Xinshun 1730

Chapter 572 Blue Dog

"Besides, you still have the title of Baron of the Celestial Dynasty. With this status, it is not easy for Petersburg to take any action against you."

"The French also said that the French embassy also has your classmates from the Paris Military Academy. Princess Elizabeth often goes there too. As long as you are more courageous, it is actually very easy."

"I have also analyzed it with you. Now the new party and the old party are quite dissatisfied. Even the old party is willing to settle for second best and pursue Princess Elizabeth as orthodox. No matter how you say it, he is better than those who can't even speak Russian. The Germans are more Russian."

Liu Yu's relief didn't relieve Hannibal much of his anxiety, and Liu Yu's kindness could be seen, so he could only force a smile and said, "As long as I answer Petersburg, Elizabeth is still in good health, and I don't worry about the rest."

"When I was in Europe, I often heard people say 'Byzantine conspiracy'. But after reading a lot of Chinese history books in Beijing, I found that Byzantine conspiracy is nothing."

"It's like the word 'intrigue' in the Chinese language. It was originally used to describe the building of Efang Palace, but now it means a power struggle. I have lived in the capital for more than ten years and have grown a lot."

Hearing this, Liu Yu didn't know what to say. Is this a compliment?Or demote?
I could only smile awkwardly, reached out and shook his hand, and said, "It's good to grow up. No matter what, we will part ways in the future, and I hope we will never see each other again."

"After all, if China and Russia go to war again, if you assist Elizabeth to succeed in enthroning, based on your understanding of China and the most suitable fort delay and logistics retreat tactics for both sides' long supply lines, you should be the chief general of the Russian side."

"As for me, as the one who is most capable of attacking the city, it is inevitable that I will also go to war. I hope that we will say goodbye in the future and never see each other again."

Hannibal didn't say anything to thank the Celestial Dynasty, he completely cut off his retreat back to the Celestial Dynasty, and shook Liu Yu's hand vigorously: "I know the future of Russia, just as my father said, in the The West also knows that the military and financial power of the Chinese Empire cannot be matched by Russia."

"If I can really assist Princess Elizabeth to ascend the throne, I will try my best to persuade her to give up the idea of ​​a double-headed eagle. Russia's future lies in Poland and Germany, not the East."

"I also hope that we will never meet again. As you said, if we start a war again, I'm afraid you and I are the leaders of both sides. And I... can't beat you."

The last few words made Liu Yu laugh, regardless of whether he was a compliment or expressing his feelings, he let go of his hand and smiled, "Okay, I accept your compliment."

The two looked at each other and smiled. On the face of it, the personal grievances on the banks of the Heilongjiang River were completely resolved.

At this time, it is still impossible to speak the truth from the heart, and even if the diplomacy of the two countries speaks the truth from the heart, the other party may not believe it.

Liu Yu went there to reverse the diplomatic situation. Russia's attitude is related to whether Dashun can put its limited financial and material resources in Nanyang.

It doesn't take more than ten years of living in the capital to train Hannibal into a pro-China faction.Of course it is unlikely.

At this time, Dashun's cultural system and advanced nature were not bad, nor did it fail to improve, but it no longer had the crushing advantage over the surrounding ethnic groups as it did in the Han and Tang Dynasties.

In the Han and Tang Dynasties, I was thirteen or fourteen years old, and others were three or five years old; now I am 30 years old, but others are also [-] years old.

As long as Hannibal understands how big Dashun's war potential is, it is enough to make him a sober faction.

Russia needs someone who truly understands Dashun's national strength, so that they will neither be arrogant nor belittle themselves.

As long as Russia is neither arrogant nor underestimating itself, it will wisely choose the correct attitude towards China.

…………

The people who waited for it were all waiting, and this fleet, which was far smaller than Zheng He's voyages, slowly left Guangzhou.

A battleship, four cruise ships, and a troop carrier carrying the Marine Corps will serve as escort forces, and they will always follow Liu Yu to comfort the Nanyang Chinese and send them to Ceylon.

By the way, survey and map the sea charts and sea conditions along the way, collect information along the way, and show off the sea power of Dashun by the way, forcing the Netherlands to use limited ships to compare with Liu Yu.

Liu Yu's entourage took a total of five ships, plus three other merchant ships that were jointly owned by Dashun and Sweden for trade in Gothenburg.

