Section 145 The beginning of the appeasement

The war on Hainan Island is going on -- of course, it can't be considered a war anymore. Everywhere there are castles that fall from the wind. Although some counties did not have a formal Kaesong, they have successively established aftermath bureaus. Then. The Fubo army entered the siege of Haikou City, and the navy blocked Baisha Water Village from the sea. The typewriter on the spy boat quickly thwarted Tang Yunwen's expectations of a duel at sea. After the loss of six warships and a dozen fireboats, all operations in Baisha Water Village were stopped. The Ming army was divided and surrounded by a little Liliang on Hainan Island, that is, it could not fight, and it was unwilling to fight.

The county seat of Qiongshan was still under siege, but the executive committee did not launch a strong attack on it because of Zuihou's negotiations. However, negotiations with the city are already underway in secret. Zhao Ruyi, the Hainan sub-patrol province, was not in the city, and the prefect, with the support of the prefect and the gentry of the city, carried out a large-scale surrender without hindrance.

On the entire Hainan Island, except for the southern states and counties that have always been closed to news, Daming's prestige on the island has plummeted. The gentry from all over the country sent people to contact them, saying that they wanted money and grain for food, as long as they kept their own local safety.

Almost overnight, the prestige of the Senate was established on the supremacy of all people on the island. The gentry realized that no matter how many years the Ming Dynasty ruled, at least on Hainan Island, a new owner would have to be replaced.

The gentry did not worry about a new master, who would be their master, and would rule according to the old ways.

Even if it is an official of the Ming Dynasty, there is nothing to worry about. If they don't plan to die in the city, they can continue to serve as his officials in the county government. Some officials even sent special personnel to come to the secret meeting to discuss the plan for continuing to get along with each other.

"This guy is really shameless." Xiong Buyou sent away another group of messengers, complaining, "I can understand the gentry and big families, after all, they are people with families and businesses, and they can't walk with their houses on their backs." ”

"What's wrong?" Liu Muzhou's body has been buried in a large number of papers, "Is being an official really serving the people and serving the emperor?" The key is to serve yourself, what's so strange about it. ”

"There are three groups of people today who have never been seen before." Xiong Buyou raised his fingers: "First of all, the county magistrate's master's choice, of course, is to protect us to maintain that he can continue to be an official - whether it is Daming or ours; followed by a collection of the county's history, saying that as long as he was made a county magistrate, he would definitely be better; Zuihou is a big family in the county who doesn't know where it comes from, and he also wants to get an official and a half-job. Still lying on the ground, three calls long live the Song Emperor......"

"Didn't he shout Long live Chairman Wen?"

"He shouted Chairman Wen Chitose Chitose Chitose."

"Isn't that great, it shows that people's hearts ...... to me?"

"This person's heart is too shameless."

"In every era, there are undesirable people. If everyone loves and loves wholeheartedly, is fully satisfied with their own situation, and has a 5 times better sense of happiness, will latecomers like us still have a chance? ”

In this way, the situation on Hainan Island has developed by leaps and bounds. The situation in Hainan, which is in full swing, has dealt a fatal blow to Guangdong officialdom.

The news of the Ming army's defeat in Hainan soon spread to Guangdong. Wang Zunde's body, which was already gradually weakening, couldn't stand this heavy blow and fell ill.

In order to facilitate the dispatch of military operations and supplies in the center, Wang Zunde led his staff and subordinate officers to Guangzhou at the beginning of the military operation to cross the sea. There was a rich man's garden near the White Goose Tan on the banks of the Pearl River, and he set up the governor's office here.

The first news of the defeat was sent from the prefect of Qiongzhou. He will still be skeptical of the defeat at the front. After all, this is the army mobilized by the whole province. If he didn't win, he couldn't imagine what would happen in the future.

Then, the news of the defeat came from Hainan one after another, and each one was more accurate than the other. The official army was defeated in Chengmai, the whole army was annihilated, and many of the imperial court economic forces were killed. This news was like a thunderbolt from the blue, which caused Wang Zunde's spirit to suffer a great blow. Then, the thieves captured Danzhou, and the news of the siege of Haikou City and Qiongzhou Mansion made him completely despair.

From the mouths of the defeated soldiers who escaped from Hainan sporadically and the documents concealed by He Rubin and others, he knew that the thieves not only had sharp firearms but also extremely powerful military power.

Soon, there was nothing left to deal with in Guangzhou. The news from Hainan Island was completely cut off. The warships of the thieves blocked the Qiongzhou Strait, and the ships of the officers and soldiers could no longer enter the strait.

The rumors of officialdom spread faster than anything else. Everyone knows: Wang Zunde is finished. Not only would the emperor not be able to tolerate such a fiasco, but his political enemies and enemies in the court and local areas would not give up this great opportunity. Many people are already secretly talking about the days when Wang Zunde was dismissed and even arrested in Beijing.

