The origin of Hongmen is a matter of opinion in later generations. The most widely circulated theory is that the predecessor of Hongmen was the "Han Liu", an organization that preserved the clothes and culture of the Han family, and later, after the development and growth of Chen Jinnan, the general system of Ming and Zheng, it became an underground organization of Ming and Zheng to plan anti-Qing affairs and provide military intelligence on the mainland.

Later, Kangxi built a naval division in Fujian to capture Taiwan, and Hongmen, as the intelligence agency of Ming and Zheng in the mainland, began to decline, and it was basically in a state of disintegration during the Qianlong period. Because of the hopelessness of the purpose of "opposing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty", most branches of Hongmen began to resign themselves to degenerate, opening gambling houses, brothels, and collecting protection fees in the streets, as if they had become the largest underworld gang in the Qing Dynasty.

Sun Zhong Shan also has his own account of the origin of Hongmen, he wrote in his book "Sun Wenxue": "Hongmen was founded in the Ming Dynasty and began in the Kangxi era. Before Gai Kangxi, the loyal martyrs of the Ming Dynasty wanted to recover, swore not to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, sacrificed their lives to righteousness, repeatedly pouted, and fought desperately, but they could not save the death of the Ming Dynasty. By the time of Kangxi, the Qing Dynasty had flourished, and the loyal martyrs of the Ming Dynasty were completely crippled. The second and third widows, seeing that the general trend has gone and are irretrievable, want to use the roots of nationalism to pass on to future generations, so they form associations for the purpose of opposing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty. The original intention of the establishment of this Hongmen. However, it must be kept in great secrecy, so that the government may not find out. ”

In order to use the power of the Chinese in the United States, Mr. Sun Zhong Shan joined the Zhigong Hall in Honolulu (a branch of Hongmen) in 1903 under the introduction of Zhong Shuiyang, the predecessor of Hongmen.

However, in Wikeham's view, Sun Zhongshan's participation in Zhi Gong Tang was just an exchange of interests, and Sun Zhongshan needed Zhi Gong Tang's financial resources and talents, and Zhi Gong Tang made a high-return political investment. It's just that after the victory of the Xinhai Revolution, Situ Meitang, the boss of the Zhigong Court, found that the revolutionary party was muddy and could not support the wall, so he began to withdraw his support for the revolutionary party.

In any case, the Zhi Gong Tang in Singapore, Malaysia and the United States at that time contributed money and effort to China's revolutionary cause and made outstanding contributions. By the beginning of the 21st century, the branches of Hongmen were all over the world, and basically where there were Chinese, there were Hongmen, and it became a transnational behemoth. In the later Celestial Empire, in the closed years, it also relied on the power of Hongmen many times in diplomatic mediation.

What Wickham never expected was that the man named Zhang Mingxia in front of him turned out to be from Hongmen! Thinking that it was a bit unbelievable that Hongmen disciples were sold to Penang as slaves, Wickham couldn't help but ask: "Since Brother Zhang is from Hongmen, how could he be sold to Penang as a slave by the Dutch?" ”

Because of Wickham's nonsense, Zhang Mingxia's guard in his heart was eliminated, and he explained a little embarrassedly: "I was originally a red man in the eight halls outside the Hongmen, but I didn't expect that there would be a traitor in the hall of Guangzhou City, and he would go to the Liangguang Governor's Mansion to accuse us of wanting to commit rebellion." The governor of Liangguang was shocked, and then closed the city gates and arrested the people of Hongmen in the city. With that traitor to guide the way, the Qing soldiers were naturally one to catch one by one, and most of my Hongmen disciples were killed by the Qing dog. Fortunately, we have a secret way out of the city, and I just escaped the catastrophe, but this Guangzhou is unbearable. Speaking of which, Zhang Mingxia, a seven-foot-tall man, already had a little red in his eyes.

At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, it was not an orthodox dynasty in the eyes of the Han people, but the three dynasties of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong greatly promoted literary prisons and killed all the backbone scholars, which stabilized the rule of the Qing court in China. Especially Kangxi Kang Mazi, who is extremely sensitive to those anti-Qing organizations that oppose the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty, and it is really appalling to find that one is eradicated and the other is eliminated, and the means are iron and bloody, and the scope of involvement is so wide.

A Hongmen leader like Zhang Mingxia will definitely end up dead after being caught, and Wickham has not read much about such examples in the wild history.

Wickham asked Zhang Mingxia with some curiosity, "But how did you come to Nanyang?" "The current Qing Dynasty has a strict ban on the sea, except for foreign merchant ships, there are no ocean-going ships in the country to go to sea, and Wickham is a little puzzled why Zhang Mingxia was sold as a slave by the Dutch.

Zhang Mingxia calmed down and continued to explain: "Little brother doesn't know, what Qinggou doesn't know is that a general of the Humen Sailor Battalion is our Hongmen brother, I thought that the mainland could not stay, so I and the general got a boat of 400 materials in the Sailor Battalion, thinking of going to Manila to find local overseas Chinese to avoid the limelight." Unexpectedly, not long after crossing the cliff, I met the god-damned Francois pirates, who not only seized our ship, but also sold us as slaves to Batavia, and the brother of the sailor battalion who saved me did not know where he was sold. ”

Zhang Mingxia didn't know what was going on, although the young man opposite was a Yiren, but it gave him a sense of cordiality and trust, so that he couldn't help but say all the things on his mind in the past year.

After recovering his mood for a while, Zhang Mingxia found that he still didn't know what the name of this Yiren with extremely smooth official speech was, so he asked: "I still don't know the identity of my brother, are you a Francois from Penang?" Zhang Mingxia has been traveling south and north for more than ten years, and his eyes are very vicious, and he only feels that the Yiren in front of him is neatly dressed and gorgeous, and he talks about Shanshan and Shanshan politely, which is not comparable to those dirty sailors at the dock, and must be a person with status.

