After entering the middle of July, a major event in the eastern and western hemispheres shook the public opinion in China and the United States.

In the east, Zhang Xianzhong, the leader of the peasant army who was as famous as Li Zicheng, captured Wuchang in Huguang, executed the king of Chu in the Ming Dynasty, and even ate the corpse of the king of Chu with his subordinates in a very savage manner.

Zhang Xianzhong and others frantically looted and seized millions of taels of silver, "taking millions of gold and silver in the palace, and carrying hundreds of carts." Subsequently, Zhang Xianzhong issued more than 6 million taels of silver, and summoned displaced people from all over the country to join the army, and the strength of the army expanded to more than 100,000 at once.

Just when Wuchang was besieged by Zhang Xianzhong, the Cangshan peasant uprising that shook the three provinces of Min, Zhejiang and Jiangxi also underwent bad changes. Xu Du, a literati and celebrity who had a good relationship with Chen Zilong in history, became the leader of this peasant uprising. The rebel army successively defeated the Ming Dynasty officials and troops who came to encircle and suppress in Zhejiang, and conquered Yiwu, Zhuji, Pujiang, Yongkang, Wuyi, Tangxi, Lanxi and other counties, and the whole Zhejiang was shaken.

Zhejiang Province in the Ming Dynasty is a mud, and it seems that it has no direct connection with the lives of ordinary citizens in Huamei. But in essence, the peasant revolt Yan zhòng led by Xu Du affected much of the trade along the Zhejiang coast. In the past six months, the amount of imported materials obtained by the Oriental Union Group from Zhejiang maritime merchants has also dropped by more than 70%.

The most unfortunate thing happened on the eve of the siege of Wuyi County, where several Zhejiang merchants who supplied raw silk to Huamei Oriental Union were also trapped in the city. After the fall of the city, more than 3,000 quintals worth $350,000 of raw silk were burned, accounting for almost a quarter of Huamei's annual raw silk imports.

I don't know if the information screening work was not done carefully, or the media's exaggeration of the oriental pathos was too much, after the news was published in the newspaper, the raw silk price in the Manchester City futures trading market appeared 4 consecutive price limits.

What is to die is that the current futures trading day limit set by Huamei is 5%, that is to say, the 20% rise has made many futures traders who have to buy hedging and close their positions during this period of time confused. Among them is the futures trading fund of Swenbler, who thinks he knows everything about the futures economy. lost tens of thousands of dollars overnight, and Swenbo, who was angry and was preparing his daughter's dowry, almost found the "Manchester City Financial News" to scold people.

Of course, in China, where financial activities are becoming more and more frequent, such ups and downs are not necessarily uncommon, and the impact on the majority of ordinary citizens is even more minimal, but a piece of news from England caused an uproar at the top of China.

In England, the royal army, which had been showing off its military might for more than half a year and conquering the territory of the Parliamentarian army in succession, suffered a heavy loss. The royal army had just captured Bristol, the second largest port in LinkedIn Glen, and together with all the ships in the port, had seized a large amount of war materials. But before they could celebrate, they found that a parliamentary army had arrived in the important town of Gloucester, a few dozen miles to the north.

Wang Dangjun, who had been fighting for several months, was in a state of extreme fatigue at this time, which urgently needed to rest and recuperate. The Parliamentarian army that came to the battle seemed weak, but it arrived just right, and its commander was Cromwell, who had been silent for a long time.

As long as Gloucester is firmly controlled, it is equivalent to cutting off the main force of the royal army, which is fighting in southwest England and Wales, and the old nest of the northern royal army, Yorkshire. It seems that in response to Gloucester's Parliamentarian army, the remnants of another Parliamentarian army under the command of General Waller have also regrouped in Bridgewater, a few dozen miles south of Bristol, and are likely to move northward.

