Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1386 Countermeasures ([-])

Yantai is now more and more like a city.

To be honest, Yantai, a city developed from Huoludun in the late Ming Dynasty (it was still a semi-abandoned Huodun), has now increasingly deviated from the characteristics of a military fortress and incorporated more urban elements.You see, there are more and more civilian facilities such as shops, pawnshops, markets, banks, vegetable markets, teahouses, restaurants and other civilian facilities in the outer city of Yantai (which was rebuilt and reinforced by Hauge at the time), and the popularity is also becoming more and more prosperous. The business of shops and restaurants is very good, which may prove from the side that Terengganu - well, at least Yantai City - is now economically prosperous.

Outside the outer city wall, a large number of attached buildings have gradually been built in recent years, including private residences (mostly for military families) and commercial buildings with other functions to serve the children and families of a large number of military and government officials living in Yantai.For example, more than 1000 officers and soldiers of the Seventh Mixed Battalion of the Army who were recently transferred to the Far East, many of them married wives and started families here, especially those soldiers of Polish and Ukrainian descent in the army. It is very difficult to marry a Ming woman as a wife, and it can be regarded as earning-if their descendants insist on intermarrying with Ming people, after two generations, they will almost be able to fully integrate into the social system of the east bank, otherwise they will always Some difficulty.

In addition to the urban areas formed by the city walls, there are also small communities gradually taking shape in important industrial and administrative areas such as Zhifu Island, Kongtong Island, and Yangma Island. Foreign trade is also quite frequent on weekdays. Registered fishermen or businessmen drove coastal boats back and forth constantly, reaching some prefectures and counties in Laizhou in the west, and Weihai and Rongcheng in the east. The business boomed, which naturally drove the development of the local economy—of course, there were many sent by the Qing Dynasty. Fine work, but this is not a big problem.

According to the latest survey and estimation by the Denglai Pioneering Team, even though the population of Yantai County has been diverted several times, it still reached a scale of more than 1664 in [-]—because before, whether it was the Shao Shude era or the Chang Kaisheng era, both I hope that Yantai will exist as a purely administrative organization and military fortress, so I have diverted the population to other prefectures and counties with a small population.But for a long time, the population of the overstaffed capital city is always rising, which cannot be stopped, so in the end they simply gave up, and despite the continuous growth of Yantai's population, it became a veritable big state Wang County .

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Fushan County, which originally belonged to Yantai, had a population exceeding 10 early in this era, becoming the most populous county in the area ruled by the Denglai Pioneering Team, topping a total of [-] states, counties, and Wei (including The garrison of the servant army) is even more populous than the historical cities such as Dengzhou (Dengzhou has people running to Yantai and other places every year), which is also strange.

Ninghai Prefecture, which is close to Yantai and Fushan, was brutally slaughtered by the Qing army led by Abatai in the last years of Chongzhen, and then suffered a few times during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. When Haoge conquered Yantai, he was expropriated , There were many victims in the ravines.But nearly 20 years after the peace, the population of Ninghai Prefecture has slowly increased to about 3. Although it is not as good as Yantai, Fushan, Dengzhou, Wendeng and other places, it is at least much stronger than those Weigai counties.

Moreover, a few months ago, Ninghai Prefecture was basically determined to be assigned to the government of the Denglai Pioneering Team. It’s okay, it’s above the average level in China at the end of Ming Dynasty) I feel a little dissatisfied.Of course, the bigger reason is that Chen Zhilong, the former commander of the [-]th Division of the Shandong New Army, died of illness. Several sons fought endlessly for the throne of division commander. The people on the east bank supported the more obedient one among them, on the condition that he be moved to Jimo County, Laizhou Prefecture (formerly The flood land of the Qin Shangxing Department of the Second Division of the Shandong New Army) prepared for the gradually tense situation in Laizhou.

Jimo County is a small county with a pitifully small population. Especially after more than [-] officers and soldiers of the Second Division and their family members immigrated to the east bank collectively, the economy of this county has completely declined. Now except for a few small farmers, the economy is basically in a lifeless state.Therefore, they were not very happy to have [-] officers and soldiers of the Fourth Division move to Jimo County.But who made this situation special? Chen Zhilong's eldest son, Chen Quanzhong (whose name was changed to curry favor with the people on the East Coast, is also a strange thing), in order to obtain the throne of the teacher, rewarded his father's old subordinates with great rewards, and begged for mercy from the people on the East Coast at the same time, and finally gave up. In Ninghai Prefecture, they took [-] officers and soldiers of the whole division to Jimo County to garrison, and they worked hard.

