Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Wu Siyu noticed Wang Changsheng's slightly excited expression and felt quite emotional.

This "second boss" from Chongming Island has joined Beihai Town for ten years. When they met by chance on Flower and Bird Island, if he had raised the muzzle of his gun one inch higher, the other party would probably be beaten.

Of course Wang Changsheng didn't know that he was almost turned into an eunuch by Wu Siyu. After working as a secret agent for so many years, his personality has become more calm and steady, and his excitement is fleeting. He thinks that the other party called him all the way here, not just to tell him this.

Sure enough, Wu Siyu put out the cigarette butt in his hand, squinted his eyes and asked: "What is your layout in Jiangnan these years? I am referring to the situation in Green Camp and the garrison in the Eight Banners."

Wang Changsheng pondered for a moment and replied simply: "We have people from Chongming Navy, Langshan Town, Taihu Navy, Wusongkou and Jiangyin Forts, and garrison camps in each city. Some of them were placed through connections, and some were recruited by Xiao Yi Dayi secretly took refuge. As for the Eight Banners garrisoned in Jiangning and Jingkou, everyone from the deputy commander to the assistant leader is related."

Wu Siyu's eyebrows jumped after hearing this, and he was very surprised. He didn't expect Beihai Town to have built such a huge intelligence network in the Jiangnan area. He wanted to ask in detail, but he opened his mouth and swallowed back the words.

Even though the Intelligence Bureau has been a subordinate agency of the Northern Navy Staff Department since its establishment, in fact, Zhao Xin has always been responsible for intelligence matters, and he has never been in the hands of others. Although Wu Siyu is an entrepreneurial veteran and close comrade-in-arms, he also knows what can and cannot be touched. Then he explained the tasks that the Intelligence Bureau would undertake in this deterrence operation.

"Your mission is to prevent the Qing navy from jumping over the wall and sinking ships in the Jiangyin area to seal the river. If Jiangyin cannot pass, the fleet's deterrence is meaningless. In addition, the forts at Wusongkou and Jiangyin also have to work to reduce the damage as much as possible. At the minimum, otherwise we will have to clean up the mess in the end, and the gain outweighs the loss."

Jiangyin is located in the throat area of ​​the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The river is only 1.25 kilometers wide. It is the narrowest part of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. It is shaped like a trumpet and the terrain is very dangerous. It has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times.

Starting from the third year of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty, in order to prevent Japanese pirates from invading the Yangtze River, the Ming court set up Jinghai and Chaoyang Passes outside Huangtian Port and Chunhui Gate, and built dozens of beacon towers along the river. During the Chongzhen period, eleven more Hongyi cannons were installed in Dashiwan and Xiaoshiwan.

In the second year of Kangxi's reign, in order to prevent Taiwan's Zheng family from attacking Jiangning again, the Qing government set up forts at Huangshan and other key points along the river, and rebuilt the beacon warning system from Huangshan to Xiaoshan. Over the next 100 years, there were no more wars or worries about pirates in the Jiangnan region. The Jiangnan Green Camp became increasingly useless, and the forts became decorations.

In the 49th year of Qianlong's reign, Zhao Xin and others robbed dozens of "skinny horses" in Yangzhou, and then crossed Jiangyin with great swagger. The defenders along the coast and the green camp all stared blankly and did not fire a single shot. As soon as the news came out, the government and the public were shocked.

This move was simply a slap in the face of the Qing court, so Lan Yuanmei, the newly appointed governor of Jiangnan, became the biggest unlucky one. He was locked up in the prison of the Ministry of Justice and imprisoned for several years. It was not until the Lin Shuangwen Rebellion that he was re-appointed and took up the post. The counselor led the troops to Taiwan.

In order to prevent Beihai Town from invading the south of the Yangtze River again, the Qing government began to build additional forts on Chongming Island in Wusongkou in the 50th year of Qianlong's reign. At the same time, it expanded the scale of the Huangshan fort and built additional forts such as Shipai and Huangtian Ports. There are many forts equipped with hundreds of newly cast cannons, including a [-]-jin iron cannon known as the "General Yangwei" and several [-]-jin iron cannons.

