facing a big iron ship that can fire a cannon one kilometer away, the Australian and Portuguese authorities dare not even fart!
In the following years, whenever the big white boat was mentioned inside or outside the city of Guangzhou, everyone's expression changed, and even children dared not cry at night when they heard it.

　The Humen Fort defense system, which is widely known in later generations, will not be built until after Jiaqing succeeds to the throne.During the Jiaqing period, Shajiao, Xinyong, Jiaomen, Zhenyuan, Hengdang Platform, and Dahu Terrace were built; Dajiao, Weiyuan, Yongan, Jianji, and Jingyuan Terraces were built in the early Daoguang period.Since then, the largest coastal defense fort group in China at that time was formed, and it was used to form three lines of defense.During the Opium War, the Humen Fort was outdated and used as decoration.Moreover, there are great flaws in the design of the fort. Many fort designs only focus on the side facing the sea. The front of the fort is very strong, equipped with a large number of gun holes and battlements to prevent the enemy from attacking the fort from the front.However, the defense behind the fort was ignored. The fortifications and fortifications behind the fort were far inferior to the front of the fort. As a result, a large number of forts were captured by the enemy from the rear during the first and second Opium Wars.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)