After Ninghai Prefecture is brought under the direct control of the Denglai Pioneering Team, it is expected to have a relatively rapid development in the next five to ten years. After all, it is a state city, and its agricultural and location conditions are not bad. It can still be done well.There were many reasons why this county was half-dead before, including the fact that it was massacred many times since the end of the Ming Dynasty, resulting in a sparse population (this can be seen from the fact that more than [-]% of the food and salary of the Fourth Division needs to be donated from the east bank), and the warlords exploited it. factors are included.Now that the east coast is directly under the jurisdiction, the economic, material and population exchanges between Fushan and Yantai will become more and more frequent. The formation of an entire economic circle is just around the corner, and the prospects for future development are promising.

By the way, Chang Kaisheng, the captain of the Denglai Pioneering Team, has ordered the name of Ninghai Prefecture to be changed to the ancient name of Muping County, in order to distinguish Ninghai County, Wenzhou Prefecture, which is also under the jurisdiction of the Dong'an people.Yantai, Fushan, Mouping, and Wendeng (population 4, 20) are four directly-administered counties on the east coast, which have a combined population of 100, accounting for almost [-]% of the entire Dengzhou Prefecture, and their agricultural output is quite large. Not low, foreign trade is developed, and the fishing industry has gradually grown to a certain scale in recent years (of course, it is still inevitable to import a large amount of pickled salmon, saury, sardines and other foods from Heishui).Almost every year in Yantai Port, many ships go to Ningbo, North Korea and Heishui to do business. There are even some daring businessmen who order more than [-] tons of fishing boats from Heishui Shipyard for refitting, and then go to Japan’s Satsuma Domain or even Qing Dynasty. Ting Jinhai's smuggling business is also awesome.

The development of the social economy and the improvement of productivity have naturally accelerated the pace of society. The people of Terengganu are forced to follow the baton of the economy. Whether you are conscious or not, you are slowly being driven by this system. Gradually, the lifestyle of residents in other prefectures and counties has changed a lot.

From this point of view, Dengzhou Prefecture is somewhat similar to the mainland on the east coast. Frequent wars since the late Ming Dynasty have ravaged Dengzhou Prefecture. Only 20 to [-]% of the population of one million in its heyday remained, and most of them died in the Kong Youde Rebellion, Qing Dynasty During a series of war disasters such as army massacres, bandit riots, East Bank conquest, and Haug Expedition, the social order almost disappeared, and the original gap between the various classes was completely broken. Slow integration, reshaping, and it took [-] years to give birth to a brand new social and economic system-compared with Terengganu, Ningbo is far behind in this regard, and people from the east coast are employed there. The gentry of the Ming Dynasty who took refuge joined the Stability Maintenance Association and exercised indirect rule over the local area. Except for a few resettled veterans and their families, and immigrants from other counties, their ruling power over the local area was far less than that of Dengzhou Prefecture. Therefore, the old habits, customs, and systems A large amount has been preserved. Although the wealth of local landlord capitalists (mainly engaged in the silk, tea, and cotton industries) may be greater than that of Terengganu, the gap between rich and poor is relatively large. It is not as good as a large and stable middle class group.

In addition, Chang Kaisheng, the leader of the Denglai Pioneering Team, plans to build second-class national highways between several important counties in Terengganu, and third-class national highways between ordinary counties. Horse-drawn wagon tracks will also be built between them to facilitate the transportation of bulk materials.This work has been in progress since the end of last year and the beginning of this year. At present, the survey and mapping work of some roads has been completed, and the drawings are almost completed, and the construction can almost start.

It is conceivable that this huge project will consume huge manpower and material resources. If the Denglai Pioneering Team really wants to complete it, it must bear a heavy financial burden.But fortunately, this is not a local area after all. There is no need to spend money on many things, just a large-scale collection of corvees. Even the Kingdom of Korea has received a letter asking them to send a certain number of strong men to Dengzhou to help build various foundations here. It is expected that they would not dare to refuse, so the financial burden of the Denglai Pioneering Team may not be as big as imagined. Their biggest expenditure is probably the import of building materials, meat and fish, labor tools and other commodities from Heishui. affordable.

