Chapter 2343
December 1638, Dalian Bay Military Port, Jinzhou. Eight sailing ships flying the two-color flags of Haihan and Han slowly sailed into the port, but the appearance of these sailing ships was just ordinary ships, and they were obviously not warships affiliated with the navy.
The people on the dock seemed very indifferent to the docking of these civilian ships at the military port, because this situation has become commonplace recently, and a fleet of such ships will arrive here almost every day or two. The reason why they docked at the military port instead of going to the civilian port in Dalian Bay is because the "cargo" carried on these ships is somewhat special and requires martial law at the dock before unloading.
"Queue to disembark, no crowding, no walking around after landing, follow the command, gather and stand by..."
A Haihan soldier stood on the shore with a tin trumpet and loudly read out the rules here. The audience was the many people who were filing down from the erected springboard at this time. Most of these people were dressed in rags and had little luggage, and their eyes as they looked at their surroundings were filled with uneasiness.
Where they used to live, there was no such a large port with so many large sailing ships, not to mention the hundreds of armed Haihan soldiers guarding the pier. Most people could not help but shrink back, fearing that they would He made a mistake on his errand and was punished by the murderous Haihan soldiers around him.
Of course, there are a few big-hearted people who just want to see more of the novel sights in this place, and Gong Hu is one of them. He was originally a son of a military household in the Guangning Guards under the Liaodong Capital Command. He was captured by the Qing army two years ago and became the lowest slave. Gong Hu's family members died one after another in the harsh living conditions, and now he is the only one left to survive tenaciously. Last year, he was resold to a village near Zhuanghe County to work growing grain for Manchu landlords.
When the Haihan Army arrived in Zhuanghe County a few days ago, Gong Hu overheard a Manchu landowner discussing countermeasures with his family. The landowner planned to take his slaves with him and flee to the mountains to the north for a while. Someone asked if they took the slaves at home to take refuge with them, wouldn't it cost a lot of food in vain? The landlord said that it was to ask the slaves to transport the food supplies needed for the winter, and to kill all the slaves when they arrived, waiting for next year. I'll buy some new ones in the spring. In short, I can't let the Haihan Army snatch people away.
Gong Hu usually didn't have enough food and clothing in the landlord's house, and he was often whipped when working. He was treated like an animal. Now that the landlord wanted to kill him, he was naturally not willing to be killed. On normal days, he might still be worried that he wouldn't be able to escape very far even if he escaped, but this time is different from the past. Since he can't survive if he doesn't escape, and there is now a way to leave this hellish place, he no longer wants to escape. hesitated.
Gong Hu went to the firewood shed that night to get an ax, killed all the landlords and his family while they were sleeping, and then chopped off their heads. Before dawn the next day, he fled the village with these heads and went to find the landlord's house outside the county town. The frightened Haihanjun took the heads of the landlord's family as his pledge of surrender.
The Haihan Army rescued many Han people along the coast of the Liaodong Peninsula, but ruthless men like Gong Hu were rare. After Gao Qiaonan heard about this, he asked Gong Hu to lead the way and sent a company of infantry over to pack up all the people in the village, regardless of Manchus or Han.
Gong Hu didn't know what the Leading Party was, but as long as he could take revenge on the Manchus, he would be happy to serve for these foreign soldiers. Gong Hu led the Haihan Army to the village and instructed them to arrest the Manchus in the village one by one. Seeing the frightened faces of the Manchus finally gave him the pleasure of revenge.
But it is a pity that the Haihan Army did not intend to execute these Manchus on the spot, but to escort them to a place overseas to work as miners. This made Gong Hu feel a little regretful even though he was happy. But when Gong Hu thought about it, it seemed that this was no different from the Qing army robbing the people of the Ming Dynasty. They were just taking the people back to their own territory and using them as labor force.
Fortunately, the Haihan Army made a promise to the Han people, including Gong Hu, that they would be well resettled in Jinzhou, and the government guaranteed that they would have a stable livelihood and would no longer suffer the slavery they had suffered before.
Although Gong Hu was a little dubious, there was no second way to choose, because the Haihan Army did not intend to let anyone leave, but wanted to escort all the people to the seaside, and then board a ship and sail to Jinzhou.
