Dragon Sea Empire

In November of the second year of Tianqi, the Chinese army's sudden offensive in the south of the Yangtze River really caught the Ming government by surprise.

Sun Chengzong, the Nanjing strategist of the Ming Dynasty who started preparing for the counteroffensive in the south of the Yangtze River in July, has been doing his best. According to the usual efficiency of the Ming Dynasty, the efficiency of the preparation work is already very good.

Reluctantly, the various Ming armies who had just completed the task of suppressing the rebellion in northern Zhejiang continued to submit memorials to the court in order to fight for merit. The various official positions of the government are almost empty.

Casualties and soldiers need compensation, bandit leaders need to be dealt with, areas need to be appeased, combat supplies need to be hoarded, food and grass need to be prepared, and soldiers need to rest... The Ming army's plan to counterattack Jiangnan at the end of October had to be postponed due to various reasons.

And in November, it was a good time for the so-called "autumn harvest and winter war". Sun Chengzong once again ordered the Ming army to prepare to launch an attack. At this time, the Chinese army took the lead, and the Ming army was not yet ready for war. The Ming army stationed in Suzhou even had a riot about soldiers' wages just now.

The water network area in the south of the Yangtze River is pervasive. The pirate army and the thieves surrounded Suzhou on all sides on the first day. In the evening, the Chinese army and the Ming army fought in the streets of Suzhou city. More than 20000 Ming defenders failed even in one night. After going through the past, most of the Ming army surrendered before dawn, and the city of Suzhou fell into the hands of the Chinese army after many years.

A lot of bad news soon came back from the front lines of the Ming army: the front lines of Suzhou and Songjiang soon fell, and the pirate navy from Chongming westward occupied the surrounding area of ​​Zhenjiang. The patrol boats appeared on the Yanziji River in the north of Nanjing three days later.

After that, the Ming armies from all over the south of the Yangtze River retreated like a tide, and all ran towards Jinling City.

The flagship "Feilong" of the Taiwanese fleet has been refitted many times. The keel was reinforced by cast iron, the sail cable system was equipped with a new pulley system, and the bow was replaced with a 2500-jin bronze smoothbore cannon. A 36-pound pull-action flintlock naval gun.

Commanding the Yangtze River Task Force is the Taiwan Fleet Commander Mai Dahai, and the Marine Corps Commander is Yang Qi. The fleet sailed upstream, and none of the Ming Army warships on the Yangtze River dared to face them. The morale of the crew was high, and they demanded Go to Jinling City.

The Yangtze River Task Force did fire at Jinling City. Hundreds of cannons rumbled and fired for a long time, setting fire to all the visible buildings along the river. Fifty to sixty thousand officers and soldiers of the Ming army formed a line of more than ten miles long and continued to march westward.

Since it is winter at this time, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are often blown by northeasterly winds, so the warships of the Chinese army use the sidewind to advance in a zigzag shape, and the speed cannot be fast. It took almost half a day for the huge fleet of warships to pass through the Shuixi Gate of Jinling City At that time, the Ming army in the city did not fire a single shot, just watched the Chinese army destroy the buildings outside Jinling City one by one, and then slowly went upstream.

Hiding behind the battlements with a group of Ming army officers and soldiers to watch the armed parade of the Chinese fleet, including Nanjing Jinglue and Minister of War Sun Chengzong, he has been angry, outraged, but there is nothing he can do: the huge fleet in front of him is almost It was beyond his imagination, and the dense cannons carried on the ships made him so surprised that he couldn't speak. As the Minister of the Ministry of War, he was very clear about the situation of the Ming army. Even if all kinds of cannons across the country were concentrated in Nanjing In terms of quantity, I am afraid that the cannons carried by the fleet on the river cannot compare with the cannons carried by the fleet on the river. Moreover, looking at the range of these cannons, as well as the flowering bombs and shrapnel fired, the quality of the cannons of the Chinese Army is also far surpassed. Ming army.

Sun Chengzong is now beginning to doubt his mission: it is an impossible task to recover Jiangnan from the Chinese navy pirates.

A few days later, a thin and slender sailboat covered with canvas from head to stern sailed out from the Chongming Fortress Wharf at the Yangtze River Estuary. It only takes three or four days to reach Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The Seabird is the latest communication ship, its appearance is almost the same as the "later" clipper ship in Yin Feng's memory, the keel is all made of the latest cast iron, and there are metal components everywhere on the ship, and its sailing speed is at a speed all over the world at that time As far as it is concerned, there is no opponent.

This is a communication ship belonging to the Navy Headquarters of the Chinese Army. It only listens to the command of Yin Feng, the President of the Chinese Army, and Ye Hua, the new Commander of the Navy. Therefore, when this ship flies into the Hong Kong Naval Base, all those who are on the voyage for training or returning to the voyage All ships make way for it.

The orderly wearing a feathered helmet galloped off the ship, jumped on the fast horse that had been waiting there for a long time at the pier, and ran all the way to Taiwan's port city in smoke and dust.

When the guards at the city gate saw him, they immediately cleared the way for him, and the messengers quickly came to the old camp of the Chinese Army Headquarters, the Dajiaochang, which is next to the headquarters of the Chinese Company, in the north of the city.