For Zhang Mingxia's speculation, Wickham was a little crying and laughing, since the Ming Dynasty, the Chinese have always referred to the Portuguese, Spaniards and other Europeans as the Francois people. Later, the Qing Dynasty implemented a policy of closing the country to the outside world, and was even more ignorant of the outside world.

"Brother Xia, my name is George Wickham, but you can call me Lin Zihan by my Chinese name." After half a year, Wickham can finally use his original name in this time and space, "I am an officer in the British Marine Corps, from Europe thousands of miles away, and the Fran plane you are talking about is also from Europe. But I don't live in Penang, and I'm just passing through it now. Wickham then gave a brief overview of the situation in Europe.

Zhang Mingxia looked surprised: "I didn't expect that there would be such a world thousands of miles away, why do you British people go thousands of miles to the South Seas to occupy an island?" I am afraid that such a place cannot even be compared with an inferior county in the Central Plains. ”

Since the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the Nanyang area has basically become a paradise for Europeans, and there are colonies of European powers everywhere, but it is a pity that the Chinese did not get the slightest benefit in this magnificent era of exploration.

Wickham only smiled bitterly at this, now most Chinese generally do not know how lucrative maritime trade and colonial expansion are, and the Chinese have never left the Central Plains region, and regard places outside the Great Chinese civilization circle as a desolate place full of miasma.

"These are the affairs of the king and the cabinet, and I am only a small officer, and I don't know much about many things." In the end, Wickham had no choice but to make a haha and expose the problem.

"Brother Zihan, where are you going when you pass through Penang this time?" Zhang Mingxia was thinking that if the other party was going to Qingguo, he could just bring himself back.

Wickham did not hide it, and said: "The king of England sent envoys to visit the Qing Kingdom, and I am a member of this mission, mainly responsible for the safety of the members of the mission. ”

Zhang Mingxia nodded and said: "It turns out that you are envoys who came to pay tribute to the Qing court, Qianlong, the dog emperor, is about to have a big birthday, and I don't know how happy I am now." Zhang Mingxia's tone was quite contemptuous, and he already regarded Britain as the kind of small country that wanted to go to the Celestial Empire to benefit from it.

Wickham was a little helpless, why are the Chinese in this era still so arrogant, and forty years later, British artillery will blast open China's door. In this regard, Wickham could only patiently explain: "Brother Mingxia, we are not a vassal state like Burma and Chaoxian. To tell the truth, in addition to the population, Britain's national strength has surpassed that of the Qing State, and this time the British sent a mission to the Qing State, mainly to discuss trade matters. ”

At present, the population of Britain is about 10 million, and in terms of population, it cannot be compared with the Qing Dynasty, which is now nearly 300 million, but in terms of politics, economy and military, the Qing Dynasty has slowly begun to lag behind Europe in an all-round way.

Looking at Zhang Mingxia, who was a little disapproving, Wickham felt a little sad in his heart, isn't there a more sober person in China now? "Forget it, when you have the opportunity to go to Europe, you will know that what I said is not correct."

Zhang Mingxia didn't want to argue with Wickham in this regard, thinking that the Yiren on the other side was an envoy to Beijing to pay tribute, his eyes lit up: "You are a tribute envoy, then you must go to Beijing to see Emperor Qianlong's dog, why don't you take me, I will go to the palace with you." ”

Wickham was startled, how could he not know that Zhang Mingxia had paid attention to bring this Hongmen disciple to Qianlong, and he could think of what he was going to do with his toes! If Zhang Mingxia slaughtered Qianlong, then the entire British mission would definitely not be able to return to Britain alive.

"Brother Mingxia, don't even think about it, you have black hair and yellow skin, even a fool can see that there is a problem." Wickham said angrily, these anti-Qing organizations are too naïve, what's the use of killing Qianlong, Qianlong has a lot of evil ghosts, except for changing an emperor, the assassination will not play any role at all.

Zhang Mingxia also smiled, feeling that his request was a bit Meng Lang: "I'm just joking, Brother Zihan don't take it seriously, but please ask Brother Zihan to bring me back to Guangzhou City." Our Hongmen is the most important to be benevolent, and if you encounter any problems in the Qing Kingdom in the future, Brother Zihan, even if you look for our Hongmen brothers. ”

Now Hongmen is a huge organization, covering all states and counties in the country, with branches in Manila and Batavia. Zhang Mingxia's promise is not a big deal, as long as it is not a big problem, they do have the ability to help Wickham.

Wickham shook his head, his current status is a foreigner, and his every move in China is definitely under the surveillance of the Qing court, and these Hongmen disciples still have little contact. "Let's talk about it later, but now the yamen in Guangzhou must be arresting you, Brother Xia, aren't you in such a hurry to go back to Guangzhou." Wickham didn't want the man on the other side to run back and die in vain.

Zhang Mingxia smiled and said: "Brother Zihan, don't worry about my safety, it's been a year since the last incident, who still remembers me as a little miscellaneous fish, I'm not a sitting hall or a red stick in the Hongmen, and Qinggou won't keep staring at me." Since Zhang Mingxia said so, Wickham was relieved and didn't say anything more.

After a while, Zhang Mingxia remembered something again, and said to Wickham with a smile: "Since Brother Zihan went to Guangzhou with the sea ship, then I will give Brother Zihan a big deal, I wonder if Brother Zihan wants to take it?" Wickham was stunned for a moment, could it be that they had some way to make a fortune in Nanyang, so he asked: "What is the big deal that the unknown Brother Xia said?" ”

Zhang Mingxia said: "Rosewood!" ”

PS: Wickham will soon make a lot of money again, and the brothers will also give some monthly passes and collection support support?