Ask for a monthly pass, ask for a subscription

Although it is winter in Guangzhou, which is located in the south, the weather is still very warm, which is equivalent to the early autumn in the north, the sun is warm on the body, which is very comfortable, and it is really the most haode season in Guangzhou in the year.

But now inside and outside the city of Guangzhou, there is suddenly a taste of approaching winter. On the busiest streets of Nanguan, Guangzhou, the number of pedestrians has been reduced by half, shops are closing and relocating, and there are about 30 percent fewer Western sailing boats on the Pearl River than in autumn -- it turns out that Guangzhou is about to be closed, and Chinese and foreign merchants have already left for Kowloon, which is close to Hong Kong.

A slightly old horse-drawn carriage rumbled through the depressed streets and turned into an inconspicuous alley near Nanguan in Guangzhou.

At the entrance of the alley, there are many men with braids on their heads, their clothes are in tatters, and their faces are either numb or sad. Over the years, the burden on the peasants in Guangdong has increased several times. First, the reparations for the Opium War were raised, and before this additional apportionment had come to an end, various donation bureaus had sprung up like mushrooms after a rain. The name "exhortation donation" is actually a new tax on the province's acres, shops, and goods, and the funds raised are not used to run coastal defense, but to expand the New Army of the Eight Banners, and the funds for the Western-style yamen set up in Guangdong are also drawn from this coastal defense donation. Every year, about 11,200,000 taels of silver must be handed over to the Guangzhou General's Mansion and the Western-style Yamen, but the "coastal defense donations" collected by the donation bureaus in various localities must have exceeded 2.5 million taels, which is almost the same as the tariff of the Guangdong Customs.

Under such heavy pressure, Guangdong farmers are naturally unable to bear it. There are countless bankrupts and landless. Fortunately, Guangdong is located on the coast. It is the emperor who is far away, and the sea ban has always been relaxed. The people of Guangdong have always had the tradition of going to the South Seas. Now it is the only way for many small people to live. However, after all, this "coolie trade" violated the laws of the Qing Dynasty and could not see the light of day, so there was no open "labor export agency" inside and outside Guangzhou, and Hongmen Tangkou was responsible for recruiting bankrupt peasants, and then "reselling" them to Nanyang Bank, and using Guangzhou ships to transport them to Nanyang to make a living. And there are a lot of bitter men at the mouth of this alley, and there must be a certain Hongmen Hall in it.

Sure enough, as soon as the carriage drove into the alley, a few thugs mixed with the bitter men rushed up. The coachman saw them. I don't know where to take out a waist card and shake it, and there are four big words "Fuxing Company" on the waist card. A few thugs suddenly dispersed, looking around vigilantly, while one hurried to a dilapidated courtyard in the alley.

The coachman lifted the curtain, and out of it came a seventeen or eighteen-year-old daughter-in-law, wearing a very ordinary homespun wide-sleeved short coat and a long skirt with frilly edges, which was the most ordinary dress of the daughter of a small landlord. The posture is not gorgeous, although the facial features are quite handsome, but the complexion is slightly darker. Looking at the behavior, it is also a bit wild, not like a small jasper.

It is Zhu Jishi's third aunt, Wang Yunjiao.

Wang Yunjiao, who was in good shape, jumped out of the carriage with a burden on her back, and several gangsters guarded vigilantly, and flew into the broken courtyard.

The courtyard was full of miscellaneous items. The tone is gray, and there are a few sturdy men and cats in the corner, bulging in their arms. At first glance, you know that you are carrying a guy!

Wang Yunjiao glanced at them, and one of the people who looked like a leader greeted them. Arched his hand and said, "Sister Yun! ”

"Ah Crab, where is Hall Master Lu?" Wang Yunjiao recognized the person in front of her. It was originally a knife system, named Dinga Crab, and when you heard the name, you knew that there were fishermen in the house.

Ding Ah Crab said respectfully: "Hall Master Lu has arrived, and he is waiting for you, Sister Yun." ”

As he spoke, the door of the hall creaked open, and a slender young man appeared in the doorway. The young man was about twenty-two or three years old, fair-skinned, well-mannered, dressed in a long gown and holding a folding fan in his hand. looks quite like a white-faced scholar - although the Hongmen bigwigs like to "robbers pretend to be scholars", but the spirit of books cannot be disguised, and this young man is not a scholar in disguise.