Gong Hu actually doesn't know whether Jinzhou is under the rule of the Ming Dynasty or occupied by the Haihan Kingdom. As long as the Manchus don't call the shots on that place. Seeing that the Haihan army has strong soldiers and horses, especially the Ming army that was the capital of Liaodong, I think its national strength must not be bad, and it should not be difficult to accept some refugees.
After being taken to the seaside with other people, Gong Hu realized that the Haihan people were not joking. Not only were there several large warships on the sea, but there were also dozens of civilian ships parked at the seaside, specifically used to transport people away from the sea. People from nearby areas gather here.
Gong Hu and others got on the boat and were transported to Dachangshan Island, which is only a hundred miles away from Zhuang River. When they thought this was where they would be resettled, they were told after disembarking that they would only stay on the island for two or three days, and then a ship would come here to transfer them to Jinzhou.
Why did the Haihan people make it so complicated? Gong Hu, who knew the terrain of Liaodong, could vaguely guess that it would take so many people to be transported to Jinzhou hundreds of miles away by ship. It will take five or six days, and if they are transported to the Changshan Islands for transfer, these ships will undoubtedly be able to make a few more trips to transport people out of the land first. Anyway, after arriving on the island, there is no way to escape. The Haihan Army can wait for the transportation capacity to be freed up before calmly transporting the people on the island to Jinzhou.
Gong Hu also noticed that before they landed on the island, there were many temporarily resettled Han refugees on the island. He estimated that there should be thousands of people on the island alone. After they landed on the island, there were also another boatload of people. A boatload of refugees was transported to the island, and it seemed that the Haihan Army had not stopped its operations. However, I have not heard that there are Manchus on this island. It seems that they were transported to other islands to avoid conflicts with the Han people.
Sure enough, within two days, several sailing ships came here to load the refugees on the island and transport them away. Because of Gong Hu's outstanding performance before this, he also obtained special treatment for himself to leave here first.
On the way to Jinzhou, Gong Hu learned about the current situation in Liaodong from the sailors. The area south of the Jinzhou Isthmus had been occupied by the Haihan Army for a long time, and the Qing army had no good way to deal with it, so they used Jinzhou With the isthmus as the boundary, it formed a long-term confrontation with the Haihan Army.
As for the Ming Dynasty, it seems that neither side can afford to offend, and it has to rely on the Haihan Army to contain the Qing Army in Jinzhou to relieve its own border defense pressure, so it has no intention of asking Haihan to return Jinzhou. Even the soldiers and civilians of Dongjiang Town, who had been fighting alone overseas against the Manchus, have all defected to the Haihan Kingdom. They are now settled in Jinzhou and have become subjects of the Haihan Kingdom.
Hearing such a situation, Gong Hu was naturally a little surprised, but he quickly believed that this was a reasonable thing. Thinking about the fact that the frontier troops of Liaodong Dusi were isolated and helpless and were gradually cannibalized by the Qing army, the imperial court never cared about their life and death. The soldiers and civilians of Dongjiang Town were unable to get assistance from the country overseas, and they were bound to die sooner or later. If they had Haihan as a life-saving straw to grab onto, and they could continue to fight against the Manchus, it was not surprising that they would turn traitor.
But where did the Haihan Kingdom appear out of thin air? Why was it so powerful that it could compete with the Ming Dynasty and the Manchu Qing Dynasty? Gong Hu really didn't understand the mystery. Gong Hu came to Jinzhou with many questions. Although he had never been to this place before, he also knew that Jinzhou was an important town on the Liaodong Peninsula. When the Ming Dynasty lost Jinzhou, it meant losing the entire Liaodong Peninsula. And what is the purpose of the Haihan people who occupied Jinzhou and refused to leave?
"Fellow folks, your place is the Jinzhou area under the jurisdiction of Haihan Kingdom. In the future, you will also have the opportunity to become Haihan citizens. But before that, you need to settle down locally and use your labor to prove that you are He is a useful person to Haihan Kingdom!”
After gathering ashore, an officer appeared, also holding a tin trumpet, and announced to them the next arrangements.
"You will be dispersed and assigned to various villages and towns in Jinzhou for resettlement. The work required is mainly farmland farming. If you are a skilled craftsman or have special skills, you will also be assigned corresponding errands. You don’t need to worry about shelter and food, we will distribute them uniformly.”
"After staying in the Golden State for one year, as long as there is no violation of local regulations, you can apply for naturalization of our country, become an official national of our country, and will be protected by our military!"
