Chapter 117, The Leading Party on Phoenix Mountain (Part 1)
PS: Correction, the Xianxia Pass at the junction of Zhejiang and Fujian in the previous article should actually be Fenshui Pass. Although Xianxia Pass is also on the border of Zhejiang and Fujian, it is located inland, closer to Quzhou. The dividing line on the southern coast of Wenzhou is Fenshui Pass. As soon as my mind got distracted, I confused the two passes.
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For the gentlemen in Hangzhou Prefecture, the sudden appearance of the Kun Thief Fleet on the Qiantang River was a severe blow to them.
Ever since the Japanese pirate rebellion, which was once rampant during the Jiajing period, was suppressed by the famous general Qi Jiguang, the city of Hangzhou has not experienced a real war for a long time. Therefore, everyone from the dignitaries to the common people were completely unprepared for the sudden war.
Moreover, the thieves who invaded this time were not comparable to ordinary thieves. It was said that they had thousands of warships and tens of thousands of followers. In the past, they once swept across the Pearl River and defeated the Guangdong government. He also colluded with the imperial rebel general Huang Shi from Fujian, and learned the military training skills of the Funing Army - the Funing Army under Huang Shi was the world's most powerful soldier who once ran rampant in Liaodong and repeatedly destroyed the Jian slaves! Now that the Jurchen Eight Banners have conquered Beijing, all of them were defeated by Huang Shi in the past. Hearing Huang Shi's name makes everyone tremble with fear, and the slave chief is not even worthy of carrying his shoes in front of him!
In the hearts of the gentlemen in Hangzhou, the reputation of this bandit is at least as bad as that of the Japanese pirates, and the momentum of the bandit's attack this time is much greater than that of the Japanese pirates in history. The black smoke from the ship alone is There are more than a dozen of them, and countless small boats of all kinds. How many soldiers are there!
What's more terrible is that everyone knows that Jiangnan has been at peace for a long time, and the military equipment has been weakened. Wen Tian is active in martial arts. Not to mention such violent bandits, even ordinary civil uprisings are very difficult for those useless government officials to deal with. Mainly because of the The thugs from the big landowners are suppressing the countryside.
But no matter how dark clouds are looming over Hangzhou right now, and how dangerous it is, you all have to come up with a countermeasure after all...
"...Thieves are rampant outside the city now, and a catastrophe is imminent. I wonder if you gentlemen have any good strategies to defeat the enemy?"
Magistrate Liu Mengqian asked this while walking in circles in the hall with a sad look on his face. However, the gentry sitting at the bottom were watching their noses and hearts. No one was willing to stand up and be the leader. At the same time, they really couldn't take the lead. What's the good idea? The thieves this time are coming very hard, and I'm afraid they can't be sent away with just a few small coins. But if we deploy troops and generals to fight them to the death, where can we find these elite soldiers and generals?
After much deliberation, this is the only reasonable solution. They could only rely on the city wall to delay time, and at the same time ask for help from the Nanjing court.
"...Sir, we only know that the Kun thieves are vulgar and uncultured, and they are just a gang of killers! However, I heard that this thieves have invaded Guangfu several times, but they have not broken through the city. It can be seen that although this thieves are good at water fighting, they can also fight in the wild. It may be possible, but it is absolutely impossible to attack a fortified city, just like the Japanese pirates in the past.”
After a moment of silence, someone finally stood up and replied, "...For now, we can only defend the city and wait for the change."
Although these words sounded a little discouraging, Magistrate Liu thought about it carefully and it seemed to be true - there were so few old, weak and remnant soldiers in Hangzhou, and they were obviously no match for the thieves in the wild. But although the ship was strong and the guns were powerful, the thieves could not land after all... So Magistrate Liu, who had an idea in his mind, immediately apportioned a "donation for thieves" to all the Jin gentry, then served tea to see off the guests, and ordered a tight blockade of all areas. Except for the two gates leading to the north, all other gates must be blocked with earth bags and bricks. In addition, Magistrate Liu also authorized the country squires living outside the city to organize their own training of rural warriors, guard the village, and wait for opportunities to harass the bandits who landed. This was done until the thieves could no longer stay and left.
——During the Opium War, local officials of the Qing Dynasty probably took similar measures when dealing with the invading British fleet that traveled halfway around the world.
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At the same time, in the south of Hangzhou, by the Qiantang River
Wave after wave of turbulent waves hit the embankment regularly and repeatedly, causing a continuous crashing sound.
This is the famous Qianjiang Tide - although it is still some time before the spring tide, it is already quite spectacular.
Just as Magistrate Liu ordered the city gates to be sealed and decided to implement the turtle policy to cope with the ever-changing situation with stability, a huge fleet spitting out billowing black smoke was slowly breaking into the vast water surface where the waves were crashing. The fishing boats on the Qiantang River were so frightened that all the fishing boats disappeared for a while, and the villages along both sides of the river were also in turmoil. The people fled with their children, their children, their cattle and their burdens.
In fact, with the current navigation and surveying technology of this era, it is very risky for such a large ship of hundreds or thousands of tons to leave the deep sea and enter waters with strong waves and dense shoals like the Qiantang River. This thing is simply making fun of the lives of the sailors.
Fortunately, on the outskirts of Hangzhou, the "relevant departments" had already arranged a pilot for this fleet... or a leading party.
"...Hey, it's finally here...it really makes us anxious to wait..."
From a watchtower in Phoenix Villa, looking at the shadow of a sail gradually appearing on the horizon, Zhao Yiggong, the person in charge of Lingao Group’s Hangzhou Trading Station, took a long breath of relief and then put away the high-powered telescope in his hand, “… Launch the signal flare immediately! The pilot boat will set off for navigation immediately!”