For now, all the King's army had to do was crush Cromwell's parliamentary army in one fell swoop. Even if the victory in the southwest of England was completely sealed, the royal army would then be able to form a siege of London from both the west and the north. In London, the Earl of Essex's hastily assembled militia groups had not even half of their weapons, and were still facing pressure from the Northern King's army. There was no way to divide troops to reinforce the western front, and a pessimistic atmosphere permeated the entire city of London.

One side gritted its teeth and needed to make persistent efforts, while the other side couldn't afford to lose. The defensive battle of Gloucester, which was supposed to hold on to the defense of Gloucester in history, became a battle to the death. Gloucester's parliamentary army was organized and trained by Cromwell himself for more than three months. Cromwell proudly refers to it as the "Model Army" because the parliamentary army, numbering just over 4,000 men, is trained almost entirely on the basis of Cromwell's own experience over the years. With the exception of a very small cavalry and artillery, almost all of the infantry was armed with an all-American 21B flintlock pistol.

The Battle of Gloucester, which was almost twice as large in number, broke out on 1 July, with Cromwell forming his 3,500 flintlock pikemen in a thin four-line formation, followed by four poor 12-pounder cannons and less than 200 cavalry. Cromwell's opponent, the royal army, came to battle with more than 6,500 troops, but the number of flintlock muskets was less than 2,000.

On one side was a line of infantry composed of pure flintlock pikemen, and on the other side was the Maurice phalanx, adapted from the Spanish phalanx. The artillery of both sides opened fire on each other at a distance of 1,000 yards, and the losses of the parliamentary army's thin formation were slight, while the first line of the royal army suffered a considerable blow.

As the two formations approached 100 yards, Cromwell's wall-mounted approaching salvo, for which he had become famous a few years earlier, was once again in full swing. With just two volleys, nearly 1,000 of Wang's troops were either killed or wounded, and the first-line troops quickly collapsed, and then Cromwell seized the opportunity to launch a bayonet charge, and the cavalry also took advantage of the situation to outflank the opponent's artillery. The rout of the Wang Dang army on the front line affected the troops behind, and finally caused the collapse of the whole army.

At the cost of more than 300 casualties, Cromwell killed, wounded, and captured more than 3,000 of the king's army, and captured all the opponent's artillery, and fought a hearty victory. Two days later, Cromwell recaptured Bristol, but before evacuating, the royal army burned all the supplies that had been piled up in the port too late to carry away, and the fire burned almost the entire port.

Four Dutch-flagged gallened ships employed by a small Chinese chamber of commerce in the Governorate of the Azores had just arrived in Bristol to unload their cargo when they were killed in the fire. A Chinese agent posing as a Dutch businessman was killed in the fire, destroying nearly a million dollars worth of food, medicine and munitions carried by the chamber of commerce. Behind the scenes, this small leather bag chamber of commerce was actually registered by the Military Intelligence Bureau of the Ministry of National Defense, and the materials in the ship were all ready to be delivered to Wang Dangjun. What's even more disgusting is that Charles I has not had time to pay, and Huamei has suffered a big loss for the first time.

The history of the English Civil War was already in the dark, with the emergence of the Model Army and the turn of the Parliamentarian Party from defeat to victory a year earlier. The scales of war are again tipped in favor of the parliamentary party. The Bristol fire certainly cost the careless Huamei agent his life, but apart from protesting to the warring parties, the Huamei Foreign Ministry really couldn't find any good reason to vent for a while, because Huamei still had a series of more important work to complete.

……

Sunday, July 19, 1643.

York City is one of the oldest towns in the history of England, and George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II, once said: "The history of York is the history of England." ”

When the ancient Roman Empire ruled the British Isles, York City was an important military town in the north of England, and it was also the political frontier that had restricted Scotland since the Middle Ages. The power of the Kingdom of England has changed several times, and it is also inseparable from the city of York.

Duke of York. It is a symbol of the long-term and powerful rule of the English royal family in the region. Since the reign of Edward IV, the title of Duke of York has been exclusive to the royal family, usually conferred on the king's second son. Interestingly, Charles I was once the Duke of York, and it was only because of the death of his brother that he had a chance to become the heir to the king, and of course he also poured blood mold for this kingship.

