Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1658 Little Three Gorges

Thorpe was secretly happy that Guangdong has not been able to support itself in food.Originally, he planned to obtain grain through Guangxi, but he had no idea how much grain Guangxi could transport.Now it seems that not only can Guangxi grain be transported abroad, but also in large quantities.As for salt, it was an important pillar of the Senate's economy.Once Guangdong is occupied, all the salt fields in Guangdong will fall into the hands of the Senate.There is no shortage of supplies.

He nodded involuntarily and said "OK".The excitement was palpable.

Chen Hongyi seemed very happy to see him smiling.I didn't know that sentence hit his mind, but I just laughed along with him.

Then Thorpe asked a lot of shipping matters, his words were kind, and the atmosphere of the conversation was very relaxed.Chen Hongyi knew everything, and the chat lasted until late at night.Hearing that three drums had already been played upstairs, Thorpe realized that it was late at night, so he asked Lin Ming to send shopkeeper Chen out.

When Chen Hongyi was about to get off the boat, he couldn't help asking Lin Ming: "Who is this master?"

Lin Ming didn't answer, just said: "Old Chen, you have won the lottery." After saying that, he laughed and said nothing.

Chen Hongyi shivered, went home and suffered from insomnia for half the night, even the word "Prince" came to mind.

The next morning the boat continued its journey.Enter the boundary of Zhaoqing Prefecture.The river here is still open, so even if you sail against the current, use oars and sculls, and hang sails when the wind blows, you can barely sail.After a few days, there are more mountains on both sides of the strait, the current is turbulent, and it becomes more and more difficult to sail.

On this day, the ship entered Lingyang Gorge, where the so-called "Xijiang Little Three Gorges" is located.It is also an important passage between Zhaoqing and Sanshui.From here, travelers leave the vast Pearl River Delta and enter the mountains of western Guangdong.

There are mountain temples on the north and south banks of the mouth of Lingyang Gorge. The two temples stand across the river, and the monks call across the river, and the sound of the river gorge is quite interesting.

When night falls, fishing boats spend the night mooring in the water branch. There is a river wind and fishing fire, and the sound of bells in the middle of the night is elegant, so this is a must-visit place for scholars of all ages when they come and go to Zhaoqing.

The terrain here is dangerous, and it is the throat of the Pearl River Delta. The Qing Dynasty once set up customs here, and the warlords of the Guangxi Clan built forts here to control the river.

If the Ming army in Guangdong or Guangxi wanted to prevent the Fubo army from entering Guangxi westward, the Zhaoqing Small Three Gorges must be the line of defense they chose.But what means can they use?If artillery was used, Hongyi cannons on the north and south banks could block the river, but they could not withstand the bombardment of the Fubo army and the landing assault of the sea soldiers. If the sinking boat blocked the river, the water here is too deep.

Among the small Three Gorges of the Xijiang River, the Lingyang Gorge Mountain is the highest and the water is the deepest.It is formed by the Antelope Mountain and the Lanke Mountain and the Xijiang River.Lanke Peak, the main peak of Lanke Mountain, is 904 meters above sea level, with overlapping peaks and jagged rocks.The main peak of Lingyang Mountain, Longmen Peak, is 615 meters high, with high mountains and steep slopes, pressing against the river bank.The undulating and emerald green mountains meander and pour into the canyon, ranking first in Sanrong Gorge and Dading Gorge for its danger, strangeness, steepness and beauty.

As soon as the boat entered the gorge, the river narrowed suddenly, from nearly a thousand meters to more than 300 meters.The water is fast.The gorge is extremely dangerous.Thorpe saw the boat moving slowly like a snail, and saw the back of the tracker climbing the mountain, bowing his back, climbing the trees step by step, and staggering along the towpath on the cliff. Ten kilometers, it will take three days to go upstream upstream.

Because they are "official ships", there are more than a dozen civilian ships accompanying them on the water. Due to the heavy load, the speed on the water is even slower. Thorpe estimates that it will take at least four or five days for them to complete the journey.

"Unexpectedly, there is no road construction in such an important traffic route. What are the local government and people doing?" Cummins couldn't help saying when he saw the trackers whose bodies were almost parallel to the ground, struggling to walk slowly on the towpath .

"You can blame them by mistake." Thorpe looked at the trackers on the rocky beach, shouting and struggling forward, "The plank roads in the Three Gorges of the Xijiang River began in the Ming Dynasty. There were no roads at all in this gorge. It was only thanks to several times of road digging and bridge building in the Ming Dynasty that there was a plank road that was basically passable. Otherwise, the trackers could only carry their fibers on the cliffs halfway up the mountain..."

Cummins clicked his tongue, backfiber on this terrain?It's good to just climb up and not fall...

"This is presided over by the high-ranking person Chen Yilong, and it was completed at the end of the Wanli period." Lin Ming hurried to make fun of it, "It's called the 'Xiashan Dry Road', and it's not easy to build. It's only the trackers who go on weekdays."

Cummins looked at the crude roads and bridges that appeared and disappeared between the cliffs, and had a more straightforward understanding of the "low productivity level of ancient society".

"The water here is very deep. It is not difficult for a [-]-ton ship to reach Zhaoqing." Thorpe said, "It's just that there are shallows downstream, and they have to be dug out."

"The project is too big." Although Cummins does not engage in engineering, as a combat staff officer, he still has a considerable ability to recognize the amount of engineering. "The army can't do it alone, and the executive committee must organize manpower and material resources..."

