Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 689
The war on Hainan Island is still going on-of course, this is no longer a war.There are castles everywhere.Although some county towns did not officially open the city, they have set up aftermath bureaus successively.then.The Fubo army entered and surrounded the city of Haikou, and the navy blocked Baisha Water Village from the sea.The typewriter on the spy boat quickly thwarted Tang Yunwen's last hope of fighting at sea.After the loss of six warships and a dozen fireboats, all actions in Baisha Water Village stopped.The last strength of the Ming army on Hainan Island was divided and surrounded, and they could not fight, nor did they want to fight.

Qiongshan County is still under siege, but the Executive Committee did not launch a strong attack on it in consideration of the final negotiations.However, negotiations with the city are already underway in secret.Zhao Ruyi, the branch patrol road in Hainan, was not in the city, and the magistrate, with the support of the magistrate and the city's gentry, carried out surrender activities without hindrance.

On the entire Hainan Island, except for the southern states and counties that have always been kept out of news, Daming's prestige on the island has plummeted.Gentlemen from all over the country sent people to approach them one after another, saying that they wanted money for money and food for food, as long as they kept their own places safe.

Almost overnight, the prestige of the Senate was established on the supremacy of all people on the island.The gentry realized that no matter how many years Ming ruled, at least on Hainan Island, a new master would be replaced.

The big gentry were not worried about new masters—whoever became their masters would rule in the old fashioned way.

Even the officials of Daming have nothing to worry about.If they don't plan to die in the city, they can continue to be his officials in the county government.Some officials even sent special personnel to have secret talks to discuss how they can continue to get along with each other.

"This group of officials is really shameless." Xiong Buyou sent another group of envoys away, complaining, "I can understand the big gentry, after all, they have a family and a business, and they can't walk with their houses on their backs. .”

"What's the matter?" Liu Muzhou's body had already been buried in a large pile of documents, "Being an official really serves the people, the emperor? The key is to serve yourself! What's so strange about that?"

"Three groups of people came today unprecedentedly." Xiong Buyou raised his finger: "The first is the group from the county magistrate, of course we want us to protect him from continuing to be an official—whether it is Daming's or ours; then the county magistrate The canon history of the county said that as long as he is allowed to be the county magistrate, he will definitely be better; in the end, a big family in the county who doesn't know his background also wants to be an official. He still lay on the ground and called Ao Song Long live the emperor..."

"Didn't he shout long live Chairman Wen?"

"He called Chairman Wen Chitose Chitose Chitose Chitose Chitose."

"Isn't this very good, it means that people's hearts are towards me..."

"This person is too shameless."

"Every era has people who are unhappy. If everyone loves and loves wholeheartedly, is fully satisfied with their own situation, and has a sense of happiness five times better, will latecomers like us still have a chance?"

The situation in Hainan Island has developed rapidly in this way.The raging situation in Hainan has dealt a fatal blow to Guangdong officialdom.

News of the defeat of the Ming army in Hainan soon spread to Guangdong.Wang Zunde's already weakened body could not bear this heavy blow and fell ill.

In order to facilitate the dispatch of military operations and supplies in the middle, Wang Zunde led his staff and subordinates to Guangzhou at the beginning of the military operation across the sea.There is a rich man's garden near the White Goose Tan on the banks of the Pearl River, and he set up the Governor's Xingyuan here.

The first news of the defeat was an emergency document sent from the prefect of Qiongzhou.He was dubious about the defeat at the front.After all, this is an army mobilized from the whole province.If he still can't win in this way, he can't imagine what will happen in the future.

Then, the news of the defeat came from Hainan one after another, and each one was more accurate.The official army suffered a disastrous defeat in Chengmai, the entire army was wiped out, and many imperial military forces were killed.This news was like a bolt from the blue, which shocked Wang Zunde's spirit greatly.Then, the news that the Kun bandits captured Danzhou and besieged Haikou Suocheng and Qiongzhou Mansion completely plunged him into despair.

From the mouths of the rout soldiers who fled from Hainan and the secretive documents of He Rubin and others, he knew that the Kun bandits not only had sharp weapons but also extremely powerful troops.

Soon there was nothing military to do in Canton.The news from Hainan Island was completely cut off.The warships of the thieves blocked the Qiongzhou Strait, and the ships of the official army could no longer enter the strait.

Rumors of officialdom spread faster than anything else.Everyone knows: Wang Zunde is over.Not only was it impossible for the emperor to allow such a disastrous defeat, but his political enemies and enemies in the court and localities would not give up this great opportunity.Many people have been secretly talking about the day when Wang Zunde was dismissed from office and even taken to Beijing.

The hearts of the people in the officialdom are the coldest in the world.Under such a situation, he became an ignored governor in Guangzhou.No one came to discuss anything with him except his staff.Even the prefect of Guangzhou and the county magistrates of the two counties have become negligent.In desperation, he moved back to Zhaoqing.