Who would have expected that in the 55th year of Qianlong's reign, the Qing court would be slapped in the face again, and it was a big slap.

Beihai Town sent people to openly attack the government office in Yangzhou late at night and rob the prison. Then they openly rushed out of the north gate with more than 100 people from the Jiao Xun, Zhong Huai, and Huang Chengji families, took a boat down the river, and crossed Jiangyin without any danger. The blockade of the fort and Wusongkou fort once again shocked the world.

At that time, Qianlong was almost mad when he received the plea. Although he was furious, he ordered to interrogate the relevant people, but he also understood that it was difficult to block Beihai Town's clippers and artillery with only forts and water camps.

When he was frowning, the new Jiangnan Admiral Wang Bingshangzhezi came up with an idea, which was to stockpile dozens of large sand ships along the Huangtian Port and the Jingjiang River on the other side. The cabins were filled with rocks in advance. Once the Northern Navy invaded, The shipwreck directly blocked the waterway and implemented a blockade.

Well, the majestic Qingshui Master did not dare to fight with the North Sea pirates overseas, so he could only hide in the inland river and sink ships to defend himself. It was really cowardly and opened the door for cowardice - cowardice to the extreme!
Although Qianlong was unwilling, he also understood that this was the only way to prevent the Northern Navy from entering the Yangtze River.

No way, the wealth of Jiangnan and the grain and rice of Huguang were too important to the Qing court! Before the Manchus fled westward, they had to collect enough money and food in the south of the Yangtze River. Otherwise, it would be difficult to feed millions of Manchus and maintain an army of tens of thousands.

Besides, the result of the "Battle of Changxing Island" has proved that even if you spend a lot of money to buy a sailing battleship from the British, it is useless. The more than 200 carronade guns are useless in front of the rapid-fire guns of the North Korean Navy.

While talking, Wu Siyu took the strong tea from the orderly, took a big sip, moistened his throat, and continued: "Also, you have to go to Jiangnan yourself."

"Going to Jiangnan?" Wang Changsheng drank a sip of water and almost choked.

"Yes. This time we protect Yuan Mei and send troops to Wusongkou just to scare the Qing Dynasty. It's already a toad in autumn. What are you doing? King Zhao is worried that the people in Jiangnan will not know what is going on after hearing the news. What will happen to some people if we don't protect them all? Thinking, without permission, makes things bigger and gets out of hand.

Let you go, first, to meet Zhao Yunsong on behalf of Beihai Town. He works as a teacher at Yangzhou Anding Academy. He has many students and old friends, and he communicates with superiors and subordinates. With his voice, Yangzhou can at least be guaranteed to be stable. The second is to go to Wu Xingshen's house in Huzhou and talk to their head, so as not to cause trouble. "

It is said that ever since Qianlong knew that Zhao Xin's father-in-law, Shen Jingdan, was from Yangzhou, and that eight of Wang Zhong and his family had taken refuge in Beihai Town, he had a hatred for Guangling, and Jiaqing was the same.

After the Yangzhou prison robbery incident, Qianlong's hatred reached its peak, like a knot in his throat. Although he was not ready to flee westward at that time, he already had a premonition of the future, so he got angry based on the arrears of grain in various places, and ordered the Ministry of Household Affairs to increase the light tax collection share of grain in many places starting from the 56th year of Qianlong's reign as a punishment. , including Yangzhou Prefecture.

That is to say, Kangxi had the so-called ancestral motto "never add more gifts". Otherwise, with Qianlong's narrow-mindedness, the share of regular rice would definitely be increased.

In the Qing Dynasty, the grain was divided into Zhengdui rice and Gaidui rice. Among them, the rice transported and stored in the capital was called Zhengdui rice, and the grain transported and stored in Nantong Prefecture was called Gaidui rice. In addition, there are various additional taxes, and light tax is one of them.

The so-called "light money" refers to the loss of rice during transportation. This money is usually paid to the Ministry of Revenue or the Tongji Treasury in Nantong Prefecture to be used as expenses for water transportation. The Qing government required that the collection be converted into silver taels, and the proportion depended on the distance. The further away from the capital, the higher the amount.