"Of course. So we need to use more local shipping power. They are familiar with the waterway." Thorpe said, "It's just that the water is too slow..."

"It would be great if there was a diesel engine. Directly modify the motor sailboat." Cummins, "Now the small steam engine is too slow, and you have to bring your own coal..."

Thorpe nodded: power did plague the construction of their magnificent "shallow water fleet".Even the steam three-engine boats that have been fully mastered in their manufacture and use are actually only used for short distances: when the voyage is long, coal and boiler water will become a nuisance.Especially in a long inland river system like Guangdong, it is necessary to sail for a long time.

Although the plan of the inland river fleet proposed by Gongkou looks beautiful, in fact, he doubts whether other plans besides shallow water tugboats and gunboats can be successful-power is a fatal flaw.

The water supply is slow, and we can only wait patiently.This place is completely different from the Pearl River Delta, which is rich in population and rich in resources, with high mountains and dense forests.At night, you can't go to the water, you can only moor the boat overnight.From time to time, monkeys and tigers roared on both sides of the strait, and one night they heard extremely shrill screams for help, which was frightening.

There are a lot of water bandits here.A small group of water bandits used small boats to haunt the water forks on the river bank, and boats that were robbed along the way were also seen. Thorpe advised to strengthen his vigilance.

Although they are "official ships" and hang the prestigious escort flags, the "unfriendly" water bandits also peek at them from time to time.Fortunately, these water bandits were alone and alone. Seeing that they were heavily guarded and didn't know the details of the official ship, they didn't dare to act rashly.

There are mountainous areas on both sides of the strait, and the boats on the water need to pull slowly. No wonder it is a hunting ground where water bandits gather.In the Yangtze River, water bandits are the most rampant, and it is also the Three Gorges River from Yichang to Chongqing.

It seems that things in Guangdong are very difficult.Thorpe thought, the social conditions we have to face are more than a hundred times more complicated than those in Hainan Island.Just say that the long mountains on both sides of the small Three Gorges can be used as a place for "hiking and camping" even in the 21st century, let alone the less developed 17th century. It seems that there are South China tigers in these mountains...

Finally, the whole journey was safe and sound, the salt boat staggered up all the way, and finally entered the Dading Gorge, the canyon widened, the river widened, and the water slowed down.It is close to the Fucheng of Zhaoqing, there are naval patrol boats, and the river is much calmer.The ship anchored at Zhaoqingfu Wharf to purchase some fresh vegetables.

"Let's rest in Zhaoqing for a few days." Thorpe ordered. The hardships of crossing Antelope Gorge these days have exhausted the boatmen and bodyguards.There is also Sanrong Gorge below. Although it is not as steep as Lingyang Gorge, it is 55 kilometers long.Complex hydrological and social environments require sufficient energy to deal with.And they also need time to collect information about the Ming army in Zhaoqing.

Zhaoqing was the residence of the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi in the Ming Dynasty, and now the governor in the city is Xiong Wencan, who is famous for his consolation.However, the Navy of the Senate raided Xiamen and killed Zheng Zhilong, which in fact destroyed the Zheng Group, and then forced the Liuxiang Group to retreat to Chaoshan, and finally had to surrender amid internal and external difficulties.Xiong Wencan's achievements in "recruiting Zheng Zhilong and calming the sea" are far less prominent than in history.Of course, this did not prevent him from blaming himself for the demise of the Liuxiang Group, and even had a little unhappiness with Fujian Governor Zou Weilian for this reason.In the end, the account was opened at [-] when the report was made.

According to his usual style, the Executive Committee was surprised that he did not send someone to "appropriate". At first, everyone thought this was inevitable. Regarding whether to "approve" and "if so, discuss what conditions" in the Senate There have been quite heated discussions.But the emissary who appeased never appeared.This was far beyond the expectations of the executive committee, and also beyond the expectations of the elders.

The level of agents placed by the Foreign Intelligence Agency in the Governor's Yamen is too low to get in touch with Xiong Wencan's inner circle and unable to understand his decision-making ideas.However, judging from the content of Xiong Wencan's administration in the past three years, he is mainly "wiping the ass" of the Guangdong army.

The Battle of Chengmai and the subsequent Battle of the Pearl River Estuary destroyed almost all the field troops of the Ming Army in Guangdong. Except for the decaying Guards Army, almost all the battalions of the main force in the field were wiped out. General Yao's army is fairly complete.Xiong Wencan recruited exiles, recruited new soldiers, and rebuilt the navy that was wiped out at the mouth of the Pearl River... In short, all his work is in line with the duties of a governor.

The Foreign Intelligence Agency speculated that Xiong Wencan would not discuss recruiting with the Senate before Guangdong's defense was rectified. After all, recruiting also requires strength.

"It's a pity, Governor Xiong, it's not your turn to make this achievement." Thorpe sat in the front cabin, looking at the dark river, thinking to himself.

Thorpe knew that there were not many troops in Zhaoqing, and only the Governor's Chinese Army Standard Battalion had a small number of sailors cruising on the Xijiang River that could be called an "army".This is not much resistance to the well-equipped navy and inland gunboats.

　Note: In fact, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi was stationed in Guangzhou at this time.Since there was a governor of Guangdong and Guangxi in the Ming Dynasty, only the first and middle years of Chongzhen were in Guangzhou, and the rest of the time was in Zhaoqing.Now it is set to still be in Zhaoqing for the sake of the plot.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)