Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1667 Rising Storm ([-])

The target Liao Xiaoyao chose was actually the relatively densely populated south.More precisely, it is in Jiangsu and Zhejiang!

In the area of ​​Jiangsu and Zhejiang, it has been said that there has been no war for 20 years. Under the long period of peace, it is no problem for this population to multiply and thrive. Whether it is the ten counties of Ningbo Prefecture in the east coast control area-in fact, it is not only Ningbo Prefecture, but also Shaoxing. Together with the first part of Taizhou Second Prefecture, there are Yin, Cixi, Dinghai, Fenghua, Zhoushan, Xiangshan, Changguo, Ninghai, Tiantai, and Xinchang counties, with a total population of about 130 million and a relatively high density—it is still adjacent to Shaoxing and Hangzhou in the Qing Dynasty The populations of the prefectures of Songjiang, Huzhou, and Jiaxing all grew rapidly during the rare peaceful years, especially after some seeds that had been cultivated and domesticated to adapt to the local climate flowed out from the Denglai side, the Qing side also made use of these seeds.After more than 20 years of promotion and seed selection, the seeds of exotic crops such as corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes have been planted by hard-working Qing farmers on many originally unusable lands (usually mountainous or barren lands). The area of ​​cultivated land in China has expanded rapidly, and grain production has increased. Naturally, the population living on this land is also increasing day by day.

Different from the rapid population increase in the south of the Yangtze River, the population growth in Shandong has been extremely limited in the past 30 years, and it has still not exceeded the 500 million mark. For the big provinces of the four states and counties, it is indeed shabby enough.Even in the Denglai area ruled by the people on the east coast, after several floods, droughts, locust earthquakes and large-scale epidemics, the population is only a little over 100 million, which is less than the population of Dengzhou in the Wanli period. It can be seen from this.

A few years ago, Liang Xiangjian took advantage of the Shandong earthquake and the Yellow River breach to march westward, occupying two counties, two prefectures and one guard in one fell swoop, including Pingdu Prefecture, Changyi County, Jiaozhou, Lingshanwei, and Gaomi County.Later, during the post-disaster reconstruction period, the people who settled in these five prefectures and counties were recruited from Ningbo (some of the population in Liaodong and Heishui also came from the relatively densely populated Ningbo Prefecture), and there were indeed no redundant people in Shandong. Go to reclaim those wastelands, which can be seen from the subtle changes in the local language and customs—following the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang conscripted a large number of soldiers and their families from the Jianghuai area to the Jiaodong border, and caused the local language to be different from the rest of Shandong. With some differences, these Kenting from Ningbo undoubtedly further exacerbated this change, making the language differences between the Jiaodong area and Xisifu even greater.Don't underestimate this change. When the language and customs are different (the "New Deal" of the people on the east coast will naturally lead to changes in social customs), geographically, there is the Jiaolai Canal that is being built day and night. The official use of vernacular and simplified characters in Shanghai will inevitably increase the sense of alienation and alienation between the people of Jiaodong and the compatriots in the west in the future, which is undoubtedly beneficial to the rule of the people on the east coast.

Well, let's get down to business and move on to the population issue.It is said that after Liao Xiaoyao discovered that the existing human immigration reserve could only last until next year (1675) even if he was "saved", he immediately fell into anxiety.For an ambitious senior cadre in the Far East, the most important indicator for evaluating you locally is never how much territory you have expanded, how much gold, silver, treasures or cultural relics you have robbed, how many enemies you have killed, and how much business you have done. It is whether you can complete the immigration burden assigned to you as scheduled, that is, to make up the immigration share of 6 to 7 people per year.If he can't accomplish this point, no matter how good the other things are, he will get zero points, and he will be beaten to the end, so he must think of a way now!

Considering that the Shandong area is not considered a surplus population, then the only target is Zhejiang—more precisely, the North Zhejiang Plain.For example, at this meeting, Ma Wenqiang, the new captain of the Southern Exploration Team who has just arrived and is handling the handover with Jiang Zhiqing, the first important task he encounters is how to raise immigrants.

"Immigration is a big deal, but it is hated by the local people. Why? Everyone is afraid of leaving their hometown, and they like to return to their roots. If it is not really a last resort, who would want to travel across the ocean to go to them?" Do you want to make a living? Ningbo people don’t even want to go to Shandong, so don’t pick up the land thousands of miles away!” Lu Fang, who had just returned from Guangzhou in the south of the Ningbo Prefecture Immigration Supervision Office, was just established under the instruction of Ma Wenqiang. While stroking his beard, he said to the seven or eight small fish and shrimp in the office.

