Chapter 232: The Manchus and Hans’ North-South Pincer Attack (VI)
One chasing and one fleeing, the Dutch fleet consisting of two large ships and the Han fleet consisting of three small ships have sailed out of the bay outside Jiangtou.
The Han navy almost caught up with the Dutch fleet several times in the bay, and everyone became more focused, thinking about how to defeat the other side.
Unexpectedly, when the Dutch fleet sailed out of the bay, its speed suddenly changed. The Han fleet had no idea what was going on. Although they chased desperately, the enemy's huge ships became smaller and smaller in their sight, and finally became so small that they were almost invisible.
Feng Yukuan knew that he really couldn't catch up, so he advised: "Go back."
When the fleet commander Mei Qian first saw that the Dutch fleet had been driven away, he only wanted to chase them and sink them. Now that he saw that the other side's ship-handling skills were far better than the Han fleet, he also felt timid.
The Han fleet turned around and returned to the bay of Edo. They anchored at the previous location and dropped anchor awkwardly. Feng Yukuan felt mixed emotions. He was happy that these guys had finally learned a lesson. He was worried that these guys were so self-righteous and were obviously too depressed by this blow.
Feng Yukuan had to persuade him: "You should take more water routes in the future, so the boat will go faster..."
As he was trying to persuade her as an elder, the lookout shouted, "There's a Japanese ship coming!"
Everyone hurried over to see, and indeed saw several small Japanese boats approaching. Kinoshita was in charge of leading the way for the boat his superior was on.
The boss was a little excited before boarding the ship, but now he has calmed down and has given up.
Some bigwigs who were not even mentioned before urged the Dutch ship to "come and suppress the bandits", which was once considered a brilliant move. However, the Dutch ship was chased by the Ming ship, which immediately caused panic among the upper class.
The three Ming boats were not a problem. The problem was that if the three Ming boats started a commotion in the bay outside Jiangwai, the general would definitely know about it. That would be a problem.
In this case, the Japanese upper echelons immediately made a decision and executed it immediately. Since the Ming fleet came to trade, they should settle the trade in Edo. Next time, they can go to Nagasaki for trade.
Each transaction of Ming ships takes time, so during this precious window period, the Ming Dynasty warned the Nagasaki Bugyo not to mess around.
I had thought that someone might have to commit seppuku to apologize. I didn't expect that the Ming fleet in front of me was similar to the legendary Ming merchants. Their purpose was quite simple . It was just to do business.
After seeing the goods from Daming, the boss who tried to keep calm was not tempted. Of the products brought by Daming merchants, 50% were rabbit skin linings, and 30% were food. It was a delicious dessert, and the price was even cheaper than the rice on the Japanese market. Just this aspect alone made Kinoshita's boss tempted.
That evening, another meeting was held in Yoshiwara. A group of senior executives shared the desserts and jams brought by the Ming merchants. In the past, Yoshiwara stores provided food and drinks, but the reverse was not common.
Everyone, regardless of gender, praised these two types of food. The meeting lasted for a long time, and the next day, the general officially learned the news. The Ming Dynasty merchants came to Japan to trade again and have now arrived at Jianguo.
No one was sure whether the general had known the news before. When everyone presented the six types of commodity samples shipped from the Ming Dynasty to the general, the formal meeting ended.
Things have come to this point, and it is actually imaginable what will happen, but in Japan, such things must be ordered by the general.
The next day, the general did not mention the matter again. A family elder who seemed to be of low status issued an order to establish a trade point in Edo. Food, clothing materials, furs, erotica, and leather among the products transported by the Ming Dynasty must be traded at the port of Edo.
All parts of Japan had to pay tribute to the shogunate, and the copper, sulfur, rosin, and mercury that the Han needed were all available in Edo. The prices on both sides were very fair, which made Feng Yukuan very happy.
After the transaction, the fleet weighed anchor and set sail. Returning to Qingdao Port in Jimo, they immediately notified Linzi to come and transport the goods. It was just June of the sixth year of Yongzheng's reign.
On the Liangshan side, the troops that had temporarily stopped the attack suddenly received the news, resumed the attack, and executed it immediately.
Yang Wangfu, the person in charge here, saw that it was Gao Pang who came to inspect the front line, and he felt a little uncomfortable. But he could only treat Gao Pang to a meal as politely as possible. At the dinner table, he asked why the new news was suddenly issued. Gao Pang was amused and said with a smile: "Mr. Feng Yukuan came back from Japan and brought back a lot of sulfur. This will be useful for fighting."
"Ah?" Yang Wangfu didn't understand.
Gao Pang could only continue, "There is enough sulfur to make gunpowder. We won't run out of gunpowder when we're fighting."
"Not enough gunpowder?" Yang Wangfu was puzzled .
Gao Pang was very confused by Yang Wangfu's reaction, and then he heard Yang Wangfu say unhappily: "Where are those people who make gunpowder doing?"
Gao Pang wanted to say something, but he kept silent. It was not because Gao Pang had any special relationship with the gunpowder manufacturing department of the Han Dynasty, but because he could not accept this attitude at all.
The department that manufactures gunpowder is just a manufacturing department. If there are raw materials, they can produce. If there are no raw materials, they have to stop working. If Shandong is full of production materials, these production departments cannot stop producing.