Today, the Roman walls still surround the city of York, and the medieval St. Peter's Basilica is ringing with bells. Groups of Royal English soldiers loyally guarded the church gates, and dozens of well-dressed English nobles waited anxiously at the gates.

"They (the parliamentary party) have increased their strength again, they are on the counter-offensive and we are on the verge of losing all of Wales! Cromwell is definitely a most dangerous opponent. His Majesty the King should consider the peace talks proposed by the Earl of Essex last month. ”

"Well, perhaps we should also send emissaries to Scotland and Ireland, where there are more people who support His Majesty the King, if the conditions are right."

Outside the church doors, English aristocrats whispered. Opinions abounded, and few felt that they could fight against Cromwell's model army, who had gone north with the threat of a great victory, because many of the royal armies had been defeated by the parliamentarian army.

The doors of the church are opened. Charles I, dressed in military uniform, still had that gloomy and pale face, but his eyes flashed with disdain.

“…… I will not accept any changes to any colony under the royal family's name, which is contrary to our original agreement. Their colonial self-determination is not legitimate! Charles I glanced at the nobles waiting outside the door, and turned back to a Chinese Foreign Ministry courier with a non-negotiable look, "On the contrary, I feel that Virginia, or the Barony of Killarney, or the whole of Ireland, should help me as much as possible." The corrupt members of the council will know what it means to oppose their king! ”

"I am just conveying the basic attitude of our Congress, and as for you, you have the right to make any choice. The Virginia Colony Assembly's application for territorial merger has indeed troubled our Congress, but we must respect the will of the people on North American soil. The Chinese diplomatic messenger was also expressionless, and after a brief salute, he boarded his carriage.

"This group of trick-playing North American clowns, who are supporting me while sending boatloads of food, gunpowder, and muskets to the parliamentary rebels, have now reached out to Virginia! But this time, they didn't even pay a cannon and took my Virginia! ”

Looking at the carriage in the distance, a hint of anger flashed on Charles I's melancholy and pale face.

……

While Charles I was still struggling with whether to go to Scotland for support, the North American colony of Virginia had already hung up a new title - "Jiangzhou of the Chinese American Republic".

Just two months ago, with the formal approval of the U.S. Congress, U.S. Premier Wu Yuanyi, formally accepted the annexation of the local council of the British Virginia Autonomous Colony. This purely superficial political action had been going on for half a year, and before that, troops from the Chinese American Marine Corps and the Foreign Legion Bison Brigade had already taken control of the two important towns of Hampton Harbor and Jamestown, Virginia.

The newly formed Jiangzhou filled a large area of territory south of Binzhou, encompassing the entire colony of Virginia, England, and part of what would become North Carolina. Of course, these territory divisions are more drawings and operations, and they are still a lot worse than the actual control.

After nearly half a year of statistical collation, the population of the former English colonies incorporated into Jiangzhou totaled more than 9,000 people, in addition to nearly 2,000 Chinese Americans who had infiltrated and settled in the Hamptons on the grounds of "labor expatriate". Complete the administrative implementation for Shun lì. All former English colonists were granted temporary settlement rights. In recent years, nearly 1,000 black slaves on plantations have been forcibly bought by the Chinese and American governments and sent to "labor camps" in the Caribbean or sold to Spanish and Portuguese colonies in Central and South America.

As for the other assets of the former Virginia, the Huamei cabinet has consolidated it.

First, Jamestown, which was not suitable for large-scale settlement, and a number of remote tobacco plantation-based colonial strongholds on both sides of the James River would be abandoned, and the state capital would be moved to Hampton at the mouth of the James River, which had been renamed "River City".

Straddling the north and south banks of the James River estuary, Jiangcheng is of course outstanding in its natural geographical conditions, and the famous Norfolk Naval Base in the Atlantic Ocean in later generations. Even if it is the southern district of Jiangcheng City now, it will become the second home port of the home fleet in the future.

