During the prosperous period of the Kangqian Dynasty, due to the moderate liberalization of the sea ban by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, silver continued to be imported into China, coupled with relative social stability, economic development, and the promotion of high-yield crops in China, especially the rapid economic development of coastal Fujian, Zhejiang, Guangdong and other regions. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

The dense commercial network of the commodity economy connects villages and towns, and the development of commerce not only means that you can get rich, but may mean that in a world full of competition, there is less room for survival, which is the pressure of the population explosion, in the early years of Kangxi, the Chinese population who experienced war was only 70 million, and by the time Kangxi's grandson Qianlong took over, the population had reached 140 million. During the reign of Qianlong, although he continued to use troops abroad, the domestic development continued, and by the 58th year of Qianlong (1790), the population had reached an astonishing 300 million.

Looking at cultivated land again, when the national population was 70 million in the early years of Kangxi, the cultivated land area was 5.9 million hectares, and the per capita cultivated land was more than 8 mu, while in the early years of Qianlong, the national population increased to 1. There are more than 400 million hectares, and the cultivated land is only 8.9 million hectares, and the per capita cultivated land has become a little more than six acres. By 1790, the per capita arable land was only 3. 5 acres, the sharp contradiction between man and land is already extremely severe.

At this time, a large number of working people flowed into the market, and there was no place to return. Some of them are better off and have been able to find work in the handicrafts, while others have become homeless. The city is filled with a large number of beggars, and many people have become gangsters who have nothing to do, and Wan Yunlong, the founder of the Heaven and Earth Society, seems to be such a trajectory.

Wan Yunlong's real name is Zheng Kai, because he has no land and no land, he chose to become a monk, which was one of the ways out for the unemployed homeless people at that time. He didn't have a degree, he was never registered, he was just a wild monk begging everywhere. Later generations of scholars have verified that Monk Hong Er founded the Heaven and Earth Society in Sichuan, and it is not impossible that he may have gone to Sichuan with the immigrants who moved west to seek a living. There, they mingled with the nomadic class that the traditional natural economy could not accommodate, formed gangs, shared weal and woe, and collected wealth for use. At that time, the peasants in the east had no land, so they all went to the land of Tianfu in Sichuan to reclaim, but not long after, Sichuan had no land to cultivate, so the peasants could only go north, into Shaanxi, Gansu and other regions.

In other words, although the Qing government was constantly restricting the movement of people and trying to crucify people to the land, because of the contradiction between people and land, the population was constantly migrating, thinking of moving where there was arable land. Some people once said that the Chinese are an agrarian people, with a strong pro-land attribute, and relocated to the land, so they did not have an advantage in the colonial era. But the reality is the opposite, because of the lack of arable land, a large number of farmers have lost their arable land, and they urgently need to go to an area where there is arable land, that is, there is enough living space, so they have to migrate.

The backwardness of navigation technology, as well as the geographical remoteness, prevented the Chinese from migrating farther afield. Of course, the closure and blocking of the government is also the main motivation. Just imagine, if the Ming and Qing dynasties encouraged the population to go overseas, at least nearly 10 million Hakka people could run out at least half, and the colonial effect that could be formed would be considerable.

Under Bai Nan's silver dollar offensive, He Chungui has actually fallen, but although his status in the Heaven and Earth Society is not low, this kind of major matter obviously cannot be decided, he told Bai Nan that he needs to go back and ask the chief helmsman Wan Yunlong. Bai Nam agreed, but hoped that they would reply within three days, as he would be leaving in three days.

Bai Nan took out a thousand peony silver dollars and gave them to He Chungui as a gift to the Heaven and Earth Society. If the Tiandi Society agrees to assist Datang in recruiting immigrants, then Bai Nan will give the Tiandi Society another 3,000 silver dollars in start-up capital, and then for each immigrant brought in, he will receive 10 silver dollars, which will be paid directly in Hong Kong, a transit place.

When the people of the Heaven and Earth Society left the Fubang, the seventh sister glanced back at Bai Nan and couldn't tell what it meant. This young woman, who is full of charm, had a fight when she first met Bai Nan, and she can be regarded as having an alternative skin kiss. Bai Nan didn't know what to say to her, just nodded and watched them leave.

――――Dividing Line――――

After twice as long as the main fleet of Bai Nan, the pirate fleet led by Yang Zhen finally arrived in the coastal waters of China. Yang Zhen's kelp fleet is not small, with a total of ten Ming Dynasty galleons, and the tonnage is larger than that of the Manchu Qingshui division of this era. It's just that Yang Zhen doesn't have too many sailors in his hands, and the sailors of ten pirate ships are like some merchant ships, with the minimum use of manpower as the standard.

"I've finally come to China, and although California is prosperous in North America, how can it be better than my hometown." Yang Zhen stood at the bow of the boat and sighed.