"So, what I'm planning is really hard work!" Lu Fang glanced at the people in the room, then changed the subject and said, "But no matter how difficult it is, we have to do it! I won't hide it from you, Captain Ma has already made it clear , who can handle this job well, even if a county magistrate is released in the future, it will be a matter of leisure. This is not to lie to you, even if Ningbo has no vacancies, there are still vacancies in Denglai and Heishui, and you will never be wronged. The only thing to worry about is how to get enough immigrants!"

Lu Fang paused at this point, then picked up the teacup on the table and drank it.And everyone in the room got their permission, and immediately whispered to each other, discussing what to do about this matter--obviously, this matter has become a top political task now, otherwise they wouldn't be able to deal with these powerful people. Cadres were transferred from various places to work in such a small office, and the director of the office was a well-established celebrity like Lu Fang.

A group of people are also bureaucrats who are experienced in government affairs. After working together, they also came up with some crooked tricks.

One is to control the scale of business in Ningbo Prefecture so that it cannot absorb too many people for employment. Since people cannot find jobs in industry and commerce to support themselves, and if the land is not enough, they can only go to sea to make a living. A more serious method is to conflict with the interests of many people in the mansion, but with the prestige of the East Coast government, it should not be a big problem to implement it.

The second is to try every means to fool the people of the neighboring Qing government to flee to the control area on the east coast, and then arrange for them to emigrate by sea.These old bureaucrats believe that the Songjiang, Jiaxing, Huzhou, Hangzhou, and Shaoxing prefectures of the Qing Dynasty have long confronted the army on the east bank, and it is extremely heavy to support the [-] troops of the Hangzhou camp. The war between King Lu and King Lu reigned again. Tong Guogang, who was based in Hangzhou, stepped up the search of the people. The people's life was difficult, and many people couldn't eat enough. The East Bank should be able to trick some people to come here by trying to fool them.The only trouble is that people have to be sent to infiltrate the area controlled by the Qing army to conduct propaganda. This requires the vigilance and competence of the people sent out, and the cooperation of the locals, such as the so-called progressive gentry who are closely related to the east bank like Fan He, the big landlord of Songjiang Prefecture. .

The third, and the most realistic, is to send someone to rob it, which is also the most efficient.If it is more precise, it is to send a large group of people into Shaoxing Mansion to search and advance along the Cao'e River. The so-called entering the village and arresting the people will surely harvest a lot of people.Especially at this time, the Qing army will continue to mobilize troops from the western half of Jinhua Mansion to return to aid. If the shore people seize the opportunity, they will not get nothing.

And when it comes to the Qing army's rapid deployment of the main force to return to aid, we have to mention the current situation in Jinhua and Shaoxing.Speaking of which, a few months ago, when tens of thousands of Qing troops marched southward to attack Jinhua Mansion, and broke the dynasty's first division in the first battle, when they encircled Pujiang County, the situation was extremely favorable for them.However, the Qing army somewhat underestimated the reaction of the people on the east coast, and even overestimated their own combat effectiveness. The more than [-] soldiers and horses they arranged in Shengxian County were originally based on defense. Unable to bear the pressure of local impeachment, Liu Jing voluntarily left the strong established fortifications and fought with the people on the east bank. As a result, the army was defeated. The second division won with one blow.

With the loss of Sheng County, counties such as Shangyu, Kuaiji, and Yuyao were completely exposed to the soldiers of the East Bank—especially Yuyao County was the most dangerous, and a large number of Qing troops who were confronting the East Bank army on the front line were cut off. The risk of the risk——Tong Guogang in Hangzhou was shocked. He immediately mobilized the Qing army in Jinhua Mansion to cover the retreat alternately, and then dispatched capable people to the east of Kuaiji Mountain to intercept the actions of the army on the east bank and cover the northern half of Shaoxing Mansion. safety, and then make other plans.

And retreating in front of the enemy has never been a simple matter. Even though the first dynasty of the dynasty was hit hard by the Qing army just now, and many elites were killed and injured in the siege of Pujiang, there will only be six to seven thousand soldiers who can fight, but it is still true. The returning Qing army posed a great threat.Coupled with the fact that Zhang Huangyan led more than 7000 people from Wenzhou Mansion to come here day and night under the order of King Lu, the situation facing the Qing army was even more dangerous. Not only did they let King Lu's troops take over all the lost land in Jinhua Mansion ——When the Qing army attacked, Yiwu and Dongyang counties defected to the Qing army and "welcome the king's division"—even counterattacked and entered Shaoxing Mansion and besieged Zhuji County, so that the Qing army could not steal chickens and lose rice. Once again, troops had to be transferred from Hangzhou to Shaoxing south to stabilize the local situation.

