Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1840 Dangerous Taste

The summer in South China in 1681 was destined to be unsettled. This is the most prominent feeling of Tang Moyu, the deputy general manager of the Bank of Taiwan, the station master of Haizhu Island, and the major of the military police recently.For this reason, he had already sent a report last month requesting to rebuild and expand the scale of the Haizhu Island Commercial Station/Fortress, and before waiting for the approval from above (almost a sure thing), he had already spent a large amount of funds in advance, Then, through the relationship in Guangdong official circles, a large number of nearby people were recruited to expand the business station.

The reason why he did this was because he heard that Li Chengdong, the actual ruler of most of Guangdong and the Duke of Huiguo in Nanming, was dying of illness, which brought a gloomy cloud to the stability of Guangdong.And once there is an incident in Guangdong, the Haizhu Island Commercial Station, which is close at hand, may also be affected, so we must prepare in advance.Even if there is no impact, once something happens in Guangzhou, you can respond in advance. In short, it is necessary to renovate the fortress, expand the dock, increase the number of troops, and enrich the treasury. It is best to complete it within the next year, otherwise it may be lost That's too late.

As the captain of the light cruiser "Famhaut" of the Third Fleet of the Navy who cooperated with Tang Moyu at the trading station on Haizhu Island, Captain Lu Xiaozhong also agreed with this.Now his ship and another "Star" class light cruiser "Tian Gao Yi Lie" under his command are active in the Pearl River Estuary all year round, fighting pirates and arresting "illegal businessmen". However, if there are drastic changes in the situation in Guangdong in the future, their two warships (the modified "star" class, that is, the addition of a steam propulsion system) alone may not be able to do it.Therefore, he also plans to report to the Okhotsk Squadron Headquarters in a few days, requesting to add 2-4 warships to the Pearl River Estuary to make full preparations.

The situation in Guangdong is really affecting the hearts of people on the east coast now!Now the death of Li Chengdong, the Duke of Hui, will probably happen within this year. The adopted eldest son Li Yuanyin has experienced many battles and has always won the military spirit. He has been fighting abroad all the year round. power is still high.As for the second son, Li Yuanhao, who is also Li Chengdong's biological son, there is a lot of difference. He is just a man, and his personality is not very strong. The powerful military force of more than [-] people in the state camp.

At present, it seems that only the two of them have the hope of taking the position of Duke Hui. The others are either too young, incompetent, or have too bad a reputation like the second generation ancestors, and have lost the possibility of inheriting.Tang Moyu and Lu Xiaozhong, as senior officials on the east coast who have been paying attention to the situation in Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian for a long time, are also very familiar with the current situation in Guangdong. It may be exaggerated to say that they are Guangdong Tong, but they definitely have a lot of information, which is enough to provide important evidence for Ma Wenqiang when making decisions.

The two of them believed that Li Chengdong's eldest son, Li Yuanyin, was more loved by the East Coast people than the second son, Li Yuanhao, who did not have many daily contacts.Especially in the battle of Huai'an Mansion that year, when many armed forces, including the Zheng family and the King of Lu, were playing tricks and refused to fight with all their strength, the men and horses of Huiguo, commanded by Li Yuanyin, dared to fight and fight bravely. Before that, he won a good impression of the middle and high-level military officers on the east bank. At that time, Li Yuanyin was the general in charge of the army.

Later, as Li Chengdong's only adult son, Li Yuanyin's connection with the Dong'an people became closer and closer. Many things were handled by him, which not only gave the Dong'an people a lot of convenience, but also made him meet many friends. .Every time the envoys from the east coast went to Guangzhou City, they would ask Li Yuanyin to accompany him by name, until later he was sent by Li Chengdong to the southwest to help the Ming court.

Li Yuanyin went to the Southwest for several years, and then returned to Guangdong after repeated requests.When he went there, he brought nearly 5000 horses with him, with varying strengths. When he came back, the number increased instead of decreasing, and reached [-]. He also had a clear view of the vigor of the battles. You know it's a strong team.

