Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1275 Another Battlefield ([-])

The armed transport ship "Jacques" had already shed its sails and was traveling up the river purely by steam power. Therefore, it was not until the morning of the 28th that it arrived at the surface of the Pearl River outside Guangzhou.On the way, they stopped for a while outside the famous Humen Fort, but it was a pity that there was only a piece of weeds left on it.Since the British merchant fleet led by Weddell captured this place in 1637 and demolished the cannons, Li Chengdong has never tried to restore Humen, an important coastal defense area outside Guangzhou, which is a miracle.However, this may have something to do with his lack of high-quality coastal defense artillery. After all, with the useless artillery of the Ming Dynasty, it is far from being able to block the river, let alone defend the fancy world of Guangzhou.

The arrival of the armed transport ship with the double-sword goshawk flag made the Pearl River outside the city of Guangzhou a mess. The fishing boats and small boats coming and going gave way one after another, and some panicked sailors even jumped into the water excitedly. Here, because they still remember the British merchants—perhaps it is more appropriate to call them pirates—the way they galloped across the Pearl River, as if entering no one's territory, so they thought that the Weddell fleet had come again for the second time.

However, the people on the east bank are not "ruthless" British guys who are both merchants and robbers after all. The "Jacques" with only 10 small and medium-caliber artillery is not Wedell's fleet. They anchored on the Pearl River and sent people to carry it A letter came ashore, first loudly identifying himself, and then directly requesting to see Huiguo Gong Li Chengdong.The Nanhai county government servants who were on the shore were so nervous that they didn't know what to do. Hearing this, they immediately stepped forward, and they didn't dare to be too rude. Instead, they "guarded" several envoys from the east coast and headed for the city.

After the envoy left for half an hour and there was no news, Shao Shuguang set a table out of boredom, opened a bottle of Hezhong Daqu, and drank with Tian Xing, who came with him by boat.Han Jin, who had been serving Shao Shuguang all the time, saw that there was no suitable appetizers, so he volunteered to go ashore to buy some. Shao Shuguang felt that the danger was not serious, so he let him go.

Han Jin casually ordered a few guards who were tall and rough, took pistols and bayonets, and then rowed a small boat and went ashore.The Ming people on the shore looked at these well-dressed and short-haired people quite strangely. After thinking that they did not look like vicious people, the citizens of Guangzhou who were more open because of the sea trade all the year round were not too afraid. When I took out silver dollars to buy food, someone came up to contact me soon.

Qu Dajun, a famous scholar of Panyu, once said: "All the food in the world can be found in the east of Guangdong, but all the food in the east of Guangdong may not be found in the world." Although this statement is exaggerated, it also shows from another aspect After seeing the delicious food in Guangdong, he knows how to eat, and dares to eat anything. No, Han Jin bought some fish, roast meat, and snacks without spending a few silver dollars. In addition, he bought some "Henan tea" (produced in Green tea from the south of the Pearl River) is stored for emergencies.

Shao Shuguang picked up the chopsticks and tasted the food that Han Jin had brought back. He thought it was not bad, so he thought of looking for some cooks in Guangzhou to enrich his personal chef team.He even thought of his local friend Xu Hao—a second-generation wearer who likes to open restaurants. He has already opened a "Penglai Restaurant" in the local area, which specializes in Shandong local dishes—and intends to recommend some Guangzhou cooks to him, so that He opened a Cantonese restaurant again to enrich the food culture of Xiadadong'an.

After all, in the eyes of Shao Shuguang, the second generation who grew up with a golden spoon in their mouths, the frugal life of their parents is simply unbearable, and the East Bank urgently needs "alleviating the poor through literature", "alleviating the poor through entertainment", and "allevating the poor through food" to adapt The masses of the people—in fact, mainly the powerful and rich—have higher and higher requirements for the construction of spiritual civilization.

The source of "poverty alleviation" is naturally the former homeland of most people on the east coast, Mingming. It is reasonable and reasonable to absorb some cultural nutrients from the Ming Dynasty—naturally we have to take its essence and discard its dross—and it is reasonable to use it in the future. It is also more convenient to integrate and localize to form a new "East Coast Culture". After all, you can't expect Ming people, who account for nearly half of the population, to enjoy French dramas and Italian operas. Go to the theater to see Scaramucci, the famous buffoon, popular all over the Old World.

