Ding Richang's reluctant invitation made Lin Yizhe understand that an important reason why Ding Richang cares so much about overseas Chinese is that he himself has a painful feeling about it!

This kind of abduction of Chinese girls, what Ding Richang said, is actually widespread in China!

Not to mention, for example, the "Mayesi" incident that occurred in the port of Yokohama, Japan, although with the help of the Japanese government, the Chinese side rescued all the abducted Chinese workers, but there was still a little girl who was smuggled away by the captain of the ship, and her whereabouts are unknown (because the little girl could move freely on it, and her face was ruddy, she was not abused, and the Japanese officials did not take her off the ship, but the captain secretly took her away when he fled Japan). Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Now that with their own efforts, the Chinese Navy has a certain scale, so the overseas protection action should also be on the agenda!

I have already explained the importance of protecting overseas Chinese in the "Invitation to Revive the Navy to Protect the Sea and the Merchant and Expand the Ocean" (referred to as "Raising the Sea" or "Expanding the Sea"), and it is time for the imperial court to take further action!

Lin Yizhe and Ding Richang talked for a while, and were about to leave, but Ding Richang suddenly remembered something and ordered someone to get a telegram.

"This is a telegram sent to me by Zhang Futai in Guangdong, and he asked me to forward it to Kunyu and reply quickly." Ding Richang said, "This is yesterday's incident, I was about to send someone to send Yu Kunyu, I don't want Kunyu to come first, I can hand it over to Kunyu." ”

Hearing that it was a telegram sent by Zhang Zhaodong, the governor of Guangdong, Lin Yizhe couldn't help but be stunned.

He and Zhang Zhaodong had no intersection before, and there was no telegram in Guangdong, so if you want to send a telegram, you need to transit through Hong Kong, and Zhang Zhaodong actually thought of sending a telegram to Ding Richang by telegram, obviously something urgent happened.

Lin Yizhe took the telegram and glanced at it, and his brows immediately furrowed.

Zhang Zhaodong told Ding Richang in a telegram that Ding Baozhen, the governor of Shandong, had placed an order with the Guangdong side to order 14 boats for Shandong's Rongdeng Sailor (the boat is a kind of traditional Chinese large fortune boat, which is often painted with white ash or white paint because the bottom of the ship is to prevent the corrosion of barnacles and other sea insects, so it is also called "white-bottomed boat"). It can no longer be used as a war boat, and is mostly used as a fishing boat in the civilian population).

Zhang Zhaodong was puzzled by Shandong's move to order a steaming ship, so he sent a telegram to Ding Richang, the current minister of shipping, to ask whether the ships ordered by Ding Baozhen were to be equipped with a small steamer engine in the shipyard, because the imperial court had already explicitly ordered all localities not to rebuild traditional wooden sailing ships to equip sailors, but to use steam engine ships in general, and the original wooden sailing ships that had been equipped should be gradually dismantled year by year, and several wooden ships should be used on top of one steam engine ship, and the funds saved would be used for the maintenance and maintenance of steam engine ships. Zhang Zhaodong said that it was "incomprehensible," so he sent a telegram to Ding Richang to inquire about it, and asked Ding Richang to "transfer the matter to Minister of the Sea," that is, Lin Yizhe, to ask what was going on. Because Lin Yizhe is now the "Minister of Naval Affairs," he can manage everything related to the navy's coastal defense, and it was Zhang Zhaodong who sent such a telegram.

As for why Zhang Zhaodong did not send a telegram directly to Lin Yizhe, Lin Yizhe is no longer a newcomer to officialdom, and he knows very clearly about the twists and turns in this without the guidance of others.

Zhang Zhaodong and Ding Baozhen are both governors, considered colleagues, although there is no friendship, but there is no hatred, and Ding Baozhen has participated in the impeachment of Lin Yizhe several times, Lin Yizhe's concubine Eya is equivalent to being indirectly killed by Ding Baozhen, the grudge between the two is known to the world, if he consults Lin Yizhe about this matter, there is a suspicion of beating Ding Baozhen's small report, but Ding Baozhen's order to catch the boat is indeed against the will of the imperial court, if he does not report it, the court later learned that the ship was built in Guangdong, and he is difficult to explain here, it is because he played such a "curve to save the country." He sent a telegram to Ding Richang, and Ding Richang revealed the news to Lin Yizhe, so that neither end could be offended.