The guard at the gate of the old camp recognized the messenger and told him: "Are you going to report the confidential information to the king? The king is at the head office of Qianhao, and all the bosses are there,"

The messenger turned the horse's head and galloped away without saying a word.

On the edge of the original factory area, there is now a masonry building with a combination of Chinese and Western styles. It has a three-storey building. In Yin Feng's view, it looks a bit like a church or a synagogue with Chinese-style cornices.

This building is indeed related to the Jews. This is the headquarters of the Chinese company’s money bank and the headquarters of the Eastern Bank, a joint venture between the Chinese company and most of the Jewish communities in Asia and American Jews. This is where the financial network of Jews all over the world meets in Asia. , Goa in India and Jews in New Mexico in the Americas are transferring the funds of the Jewish community to this place, and this is also the place where Chinese companies issue their own currency, the Chinese dollar.

In the basement at the center of the building, a group of people of all kinds from the East and the West crowded into the dark room, including more than a dozen members of the board of directors of the Zhonghua Company, Xu Hongji, Zeng Yue, Zeng Shan, and the chairman of the Taiwan Jewish Chamber of Commerce Pei. Reis Caderas - He is also the General Manager of Eastern Bank.

The two sides of the basement are full of things. The aisle is very narrow, only allowing five or six people to go side by side, but it is very long. The end faintly disappears under the dim candlelight.

"The basement project here lasted for two years. The retaining walls on both sides are all made of marble and cement. The craftsmen involved in the construction are the most reliable people. They have worked in the engineering department of the company for more than five years. Generally, coolies use After the completion of the project, these Japanese people were sent to the gold mining area of ​​West Borneo," Bernardo, the supervisor of this secret underground vault, opened a box forcefully as he introduced, and suddenly, the whole dark The basement seemed to be illuminated by a burst of golden light, and Yin Feng and everyone surrounded him, and everyone smiled knowingly.

In this box, there are piles of various gold coins from all over the world: such as the Royal Rose of England, the Louis d’Or of France, the Pistor of Spain, the Ducat of the Netherlands, and even the Malay States of Southeast Asia. Gold coins from India, bars from India, bullion from America.

The other box is full of silver from America, Spain, Japan, silver from Daming and Yunnan, etc. There are at least hundreds of such boxes here.

Bernardo picked up a silver coin from the box and said with a smile: "Your Excellency General said he was worried about the company's earnings this year, but after you have seen all this, you should not have to worry about the company's financial situation. Our company is indeed in the red this year. It’s very big, but don’t worry, Zhonghua Qianhao and Dongfang Bank will fully support you,”

Zhao Tie, the representative of the military director, shouted loudly: "The owner of the ship, we have enough money, don't..."

Yin Feng stopped him from speaking with a wave of his hand: "Alright, let's talk about next year's arrangement at the board meeting,"

He looked at the boxes in the room, then turned to Perez Caderas and asked, "Rabbi Perez, how many of these are used to mint silver coins?"

Perez, chairman of the Jewish Chamber of Commerce, bent down to pay respects, and then took out a piece of paper and began to read. Bernardo held up a torch to illuminate him. He spoke in Chinese with a strong accent. Yin Feng listened with difficulty with his ears pricked up. .

"...We started to mint the first batch of gold, silver and copper coins five years ago, and now most of these gold and silver coins flow into the Ming Dynasty, and very few flow out. We have issued silver coins in recent years, and the ratio of silver to copper is close to nine to one. , although [-]% of the profit is already very high, but the rich man of the Ming Dynasty on the mainland likes to hide silver, and the silver coins that flow into the mainland are rarely circulated, "

"Silver and copper are nine to one, should this be hidden too?" asked Li Jin, the chief executive, in surprise.

Bernardo replied for Perez: "Our silver coins are finely minted, maybe this is the reason, but the rich people on the mainland really like to hide their silver for a long time, and don't put it into trading, which is really wasteful. "

Jewish merchants had long seen the benefits of money circulating in the national economy, although there were not a few misers among the Jews.

Perez continued: "Our gold and copper coins are very popular in overseas trade in Nanyang, and silver coins are also very popular in Chinese companies and our Jewish community, but in addition, in other parts of the world, users Still very little,"

Yin Feng nodded: "I understand. This means that most of the gold and silver here are used as currency circulation, which means that we can't use it casually until we earn money next year."

Zhao Tie was discouraged: "I've been talking for a long time, but I'm still short of money."

Yin Feng sighed: "No way, two big battles have been fought in a row for the past two years, and it hasn't ended yet, and now Jiangnan is fighting again... Wars cost money, and the company has been spending money like water these past few years. If only money could be printed..."

Xu Hongji immediately jumped out and said: "No way, my lord, the Daming banknotes have ruined the reputation of banknotes, and no one will use this piece of paper as silver anymore. Even in the Nanyang area, those natives hate the Daming banknotes." ,"

Back then, the Daming Treasure Banknotes were issued arbitrarily without a reserve fund. After they were sent out, even the government itself refused to accept the tax when it was collected. This thing was also rewarded by the Ming Dynasty emperor to the envoys of the vassal states who came to pay tribute. The depreciation of banknotes was a mess, so the bad reputation of this Daming banknote even spread to foreign countries,