This person's surname is Lu, his name is Siyuan, he is a scholarly child, and his father Lu Peifang has also been moved, and he has been a friend of Luo Wenjun, a fellow villager and friend Daoguang's two-year tanhua, and has followed Luo Wenjun to be a master in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Shandong and Zhejiang. However, because of a small fraud incident, Luo Wenjun was thrown out as a scapegoat, changed his reputation, and sent back to his hometown in Guangdong, and at the same time lost the possibility of participating in the examination forever. Such an experience naturally made Lu Peifang full of resentment towards the Qing Dynasty officialdom, and he was at home on weekdays, and almost three sentences were inseparable from the dark corruption of officialdom. After hearing and witnessing, although this Lu Siyuan reads well, he has no intention of fame, he has never even taken the Xiucai exam, and he has no good impression of the Manchu Dynasty. During the Opium War, he saw with his own eyes the "divine bravery" of the Manchu Eight Banners and the Green Battalion, and then simply wandered the rivers and lakes and became a disciple of Hongmen. I heard that Zhu Jishi, the "overseas genius", came to Hong Kong, and went to take refuge in the morning. However, he was not very interested in Western studies and teaching, but was keen on party activities, so he did not enter Jishi University, but was absorbed into the Damingshan organization, and is now the hall master of Guangdong Fuxing Hall, which is equivalent to the ground workers of a certain party in later generations.

He had seen Wang Yunjiao in Hong Kong, and he also knew that this woman was Zhu Jishi's concubine, and when he saw her come to Guangzhou in person, he was stunned for a moment, and only then did he come forward and salute, "Sister Yun, you have worked hard all the way." ”

Wang Yunjiao smiled, patted the big package on her shoulder, and said with a smile: "There are important things, I have to deliver them in person, and I can't talk about hard work, it's just a boat to come and go." ”

"Sister Yun, please." Lu Siyuan made a solemn gesture and introduced Wang Yunjiao into the hall, which was full of people. Sitting or standing, all of them looked solemn. On the table, there were many weapons piled up, including Colt revolvers, brown bass guns, and machetes and axes of different lengths, all polished! Several people gathered around and were discussing something in a low voice, and when they saw Lu Siyuan leading Wang Yunjiao in, they all stopped talking and got up to greet each other.

Wang Yunjiao nodded at these people, did not stop, but followed Lu Siyuan into the inner room, and after closing the door, he put the burden he was carrying on a broken table, and when he opened it, there were twelve Jason-style grenades inside.

"This is the first batch, and there will be 24 more in three days, and some foreign guns and ammunition will be sent one after another." As Wang Yunjiao spoke, she took out an envelope from the inner pocket of her clothes and handed it to Lu Siyuan. "This is Ming Gong's handwritten letter, you can take a look first, if you don't understand anything, you can ask me."

Lu Siyuan unfolded the letter and looked at it, a pair of thick eyebrows twisted up, and he said in a lost voice: "Ming Gong wants to launch a group training to start an incident?" It's not easy......"

"Why is it not easy?"

Lu Siyuan smiled bitterly, "This group training is different from our party, it is a force in the hands of the squire, and the squires are mostly scholars with meritorious reputations, and we are not of the same mind!" Why don't we start a party uprising? ”

"Don't use the liliang of the party," Wang Yunjiao smiled, "Ming Gong said, it is precisely because the squire and we are not of the same mind that we have to launch a group training to start an incident!" I don't want them to play the banner of opposing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty, let alone expect them to take down the city of Guangzhou, as long as they can make trouble! ”

"Just make trouble?"

"Well, are you sure?"

"This ......" Lu Siyuan thought for a while, nodded and said, "You can give it a try, there have been a lot of harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes in Guangdong recently, and the people are quite resentful." Especially in the area of my hometown of Sanyuanli, since Daoguang 21 years later, I have been a little contemptuous of the government. Recently, the Eight Banners New Army wants to requisition land in Sanyuanli to build a barracks playground, and the price is quite low, and the people's grievances are a little boiling. ”

The regimental training in Sanyuanli fought with the British in the Opium War, so he was relieved. The British army under the command of Gough himself was beaten away, and 5 British soldiers were killed and 23 wounded. This kind of achievement is probably unique in the entire Opium War. Compared with the Huanghuang Heavenly Soldiers of the Qing Dynasty, it is much stronger, so the people of Sanyuanli are also quite proud, some look down on the Qing Dynasty's official government, and they don't work hard to pay the imperial grain and national taxes, not to mention those bottomless pit-like apportionments. Therefore, Sanyuanli is now a big thorn in the eyes of the Guangzhou government, and the Guangzhou government has long wanted to find a reason to rectify it. (To be continued......)