Also coming with Yang Zhen this time were another eunuch Zhu Liang, and a military attache of the Ming Dynasty Jinyi Guard, Hu Fakui. Zhu Liang and Yang Zhen are of similar status, both are the deputy envoys and eunuchs in Zheng He's fleet, and this time he is in the second seat to assist Yang Zhen, which is also open-minded. Hu Fakui is very young, he was born with a good skin, red lips and white teeth, and even speaks a little sissy, but this person is like Yang Zhen, he is a martial arts master, and he is resourceful, and he is a rare talent in the Ming Dynasty.

Originally, the navy wanted Hu Fakui to enter the navy as an officer, but Hu Fakui refused the invitation of the navy and now followed Yang Zhen to the Qing Kingdom. As for what exactly he thinks, no one knows.

Zhu Liang said: "We have received news from General Counselor Bai that they have finished trading in Guangzhou, and the recruitment of immigrants is not going well, and they are preparing to return to China at a later date. ”

Yang Zhen took a little reason and said: "Bai Nan still has some real skills, although he usually doesn't look very unusual, and even a little silent, and his edge is not revealed, but this person makes a plan and moves, Taoguang is obscure, and he can always hit the nail on the head, and he is also powerful." Not to mention, this person has a lot of knowledge from ancient and modern China and abroad, so he is trusted and reused by the president. It's just that they think it's feasible to pull immigrants from Manchuria, and they really take it for granted. If it weren't for the troubled times, the government still had control over the people, which would allow the small people to move at will, let alone go abroad and betray the country? ”

Zhu Liang said: "Therefore, the recruitment of immigrants mainly depends on us. ”

"This is natural, but to do a good job at this time, we still have to strengthen our strength, we only brought five hundred people from California, although it seems to be a very powerful bandit, but after all, it is not enough. Fa Kui, do you have any good suggestions to make us stronger? "Yang Zhen doesn't know much about Hu Fakui, he only knows that this Hu Fakui is also a noble son, and his family background is not bad. Usually, Hu Fakui is not conspicuous and does not have much reputation in the fleet, but Zheng He and the modern people still value him more.

Hu Fakui didn't think about it, his face was inconvenient, and he said: "If you go back to the big boss, your subordinates will look at the history books and learn that the pirates on the southeast coast of China at this time are still in the bud, and they are just making a small fuss. It took 20 years before a group of peerless thieves such as Cai Lian, Zheng Yi, and Zhang Baozai appeared, and these pirates often had tens of thousands of people under their command and hundreds of warships, which showed their prosperity. At this point, there are a few pirates, but their scale is limited, which is an advantage for us, and we can use our power to defeat some pirates first, and recruit them to expand their power. ”

Yang Zhen nodded with satisfaction and said: "This is very good, the law of this pirate is just that big fish eat small fish, small fish eat dried shrimp, Chen Zuyi, who was eliminated by Lord Zheng back then, started little by little." I can't say that we will imitate it again today. ”

Hu Fakui continued to suggest: "The big boss might as well send a small boat to the nearby islands and coasts to listen to the information, and if he can find the pirate gang, he will destroy it with one blow and force their people to surrender to us." Of course, if there are also unemployed homeless people along the coast who want to join this business, it is better to recruit them together. ”

Yang Zhen smiled and said: "Well, then Fa Kui, you will carry a thousand-material sea ship to the coast of Zhangzhou and Chaoshan to inquire about intelligence, and by the way, see if there are any outlaws." No matter what kind of goods it is, when he gets on my Yang Zhen's boat, he is rounded and flattened, and he is honest. ”

So, before arriving at the Hong Kong Water Village, Yang Zhen sent Hu Fakui to lead more than 30 sailors to take a 1,000-material sea ship to operate near the coast. These Ming Dynasty people led by Yang Zhen were all selected to shave their hair. Originally, the Ming Dynasty did not accept the short hairstyles of the Republic of China and the modern people, and many people kept their hair in a bun, but this time in order to carry out this task, the sailors of the Ming Dynasty were ruthless and shaved their hair buns into money rat tails to be able to move around.

Not all the people of the Ming Dynasty were willing to do this, those who firmly believed that the ancestors' hairstyles should not be messed up were still the original shape, but they obviously could not go on the land, and they would attract attention. So, on Yang Zhen's pirate ship, there are those with buns, bald heads, short hair, big braids, and even shawls. This is more in line with the style of pirates, free and debauched.

This Hu Fakui is also really capable, he has already shaved his short hair, but he found a fake braid to put on, led some sailors to land, and it only took a few days to recruit forty or fifty people. Subsequently, Hu Fakui took this 100 or so Xinnen pirates to attack a group of pirates of considerable size in the Chaoshan area, killing and wounding more than 20 people, capturing 60 or 70 people, and losing three of them.

By the time Hu Fakui felt that his ship could not fit and arrived at the Hong Kong Water Village with all the pirates, he already had nearly 500 people under his command, which was close to the number of people brought out by Yang Zhen.

When Yang Zhen saw this, he was greatly pleased, so he appointed Hu Fakui as the vanguard of the pirate group, and led two more ships of 1,500 materials to continue to fight in the east and west along the coast of Guangdong.

Almost a week after Yang Zhen arrived in Hong Kong, Chang Bin, aboard the frigate Mao Wenlong, also returned from Vietnam.