After Li Yuanyin returned with this team, he stationed in Chaozhou Prefecture. While monitoring the opposite Zheng Group, there were faint signs of separatist ten counties in Chaozhou Prefecture.Li Chengdong may feel ashamed of him. After all, his adopted son is also a son, and he has feelings for him after so many years.What's more, this son fought for him in the army back then, fought dozens of battles, and made outstanding achievements. Now depriving him of his right of inheritance is already a great disappointment to him, and I really can't bear to treat him too harshly.He had also told people on the East Coast through Xintai Marquis Hao Shangjiu's mouth about this idea. After learning about it, Ma Wenqiang, the captain of the Southern Exploration Team, also acquiesced to Li Chengdong's arrangement, probably because he was afraid of a civil war in Guangdong.

Li Chengdong made such an arrangement, because he didn't want to see his two sons facing each other, but his thinking like this might not necessarily represent his two sons.Tang Moyu is in charge of the East Coast intelligence network on the ground in Guangdong and Fujian. Judging from the collected information, he believes that people on the East Coast must be prepared for the possibility of a civil war breaking out in Guangdong after the death of Li Chengdong.Therefore, he decisively requested the expansion of the Haizhu Island Fortress and the Yaniangxie Fort, to increase the local force, and at the same time send more warships to make complete preparations.

In addition, he also suggested that if Li Chengdong passed away, the people on the east bank should send envoys to the Prince's Mansion of Yanping County in Fuzhou as soon as possible to have a good talk with Zheng Jing, and asked him not to take the opportunity to invade the south and disturb the situation in Guangdong.You know, from Zheng Chenggong's twilight years to Zheng Jing's first few years, this Fujian Zheng's separatist group has been keeping a low profile and accumulating strength, and now it is already impressive.

They accumulated huge wealth through trade with Japan, the Netherlands, Britain, and the East. Not only did they completely refit the army (imported a large number of muskets, cannons, armor, and other military supplies from the east coast), but also The original messy navy was rectified, and many small fishing boats and small cargo ships that were half soldiers and half civilians were abolished, and all those below a certain tonnage were eliminated and used as civilian ships. The number of new ships ordered has reached as many as six so far, and the strength has not diminished but increased.Therefore, despite the fact that the Zheng Group has kept a low profile for so many years, its strength has risen rapidly.

Tang Moyu received information at the beginning of this year that Zheng Jing ordered part of the army to move south to Zhangzhou and Tingzhou. There were more than [-] people, and the intention to provoke a border war was quite obvious.That is to say, Li Yuanyin was stationed there with the elite of hundreds of battles. The local soldiers of Chaozhou Prefecture were very disgusted with the bandit-like troops under Zheng Jing. On behalf of the Southern Exploration Team Captain Ma Wenqiang, Tang Moyu sent a harsh letter to Fuzhou, threatening to cut off trade with Fujian, and at the same time sent the heavy cruiser "Cadiz Rock" to the sea off Fuzhou. , After showing off his might, he was able to hold down Zheng Jing who was about to move.

Of course, Zheng Jing is being held down now, but if Li Chengdong dies later and the two sons compete for the position, the situation will become more delicate.It is true that Li Yuanyin has elites in all battles, and the economy of Chaozhou Prefecture is still so-so, but Li Yuanhao’s Lianzhou New Army has grown to tens of thousands, well-equipped and trained for many years, although they only have some combat experience in suppressing bandits. But the strength should not be underestimated.What's more, he will inevitably inherit a considerable part of Li Chengdong's influence, and most veterans and coaches will support him. This strength is definitely not inferior to Li Yuanyin, or it should be stable.

In such a situation, it is naturally very likely that a civil war for the throne will break out, which will give foreign enemies an opportunity to take advantage of. The Shun army may be overwhelmed at the moment, but the Fujian Zheng family will definitely not let go of this opportunity.Even the leaders of the Nanming army in western Guangdong and Guangxi probably would not let go of such an opportunity to expand their territory, and it might be possible to send troops eastward to fish in troubled waters.

This is really dangerous!

