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For more than a year, although Europe was also quite chaotic, the number of merchant ships traveling to and from the Far East did not decrease, and the volume of trade tended to increase. Although most of them are still European fleets, the fleets of Fujian and Guangdong are also constantly following. The fleets of the East were generally more numerous as soon as they were dispatched, and at least ten merchant ships set off at the same time, so that they could take care of each other. After all, thousands of miles away from the ocean, a foreign country is still the closest to the hometown people, and they can help each other.

The physical configuration of these merchant ships was also good, and when Geng Jingzhong encouraged them to go to sea, these merchants gathered a large number of escorts to pass with the ships. These guards are not given in vain, they were invited by these sea merchants to train the retired non-commissioned officers of the Mawei Army for a period of time, although the combat power is not as good as the regular army of the Mawei Army, but it is much stronger for those pirates in comparison.

These merchant fleets were also equipped with a lot of weapons, and the Mawei Army's cannons were very fast, and the iron mold casting cannons became an assembly line operation, with five or six hundred guns leaving the factory every month. The Ponytail Army didn't need that much. Moreover, these are installed on ships, which are relatively cumbersome, and even if they are unloaded to the ground, they can only be used to defend the city, and there is no maneuverability at all. Employing veteran officers from the Mawei Army to accompany him, and having a large number of trained escorts, the security is greatly increased.

Similarly, Fujian and Guangdong have made a lot of moves, which has led to a substantial increase in the trade volume between the two provinces, and the lives of the people in the two places have become more prosperous. Life is booming here, and the neighbors next to it naturally can't sit still. In Guangxi Province, especially Wuzhou County, which is close to Guangdong, many people have moved their families to live in Guangdong. Go to the Guangdong factory to make a living. Some of them boarded a ship to Manila. In response to the call of the Mawei Army to go to Luzon, even the boundary of Chenzhou, Hunan, is the same.

Since Wu and Geng raised their troops to the present, the two territories have been close together, and the commerce and trade on both sides, especially Guangxi, have not been cut off at all. As for the fact that trade in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River was blocked, it was because the Wu army had been fighting the Qing army. Fujian and Guangdong are thriving day by day, making great strides forward, and also driving the development of Guangxi, Hunan and other places. There are not a few people who move back and forth.

Guangxi has never been the focus of the Wu army's defense, and the Wu army does not have many soldiers stationed here. Sun Yanling was killed, and Kong Sizhen was taken to Kunming, Yunnan Province, where he was imprisoned. At this moment, Wu Sangui's nephew Wu Shicong was stationed in Guangxi with 10,000 Wu troops, plus the 20,000 soldiers and horses under the original command of Kong Sizhen, which combined with more than 30,000.

How many Mawei troops are stationed in Guangdong Province? Originally, it was the Fourth Division, that is, the reorganized Shang Kexi's soldiers and horses plus a part of the newly recruited training, but at this time they had all been transferred to Zhili, and they were all transferred to Tianjin and Beijing, and now the new 18th Division was newly expanded and trained last year, even if the local police station was added, the total number of soldiers and horses was about 15,000. However, this does not include the Eighth Detachment of the Mawei Navy, which is stationed outside Guangzhou Bay.

At the end of the year, neither side had made any moves. Geng Jingzhong's hometown in Fujian went wrong. The eldest wife Lan Xi held back for more than a year, but finally couldn't help but move. Secretly co-opted the commander of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion. Commander of the Guards Battalion. He wanted to cooperate with the envoys sent by the Qing court to control the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion and the Fujian Ministry of Political Affairs, and then control the whole of Fujian and disturb Geng Jingzhong's rear. But she didn't expect that Geng Jingzhong and Yao Qisheng had been taking precautions for a long time. Although Geng Jingzhong was extremely reluctant to see such a thing happen, he left behind when he left Fujian.

Those who stayed in Fujian were Geng Jingzhong's cronies, especially the garrison troops responsible for ensuring the safety of Fuzhou City, and of course, the guard battalion guarding the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion was also one of them. It's also that Lan Xi is too impatient, and he doesn't want to think about how these people can really take refuge in them. They were all ordered by Yao Qisheng to pretend to take refuge, and when the Qing court finally cooperated with Lan Xi to launch it, he suddenly turned against him and captured him.

The Qing court envoy thought simply, thinking that in this way he could control Fujian, and he didn't want to fall into the trap dug by others. However, there were also thrilling times in this, when Geng Jingzhong's two sons were accused by the Qing court and sent to the ship to be sent to the north, they were intercepted by Yao Qisheng to inform the Mawei Army and the navy. The man was not hurt, but he was frightened.