Among the five official ships, one was filled with technical craftsmen such as ginseng pickers, textile craftsmen, and blacksmiths; the other was filled with naturalized Cossacks recruited by Hannibal in the Dashun army.

One is the official ship, the flagship.

The remaining two ships may contain the entourage, gifts from the Dashun court to the courts of various countries, and a group of officials who went to Ceylon to supervise the implementation of the Dutch immigration plan.

When setting sail from Guangzhou, a Dutch armed merchant ship sent by Batavia also joined the fleet to clear the way for Liu Yu and his party.

The Dutch ship will leave the fleet before Liu Yu is about to arrive in Batavia, and go to Batavia first to inform the news and make time for the reception.

The huge fleet headed south all the way, and when it arrived at Bangka Island, it stopped briefly at Bangka Island for supplies.

The larger the fleet, the more supplies it will need.

Opposite Bangka Island is the Xuanweisi, the old port of Ming Dynasty 300 years ago, which is now in decline.

Here is at the bayonet of the Strait of Malacca, more than [-] miles to the south is Batavia and the Sunda Strait; more than [-] miles to the east is Borneo.

When the fleet stopped in Bangka, many local Chinese flocked to the port to visit the imperial fleet.

The local Chinese gentry also prepared wine and dishes, gongs and drums, and a special welcome.

The warship fired a salute, and the escorting marines held a parade drill on Bangka Island.

Although the local Chinese were a little curious about the fleet of the imperial court, they were more fearful and fearful.

I thought that the sound of the fleet's guns and the Marine Corps' military drill would make the local Chinese people cheer, but I didn't expect this to be the result.

After seeing the military drills, many Chinese working here hated their teeth.

Among the crowd, a few Chinese miners with protruding muscles and severely hunched backs couldn't help but cursed as they watched the Marines performing in the distance.

"Officials and businessmen protect each other, these dogs in blue clothes are here, and our life is even more difficult. Damn, did the blue dogs come here?"

If these veterans who participated in the Eastern Expedition to Japan heard such words, they must be furious and feel that they have been insulted.

But at this time they were on the pier, performing exercises there according to the command of the officer, and did not hear such words.

Local Chinese merchants, or mine owners who are called "tiko", managers, elder brothers, or contractors here, are burning incense and firing cannons at the pier to welcome these troops from the Celestial Dynasty, enjoying themselves happily.

The few miners who were cursing in the distance also saw the happy scene, so they cursed the marines as "blue dogs".

Bangka is rich in tin mines and is also the mainstay of the local economy.Every year, Chinese sea merchants will come to Bangka to purchase some tin blocks and send them to Suzhou for burning tin paper during Qingming Festival or July [-]th.

The reason why these miners cursed these outstanding marines who had participated in the war against Japan was not because of personal enmity, but simply because the officials at the port were having fun with the Chinese managers who hated these miners to the extreme.

When they were in their hometown, they had seen the scenes of officials and officials protecting each other, and officials and businessmen protecting each other.

Now that I have come here, I have been oppressed by my compatriots, but after all, there is no government here, and I can organize strikes and uprisings to resist, but I didn't expect the blue dog from the imperial court to come here?

What is it against?How to beat the army?
Dashun is not Manchu, and there is no decree that must return after going to sea for no more than two years. Except for those big merchants with tens of thousands of taels of shares in Songjiang, there is no such requirement for ordinary people who normally go to sea to make a living.

Therefore, in the sugar factory in Batavia, the classic songs of the Chinese laborers in the 18th century were missing: approaching the end of the year, they began to smash and grab wages, forcing the sugar factory owners to settle their wages to facilitate their return to China.

As for why wages have to be smashed and looted?
The routine of the American capitalists a hundred years later has already been staged among the Chinese bourgeoisie in Nanyang a hundred years ago: they issue vouchers for internal use, and they can only consume internally for food, drink, clothing, food, housing and transportation.And this kind of voucher, or currency, uses lead, not to mention taking it back to Dashun, even if it is taken outside the sugar factory, it is worthless.

Eating and drinking can only be purchased internally, and whatever price is set, it is the price.

Too expensive?Take the voucher and go outside to buy it.

Can't buy it?Then honestly buy the internal goods, everything is available, gambling, opium halls, brothels, meals, drinks... as long as you want, if you can save a penny for the New Year, I am not a bourgeois .