Second, the entire Jiangzhou settlement population will undergo a two-year structural adjustment, and in addition to housing more new immigrants, about half of the old former Virginia residents will be relocated and dispersed to other states. Then, at low land prices, new national families were attracted from a number of other populous native towns. Previously, under the deliberate propaganda of the state, more than 200 national families had booked land in advance to move to Jiangcheng, and more than half of them were old Chinese nationals of Bermuda's overseas territory who had personally come to Jiangzhou to run trade.

Bermuda's overseas territory is the city of Double Bay, where agricultural land is scarce. Compared with the land of Jiangcheng City, it is not in the same order of magnitude at all, and can only take the route of characteristic micro-industry and agriculture, financial trade and consumption-oriented cities. The climate in Jiangzhou is warmer and more suitable than in the northern part of the country, which is very pleasing to the old Chinese people, and makes the Chinese people in Bermuda who have long planned to expand agricultural cultivation on a large scale look forward to it. Moreover, the Shuangwan City Government also encourages people to move out. After all, the local population has grown rapidly in recent years, and by June 1643, the registered population had exceeded 12,000, and the cost of re-expansion of the town was under great pressure.

At last. It was also the most crucial step to build a new town on the north bank of the James River estuary, more than 100 kilometers above the mouth of the James River, on the site of the later city of Richmond, and named it "Zhou Kemin City". In commemoration of the tragic death of the mission to London in 1625 and posthumously awarded the rank of naval lieutenant.

The establishment of Zhou Kemin City is the core bridgehead of Huamei's inland expansion to Jiangzhou, the town is surrounded by rich natural resources and fertile land, whether it is the development of agriculture or industrial and mining industries, it has good development prospects. Moreover, the water transportation is very convenient, and in later generations it was a famous river port in the southern part of the United States.

In terms of economy, in view of Jiangzhou's mature agricultural foundation, agriculture will still be its economic pillar for a long time to come, of which cotton planting and forestry will be the focus, as long as the population growth can keep up, the total number of agricultural types and scales will continue to expand.

Industries are mainly engaged in ore mining, building materials, wood processing, textiles, and shipbuilding. At least in the 17th century, the high-quality iron ore in the north and south of the James River estuary was still relatively famous, and it was also a very difficult surface mining, although the reserves were far from comparable with Binzhou Jingu City, but it was not difficult to continue to produce tens of thousands of tons per year. As early as last year, Beiyang Shipbuilding Group invested in a small shipyard in Hampton Port at that time, and has already undertaken orders for several three-masted schooner merchant ships ordered by European countries.

In terms of administrative management, the governor of Jiangzhou is temporarily served by Yao Zhonglin, the former mayor of Jiangling, Binzhou. Yao Zhonglin is only 32 years old this year, one of the nine orphans during the catastrophe, and was later adopted by Jiang Zhaolong's family, but Jiang Zhaolong did not change the child's surname.

Yao Zhonglin has a calm personality and strong learning and growth ability, with a double degree in business administration and physics from an Ivy League university, and is one of the second-generation successors who have been trained by Guo Zhong after Jin Xiaohan and Hu Huan, and will continue to accumulate administrative experience in Jiangzhou in the next few years.

The temporary acting mayor of Jiangcheng was appointed to the post of former member of the Virginia Colonial Autonomous Council, Ferner. With Fellner's good reputation in the local area and his close relationship with Huamei's top management over the years, this executive appointment would be the best transition.

As for the Jiangzhou Local Council, according to the merger agreement reached between the former Virginia Colonial Autonomous Council and the Chinese Congress, there will be a few years of political buffer transition before the state local council is formally established in 1650.

The establishment of Jiangzhou City announced that the most threatening bone in the strategic expansion of Huamei North America had been completely digested, and only Quebec, a French colony in the north, and the Florida Peninsula, which was currently being heavily infiltrated by the French military, especially the latter, would become the priority object of Huamei in the next few years, so as to complete the "comprehensive unification" of Sino-American sovereignty. (To be continued......)