Zhenhai is not far from Dinghai, and when the news of the salt rebellion came, the Dinghai general soldiers, Dinghai Zhixian and the local squires of Dinghai were urgently discussing countermeasures in the county yali, and they were faced with a difficult choice.

Dinghai is a place of great strategic significance, and it is an inevitable base for the Anglo-Chinese Navy, and the headquarters of the Ocean Fleet in the naval planning is here. Constrained by the overall layout of Jiangnan, the navy was still reluctant to use force after being driven out by the people in Dinghai, but continued to try to solve the problem by peaceful means.

Previously, the Anglo-Chinese Navy had been sealing the "Set Sail and Gang Gangsters" to lock the sea and prevent the sails from going to sea. Now the Anglo-Chinese Navy has issued an ultimatum, demanding that the culprit who poisoned and demagogic the people to make trouble in the first place be handed over, otherwise they will storm Dinghai......

Xie Sen, who is appointed as the prefect of Dinghai County, is still an old god: "Nanban regards himself as the Zhengshuo of Huaxia, holding high the banner of benevolence and righteousness, they will never dare to do anything to the people!" As long as I am united, I will be able to make Nanban retreat despite the difficulties as I did earlier! ”

It wasn't his expectation, but his hope. Before, a group of students in Dinghai County encouraged the people to poison the drinking water, and then a group of squires encouraged the people in the city to make trouble, and he picked up this credit. Now that Nanban is making a comeback, he naturally feels that he can make another contribution and push himself to the rank of Taoist or even higher.

The squires were no longer unanimous at this time, and they were arguing non-stop. Earlier, those who instigated the people to rebel were those gentry in Dinghai who had a background and background and were firmly at the top of the food chain of Dinghai's interests. They were afraid that Yinghua would enter Dinghai and steal their own interests, so they naturally took the same position now, agreed with Xie Sen's opinion, and continued to encourage the people to resist Yinghua.

And the other squires, who were led by those gentry earlier, now see that Nanban is gaining a foothold in Longmen, throwing cheap grain, rice, salt and iron around, and the pattern of interests in Jiangnan has changed, and their minds are also lively, and they feel that it is not a way to mix with these officials and businessmen, and those gentry are for their own life, what are they for? If you are stupid to be at the mercy of others, why not make a profit for yourself?

So they all objected, of course they didn't dare to say that they would throw themselves into Yinghua, and who would hand them over to bear the guilt, but they pulled out the people's suffering, and the banner of the uncertain sea, and also raised the bull with those wealthy businessmen.

Pan Liancheng, the chief soldier of Dinghai, coughed and said: "I heard that the Nanban Naval Division did this, and it was a military order from their Privy Council. Dinghai is already the war zone they have demarcated, which is different from when they settled in earlier. In the war zone, the military comes first, and the Southern Barbarian Naval Division may no longer care about the people. Recently, the Nanban sailors have arrested a lot of fishermen, and they have all been thrown into prison. ”

There was silence in the lobby, and Xie Sen secretly said that it was not good, listening to the meaning of this, Pan Liancheng was afraid that he was going to fall to Yinghua.

He hurriedly said: "Let's urgently report to Li Zhitai and Nian Dashuai, and ask them to send reinforcements quickly." ”

Pan Liancheng sneered: "Reinforcements? Recently, Songjiang, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo and even Jiangning have been in the salt and rice rebellion, Li Zhitai and Nian Dashuai are eager to become a thousand-armed Guanyin, how can they still think about Dinghai? ”

First of all, he said that the Nanban Sailor had no scruples and then said that Dinghai was close to giving up in Jiangnan, and even Xie Sen's face turned pale, and the latter was very close to the truth. Although he, the magistrate, was promoted by Yongzheng to three levels, he was still pressed in Dinghai, obviously because the imperial court did not want to see Dinghai more. Compared with the whole Jiangnan, what is Dinghai?

Those ordinary squires looked at each other for a while, and they all looked at Pan Liancheng: "What did Lord Zongrong say?" ”

Pan Liancheng understood the things in his eyes, and he smiled: "What can I say?" I am for the sake of 100,000 Dinghai people! Someone! ”

A large group of green battalion soldiers Ding Yong "set sail to avoid gangsters" into the lobby, and Xie Sen said in horror: "Pan Liancheng, you dare to rebel against the imperial court!" ”

Pan Liancheng took a sip, raised his hand and pointed at Xie Sen and those gentry one after another: "You corrupt people, the inferior gentry will call the people to work for you, but they hide behind and count the silver." Since this court is supported by people like you, why do you still serve this court? ”

Xie Sen was so angry that his lungs were about to explode: "You have to learn from those soldiers in Jiangxi and Hunan, you are clearly forgetting your righteousness!" ”