Shao Shuguang was paying attention to food, while Tian Xing, who was an intelligence officer, was observing the pattern of Guangzhou city.This city, which was added in the fourth year of Shunzhi, is now quite large in scale. It faces the Pearl River in the south, Yuexiu Mountain in the north, and is separated by moats in the east and west. For defense, if it was Li Chengdong's shrimp soldiers and crab generals, the people on the east coast would not need a week to break into the city.

It's a pity that the higher-ups will not agree to their southern theater occupying Guangzhou, which is unreasonable and even more illogical.For this point, Tian Xing, who has always been coveted by the wealthy Guangzhou, still feels a little regretful, but thinking that the people on the east coast may control the foreign trade of Guangzhou and even the whole of Guangdong in the future, he feels a little better, and turns to Eyeballs fluttered around, and began to manually measure the geography around Guangzhou City, thinking about where to set up a commercial station, the easiest to defend and the most difficult to attack, and the most convenient transportation.

After one o'clock in the afternoon, Shao Shuguang and Tian Xing, who had been waiting anxiously, finally met Li Chengdong's emissary, and they were actually old acquaintances, such as Nanming Xintai Hou Hao Shangjiu!

This military leader who once participated in the Yangtze River Battle with Liu Junmen, his body has become much fatter than before. It seems that Guangzhou, a place that raises people, has given up this guy again.I don't know if Xin Taihou, who was trained to be brave enough to fight in Jiangxi, can withstand the impact of the Dengzhou cavalry now?

"Haha, it's actually a distinguished guest from the Eastern Dynasty! I didn't inform you in advance, so that I could be prepared. Back then, Hao and I had a little friendship with Liu Junmen of your country, and I always hoped that he would come to Guangzhou for a short stay. , so that I can do my best as a landlord. It is a pity that Liu Junmen was transferred back to the imperial court. It is a pity to be on the side of Keng! Well, I heard that Liu Junmen returned to the imperial court and entered the Privy Council and became an envoy. No wonder I returned home in a hurry, and finally got promoted, haha!" Hao Shangjiu, who was shy with a big belly, was still 30 meters away, and shouted at the throat.

Shao Shuguang felt a little slandered when he heard the words: If Commander Liu really accepted your invitation to live in Guangzhou, how could he go there alone? You might be paranoid when the time comes, so why bother.But as soon as the fat man came up, he first insinuated that we came uninvited, and then pulled up Liu Haiyang's tiger skin as a banner. robbery?Well, his psychology is quite interesting, and if possible, he can use it a little bit.

After the entourage reminded them of Hao Shangjiu's identity, Shao Shuguang and Tian Xing stepped forward to greet him, and then briefly explained the purpose of their visit.After hearing this, Xin Taihou was relieved a little, as long as he didn't come to trouble them!Before leaving the house just now, my benefactor, the Duke of Hui, Li Chengdong, was still holding his hand, anxiously worried whether the people from the east bank came to Xingshi to inquire about their crimes. After all, they refused the people from the east coast to buy raw silk from Guangdong just last year. Requests; and a few years later, they seem to have refused to export "pigs" to people on the east coast. After thinking about it, it seems that there are quite a few places that "offend" people on the east coast. They are here to find fault, so be careful!Fortunately, the people from the east bank finally clarified their intentions, which made Hao Shangjiu heave a sigh of relief, and then quickly sent a servant to report back with a wink. Duke Hui is still waiting!

And after knowing that the people on the east coast were dealing with Franji maritime merchants, Hao Shangjiu felt that this matter was not difficult to handle, and if he really wanted to tear himself apart, it would be a matter of dispatching a few battalions of troops to Haojingao ( Of course, this is what he took for granted, in fact, there are many Portuguese in Macau, and their strength is not weak).It's just that this group of Franji people have a lot of friends. Not only do many people from Hui Guogong's family have business contacts with them, but also many well-established big families in Guangzhou City are inseparable from them.If the Francines were expelled, it would be a waste of money for many people, and the trouble would be considerable. We must be careful, and it is best not to offend the hatchback!

Soon, Shao Shuguang and others went ashore and headed towards the city under the guidance of Hao Shangjiu.Because they didn't want to take a sedan chair, a group of people rode forward. Many Ming people on both sides of the street pointed and pointed. Shao Shuguang, Tian Xing and others didn't care. They straightened their woolen coats and entered the city with their heads held high.