Why did Yang Wangfu say this? Gao Pang couldn't understand.
After a tour of the front line, Gao Pang returned to Linzi. He was led into the office by the guards and saw Huo Chong looking at the documents with a big smile on his face. Gao Pang hurriedly tried to make fun of him, "Why is the governor so happy?"
"I didn't expect it would be so easy to re-establish a trade line with Japan." Huo Chong said as he put down the document.
Gao Pang only felt that Huo Chong's thoughts were often too wild and unfathomable. But Gao Pang could understand Huo Chong's joys, sorrows, anger and happiness.
After working at the grassroots level for a few months, Gao Pang began to understand the joys, sorrows, anger and happiness of the grassroots people.
What is most incomprehensible now is the joys and sorrows of Huo Chong's men. Just like when Yang Wangfu learned that gunpowder production was no longer a problem, he was not happy about it, but inexplicably angry. Gao Pang couldn't figure out what Yang Wangfu was thinking.
Gao Pang had no interest in gossiping, and did not mention Yang Wangfu's affairs. He just said, "Since trade with Japan has been resumed, the production of gunpowder will surely increase greatly in the future."
"Not necessarily." Huo Chong shook his head. "Charcoal. We have the best activated charcoal made from coconut shells. We have sulfur, and the only thing left is saltpeter. Saltpeter requires a lot of urine, and this can only be solved by further strengthening management. Build more public toilets in the city."
Gao Pang was amused. Communicating with Huo Chong was so simple. The purpose, solution, and key points of the solution were all explained very clearly. If Huo Chong was angry, Gao Pang would understand Huo Chong's thoughts better. So Gao Pang asked, "What does the governor want me to do next?"
"You know a lot of people in the south, and I want you to contact them and see what they are thinking."
With just one sentence, Gao Pang understood Huo Chong's idea, "Should I write a letter or send someone?"
"You are not known to the Qing Dynasty yet. Do you have the courage to go back and see for yourself?"
"Can I watch the autumn harvest first?" Gao Pang asked.
"good."
The news that Huo Chong's troops had launched another attack on Liangshan reached the capital at an extremely fast speed. Hong Zhou could only urge Lao Shisan to send Yue Zhongqi to the south first. Lao Shisan did not respond immediately when he heard this request.
Seeing the look on Old Thirteen's face, Hong Zhou asked in a low voice, "Uncle Thirteen, is there anyone who says that using Han people to fight against Bannermen is treason?"
Old Thirteen showed an admiring look on his face, "Your Majesty, you are truly gifted and intelligent."
"Uncle Thirteen. If there is anything you want me to do, please tell me directly."
Just as Old Thirteen was about to speak, he started coughing. Hong Zhou quickly ordered the eunuch to give Old Thirteen a back massage. He kept coughing for a long time, and it was so painful that it seemed as if he was going to cough himself out.
Hong Zhou was so angry that he yelled at the eunuch, "Useless thing, you can't even give me a back massage!"
Old Thirteen recovered and waved to Hong Zhou. Hong Zhou strode down from his seat, kicked away the eunuch who didn't know how to avoid him, and gave Old Thirteen a back massage himself, saying, "Uncle Thirteen, you can't fall down. If you fall down, who can I rely on?"
Hearing his nephew speak so sincerely, the Thirteenth Old Man sighed, "Your Majesty, ahem...what those people said is not without reason. But Your Majesty must have his own opinions. Ahem...if those words were said during the reign of Emperor Kangxi, they might not be unreasonable. But when your father said them at that time, it was nonsense. Ahem..."
"Uncle Thirteen, why do you say that?" Hong Zhou was very confused.
The Thirteenth Master had to tell the truth to his nephew. In the reign of Emperor Kangxi, although the Manchus were slaves of the emperor, they were more noble than the Han people. So the Bannermen could kill the Han people, but the Han people could not kill the Bannermen. If they did, it would be a disharmony between the noble and the humble, and it would be a big mess!
During the reign of Emperor Yongzheng, the emperor worked hard to gain power. The status of the bannermen was higher than that of the Han people, but this did not mean that the bannermen were incapable of doing things. Yongzheng was definitely biased towards the bannermen, but what he cared about was who was obedient and capable. This ability classification was Yongzheng's first consideration.
At this point, Old Thirteen started coughing again. At this time, the eunuchs had already gone to invite the imperial physician, and Hong Zhou quickly called the imperial physician over. Old Thirteen grabbed Hong Zhou's wrist and said, "Your Majesty, let me say a few more words."
Hong Zhou could only let the imperial physician stay at a distance and listen to what Old Thirteen said with his head down.
"Your Majesty, I think the late emperor's approach is correct. If he is incapable, no matter how many people he has, it will be useless. Huo Chong was able to escape the hands of the late emperor, and he is a very smart man. To deal with such a person, you must be capable."
Hong Zhou also whispered, "Thirteenth Uncle, too many people don't want to touch Eighth Uncle right now. Do we have to fight Huo Chong to the death and let Eighth Uncle watch the joke?"
"I have thought about it. If it doesn't work, we can use militia." Old Thirteen replied in a low voice.