Pan Liancheng's face was not red and his heart was not beating: "I am seeking profit, but my profit is in line with the righteousness, why not do it?" ”

Pan Liancheng is a smart person, and he has long seen that Li Wei and Nian Qianyao have given up Dinghai, and Yongzheng has no hope for Dinghai. The Anglo-Chinese Navy is determined to win Dinghai, so why should he be a victim. Bai Daolong, the deputy capital of Hangzhou of Jinshanwei, didn't let out a single fart near Longmen Port, although he didn't rebel, he was secretly acting as a lackey of Yinghua. Now that his family is in Dinghai, it is a good opportunity for Nantou Yinghua. …,

was about to order Xie Sen and those gentry to be taken, but he didn't want another group of soldiers to rush in, not only the militia organized by Xie Sen, but also the nursing homes hired by those gentry.

Xie Sen roared: "I'm ready to deal with traitors, but I don't want to jump out of a big traitor like you!" ”

Gunshots rang out, the lobby was in chaos, and neither side dared to scuffle here, so they were escorted by their men and hurriedly separated.

On November 16, Dinghai was in turmoil, and Pan Liancheng's control was insufficient, and only half of Dinghai Zhenbiao followed him. The other half, plus "diehards" such as Xie Sen. "On the one hand, he fought with Pan Liancheng's subordinates in Dinghai County, and on the other hand, he stubbornly defended the Jinji Mountain Fort near Dinghai Port. And the people who were originally clamored to resist Yinghua were at a loss, so they watched the excitement stupidly.

On the helm of the 100,000 Great Mountain, Pan Liancheng said ashamedly: "The matter has not been done well, and the general is asked to punish him." ”

Meng Songhai shrugged his shoulders and replied, "It doesn't matter, it's okay like this." During these days, we were scolded by the Chinese people, and they scolded us for not being gentlemen, and we acted shy back. Now, at this time, the people who are still determined to be against us will no longer be merciful. ”

Of course, Meng Songhai doesn't care, he got a military order from the Privy Council, as long as the people of Dinghai refuse the ultimatum, they have no scruples about using force, and Pan Liancheng's defection does not mean much to him.

Pan Liancheng shuddered, and didn't dare to speak again, but he saw that in the distant port, there were tens of thousands of people, who were not here to resist the Anglo-Chinese navy, and certainly not to welcome. When the squires, wealthy businessmen, and even officials and generals who led them were divided, they didn't know what else they could do, and now they were crowded here, most of them were still in the mood to watch the excitement. Anyway, Yinghua acts benevolently and righteously, and will not easily kill the people, as long as they do not oppose them, safety is still guaranteed.

Dinghai fought again, and there were countless audiences. I saw the roar on the Jinji Mountain Fort, and the water column on the sea surface in the distance of the port rose. The scene was lively, but the two huge battleships were not afraid at all and approached rapidly.

Nearly two or three miles away, the Jinji Mountain Fort became more and more vigorous. Since the retreat of the Anglo-Chinese navy last time, Xie Sen and the local gentry worked together to urgently rebuild, and also urgently pulled all kinds of artillery from Ningbo and other places, and now there are more than 20 large and small red-coated guns, which are enough to cover the Dinghai port.

Seeing the water splashing in all directions, and another shot seemed to hit the giant ship, causing the people to cheer, but then found that the giant ship was undamaged, and was fighting sideways on its own, and there were louder boos, which seemed to have completely taken on the role of watching the play.

Then they saw a good show, a fireworks show they had never seen in their lives.

The two giant ships opened fire suddenly, and the rumbling of cannons continued, even on the other side of the harbor, the people felt as if they were in the mouth of the thunderclouds, dozens of orange and yellow flames erupted from the side of the giant ship, and then erupted into thick gunsmoke.

The people would only look at the excitement, and they felt that the movement was too amazing, and the fort was obviously lost.

Although this understanding is extremely superficial, at this moment, it is to understand the essence. The fort was full of smoke and dust, and the earth was flying high, and there was no sound in a moment.

On the helm platform of the 100,000 Great Mountain, Liu Songding looked at the turret that was powerless to fight back in an instant, and said blankly: "No, this is the end?" ”

Bai Zhengli sneered: "What kind of fort is that? There was not even the least protection, so they opened a flat ground, put the cannon mount up, and then built a road earth fence to protect it, thinking that they were putting up a cannon on the head of the city. ”

Here, Meng Songhai said with a hideous face: "Boom! Boom for an hour! The more you smash it, the better, and it's easy to clean it up! ”

Needless to say, this fleet has been holding its breath for a while, and now it has an opportunity to vent, and it is even more unwilling to let go. First the two battleships bombarded, and then the Jianghe-class, which had been classified as a cruiser, also rushed up, and the small sea carp ships that had been classified as frigates did not want to miss the opportunity, rushed to the port berth area, and bombarded the side of the battery with their twelve-pound guns.