Therefore, in Batavia in the original history, such a scene will be staged every year: when the Chinese New Year is approaching, Chinese laborers begin to gather and riot, burn sugarcane plantations, destroy workshops, and demand that the worthless vouchers and lead coins, Exchange it for copper and silver coins that can be spent, so that you can go home for the New Year.

However, Dashun did not have a decree that they must return after going to sea for no more than two years, and even encouraged Fujian people to go to sea to make a living. The vision of returning home is not so urgent. Where is life not life?It is also difficult to organize a united uprising, since the classic scene of Java in the 18th century is missing.

As far as this routine alone is concerned, in 1700, it has already matched the routine of internal gunmen and internal voucher exploitation of the large American trust group in 1870.

This kind of routine is also being performed in Banga.

It’s just that it needs to be adjusted to local conditions. Banga is a tin producing area, so unlike the sugar factory in Batavia that uses lead coins, it uses Banga’s specialty tin as currency.

The local Chinese bourgeoisie here contract their own sites and mine, which is actually like a cyberpunk company.

It has its own armed forces, its own territory, its own mines, and its own gunmen.

In other words, it is the relics of the Song and Yuan Maipu system in Nanyang.

The local chiefs or chiefs contract out a certain place to the Chinese manager and pay a certain amount in advance.

For example, if you pay 8000 silver coins in advance, according to the price of 8 silver coins per load of tin, you need to pay 100 loads of tin blocks at the end of the year.

The rest is more productive and more rewarding. If you have the ability to dig out [-] loads, that is your ability.

The Chinese managers naturally hoped that the workers would only work and not eat. In order to extract the last bit of value from the Hailufeng workers, they also learned from Batavia's advanced experience and issued internal currency to the workers.

It is artificially stipulated that 40 tin coins can be exchanged for one Spanish silver coin.

According to the prices at this time, this tin coin must have at least 12 taels in order to achieve the exchange ratio of 40 tin coins for one Spanish silver coin.

Who will mint 12 taels of money?Bangka's tin coins are all the size of copper coins, how could it be 12 double?

Therefore, this tin coin is basically a blank ticket and can only be circulated internally.

When recruiting workers, they are recruited according to the price of silver coins. It sounds really good to make money. If you work hard for a few years, go home, marry a wife and buy land, good days will come.

However, when the money is given, it is given in terms of tin coins-one silver dollar is paid in 40 tin coins.

Many laborers have worked for a year and found that the little money they earned was not as good as waiting for the ashes and tin to be burned on July [-]th for the ghosts.

Almost every Chinese who came from Hailufeng has become a slave labor heavily indebted under the accounting of the managers of his compatriots.

After working for a year, I still owe money.

This may sound unbelievable, but from 1700 to 1820, this was the norm in Banga - almost no Chinese laborers could go home with their wages and fulfill their dream of buying land and marrying a wife.

On the contrary, from a free laborer when he first came, after three to five years, he became a debt slave laborer who owed a large amount of money to the company.

Is food deductible?Why is food so expensive?Look at the corporate gunners out there with muskets, whoever has doubts, those corporate gunners will tell you why.

I've made money, let's play two rounds, shall we?Give it a go, silver dollars turn into gold cakes.Don't gamble?You are not showing face to the manager. If there is a danger of landslide in any mine tomorrow, you can go there.

Opium dens, come and enjoy; brothels, come and relax.

Whether it is a casino, an opium den, or a brothel, they are all company properties, and the internal currency can be completely circulated.

If this continues, can you still get money?Then there is the last resort: the ledger.

How many people who come to work in the tin mine can read?With a flick of the account book, food expenses and daily consumption are kept in the account. If you can take a penny away, the account manager can pack up and go home.

After three or five years, "tiko" patted the miner on the shoulder and told the miner that he owed the company a large sum of money and was ready to work until he died to pay back the debt.

When Dashun's fleet was about to arrive in Bangka, the miners in Bangka were brewing an uprising.When they saw the officials of Dashun and their "tiko" enjoying themselves at the pier, it was only natural for them to curse "blue dog".

"Someone leaked the news? Did the tikos find the court to suppress it?"

Looking at the imperial army on the pier, the leading miner cursed bitterly, thinking...it's over.

(End of this chapter)