What's more, the construction of these roads, tracks, and wharves will greatly promote the mobilization efficiency, material transfer speed and capacity, and the convenience of communication and communication in Dengzhou Prefecture. It is equally beneficial for civilian use and war Qianqiu, especially for the latter.

Needless to say, the Qing Dynasty is currently brewing a war of astonishing scale, which can be seen by anyone who is not blind.As the nominally supreme military leader of the "three major feudal towns" in the Far East, except for the calmness reported in the Heishui area, both Laizhou and Ningbo have reported frequent mobilization of Qing troops—most of the troops stationed in Qingzhou, Shandong are Many of the troops with combat effectiveness were transferred southward, and replaced by green camps transferred from other places. The movement of raising supplies, food and grass was also very big. Many supplies on the market have increased in price. The original small-scale smuggling of food into Ningbo was carried out by businessmen. It also died down, as if under great pressure.All these kinds of things indicate that another war of overthrowing the country is about to break out. The will of the Manchu and Qing courts to unify the north and the south is too strong, just like the Jin Kingdom in the Song Dynasty. Unfortunately, whether it is Nanming, Dashun or Daxi Without the strength of the Southern Song Dynasty government, even if the Qing army's attack was repelled, the Northern Expedition would probably not be a big deal, unless they first integrated the southern forces.

After learning of the determination of the Qing court, the people on the east bank naturally couldn't stand by and watch.Ever since, while sending diplomats to Nanjing and Jinan for negotiations at the same time, they were frantically hoarding supplies, repairing roads, and maintaining ships. Landing along the coast and along the river, plundering people, gold, silver, and supplies, and at the same time besieging reinforcements to relieve the pressure on the Shun Army, Ming Army, and even the Western Army on the frontal battlefield-in fact, this is all a routine, but who made the Qing Army do this? After many years, there is no way to deal with it. After all, how do you know where the people from the east coast will land? You can't pile up more than [-] troops everywhere, right?That way, you don't need others to burp, and you burp your fart first!Therefore, this is the strategic advantage of the people on the east coast, and it has no solution for the Qing army, because the navy's mobility is too strong. Whether to fight, where to fight, when to fight, to what extent, and how large it is The power of control is all in the hands of the people on the east coast, and the Qing army can only be exhausted and passively respond, which is also very helpless.

Shandong, as the base of the Denglai pioneering team, is so close to the heartland of the Qing court in the north, so it is natural that it needs to be rectified: the first regiment of infantry, the backbone of the Denglai army, and the cavalry maintained by a huge amount of food and wages The Wing, as well as the [-]th Mixed Battalion as the elite core, the Yantai First Field Artillery Company and the Second Artillery Company, all raised their combat readiness levels at this time, and often conducted combined military training on the Jiaodong Peninsula. The scene was spectacular.

It was also the first time for many residents of Denglei Second Mansion to see the appearance of the army on the east bank. They were amazed, especially the gleaming bayonet forest of the blue army, the scene of the cavalry regiment's black water horses charging, and the infantry's first order. The orderliness and ease with which the formations of the first regiment switched left a very deep impression on them, and then they compared the officers and soldiers of the green battalion wearing cotton armor and uniforms, and they immediately had a distinction in their hearts. Moreover, they themselves often feel honored in their hearts at this time, and their sense of belonging and cohesion have also been strengthened unconsciously.

The only worry now is that the second and third brigades of the first infantry regiment have only been established for a year, and the source of troops is relatively complicated. There are also a lot of Silvanian prisoners of war and even Portuguese in Macau, and it will take time to integrate them into a combat-capable team.From the current point of view, although they have completed the transformation of formations well, they still lack some enthusiasm for marching and fighting, so they have more than enough defense and not enough aggressiveness. In future wars, most of them can only defend the fort at home.

In addition, the troops, including the various divisions of the servant army, are in good condition, with sufficient ordnance and supplies, and the morale of the soldiers is not low.With the cooperation of the navy, no matter if they landed in the Bohai Bay or the Jiangbei area, they should be able to win the battle against the same number of Qing troops. More and more self-confidence, if it is not for the members of the executive committee to suppress them from becoming bigger, I believe that the territory of this society may not be limited to the three towns of Denglai, Ningbo and Heishui.

A friend of the author group wrote the book "Rebirth as the Emperor of Nanming". If you are interested, you can read it.

(End of this chapter)