Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 2525 Li Jiapo

"Do you know? If you go to Nanyang now, you can earn hundreds of taels of silver a year! You can eat delicious food, drink hot food, and marry two or three aunts. That is really a day like a fairy." September 1704, 9, Guangxi Outside a house near the Qinzhou Port wharf, several guards on guard were chatting.

What they were guarding was a small warehouse, and the inventory in the warehouse had basically been cleaned up, leaving only a few rain gear, shoes and boots, agricultural tools and some sundries, which were empty.Otherwise, these brats wouldn't be idle like this, they would have stared wide-eyed as if facing a formidable enemy.

No way, who made them get used to being poor in the army.In their place, they are reluctant to throw away things when they are worn out, and it is common for a single piece of clothing to be worn for more than ten years.It’s just that in the past few years, I have taken refuge in the people of the East Coast, and my life is so much better. At least I can eat enough, and all kinds of supplies are distributed according to the head of the person. I can also get an allowance of two yuan a month. I can't even imagine a good life.

The Yi Cong Army was established under the instruction of Tang Chengzhi, the director of the Lianwu Management Committee. In fact, it was the tens of thousands of Li Sixing's remnant troops in the original Nanming Dynasty.After reaching an agreement with the Vietnamese side, it took them more than a year to evacuate the North Vietnamese mountains in four batches.One of the reasons why it took so long was that Li Sixing wanted to evacuate those who were still "fighting against the enemy's rear" in Yunnan and Guangxi.These people are the remnants of the Southern Ming Dynasty, unwilling to surrender to the new dynasty, many of them turned into bandits, facing the encirclement and suppression of the Dashun government, they are in a difficult situation.In terms of emotion and reason, Li Sixing will not sit idly by.What's more, many of them were sent by him to develop in the enemy's rear. After all, the mountainous areas in northern Vietnam are poor, and they often have to cross the border into Yunnan and Guangxi provinces to fight the autumn wind.But now that we got the promise from the people on the east coast, we don't have to hold on to the local area any more, so we can withdraw all at once, so that we don't have a good end in the end.

It is precisely because of this that when the last group of people arrived at Qinzhou Port via Haiphong in March 1703, the size of the entire Rebel Army had reached a little over 5 people, which was amazing.But these 5 people, how to put it, actually don't have much fighting power.There are less than 30 guns, but more than [-] cannons, [-] pony horses, [-] pairs of armor, and more than [-] cold weapons, which are almost all of their possessions.The military uniforms on their bodies were tattered, and many people couldn't even afford to patch them, so they left the holes in their clothes, which stunned the east bank quartermasters who came to deliver supplies: there is such a poor army in the world ?

The consultants who came to register the soldiers also shook their heads after squatting in the barracks for a while.From their point of view, except for a few elite soldiers, most of the soldiers in the Yi Cong Army had pale faces and thin bodies, and very few qualified in terms of weight, height, bust, grip strength, and endurance. Many people still suffer from various chronic diseases because of the disease, and they are in urgent need of recuperation.

Therefore, 3 volunteers joined the army—to be precise, more than [-] adult men, and the rest were old and weak women and children—seemingly impressive, but the Lianwu Management Committee only needed to mobilize security groups from five or six counties to complete the campaign. Beat them to pieces.No way, the reality is so cruel. Compared with the well-equipped and well-trained soldiers on the east coast who eat canned soybeans, beef, whale meat and fish every three days, they are younger brothers in all aspects, except for their spirit. , and nothing else.The long-term wandering career in the mountains of Vietnam has made them weak to the extreme.If the people on the east bank don't rescue them, perhaps within ten years, this army will collapse without a fight.

After Yi Congjun arrived in Lianwu, the 5 people were divided into two groups, and the first group of 3 people was sent to Fangchenggang, managed by the Southeast Asia Squadron of the Third Fleet of the Navy, to help build roads, docks, lighthouses, forts, warehouses and military dormitories The rest were hired by the Bank of Taiwan to build apartment buildings and villas for military officers in Qinzhou and Wuzhou that were sold to government servants.Now after a year and a half, they are self-supporting, and their situation has greatly improved. Everyone can eat enough and receive a salary (although it is only two yuan). Some industries were purchased in Qinzhou Port, which were used as military offices and material warehouses.

In addition to doing infrastructure work, they are sometimes requisitioned to serve as bandit suppression troops and guard the place.Although they lacked weapons and the guns were all junk, how could the equipment of the bandits and thieves be any better?Even with Shunguo's secret support, it is impossible to have much, so it is basically of a crushing nature. The task has been completed very well, and has been commended by Director Tang many times.Some up-and-coming young military officers were even appreciated by the advisory group and sent to Wuzhou for short-term training to learn the construction and management of the modern army in order to improve their professional capabilities.