"He Ding Baozhen is so bold that he dares to openly resist the order!" Lin Yizhe said angrily, "Knowing that it is useless for the sailor to equip such sailboats, once a war breaks out, it will kill many sailors in vain, and he will add such waste, what is his intention Ding Baozhen?" ”

"Yes, isn't it enough to learn from the martyrs of the Penghu Sailor and the Xiamen Sailor?" Ding Richang also said angrily.

"Brother Yusheng, you quickly send a telegram to Zhang Futai, tell him that Ding Baozhen made this matter of rushing the boat, let him press it first, this boat can't be built for him, don't let him waste state funds!" Lin Yizhe thought for a while, "After I discuss it with Brother Shaoquan, I will make a decision." ”

At this time, Lin Yizhe already understood in his heart what Ding Baozhen's purpose was in doing this.

The imperial court has already made it clear that the country is ready to do foreign affairs, and Ding Baozhen ordered a boat at this time, making it clear that he wanted to use this method to disobey the yang and the yin, and after the boat was started, he would explain to the court that the wooden boat was cheap and could still be used, and then the purpose of resisting the equipment of the steam engine ship could be achieved.

The corners of Lin Yizhe's mouth raised slightly, this is an opportunity! It's a chance to pick it up for nothing! A chance to fall from the sky!

Ding Baozhen! You brought it on yourself! Don't blame me!

Leaving Ding Richang's house, Lin Yizhe did not go home immediately, but came to the top of the mountain and climbed high to look into the distance.

At this time, in Mawei Harbor, there are thousands of trees, large and small merchant ships come and go, there are many huge ships on the shore, and the flow of people is endless, so it is a lively and prosperous scene.

Looking at this scene, Lin Yizhe's heart was gloomy, and his pride gradually grew.

Ryukyu, Port of Naha.

Today, Naha Port is full of lights, gongs and drums, and there is a festive and lively atmosphere, and even the foreign warships and ships in the port are full of colorful flags to celebrate.

Today is the day when Naha Port and Shuri, the capital of the Ryukyus Kingdom, were renamed "Port of Wairn" and "Mori Castle" respectively.

In order to express gratitude and commemoration, King Shotai of the Ryukyus sent a letter to the Qing Imperial Court, requesting that Shuri, the capital of the Ryukyus, be renamed "Shouli", and the port of Naha should be renamed "Port Wyan", in order to show that Ryukyu will always keep the gift of the Chinese state and forever remember the grace of "the restoration of the heavenly soldiers". The Empress Dowager of the two palaces was very happy after seeing the book, and readily agreed, the Empress Dowager Ci'an's imperial pen "Shouli Tianmen", and the Empress Dowager Cixi's imperial pen "Huai'en Yonggu", made a gold plaque, given a silver seal, and rewarded gold coins, jade Ruyi, silk satin and other gifts. The Ryukyu King Shotai was grateful and chose an auspicious day for a grand name change ceremony and designated it as the "Waien Festival".

Today is the day of the ceremony, and in order to publicize the world, the Ryukyu government has specially invited consuls from various countries in Ryukyu to come and watch the ceremony. As the commander of the shipmaster and navy division and the highest military commander of China in the Ryukyus, Pei Jinquan was of course an indispensable figure.

Pei Jinquan, who was standing on the fort, looked at this lively scene, and his heart was stirred.

He never imagined that he would have such a glorious day.

On the sea in the distance, several faint pillars of smoke rose, and Pei Jinquan raised his binoculars to look at it, and faintly saw several shadows of ships chopping waves.

After a while, the figures of these ship shadows gradually became clearer, and Pei Jinquan saw the red dragon flag fluttering in the wind on the mast of the ship, and his mood became excited again.

He knew that this was a shipmaster and a Beiyang sailor who could handle the ocean, and he had come from afar to participate in the name change ceremony held by the Ryukyu Kingdom.

Looking at this spectacular scene, Pei Jinquan's eyes actually appeared in front of the scene from many years ago......

At that time, he was just a ship's helmsman......

It was a midsummer day in 1855, and a thick black smoke suddenly appeared on the sea surface of Zhifu Island in Beiyang Shandong, and under the black smoke was a large ship that people had never seen before. On either side of the ship, there were two huge wheel-like things, rumbling and turning. The big ship cleaved the waves at an extremely fast speed, and there were no sails on it, but a thick cylinder stood high, from which black smoke came out. What is even more surprising is that the bow and stern of this big ship are each placed a shiny Western cannon. Confused and frightened, the people hurried to report to the government. After all, the government was well-informed, and immediately figured out that this was a Western steamer, and it was a warship. What did this Western warship do in the Beiyang? At that time, it was only ten years before the First Opium War, and although there were already five ports of trade, the treaty ports were all on the southeast coast, and there was no shadow of Western ships in the Beiyang. Now that there is a high-spirited one, will there be any war disaster?