Yangzhou Prefecture's share of grain production originated from the early Qing Dynasty. The annual official rice quota was 93600 shi, and the revised rice quota was 46990 shi, for a total of 140590 shi. Although there have been adjustments over the past 100 years, they have only been increases and decreases between the two items of revision and correction, and the total number has not changed. In addition, light money is levied at one cent and three cents of silver per stone. This ratio is the same in Jiangsu Province, so Yangzhou Prefecture charges 18276.7 taels per year.

After the light tax was raised, Yangzhou Prefecture's collection rate rose to 0.22 taels per stone, which turned into more than 3 taels of silver. Grain farmers were dumbfounded.

In fact, if it were just like this, the people of Yangzhou could bear it. The problem is that in addition to the above three items, there are also various surtaxes such as mercury silver, reed mat tax, bamboo and wood tax, water gifts, foot price silver, etc., plus various additional taxes. Due to the extortion and extortion by the yamen and officials during the collection process, the actual income paid by grain households was several times higher. This is the saying goes: "One stone is used to raise money, and three or four stones are received by the people."

In the past two years, many grain farmers in Yangzhou have been forced to sell their land and houses in order to pay taxes, and some even fled with their families. The people complained endlessly and the public resentment was huge.

As for Wu Siyu asking Wang Changsheng to visit the Shen family in Wu Xing, it was because there was a rumor circulating privately among the people in the south of the Yangtze River over the years that Prince Zhao's concubine and future queen was from Yangzhou and her surname was Shen.

Of course, there is also some more gossip, saying that Princess Zhao's real hometown is Dongtai, and she is the orphan of the "Yizhulou Case".

However, this statement is secretly scorned by many Huzhou people, especially those with the surname Shen in Wuxing. What is Yangzhou, what is Dongtai, the Shen family in the world comes from Wuxing, and the Shen family from Wuxing comes from Zhudun! So Princess Zhao is a member of the Wu Xingshen family. necessary! Those who are involved in "24 Histories" thought about it carefully after hearing this statement, and thought to themselves, what a guy! The Shen family has four queens.

Queen Shen Miaorong of Emperor Wen of the Southern Chen Dynasty, Queen Shen Wuhua of the Empress of the Southern Chen Dynasty, Queen Shen Zhenzhu of Emperor Daizong of the Tang Dynasty, and now including the one from the north, it’s amazing!
Based on the above factors, Zhao Xin was very worried that the news of the fleet's arrival at Wusongkou would spread. Before the Northern Navy could attack, the people of Yangzhou and Huzhou Prefectures would kill officials and rebel, attack the government offices, and then other prefectures and counties would follow suit. Trigger a large-scale chain effect. At that time, you will really become a mute eating yellow lotus, and you will have to accept it if you don't accept it, which will affect your plan to go south and enter the customs next year.

"Understood!" Wang Changsheng stood up, saluted, and asked, "Then when do you think I will leave?"

Wu Siyu stood up and said: "You go back and make arrangements. You will take a boat to Anping Port tomorrow morning. The people from the special operations camp will be waiting for you there. I know that Xu Dayong is always responsible for this kind of thing. You come to see the house. But now he You are in Guangxi and cannot escape, so I have to make a hard trip for you."

Before leaving, Wang Changsheng suddenly thought of something and asked Wu Siyu: "Chief, is the fleet going to Wusongkou also in Anping Port?"

Wu Siyu rubbed his tight eyebrows and said casually: "No, in Ryukyu."

"Oh. Is the commander Guo Xuexian?"

"Yes. You two know each other, right?"

"I know you." Wang Changsheng nodded, and a young naval officer holding a book when he had nothing to do suddenly appeared in his mind.

After the "Local Governance Campaign" ended, under Zhao Xin's instruction, the Northern Navy Staff began to make large-scale organizational changes and personnel adjustments to the navy. The Second Squadron commanded by Guo Xuexian was ordered to move north, and the staff planned to use this as a basis to form the North Sea East China Sea Fleet. The headquarters is temporarily located in Naha Port and will be moved to Fengshan County in the south after Taiwan is captured.