Everyone listened quietly. In fact, they had heard these contents repeated several times on the boat when they came here. Everyone had already made plans in their minds about what to do. For them, there is no option to refuse. They can only hope that the treatment given by Haihan can be slightly better, so that they do not have to worry about their livelihood.
Gong Hu, on the other hand, is waiting for another option. He knows that Haihan Country's treatment of refugees is not just this. Apart from working as a farmer, there should be other options for him.
Sure enough, a moment later, the officer mentioned what Gong Hu was concerned about: "...Our country also provides special treatment for those who are willing to join the army. As long as they choose to join the army and complete the recruit training, they will automatically become our nationals and enjoy generous benefits. The family members will also benefit from military pay. Most of the troops formerly affiliated with Dongjiang Town have transferred to serve in our Haihan Army. Regardless of their origin, as long as they have achieved military merit, they can be promoted in our Haihan Army! ”
The officer's sharp eyes slowly swept across the faces of the refugees, as if he was trying to select those suitable to join the army, and then continued: "Those who are willing to join the army can take the initiative when the place is assigned later. We will make arrangements.”
This is another option Gong Hu is waiting for. He knew that the Haihan Army went to great lengths to rescue these people, including himself, not to send them back to the Ming Dynasty, but to make them serve the Haihan Kingdom in the future. If you refuse this, the next arrangement is likely to be like those Manchus, who will be sent to a certain mine to work as coolies until they die.
Since there is no option to refuse, we must try to find a good way out for the future. Gong Hu knew that he had never been good at farm work, nor did he have any skills to make a living. If he had to say that he was good at anything, it would probably be that he was bold, cruel, and not afraid of trouble.
He was originally from a military household in a garrison. Although he had not formally joined the army, he had received some military training. Joining the army was always part of his life plan. If Liaodong Dusi had not been destroyed by the Manchus, he would have been serving in a Qianhu Station in Guangning Guards.
The possibility of returning to the Ming Dynasty to join the army seems unlikely at the moment, but joining the Haihan Army seems to be a good choice. Gong Hu had seen how the Haihan army dealt with the Manchus in Zhuanghe. In terms of its attitude towards the Manchus, he even believed that the Haihan army was more proactive than the Ming Dynasty.
Moreover, the weapons and equipment of the Haihan Army are obviously stronger than those of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. If you join the army in Haihan, at least you will not be as useless as you were in Guangning Guard. Of course, it would be best if we could have the opportunity to go to the battlefield and kill a few more Manchu and Qing Tatars in the future.
After the officers announced the arrangements, they immediately began to allocate personnel without leaving any opportunity for the refugees to ask questions.
According to the arrangements of the Jinzhou Civil Affairs Department, the refugees will be dispersed and assigned to more than 20 villages and towns under the jurisdiction of Jinzhou, and each village and town will be responsible for their resettlement. Those with special skills will be arranged separately to provide them with space to display their skills.
As for those who voluntarily join the army, they can directly inform the civil affairs officer at this stage, and then the military will take over the registration procedures.
Before Gong Hu, several people expressed their willingness to join the army, and then they were taken away from the team and waited for the military to take over. When Gong Hu saw this, he thought that there were still people with similar ideas. It seemed that his idea was not too outrageous. Little did he know that more than half of the people in the Haihan Army were once citizens of the Ming Dynasty like him, and it was not unusual for people from the Ming Dynasty to surrender to the Haihan Army.
When it was Gong Hu's turn to accept the assignment, he quickly expressed his attitude and said that he was willing to join the army. Immediately, someone took him aside and waited with several other young and strong men who had signed up to join the army.
Someone whispered: "Have you heard that among the people who came to Jinzhou this time, some of them chopped off the heads of several Tatars in Zhuanghe as a proxy?"
Everyone immediately began to talk, saying that this person was very courageous and would be a ruthless character who could stand out in the army in the future. Only Gong Hu just smiled bitterly but made no comment.
Someone saw him smiling and saying nothing, and asked him to express his opinion. Gong Hu couldn't shirk it, so he had to answer honestly: "To be honest with you, I will chop off the heads of the Tatar landowners and their entire family just like what this old man said just now. When it comes to Zhuanghe County to seek help from the Haihan Army, the Tatars are really bullying me. If I don’t take action, I won’t be able to come to Jinzhou alive.”
(End of chapter)