There is also nothing to do in Zhaoqing.His face became very haggard.Because of the exhaustion of traveling and traveling, he fell ill shortly after arriving in Zhaoqing.

The newspapers and documents were still being sent to the governor's office in a steady stream, but the aides were rarely summoned to discuss the next step of military strategy.In fact, the aides are very clear that Guangdong's military strength is empty-except for the anti-yao generals in Dongxishan, Guangdong has no established military strength.

His condition became more and more serious day by day under such anxiety. What made him most anxious was whether the bandits would take advantage of the situation and invade Guangzhou—if so, Guangdong was almost defenseless.

Not many days later, there were reports in the pond that there were ships with strange shapes peeping at the mouth of the Pearl River.These ships sailed briskly, with slender hulls, which were different from Chinese ships and red-haired ships. They were obviously Australian fast boats.

The crisis he faced forced him to do his best to support him, and he summoned his staff several times to discuss countermeasures.Strengthen the defense of the Pearl River Estuary.

He was in slightly better spirits that day.Read documents in the study.Gao Shunqin, the censor of the patrol, came with a document, and he had requested to block Guangzhou Bay and completely cut off the trade with the Portuguese in Macau, "to eliminate bandits".

Wang Zunde could only smile wryly at this moment——if the Australians came to attack Guangzhou, the Portuguese in Macau would probably be the only sea power that could be counted on to defend the Pearl River estuary.The Australians, a larger group of bandits, are coming.

"Master, Li Zanhua is here." A servant whispered.

He said feebly, "Come in!"
Li Xijue came in.Since Lu Yizhong went out with the army, he has become Wang Zunde's most capable and trusted staff member.Most of the time, only he can see the governor.

Wang Zunde asked someone to deliver tea, trying to show a calm smile.Li Xijue's face was pale. After sitting down, he looked at the supervisor's expression, leaned over and asked:
"Is the adult's health better?"
Wang Zunde shook his head with a smile, and said, "It's not a big deal if I get a cold once in a while." Seeing a document in Li Xijue's hand, he asked, "What document are you holding?"
Li Xijue replied nervously: "It's a secret letter from Lingao—"
"What?" Wang Zunde's fingers trembled, "Who wrote it?"

"It's Master Lu." Li Xijue said in a contemptuous and nervous tone, "I got the letter yesterday, because my lord is sick, so I read it first."

With trembling fingers, Wang Zunde took the document and asked, "Lv Zan painted him...?"
"He's still alive. He's a captive of the Australians." Li Xijue couldn't help sighing, "The letter said it in detail."

Wang Zunde hurriedly read the document with trembling hands, and couldn't bear it any longer. Regardless of the dignity of the court officials, he threw the letter in his hand to the ground violently.

"Damn it! Such a shameless villain!"

Li Xijue saw that his face was flushed and his breathing was short of breath, and he was afraid that he would get sick from anger, so he quickly persuaded him.The governor's personal servant also ran in to help him back to the inner bed to rest.

"No, I'm fine!" Wang Zunde shook his head and said with great pain, "I can't imagine that this person is so shameless—he can't serve the country with his death, and he can't be a prisoner of Chu forever. He actually wrote such a letter!"

"Your Excellency, calm down." Li Xijue quickly comforted him, "The letter was not written by Master Lu himself, but it was just stamped on his idle stamp. Besides, Master Lu is in prison, so even if he wrote it, there may be many unavoidable things. For now, let's look at it." The contents of the letter are important!"

It doesn't matter whether the letter was written by Lu Yizhong, or whether it is his true meaning.The point is that this secret letter reveals the intentions of the Australians.

Since the Australians are willing to transfer money in the name of Lu Yizhong, there is still something to do, and there is no need to fight with each other—the government and the army can no longer afford to be defeated.

The content of the letter is divided into several sections.The first is to redeem people from Guangdong.Including the captured officers and staff, the Australians have already issued all the price tags according to their official ranks.For example, a handle is always ten taels of silver. In addition to the value, each prisoner has to pay one tael a day for food and accommodation according to the number of days he stays in the Lingao prisoner-of-war camp.In other words, redeem early and save early, otherwise the "late payment fee" will become astronomical.

Second, it is about bilateral negotiations.Lu Yizhong relayed in the letter: The Australians had no intention of going to Ming Dynasty, they just wanted a place for trade and residence, but now they are attacked by the government and army, and they have suffered heavy losses.Now the Australians are very angry and are planning to send dozens of large iron ships from Australia to attack Guangzhou.

However, when swordsmen meet, both sides suffer losses.In particular, Australians came here for trade, not for land occupation.For this reason, the Australians hope to negotiate peace with the government, "to extinguish the fire."

(End of this chapter)