Today, the North Navy has two anchorages in the East China Sea, one is Naha Port in Ryukyu, and the other is in Izumi County, Minami Kyushu, which is also the port for exporting Hisikari Kanzan ore.

In fact, according to Deng Fei, the port conditions in Izumi County are not good. He is more interested in the location of the Sasebo Military Port in another time and space. It is currently under the rule of the Hirado Domain and is still a small fishing village. The problem was that Beihai Town already had Anping Port at the entrance to Tsushima Strait. It didn’t make much sense to build a military port more than 300 kilometers to the east, so it was later abandoned.

On October 1794, 10, at the port of Naha, Ryukyu, four thousand miles away from Beihai Town, a group of Beihai navy wearing red armbands with the word "gendarme" on their arms ran from the port to the entrance of the market.

When they stopped, the leader took off a red electric horn with a strap from his shoulder, turned it on and adjusted it for a while, then shouted loudly as he walked: "Emergency order! Attention everyone who is on leave! Under the command of the fleet Ministry order, you are required to return to the team immediately within one hour! Urgent order."

Seeing this, the surrounding Ryukyu people stepped back one after another to make way for them.

It was noon at the moment, and a luxuriously decorated restaurant in the market was filled with diners upstairs and downstairs. Many of these people are fleet officers and soldiers in civilian clothes. They just returned from training at sea yesterday and have a day off today. They came here specially to have a toothpaste and drink two drinks.

On the second floor of the restaurant, a thin middle-aged man was playing the sanxian with a pick. Next to him stood a beautiful woman, holding a sandalwood board, tapping and singing. Her voice was graceful and graceful, which gradually attracted the attention of the diners present. Notice.

". The dark ocean, the boat sailing in the middle of the night. The North Star on the horizon leads the way. My mother-in-law gave me hair and skin to come to this world. If the snail and the clam are not grinding together, why add more pearls? Don't be timid in life, you must move forward bravely, and don't think about people's hearts. , How can we do this in this world?”

"Okay!" After singing the song, everyone upstairs and downstairs cheered.

At the table closest to the singer, a young man in casual clothes applauded and praised. He took out a bright North Sea silver dollar from his jacket pocket, stood up, walked to the middle-aged man, and put the silver coin into the other person's pocket. in hand.

"Duoxiaduoxia."

The woman looked up at the young man with a shy face, her red lips parted lightly and said, "How delicious. Sir, do you have time to have some wine today?"

"Yeah, let's have a meal with friends, and by the way, let's listen to you sing."

The woman pouted and said softly: "Oh, it turns out that eating is the real thing, and meeting the slave's family is just a way of doing it."

"Well that's not what I meant."

On the table behind the young man, several companions covered their mouths and snickered.

"Go!" The young man turned his head and rolled his eyes at his companion, then turned back to the woman and said, "How about singing another one? I like to hear you sing."

The woman blushed and nodded slightly. She turned around and nodded to the middle-aged man playing the three-stringed sanxian. She just tapped the sandalwood board and was about to speak when she suddenly saw the young man raising his hand to stop him: "Wait a minute!"

This move startled the two singers. While they were wondering, they heard a loud voice faintly coming from the street outside, and the voice was getting closer and clearer.

"Urgent order! Attention everyone who has asked for leave to go out! By order of the fleet command, you are required to return to the team immediately within one hour!"

With a "boom", almost half of the people in the restaurant stood up and paid for it. Those who were drinking stopped drinking. They picked up their bowls and started eating rice. After a few mouthfuls, they got up and left.

The young man took out a North Sea silver dollar from his pocket and threw it on the table. Then he shouted to the dazed waiter: "Man, settle the account. There is no need to find more!"

After that, he and the three people at the same table walked quickly downstairs. The woman hesitated for a moment, then suddenly stood up and walked quickly to the stairs, and asked loudly: "May I ask your name, sir?"

"My surname is Lin, Lin Daosheng!" As he spoke, the young man and his companions had disappeared at the door of the restaurant.

What the singer sings is the traditional Ryukyu folk song "Immortelle". There is a version of Lin Xian's band on the Internet with slightly changed lyrics.