Geng Jingzhong rushed back immediately after learning the news, and the relationship between the two was still very deep for his wife. But at this moment, feelings can't be used to talk about things. was betrayed by the people closest to him, Geng Jingzhong's heart was also very painful. But he couldn't kill her, so he ordered him to be grounded in the mansion and never go out again

The Mawei Army fleet in Bohai Bay, half of the detachment on the Yangtze River, plus the fleet left behind by the Mawei Army, the Mawei Army and the Navy were gathered, except for the fleet stationed on Luzon Island, which was not assembled, and the other fleets were all concentrated in Mawei.

The Mawei Navy received the order at different times, but it arrived at the Mawei Military Port and the Pingtan Military Port on the same day. The goal of the Mawei Army's next big move is very clear, to attack Taiwan and recover the island of Taiwan.

The final decisive battle between the Mawei Army and Wu Sangui is imminent, and this Zheng Jing is like a dagger against the back of the Mawei Army, and Zheng Jing is likely to unite with Wu Sangui to obtain greater benefits. If Zheng Jingju came behind his back with all his strength when the Mawei Army and the Wu Army were fighting to the death, it would really be enough for the Mawei Army to drink a pot. It would be better to recover Taiwan as soon as possible, anyway, the strength of the Mawei Army is not difficult.

More than half of Zheng Jing's army was in Zhejiang, and one-third of the naval division was stationed in Hangzhou Bay, which was completely stubborn. Taiwan does not have many troops, and even if Zheng Jing wants to immediately call the whole of Taiwan to resist, he will not be able to recruit so many troops. Historically, after the defeat of Zheng Jingshuishi. The Qing army landed less than 20,000 and took the entire island of Taiwan. The task of the Mawei Army is to eliminate the Zheng Navy's sailors with lightning speed.

Therefore, the Mawei Army moved very quickly this time, and it also covered the ears and eyes of Shi Lang in the north of Zhejiang. The part of the Zheng army in Zhejiang still did not know that the Mawei army and navy had gathered in Mawei and was ready to attack Taiwan. In fact, even Zheng Jing didn't know at the moment.

In addition to Xu Yingyuan of the Fourth Fleet, the Mawei Army was still in Luzon, the Eighth Fleet continued to garrison Guangdong, leaving the First Fleet to watch over the house, and the other five fleets went straight to the Penghu Islands in Taiwan under the leadership of Wang Zhenbang. Part of Zheng Jingshui's division was stationed in the Penghu Islands. Wang Zhenbang's intention is to take the Penghu Islands at the moment, and then go straight to Taiwan's royal city. This time, it is necessary to absolutely crush the Zheng Navy with the absolute strength of the Mawei Army and Navy, and then recover Taiwan in one fell swoop.

This Taiwanese royal city is in the south of Taiwan, that is, the original Dutch built the city of Geranza.

The city of Geranza was originally the core of Dutch rule in Taiwan, and it was also the first castle built by the Dutch in Taiwan. In 1622, the second year of the Apocalypse, the Dutch East India Company occupied the Penghu Islands as an entrepot for East Asian trade. However, the Dutch were expelled by the Ming army's sailors, and finally had to leave the Penghu Islands and find another place.

Three years of the Apocalypse. The Dutch built a simple fortress in a place called "Yi Kun Yu" in the southern part of the island of Taiwan. This was the predecessor of Anping Castle. In the fourth year of the Apocalypse, after eight months of fierce fighting with the Ming Dynasty army, the Dutch and the Chinese authorities reached an agreement to destroy the fortresses and forts set up in Penghu and transfer them to the island of Taiwan. It was agreed that the Dutch would have to get closer to the Penghu Islands. At the same time, the Ming Dynasty did not interfere with the Dutch occupation of Taiwan.

After the Dutch occupied Taiwan, they rebuilt the large-scale castle "Orange City" on the site of the original old castle. In the seventh year of the Apocalypse, it was renamed "Gelansha City" in the name of Zeeland Province in the Dutch Province, and the first phase of the fort bottom project was completed in the fifth year of Chongzhen. Since then, the castle has been the main hub of Dutch rule over the entire island of Taiwan and foreign trade. Other castles of the Dutch on Taiwan, such as Pu Minsha City and Dayuan City, were built on the basis of the city of Geranza. By the time of Chongzhen ten years or so, there were more than 20 strongholds and fortresses of the Dutch in Taiwan, covering many corners of the entire island of Taiwan.