The hearts of the people in officialdom are the most worldly. In this situation, he became an unattended governor in Guangzhou. No one but his staff came to talk to him about anything. Even the prefect of Guangzhou and the county orders of the two counties have become sluggish. In desperation, he moved back to Zhaoqing.

There is also nothing to do in Zhaoqing. His face became very haggard. Because of the fatigue of traveling, he fell ill shortly after arriving in Zhaoqing.

Newspapers and documents were still being sent to the governor's yamen, but the staff were rarely summoned to discuss the next military strategy. As a matter of fact, the staff members knew very well that Guangdong's troops were already empty -- except for the anti-Yao generals in the East and West Mountains, Guangdong no longer had any formed troops.

His illness was worse day by day under such anxiety, and what made him most anxious was that the thieves did not know whether they would take advantage of the situation to invade Canton—if so, Guangdong would have few enemies to resist.

Not many days later, there were reports of strange ships peeping at the mouth of the Pearl River. These ships sailed briskly and slenderly, unlike Chinese ships and red-haired boats, and were clearly Australian clippers.

The crisis he faced forced him to support himself, and he summoned his staff several times to discuss countermeasures. Strengthen the defense of the Pearl River estuary.

On this day, he was slightly in better spirits. Open the paperwork in the study. The Governor of the Imperial Palace, Gao Shunqin, sent a document requesting the blockade of Canton Bay and the complete severance of trade with the Portuguese in Macao, "to eliminate banditry."

Wang Zunde could only smile bitterly at this time - if the Australians came to attack Guangzhou, the Portuguese in Macao would probably be the only ones who could be counted on to defend the sea liliang at the mouth of the Pearl River. The Australians, a bigger bandit, are coming.

"Master, Li Zanhua is here." A servant whispered.

He said weakly, "Please come in"

Li Xijue came in. Since Lu Yizhong went out with the army, he has become Wang Zunde's most powerful and trusted staff. In many cases, he was the only one who could see the Governor.

Wang Zunde asked people to bring tea, trying to show a calm smile. Li Xijue's face was pale, and after sitting down, he looked at the look of the overseer, and asked:

"Are you feeling better?"

Wang Zunde shook his head with a smile and said, "Even if you feel cold, it's fine. When he saw that Li Xijue had a document in his hand, he asked, "What kind of document are you holding?" ”

Li Xijue replied nervously: "It's a secret letter from Lingao—"

"What?" Wang Zunde's fingers trembled, "Who wrote it?" ”

"It's Master Lu." Li Xijue said in a disdainful and nervous tone, "The letter came yesterday, because the adults were sick, and the humble post read it first." ”

Wang Zunde's fingers trembled, took the document and asked, "...... Lu Zan painted him?" ”

"He's alive. Became a captive of the Australians. Li Xijue couldn't help but sigh, "The letter is very detailed. ”

Wang Zunde hurriedly read the document with trembling hands, and could no longer support it, not caring about the dignity of the court officials, and slammed the letter in his hand to the ground.

"Disgusting such shameless villains"

Li Xijue saw that his face was flushed and his breathing was short, and he was afraid that he would be angry and sick, so he quickly persuaded him. The governor's personal servant also ran in to help him back to his bed.

"No, I'm fine," Wang Zunde shook his head and said extremely sadly, "I can't imagine that this person is so shameless - that is, he can't die to serve the country, and he can't be a prisoner of Chu for a long time." How did you write such a letter?"

"Your Excellency is angry." Li Xijue hurriedly comforted, "The letter was not written by Master Lu himself, but it was stamped with his idle seal." Moreover, Master Lu is in prison, and even if he writes, I am afraid that there are many unavoidable things. For now, it's important to read the contents of the letter first."

It doesn't matter whether the letter was written by Lu Yizhong or whether it is his true meaning. The point is that this secret letter reveals the intentions of the Australians.

Since the Australians are willing to make money in the name of Lu Yizhong, there is still something to be done, and there is no need to meet each other with swords -- the officers and soldiers can no longer afford to be defeated.

The content of the letter is divided into several paragraphs. The first is to ask the Cantonese side to ransom people. Including the captured officers and staff, according to the rank and rank, the Australians have all issued the price code. For example, a prisoner is always ten taels of silver, and in addition to his value, each prisoner has to pay one penny of silver per day for food and lodging according to the number of days he has spent in the Lingao prisoner of war camp. In other words, redeem early and save early, otherwise the "late fee" will become astronomical.

Secondly, it is about the matters of peace between the two sides. Lu Yizhong relayed in the letter: The Australians had no intention of the Ming Dynasty, but just wanted to trade and live in a place, but now they were attacked by the official army and suffered heavy losses. Now the Australians are very angry and are ready to drive dozens of large iron ships from Australia to attack Guangzhou.

However, the swords and soldiers met each other, and both sides suffered losses. Australians, in particular, came to trade, not to grab land. For this reason, Australians hope to negotiate peace with the government and "extinguish the fire."