——Phoenix Mountain is located in the south of Hangzhou City. The main peak is 178 meters above sea level, bordering the West Lake to the north and the riverside to the south. It is shaped like a flying phoenix, hence its name. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Fenghuang Mountain was once the imperial city "walking" in Lin'an. The nine-mile radius with Fenghuang Mountain as the center was covered with magnificent palaces, pavilions and pavilions, as well as artificial imitations of "Little West Lake" and "Little West Lake". The garden scenery such as "Six Bridges" is truly beautiful and ingenious.
Unfortunately, after the demise of the Southern Song Dynasty, the remaining palaces were burned into ruins by a fire. Later, when Zhang Shicheng built the city of Hangzhou at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, he demolished the remaining ruins to obtain stone and wood. After the Ming Dynasty, people continued to dismantle various building materials from here and use them to build private residences. As a result, by the end of the Ming Dynasty, except for the broken walls and ruins all over the Phoenix Mountain, there was nothing left but desolation.
However, as the person in charge of the trading station dispatched to Hangzhou by the Lingao Traveler Group of Hainan Island, Zhao Yingong, who claims to be a descendant of the Song Dynasty, took a fancy to the Fengshui treasure land of Phoenix Mountain at a glance - first of all, it was once the location of the Imperial Palace of the Southern Song Dynasty. Zhao Yingong personally has great historical commemorative value; secondly, To the south of Phoenix Mountain is the Qiantang River. As long as you are willing to invest in construction, you can create a private port; thirdly, this place is an important commanding height in the south of Hangzhou. The terrain is difficult and the water source is sufficient. Although the terrain is rugged and rice cannot be grown, mulberry trees can be planted. , fruit trees and tea trees, which can make some profit.
Therefore, Zhao Yingong invested a lot of money in Phoenix Mountain and managed to buy the entire Phoenix Mountain. He also invested countless manpower and material resources. After two years of construction, he finally turned a Phoenix Villa into a decent one - it was once full of people. The hillsides with weeds and miscellaneous trees have been cleared one after another and turned into lush mulberry orchards, orchards and tea gardens. To irrigate these crops, small reservoirs were created on the top of the mountain. The small pieces of flat land between the foothills and valleys were also fully utilized, and several workshops were built. Finally, a private dock and a large charity hall were built at the foot of the mountain next to the Qiantang River. This sign was used to accommodate refugees, conduct quarantine, and then ship them back to the base camp on Hainan Island. .
Originally, all these undertakings were very prosperous. After the Lingao Group got in touch with the central government of the modern world, Zhao Yingong received more investment, and he was about to develop his ambitions... Unexpectedly, disaster suddenly occurred. Surrender——The Donglin Party, a group of professionals seeking death, actually took the initiative to provoke the war in the southeast. First, they forced the Funing Army in Huangshi to rebel, and then issued a "demanding order", completely disrupting the overall plan of the time-travelers.
Although Zhao Yingong, who was in Hangzhou, had already changed his Ming Dynasty hairstyle and clothing and did not reveal his identity as a "kun thief", just with so many "Australian goods" sold from him, at least He was also suspected of being a "tongkun"... So, faced with the wolf-like and tiger-like officials, Zhao Yingong, who was caught off guard by the Jin gentry of Hangzhou who was trying to get a piece of the pie, had to abandon the Ziming Tower, Wanbi Bookstore and other properties in the city, and hurriedly fled to Fenghuang Villa. Relying on the well-equipped village guard team brought from Hainan Island, he finally managed to escape We defeated the official officers and did not end up with the entire army annihilated.
But even if the battle is temporarily won, and the food and supplies stored up are enough to last for a long time, there is still panic in the Phoenix Villa - although the Villa is basically filled with slaves who have signed a contract of sale, the honor and disgrace of life and death have long been on the line. On the owner’s body , but after all, they were all locals in Hangzhou, and their fear of the government was deeply rooted in their bones... As a result, some people soon stole valuable things and fled down the mountain with their families; others seemed to be connected with big families outside, and actually quietly went to Zhuangzi Inciting riots! This made Zhao Yingong even more anxious for a while, so anxious that his hair almost turned white.
Fortunately, the "Hua League" had been established at this time, and the [Shuimen] that had just been wholesaled was also put into use... Faced with Zhao Yingong's complaints, the relevant departments quickly made a quick decision to cut the mess - use the [Shuimen] quickly, All Hangzhou locals in the villa were sent to Hainan Island to open up wasteland, so as to completely eliminate internal instability factors. At the same time, additional reinforcements were sent to Phoenix Villa through the [Random Gate] to build fortifications in preparation for long-term defense.
As a result, Phoenix Villa finally stabilized, but the losses caused were still heavy, not only that all the workshops were shut down. Even the tea gardens and orchards on the mountain began to gradually become deserted because no one took care of them... This made the owner of the village, Zhao Yingong, who had put a lot of effort into it, very angry.
However, Huangtian paid off. After being trapped in Phoenix Villa for so many days, he finally waited for the opportunity to take revenge!
Hum hum, you were very happy when you grabbed my goods, sealed my shop, and picked up "foreign goods", right?
Now, if you eat anything from me, you have to spit it out, and if you take anything from me, you have to chop off your hands. See if you don’t kneel down and sing Conquer!
Looking at the sails on the Qiantang River, owner Zhao Yingong took a deep breath, turned around and picked up the satellite phone that had been prepared beside him. "...Hey, is this Mr. Wen? The North American fleet has arrived, and the infantry you have assembled over there can also be sent over!"