Taiwan has abundant products, diligent servants, beautiful maidens, white sandy beaches, clear waters, warm sunshine, blue sky, fresh air, flying seagulls, turquoise forests, and babbling streams...... As long as it is liked by human beings, it can be found in Taiwan.

Fifteen years ago, in April, Zheng Chenggong expelled the Dutch from Taiwan and changed the city of Relanza to "Taiwan City"; In May, Taiwan was renamed "Anping Town", so it is also known as "Anping City"; In December of that year, Zheng Chenggong recovered Taiwan and stationed here, so it is also commonly known as "Wangcheng". Three generations of the Zheng family have lived here, and it can be said that it was built as solid as gold.

In the past, it was another 18 years in history to 1683 when Kangxi recovered Taiwan, Taiwan was included in the territory of the Qing court, this castle was used as a naval division to assist the town office, until the outbreak of the Sino-British Opium War in the 20th year of Daoguang, Taiwan's military equipment Yao Ying to resist the British army, prepare for coastal defense, Taiwan City into a military uniform bureau, in addition to the construction of the original city wall and forts, as a warehouse for storing military supplies and ammunition. In the eighth year of Tongzhi, that is, in 1869, the British ship shelled Anping, and most of the castle was destroyed.

In the first year of Guangxu, the Qing soldiers destroyed the city of Relan, took its bricks to build the Erkun Fort, and the residents also took the bricks and stones of the city wall to build houses. During the occupation by the Japanese army, the Japanese bulldozed the ruins of the castle and rebuilt it into a new-style Western-style mansion as the quarters of the customs chief, which is now the "Anping Castle".

This royal city can be said to be the earliest castle in Taiwan, its city wall structure is made of sugar water, glutinous rice juice pounded oyster shell ash, sand and other stacked bricks, and called "Sanhe soil", this is the best way to build the city wall before, very solid, no less than cement. The four corners of the royal city and the outer city are built with a fortress to place cannons, of course, when it comes to later generations, many things are gone, only the outer city wall remains, an ancient well, a semicircular fortress base and some remnants, the largest monument is the remnants of the city wall of the outer city south wall that is 70 meters long.

Others don't know very well, but Geng Jingzhong himself knows very well that Taiwan Island is China's first treasure island, and its geographical location is also very important, even more important than Luzon Island. Geng Jingzhong has long wanted to include Taiwan in his pocket, but the opportunity has never arrived, and this time he must recover it in one fell swoop.

Taiwan has had very close contacts with Fujian and Guangdong over the past few years, and it can be said that in the past five or six years, Taiwan's development has caught up with that of the previous two or three decades. For example, Taiwan's sugar industry, Fujian and Guangdong have built a lot of sugar houses, and the output of granulated sugar is relatively large. At present, in the southern part of Guangdong, especially in the area of Hainan Island, sugarcane is being planted on a large scale. However, Taiwan's trade has been prosperous in recent years, and sugar production has also been very prosperous, which is not inferior to Guangdong and Fujian combined, and has brought a lot of profits to Zheng Jing every year.

Geng Jingzhong clearly remembers that Taiwan Island is rich in deer skin, and in the past, including now, Taiwan is selling a large number of deer skin and deer antler velvet every year. There are a lot of elk on the island, and they are found in the mountains and plains. The largest number of deer is even in the thousands. When the deer wander on the grassland, it is very spectacular to see at a glance. The original natives of the island of Taiwan coexisted peacefully with the deer herd and rarely hunted the deer. Since the arrival of the Dutch colonists, a large number of elk have been hunted and rare items such as antlers, venison and deer skins have been obtained, which has gradually reduced the number of elk. Since these elks are wild, the number of breeding numbers per year is limited. Massacres by the Dutch colonists and later Zheng Jing and others naturally greatly reduced the number. From the point of view of animal protection, deerskin is not long-lasting.

Another big advantage is that there are many mountains on the island of Taiwan, and more than half of the area in the east is high mountains, and there are rich forest resources on the mountains, which can fully meet the needs of shipbuilding. Geng Jingzhong had thought about it in the past nine floors, and if he owned Taiwan, he must build a shipyard there. Those trees that are more than 100 years old can be used to build large battleships of more than 1,000 tons, and a lot of wood can even be used to make keels, and it is also very convenient to use local materials.

In fact, the most important point is that Geng Jingzhong still values Taiwan's geographical location. It is bordered by the Ryukyu Islands in the northeast, the Bass Strait in the south and the Philippine Islands, and the Taiwan Strait and Fujian Province in the west. Therefore, its importance can be seen. If Geng Jingzhong doesn't take Taiwan into his pocket, he will really be full of feelings. (To be continued......)