Chong'en, the governor of Shandong, ordered a quick investigation. Soon the report came up, it turned out that this ship was indeed a Western-style ship, but it was not owned by Westerners, but a ship from Ningbo, Zhejiang Province of the Qing Dynasty, which was purchased by Ningbo merchants from the West and was an armed escort ship for the Ningbo merchant fleet, and its name was "Baoshun". Chong'en is very bright, for a false alarm, and for the bold Ningbo people. He immediately played the imperial court, Emperor Xianfeng was furious, and issued a holy edict to interrogate the governor of Zhejiang, and ordered to find out who issued the license to the "Baoshun" ship, allowing it to sail to the sea, to cure the crimes of the handlers, and not to deceive and conceal. When the holy decree arrived in Ningbo Mansion, Duan Guangqing, the prefect of Ningbo, immediately summoned the gentlemen involved in this matter to discuss how to reply to the will. A gentleman named Dong Pei said calmly: "It's not difficult to reply. Merchants used their own money to buy ships to protect merchant ships, which the government could not prohibit. The ship was built in the Western Ocean, it was a Western ship, but it was sold to a merchant, and it was a merchant ship. The government issued a license to escort merchant ships according to the law, regardless of who built the ship or where it came from. Duan Guangqing was very reasonable when he heard this, so he replied to He Guiqing, the governor of Zhejiang. He Guiqing also felt reasonable, so he played the court according to this, Emperor Xianfeng read this recital, Long Yan did not get angry again, but Zhu criticized the three words: "I know." So the matter was put aside and left to rest.

Why did Emperor Xianfeng make such a move?

As we all know, Xianfeng was a less fortunate emperor. Ever since he first boarded the dragon chair in 1851, he heard a name that made him anxious: Hong Xiuquan.

Since the Taiping uprising four years ago, the whole country has been in turmoil, the south is the Taiping army to attack the city and plunder the land, the momentum is like a bamboo, Nanjing has been captured two years ago, became the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom capital Tianjing, Shanghai was also the knife club base. The war in the south, coupled with the bursting of the embankment of the Yellow River, completely blocked the inland river transportation, which was the lifeblood of the country's survival, and the imperial court was about to run out of food. And it was the fleet of Ningbo merchants who transported a large amount of grain for Jingshi by sea. What is Cao Yun? Cao transportation refers to the transportation of the requisitioned grain by water to Beijing or other designated places in successive dynasties. The rations were supplied to officials and the army. Cao Yun began with Qin Shi Huang and has existed since ancient times. The Qing generation is even more prominent. Zhejiang is known as the land of fish and rice, and the task of transportation is naturally heavy. In the 50s of the 19th century, Zhejiang "was consuming more than 1 million stones", and at that time, the national grain was more than 4 million stones, and Zhejiang Province accounted for a quarter of the country's grain. Zhejiang's rice used to be transported through the Grand Canal, but after the Taiping Rebellion in 1851, inland river transportation had been blocked, so the household department followed the Yuan Dynasty and changed inland river transportation to sea transportation.