Because of this, Tang Moyu and Lu Xiaozhong decided to ask for more troops in Guangdong after some discussion. It is best to mobilize 1-2 servants to go south, so that they can have a little interference.Their first choice, of course, is to maintain the stability of the situation in Guangdong and eliminate the signs of civil war.If this goal cannot be achieved, then according to the previous plan, send people to contact Li Yuanhao and Li Yuanyin respectively to see what conditions they proposed, and at the same time raise some conditions to them, and finally comprehensively consider which side to support - there is also a plan here Remarks, that is, if the conditions of the two sides are similar, then the priority is to support Li Yuanyin's control of Guangdong. The way of support is to mobilize all relations and influence the choices of Guangdong's middle and upper-level officials. Even armed intervention is naturally not excluded from the options at this time.

"Guangdong is really important to us, especially Guangzhou and Huizhou, which have a large population and developed commerce. The trade volume of the Pearl River continues to increase every year. The income of the Haizhu Island Commercial Station has gradually become a major source that cannot be ignored. The source of wealth. The turmoil in Guangdong at this time really poses a big problem for us!" In the captain's room of the light cruiser Fomalhaut, Tang Moyu and Lu Xiaozhong were sitting and drinking, only to hear Tang Moyu continue: "This If this matter is not handled well, both of us will suffer, this is obvious."

"Old Li is going to die, we can't do anything about it. The succession of this kind of warlord has never been so simple. It's not just about Li Yuanyin and Li Yuanhao, but also about the generals, officials, staff, and businessmen under their command. Therefore, this kind of competition is destined to be very fierce. I just hope that outsiders will not take advantage of it and cause Guangdong Province to fall into a full-scale war." Captain Lu Xiaozhong raised his head and drank a glass of wine. I don’t know how long the fight will last. Of course, if external forces intervene, the situation may be calmed down quickly, so we have to keep an eye on Zheng Jing. This guy has been staring at Guangdong since his old man’s life. , everyone knows the intention of annexation. It's just that Li Chengdong is not an easy person. He has dealt with it well for many years, and Zheng's own army is weak, so he has repeatedly stopped Chaozhou Prefecture. But now Zheng is spending a lot of money The army has been reorganized and reformed, its combat power has been enhanced, and its equipment is more sophisticated, and it seems that it has the intention to provoke a border war again and invade Guangdong."

"It has always been the strategic choice of the Fujian Zheng Group to enter Guangdong to gain the rear -- or the hinterland. I am not willing to build a rear from nothing. I would rather choose a large ready-made province like Guangdong as the rear. There is no other way. Therefore, if we want to interfere, we must act quickly, and we must not let Guangdong mess up. For a long time, things may develop in an uncontrollable direction." Tang Moyu said: "It is necessary to take a thunderous blow to completely defeat one of the parties, and at the same time let the other party be intimidated by our strength and become our agent in the future. People, control a province of Guangdong—at least the three prefectures of Guangzhou, Huizhou, and Chaozhou—to serve the interests of our Great Eastern Bank. In such a situation, 1-2 servants may not be enough To achieve the goal, it is best to transfer the elite troops of the two mixed battalions, so that the confidence will be much greater."

"That's the reason." Lu Xiaozhong nodded in agreement.If there are two mixed battalions of the regular army, there are only 3000 troops. If they are equipped with a capable cavalry team--elite cavalry is extremely rare in the south, and it is likely to have a decisive effect in combat--it should not be difficult to carry out a relatively successful raid. Difficult enough to change the situation at a critical moment.

"People like Zheng Jing, I can see through it now, they are a bunch of idiots! Before Li Chengdong died, he was so honest. Over the years, he only dared to do some small tricks to instigate some people who are close to them in Chaozhou Prefecture. His courage is not as good as His old man back then. Now seeing that the situation in Guangdong might be chaotic, he was about to pounce on him to pick up a bargain, but how did he do it? He only planned to use 2 people to go south, and the rest stayed at home! Hehe, this kind of person is typical If he is really lucky enough to win Guangdong, he will be blind." Tang Moyu and Lu Xiaozhong clinked a glass and said with a sneer: "You don't have to worry too much. Now it is There is some danger, but the situation should still be controllable. Of course, taking a step back, if the future situation is really beyond our expectations and completely out of control, then there is no other way, just implement the final plan Directly sent troops to raid the city of Guangzhou, looting all the population, wealth, and cultural relics accumulated over the years in the heart of Guangdong Province, and doing that one-shot deal, who is afraid of whom!"

(End of this chapter)