Li Chengdong's residence occupies a vast area, with pavilions, towers and pavilions, cornices and painted walls, which are extremely luxurious and full of the atmosphere of a nouveau riche.However, Shao Shuguang and others watched it with great interest. Compared with the thick, simple and practical buildings on the east bank, Li Chengdong's mansion brought them a different and novel feeling, and he even began to wonder in his heart, is it Recruit some architects from the Ming Dynasty to build a beautiful house for yourself on the east coast, and you can almost enjoy it when you go back.

At the same time, Shao Shuguang also secretly reminded himself that he had only been in Guangzhou for a while, and he started to pay attention to food, daily life and other enjoyment. It really shouldn't be!From this, we can finally know why the Manchu Tartars began to degenerate rapidly after entering the customs (but still much slower than in history), and why Li Chengdong and his group of Shaanxi-Gansu warriors who were still able to fight have now developed A bunch of trash, it’s really that this colorful world can wear down the will of people’s hearts-the gentry of the Ming Dynasty, in terms of enjoyment, is really second to none, probably only the luxurious and lustful sultan princes of the Ottoman Empire can compete with them. It is comparable to it.However, the laws of our Great East Coast are strict, the system is sound, and the rewards and punishments are fair. Even if the soldiers live in this prosperous place in eastern Guangdong for a long time, I believe they will not be as useless as the soldiers under Li Chengdong.

Li Chengdong is tall and burly, and he originally looked like a hero, but he has been raised in Guangzhou for many years, and this spirit has become less and less, so that now he is almost a wealthy member, completely losing his anti-Qing spirit. The heroic and bloody desperation when returning to the Ming Dynasty.

His housekeeper set up a sumptuous banquet for everyone in the flower hall, most of which were local characteristics of Guangfu. In addition, there was an opera troupe to add to the fun, and they sang the popular Bangzi opera in Shaanxi and Gansu. This is about the same as Li Chengdong and his core The origins of the subordinates are related-Shaan-Gan people, so they naturally like to listen to the Qin opera roared with many tones and hearty!

The actors of Bangzi opera should all be natives of Guangdong, and later learned Western tunes halfway to please the new masters of Guangzhou City.The title of the play performed today is "King Han Shizhongqin", which is based on the old events of Song Jingkang. Although Shao Shuguang, Tian Xing and others claim to be descendants of the Song Dynasty, they are not very familiar with this period of history. They are even more incomprehensible due to the influence of tune, but this does not prevent them from appreciating this art form.

In addition to Li Chengdong himself and his two adult sons, other generals such as Xintai Marquis Hao Shangjiu, adopted son Li Yuanyin, and some local officials who were incorporated after entering Guangdong were accompanied during the banquet.At this time, under Li Chengdong's signal, these people kept coming forward to persuade them to drink and make friends. Although the language communication between the two parties was somewhat difficult, the relationship was drawn closer after all, and the atmosphere became warmer for a while.

After drinking for three rounds, Li Chengdong coughed lightly, and then he heard Li Yuanyin talk about Franji in Haojingao in a casual tone.This man was flushed at the moment, and he looked too drunk, but he spoke clearly, and he began to enumerate the bad deeds of the Franji people in Xiangshan, from buying and selling to spreading foreign religions. To put it bluntly, it seems that it is simply unreasonable not to exclude these Francois.

The few officials sitting beside him also stroked their beards at this time, expressing their approval, and occasionally interjected a sentence or two, the content of which was nothing more than the indecent incident of Frankie sailors staying in private houses.But these old and cunning officials then changed their tune, saying that the local banditry is in turmoil and the army should not be taken out lightly. Wanwang Huiguogong think twice.If the powerful soldiers of the Eastern Kingdom are willing to level Haojingao, they will do their best to provide food and grass, and will never let the army sleep in the open, without food and clothing.

Speaking of this, Shao Shuguang and others also understood Li Chengdong's choice, that is, he chose to befriend the East Bank between the people from the East Bank and the Franji people, and abandoned his former business partner Franji. They do not hesitate to offend some high-ranking officials in Nanming or the local gentry in Guangfu, but this is also limited, at least they will not send troops to do this in person-this makes the east bank a bit regretful, after all, if Li Chengdong can transfer Thousands or even tens of thousands of horses marched from land, so it is very easy to control Haojingao, and then expel or even arrest the Portuguese. Much, much less cost.However, there is no way around this. Li Chengdong is a warlord. Warlords always regard preserving their own strength and maintaining their own rule as their top priority. Everything else is imaginary to them. Now that he can do this, it is already regarded as an opponent of the East. Kishi has shown quite a bit of kindness, what more could you ask for?

(End of this chapter)