Since ancient times, Ningbo merchant ships have a tradition of shipping, and they have become the main force of Cao Yun. The shipping industry is one of the main and best business industries of Ningbo people. Ningbo people have favorable conditions for engaging in sand boat and sailboat transportation. Ningbo is located in the east coast of Zhejiang, excellent port conditions and convenient transportation of inland rivers and open seas, so that Ningbo's shipbuilding industry has always been developed. "To build a small boat, you only need to count gold, and the people of Yin, the town and the coast, those who have a little ability, a family of their own number, dozens of them. Since the Qing Dynasty, Ningbo has formed two major ship gangs for maritime transportation: "South" and "North". At that time, it was exported from Zhenhai and went south from Dinghai to the South Ocean, and from Dinghai to the north, it was the North Ocean. The southern merchant ships went to the South Seas, and the northern merchant ships went to the North Seas. The Nanhao Boat Gang was originally mainly composed of merchants from Fujian and Guangdong in Ningbo, purchasing Fujian timber and engaging in trade. Beihao was originally composed of merchants from Jiangsu and Shandong in Ningbo, purchasing Shandong's specialty dates, beans, oil, etc. During the Daoguang period, Ningbo Port saw a prosperous momentum, with a total of no less than 60 or 70 commercial shipping gangs, and about 400 large and small sea vessels. After the opening of the five ports, foreign shipping forces invaded China on a large scale, and the steamers crowded out the sailing ships, and by 1850, there were only more than 20 households left in the North and South Merchant Houses, and more than 100 wooden sailing ships. Just when the shipowners in Ningbo were in distress, the business opportunity arrived. Zhejiang Caoyun has changed to sea freight. Merchants seized the opportunity to quickly repair ships, and the number of wooden sailing ships increased in large numbers, showing a prosperous scene. In 1853, the first sea of rice from eastern Zhejiang to Tianjin. Of the more than 300 sand ships and guard ships in Ningbo, 180 were hired to transport grain, and 11 of them were able to dispatch more than six ships by a commercial bank in Beihao. In that year, Yinxian, Zhenhai and Cixi Sanyi Jiuhu North ship merchants donated 100,000 yuan to build the Yongdong Tianhou Temple and Qing'an Hall on Ningbo Jiangdong Muxing Road. This is a symbol of the development of the North Merchant Marine Gang. "The North merchant owns his own sea vessels, the big merchant family has more than ten No. 10, the Chinese merchant family has No. 7 or 8, and the small merchant family has No. 2 or 3." The way to deal with the official errand is: "The merchant sends himself, with two out of three shares as the errand, and one share as his own retained to transport the goods." "During the Xianfeng period, the Ningbo Nanbei merchant ships reached their peak, with no less than six or seven hundred sea ships, plus the ships of other merchants, at that time there were more than 3,000 indigenous ships shipping along the coast north of Ningbo. Such a prosperous fortune made Ningbo shipbuilders happy. However, then a terrifying roadblock appeared, opening its bloody jaws to devour their money and even their lives. This nightmare that made Ningbo shipbuilders restless was piracy.

As early as the Song Dynasty, the southeast sea was the "abyss of the sea", and the sea "thieves roared and gathered", and "the cover was often there". Ningbo is also mostly poisoned by pirates. In the Ming Dynasty, the coastal areas of Ningbo were even more plagued by Japanese pirates. At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the Taiping army rebelled, and the court officials were busy with the defense and suppression of the interior, taking care of the coast flawlessly, and pirates rose again. Since the early years of Xianfeng, pirates have been roaming the vast ocean and robbing merchants, and the officers and soldiers cannot control it. At that time, piracy was rampant in the ocean, and the sailors were ordered to escort the merchant ships to the sea, but the Qing army sailors stationed at Zhenhaikou were afraid. The local officials had already seen through the corrupt and incompetent Qing army sailors, who were no match for the brave and warlike pirates, so they hired Cantonese pirates from Zhao'an to hunt down the pirates, and later hired the Portuguese to exterminate the pirates. Subsequently, sailors from the United States, the Netherlands, Britain and other countries were also hired. In 1854, the pirates of the Cantonese boats, who had been robbed of their livelihoods, finally got tired of their temper, and they fought with the foreigners, sinking three British ships, killing three Britons, and capturing six foreign ships, much to the frustration of the foreign mercenaries. At that time, pirates were rampant in the sea off Ningbo, and it spread all the way to the entire Beiyang route of the Ningbo North Cao ship. After they hijacked the ship, they demanded a huge ransom, and finally reached the point where they sent their comrades into Ningbo City with a swagger, openly sitting in the lobby, and bargaining with the owner or family members of the hijacked merchant ship over the ransom. The losses of the North ship were huge, and the attractive business opportunity was about to be ruined by these pirates. And the rampant pirates also aroused the righteous indignation of Ningbo merchants. The powerful drive of profit and self-esteem led them to make a move that could be said to be extremely bold at the time.

At that time, there was not a single foreign ship powered by a steam engine in the whole of China. The impression left by the foreign ship on the Chinese people is a kind of shame that has been blasted open to the country, from the emperor to the common people, they are afraid and hateful of this foreign ship. But there is such a group of Ningbo people, who saw that this foreign ship with strong ships and guns could be used for my use, and actually wanted to own one. Perhaps, when they made this bold decision, they did not think too much, they did not expect that in the winter of 1854 in the Qing'an Hall, they would end an era of sailing ships and start an era of steamships.

The shipbuilders of the Ningbo North bought a large steamer from the British merchants in Guangdong, priced at 70,000 silver dollars, and named it "Baoshun".

The "Baoshun" was a merchant ship when it was bought. But it is not an ordinary merchant ship. It was converted into an armed escort ship with a cannon on board, with a Western cannon on the front and rear. This armed escort ship is far more powerful than a pirate ship, and it is a warship that is not a warship.