However, after one or two years of good life, they had to say goodbye to the comfortable Lianwu.Because the central government has decided that the rebel army will leave in batches before the end of 1705, and go to overseas colonies to develop.In order to "supervise" them well, Tang Chengzhi urgently brought the Second Mixed Regiment of the Army back from the Ningshao area in case of accidents.The Yi Congjun had no choice but to obey orders. After all, they still depended on the people on the east bank for their livelihood. They had no money, food, or supplies. What else could they do?And it's been two years since I came to Lianwu, have you seen people from the east bank change your clothes?Well, new military uniforms, kettles, luggage, engineering equipment, etc. have been issued, but what about the most critical rifles and cannons?I'm sorry, but I'm still using the original junk, I can't resist even if I want to, what's the matter?

As if in order to better control the Yi Congjun, the people on the east bank also planned to divide it into two parts. A lot of land has been purchased outside, which is enough for distribution.If the Dutch protest, then it doesn’t matter, first disperse to the small islands across the Strait of Malacca, slowly develop, take your time, use the model of encircling the city from the countryside, and gradually establish the population advantage of the people on the east coast in the local area, and then Peaceful evolution.With the strength of the naval fleet on the east coast and the current situation in Europe, the Dutch dare not use violence.And as long as they don't dare to be violent, they can't break the situation, they can only sit back and watch the situation get out of control step by step.Or even if they get rough, are you, Li Sixing, an incompetent?Don't worry, when you get there, they will replace you with new weapons, and if you train them well, you won't be helpless to fight back.

As for the other one, it is the Jiang brothers who are more familiar and have a close feeling to the East Bank, specially selected by the people of the East Bank.Yes, brothers Jiang Yingyu and Jiang Guoyu!They were middle-level officers of the Li Department and had a certain influence, but they were not yet able to be independent.However, with the strong support of the East Coast people, everything is not a problem.Lack of supplies?Give!Lack of equipment?Give!Someone disagrees?I'll transfer you away!With such a multi-pronged approach, as long as your Jiang brothers are not too useless, you will definitely be able to handle it!

The two brothers Jiang Yingyu were still a little trembling at first, but under the strong persuasion of Dong'an consultants, they finally developed ambitions.And their ability is indeed good, and there is also a group of little brothers under their hands. After they have been planted around—this time is to be nepotism, otherwise they will definitely not be able to control the army—at present, they can barely control about one of the people assigned to them by the people on the east coast. There are 5000 people, faintly set up a different style.It's not that there are no old people from the Li Department who call them "betrayal", but to be honest, in the face of the benefits that are at your fingertips, what's the point of bearing some infamy?Many people have not had this opportunity yet!If he, Jiang Yingyu, hadn't had a lot of contact with people from the east bank and was recognized by the big boss, he wouldn't have had this opportunity to bear the infamy.

This is fate, it's amazing!

The destination of Jiang's troops was not Malacca, but the Philippine Islands.More precisely, their target was the Manila Bay area.Of course, this needs to wait for an opportunity, that is, when the people on the east bank and the Spaniards go to war, they will cooperate with the army on the east bank to capture this core city in one fell swoop, and then take it as their own. I believe this day will not be too far away.

In the future, people from the east coast will continue to move a group of people here to improve the local population structure and control it more firmly.The east coast government has no ambition to colonize the entire Philippine archipelago for the time being, which is unrealistic, but occupying a small part of it—especially the elite Manila Bay area—will affect the other two colonial forces on the archipelago in the future, giving the east coast sea An army base can still be done.

Manila, Brunei, Malacca, Timor Island, and Rabaul are like a circular lock, enclosing the entire East Indies.The rich resources on the archipelago, such as spices, timber, food, fishery resources, various minerals and even rich human resources, will become the objects of the colonial empire on the east coast in the future, and will become the means to support the people of the empire and maintain their good living conditions. nutrient.

Colonization, we mean it!

At present, the preliminary preparations for going to Nanyang have already begun, and the first one is public opinion propaganda.This matter is handled by the people of the Syphilis Patient Statistics and Investigation Bureau, and they are professionals.The tens of thousands of people in Li Sixing's department had no opinions. After being brainwashed by the east coast people, they basically believed that Nanyang was a place full of opportunities, and they no longer objected to exploring there. This solved a lot of troubles.

Both Malacca and Manila will be under the jurisdiction of the Malaya Management Committee in the future. Currently, their headquarters are in Brunei, and their power is not very large.However, with the addition of more than 5 righteous soldiers, its strength will usher in explosive growth. In the future, its influence in the South China Sea and the East Indies will greatly increase, and it will become a pivotal force or even a dominant force in the local area.

Europeans, you shouldn't have come to Asia in the first place. In the future, it's time for you to pack your bags and leave!

(End of this chapter)