Under such circumstances, people from the east coast naturally have a lot of opportunities to do "what they like to do", but it is a pity that they have not started to do it yet!But now it is only mid-to-late August, and a group of 3 people from the Qing army has been transferred to the east of Kuaiji Mountain. They are panicking to seize strategic points, build fortifications, and prepare to desperately block the imaginary attack of the people on the east coast—they are not I don't know the strength of the people on the east bank, because the tens of thousands of soldiers of the new Sheng general were defeated so neatly, they subconsciously put themselves on the defensive and dare not move lightly, so isn't this a good opportunity for the people on the east bank? ?

The old bureaucrats in the office even directly suggested to Lu Fang that Sheng County would be difficult to hold when the Qing army went south to counterattack, so it is better to just abandon it and forcefully move all the local population, property, food and other things worth moving to a relatively safe place. The two counties of Tiantai and Ninghai, and then slowly get back to Dinghai Port for resettlement, as a reserve for immigrants.They even feel that Xinchang County can make such preparations in advance, especially the peasants in the countryside should move as soon as possible to turn this county into a pure military camp, so as not to protect the civilians in time when the Qing army comes. , so many people like Liaodong were brutally killed by the Qing army and sacrificed in vain.

Lu Fang nodded frequently to these suggestions, and after summarizing the ideas of all parties, he came up with a bigger idea, that is, whether it is possible to mobilize the troops of Hangzhou Daying to go south for rescue by putting pressure on the Qing army in Shaoxing Prefecture. , and then attack the west again, using the superiority of the navy, sending troops to land in Songjiang and Jiaxing to plunder the population.He subconsciously felt that the chances of winning this move were still very high. Once the main force of the Qing army went south, it would be impossible to return in a short period of time, so the people on the east coast would have plenty of time to "wreak havoc" in the above two places.

The premise of this plan is that the people on the east coast will continue to increase troops to Shaoxing Mansion, and at the same time encourage the total of nearly [-] troops of King Lu to attack Shaoxing Mansion. The troops of the battalion provided opportunities for the navy to land in Songjiang and Jiaxing.

After discussing for a while, Lu Fang asked people to write down their respective plans one by one, and then he took these materials back to polish and process them, intending to submit them to Ma Wenqiang, the new captain of the Southern Exploration Team and Ningbo Security Commander, as soon as possible. It is said that he has made outstanding achievements in the native Patagonia region and is a Mesozoic cadre with a profound background.

Ma Wenqiang was also taken aback when he received the plan submitted by Lu Fang a few days later.Of course he knew that the Qing army had been expelled from Jinhua Mansion, and that Zhuji County was under the siege of the Ming army, but he still had a hard time deciding whether to increase investment in Sheng County.Because he always felt that the previous battle where the Bogdan Division of the Second Division almost completely wiped out the enemy's new Sheng Zongbing was accidental. It looks like there are many people, and the fighting power is uneven, so it is hard to say how effective it will be.

But in the end, the desire to make meritorious service prevailed. Ma Wenqiang only thought about it for two days, and then fully agreed to several suggestions put forward by the Immigration Supervision Office, and then transferred the 500 men from Ding Ji (son of Ding Weiyue) of the Tenth Division of the Servant Army. 12 people and 3000 people from Hu Xingbang's Department of the No.[-] Division set off from their respective resident Dinghai and Changguo counties to Sheng County, Shaoxing Prefecture for reinforcements, and were unified under the command of Bogdan, the commander of the Second Division of the Zhejiang New Army, and awarded Bog Dan's power to play cheap.

At the same time, he also sent envoys to Denglai, requesting that the Seventh Mixed Battalion in Yantai be transferred to the south, ready to launch a landing battle at any time.As for the envoy himself, he was naturally Director Lu of the Supervisory Office. He took the armed transport ship "Nerchinsk" rented by the Bank of Taiwan all the way north and arrived at Yantai Port on August 8.

It has been delayed for several days, and I will go to the hospital tomorrow morning to see a doctor. It is estimated that the cyst on the left wrist needs surgical puncture and drainage.Since I type with the famous two-finger Zen style, that is, I mainly use the middle fingers of the left and right hands to poke the keyboard to type. It is hard to say what kind of adverse effects it will cause. In short, I will try my best to type. It depends on me for updates. How is the one-finger meditation practice?

(End of this chapter)