At this moment of artillery fire, the people on the side of the port only watched quietly, not only shocked by the irresistible power of blood and fire, but also worried about their own future.

"Nanban, no, Yinghua"... Won't you really be looking for trouble with us? ”

"Who knows? Anyway, we're just fish, just toss whichever side you want! I shouldn't have listened to those scholars and officials in the first place, phew! ”…,

"People don't bother to do anything with us at all, don't take yourself too seriously. Look at this movement, people were going to bang at us like this earlier, what should it be? ”

"I heard that Yinghua wants to build Dinghai into a large military port, and thousands of officers and soldiers are stationed here. Their officers and soldiers are very rich, and an ordinary soldier is at least five or six taels of silver a month.

At that time, the cost of water and water will be invested in our Dinghai, and it will be developed in the future! ”

"At first, I poisoned the drinking water, and I drove people away. Are you afraid that when the time comes, people will drive us all to other places in one go and enjoy the blessings? Don't go to Qiongzhou, enjoy the blessings of mining with the banner people they are holding. ”

The crowd talked about it, and gradually gathered into a consensus, they just continued to watch the excitement, who knows what Yinghua will do with them Dinghai people?

"Didn't Yinghua give an ultimatum before, and wanted to determine Hai Lou as the culprit who harmed them?"

"The culprit...... Isn't it Master Ding and Master Han? The county magistrate took the credit on him, and he was also one. ”

"We can't fight, but let's show the way, let's go, and keep those old men in a tight spot."

The consensus quickly turned into action, and when Bai Zhengli and the Fubo army went ashore again, on the one hand, the old people greeted the king, and on the other hand, the young people showed them the way, to help them capture the culprits who had fled throughout Dinghai.

The news of the fall of Dinghai reached Suzhou on November 22, and Li Wei and Nian Qianyao were once again speechless, and the situation in the south of the Yangtze River became more and more dangerous. Yinghua cut into Jiangnan with the salt industry, and has raised a group of unscrupulous salt generations in Jiangnan, and the size and conflict with the salt merchants in Jiangnan are endless. The fall of Dinghai may become a hole in the embankment, pushing all parts of the south of the Yangtze River to Yinghua one after another.

Nian Qianyao said weakly: "Now whether to fight or retreat, you must have a choice." ”

Li Wei gritted his teeth and nodded, the rice and salt rebellion during this period was actually caused by the two of them. Because they want to strictly control commercial goods and implement the goods introduction system, this makes the government at all levels pounce and suck blood in commercial affairs. Wholesale quotation is the right, and this power can be exchanged for money. has the right to intervene in such a hand, Jiangnan is everywhere at checkpoints, 100 miles and 10 taxes, not only the circulation of commercial goods is blocked, but the price is also rising.

Other commercial goods are still secondary, and the matter of salt is even more troublesome, Yinghua started with the salt industry, which is too ruthless, which is the weakness of the imperial court. If Jiangnan wants to delay and wait for change, the imperial court must deal with the salt merchants in Jiangnan as soon as possible. Do you continue to support the salt merchants and let them fight with the salt raised by Yinghua, or do you solve the salt merchants yourself in order to seal this door?

According to Nian Qianyao and Li Wei's own opinions, at this time of grinding between the north and the south, the salt merchant is a bird, and it is related to the hearts of the people in the south of the Yangtze River. If you don't cut down this bird, the hearts of the people in Jiangnan and the combination of Yinghua Yanli, Jiangnan is afraid that it will be lost in a year or two. Of course, this means that the Yinghua Salt Dynasty is tolerated to control the Jiangnan salt industry, and their door to blocking Jiangnan commercial goods has been broken.

Not cutting, or even supporting salt merchants, is also a countermeasure, which has to let the government and salt merchants work together to clean up the Yinghua salt dynasty. This path is not only dangerous, but also has a low chance of success.

Li Wei sighed: "If Jiangnan collapses so quickly, it won't be a good thing for Nanban, they don't have any ideas?" ”

Just as he was saying this, Li Wei's disciple came in, with an inexplicable surprise, as if he had seen something unbelievably strange.

"Master, handsome, there is a letter to you, not sent by the court, yes, it is a letter from Longmen."

Letters? Or is it from Longmen?

Nian Qianyao and Li Wei felt a cool breath poured from head to toe, and Yinghua directly sent Yi to them, what kind of road is this?。