The mountains stretch and the land is scarce. About 80 percent of the land in Fujian Province is mountainous and hilly, and less than 20 percent of the total cultivated land in the plains is cultivated.

The extreme scarcity of land and the geographical characteristics of the coastal area have made the people in Fujian become the main force to go to sea to make a living.

In the coastal counties and cities of Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, and Fuzhou, more than tens of thousands of people go to sea every year, and the Xiamen area, where overseas trade is the most prosperous and the power of the great powers is relatively concentrated, has an average of more than 100,000 people going to sea every year.

After the failure of the Xiaodaohui uprising, the local anti-Qing forces were brutally suppressed by the Manchu government, until the end of the Second Opium War, when the European and American powers gathered together to set up diplomatic and consular offices in Xiamen, and the Qing court's administrative, economic, and military control in the local area was restrained by the Western powers.

On July 24, Wang Shizhen and his entourage arrived in Fuzhou, and after meeting with Cai Yuanlong's henchmen, they prepared to leave Minhou County, Fuzhou, where they met Li Rongfa, and then transferred to Xiamen to leave the mainland.

"My lord, this is a list of gifts from merchants and gangs in Fujian in recent days, please take a look."

On the left side of the Green Battalion Admiral Yamen, Ma Ronghe, who has been in office for less than a month, has a very different expression from a few days ago.

"Seventeen thousand taels of silver, one hundred taels of gold, these merchants are willing to spend money."

"Fujian merchants, Zhejiang merchants, and Cantonese merchants are all rich lords, and when they catch up with the happy event of their appointment, they naturally can't fool around with a few taels of silver, otherwise they will make you unhappy, how can they do business in Fujian."

The staff flattered.

"That's right."

Ma Ronghe nodded, his eyes once again focused on the list of gifts on the table, and his eyes were hot, and he said, "I heard that the sea smuggling in Xiamen, Quanzhou, and Zhangzhou is lucrative, if this official privately asks for a 10% stake in each merchant gang in his personal name, do you think it can be done?" ”

"Adults, no." Seeing the greed aroused by the gifts in front of him, the staff spoke out to dissuade him, "Your Excellency is in a high position for the first time, thanks to the support of the Governor, those officials and generals of the Hunan Army did not blatantly ask for trouble with the Lord, but if the interests of the Fujian merchants are moved, I am afraid that the Governor will come forward, and it will not end well." ”

"Why is that?"

"My lord listened to the explanation, the merchants in the coastal areas of southern Fujian don't look at the surface is just a group of bitter people on the sea, the background behind them is not simple, just say that a few days ago to visit the adult Jinjiang County businessman Liu Yiguang, they Jinjiang County business gang has the Hunan army officials, generals into the shares, it is reported that Hu Xueyan has a half of the shares, and in the Nanyang area, the Jinjiang business gang has two or three thousand Chinese employees, those employees are young and strong, many of them are rebel thieves, they are Borneo, the Malay Peninsula mining wasteland, often fights with the local natives, and when it comes to combat effectiveness, it is no less than the veterans in the green battalion on the left. ”

"Regardless of the ban of the imperial court, there is no shortage of brave and ruthless people who dare to go to sea, although they have a brutal momentum, relying on the township party forces to bully the natives of Nanyang, but compared with the well-equipped court officers and soldiers, it is indispensable to hug their heads and run around."

Ma Ronghe said disapprovingly, "I think that when the Heavenly Kingdom started, the soldiers and horses from all over the country added up to millions, and the famous generals of the Kingdom of Heaven, such as the King of Heaven, the King of Loyalty, and the King of Servants, fought against the Hunan Army and the Huai Army many times with twice or three times the strength of the imperial court, and in the end it was not a big defeat.

The Hunan army and the Huai army are equipped with foreign guns and cannons, although the number is small but elite, when the official expands the armies of the Mazi battalion, supplemented by foreign guns and cannons, how can he be afraid of the small overseas people! ”

"My lord, the trouble is here, the Min merchant group not only has young and strong laborers for them to drive, but also they have money in their hands, the Nanyang escort team under the name of each merchant gang is equipped with a different number of foreign guns, and even some of the merchant gangs who secretly trade with the South American Han are also equipped with the latest Gatling machine guns, that thing looks bulky, and can only be pulled by a carriage to fight on the move, but once it is activated, the cannonball clicks and clicks, and no matter how many people rush up, it will not be useful. ”

"Nonsense! As a second-grade military attache of the imperial court, this official has not heard of this weapon, where did you get the news! ”

"I don't dare to deceive my lords, it is reported in the "Declaration" and "Universal Gazette" that the Chinese army in South America and the French fought in Annam, whether it was the Chinese army belonging to the Han State in South America or the French colonial army, they were equipped with a lot of Gatling machine guns."

"A foreigner's newspaper?"

"Yes, the "Declaration" and the "Universal Gazette" are both newspapers founded by Westerners in Europe and the United States, and when the Annam War broke out, several foreigner newspapers in the concession sent people to Annam to understand the situation, and these news were first reported by foreigners."

"Alas, the court and the princes are all seeking personal interests and not for the country, knowing that allowing the squires to organize a militia will be very harmful, but no one has stopped them, although the official is an official, but there is nothing to be done."

The Minshang clique was armed with militia groups and armed with overseas employees as its foundation, and even if Ma Ronghe wanted to share a share of the benefits from them, he had no way to start.

"In today's world, having money and guns is the foundation of the foothold, adults should first train soldiers and horses, use the green revenue on the left side, and then consider getting some benefits from the Fujian merchants."

"Hmph, there is no money and no food, where to recruit and raise soldiers, the recruitment notice has been posted for three days, and the recruits will talk about three or four hundred people, at this rate, not to mention subduing the green battalion on the left for their own use, it is the four battalion heads under the name of the Mazi battalion, and I don't know when it will be replenished."

The amount of military salaries recruited by the Mazi battalion is low, Ma Rong and himself have been working for most of their lives, and they have not accumulated much net worth, and they expect their benefactor to use the gifts they receive to subsidize the army, but they don't even think about it.

It was difficult for the clever woman to cook without rice, and the henchmen couldn't think of a good way to collect money, just when the two were facing the problem of recruiting soldiers and had no solution, a green battalion officer hurriedly ran into the admiral's yamen.

"Lord Admiral, the villain has something important to report!"

"If you have something to say, if you have a fart, let it go!"

"Three days ago, the villain found that several officers in Jianning Town were acting abnormally, so they sent four brothers to follow and check, and this morning, a brother sent out came back to report that those officers and soldiers in Jianning Town were disguised as Shang gang thugs and mixed with more than a dozen anti-thieves."

"What evidence is there that those people are thieves?"

"More than a dozen of them wore fake pigtails and hid short guns on their bodies, and the small ones sent out had just gone up to test them for a few words, and last night they were killed by their people, and only one of them ran back to report the news."

"If it's just ordinary smuggling of ordnance and opium, you can't kill people with a dead hand."

Ma Ronghe thought to himself for a moment, realizing that there might be something hidden in it that he didn't know.

"Order Zhang Guandao and Liu Guandao to select a hundred good players in the army, and today this officer will personally lead the team to see what tricks Cai Yuanlong is playing!"