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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 259: Thunder Reinforcement

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    In the lobby of the Customs Yamen, after hearing Lin Qirong's words, Xiao Yungui put his hands on his hands and laughed and said: "Okay, okay, okay, Li Xiuguo is indeed a handsome man with both literary and military skills. But how are the customs duties in Ningbo determined?"

    Lin Qirong bowed and said: "Li Jiandian's subsequent official document detailed the tariff matter. He temporarily handled it according to the old Qing system and asked the King of the West for instructions on new tariff regulations."

    Xiao Yungui nodded and said, "Ask Wei Helin to send someone to Ningbo immediately. The customs regulations and regulations of Tianning Pass will be handled according to those in Shanghai."

    At this point, Wang Kaiyun bowed and said: "King Xi, now that Ningbo has arrived, the next step is to consider going to sea to rescue Xiamen as soon as possible. However, taking the sea route requires the support of pirates on the sea in Ningbo, and the support of foreigners is also indispensable, otherwise the sea ships will go to sea to rescue.  The risk is extremely high.¡±

    Xiao Yungui hummed and said, "I told Li Xiucheng about the pirates long before he sent troops to Ningbo. What is the situation of the pirates in Ningbo? Will Li Xiucheng get revenge?"

    Lin Qirong replied: "Yes, after Li Jiandian captured Ningbo, he sent people to contact the Ningbo pirates. The Ningbo pirates have three most powerful forces. One is the local pirates in Ningbo, known as the Ningbo Haima Gang. The leader of this group of pirates is Tongbao.  Monk, a native of Foshan, Guangdong, lived in Guangdong with the famous pirate Sha Wu Tsai in his early years. Together with Cui Apu, another subordinate of Sha Wu Tsai, they were the two top horses under Sha Wu Tsai. In the 29th year of Daoguang, Cui Apu killed Cui Apu during the robbery.  They killed two British generals, angering the British. In the same year, Sha Wu Tsai's troops plundered the British sand ships near Hainan, which strengthened the British's determination to use force. Subsequently, the British joined forces with the Qingyao Navy to  Sha Wu Tsai and Cui Apu were defeated. Several pirate leaders, including Monk Tongbao, successfully escaped. Cui Apu arrived in the south of the Yangtze River, and was later captured by the Qing Yao Eagle Dog and handed over to the British to be escorted back to Hong Kong for trial. The British did not dare to kill him.  He was only sentenced to exile, but Cui Apu hanged himself in prison before being exiled. Sha Wu Tsai was much luckier. After he and Monk Tongbao narrowly escaped death with 8 boats and 400 minions, they were finally recruited by Qing Yao and transformed.  He became an official and died of illness last year. However, Monk Tongbao was not recruited by Qing Yao. He took Sha Wu Tsai's old troops to start a new business off the coast of Zhoushan. In a few years, he annexed more than ten groups of local pirates in Ningbo and transformed into Ningbo.  The biggest pirate in the area.¡±

    Xiao Yungui touched his bare chin, and for a while he didn't get used to the fact that his beard was gone.  He was stunned for a moment and asked: "Is this monk Tongbao willing to cooperate with us?"

    Lin Qirong said: "Li Jiandian has already met with him. Li Jiandian's official document said that although this man is a pirate, he is also a pirate and he never robs the people. He specializes in robbing foreigners, government officials and wealthy businessmen. Last year he did this  I have robbed a batch of grain shipped by sea today. Sha Wu Tsai was ordered by the Qing demon before. He just didn't want to serve as a hawk for the imperial court. That's why he took up the banner and started another job. After Li Jiandian discussed with this person, he was happy to surrender to our kingdom of heaven.  "

    Xiao Yungui touched his palm and said happily: "Okay, order Li Xiucheng to do the job of recruiting monk Tongbao. These pirates are all people who wander the sea all year round. As long as they are taught regular naval warfare, they will become the prototype of our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's navy."

    Lin Qirong snorted and said, "But one of the conditions for Monk Tongbao's surrender is that we, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, must support him in eradicating the other two pirates that are entrenched in the waters of Ningbo."

    Xiao Yungui snorted and asked, "What are the origins of the other two groups of pirates?"

    Lin Qirong replied: "The other group of pirates has a bad reputation. This group of pirates robs any ship, and sometimes they go ashore to harass the villages on the shore, burning, killing, looting and committing all kinds of evil. The leader of this group of pirates is called Cai Tao, and he was a gangster during the Jiaqing period.  The great pirate Cai Qian Yu of Fujian. At that time, the great pirate Cai Qian's tribe had more than 20,000 people. He had more than 200 ships and sailed across the sea for fifteen years. He also conquered Taiwan and called himself the Mighty King of Zhenhai. Later, Qingyaohua  It took several years to bring him to justice. After Cai Qian's death, the rest of his tribe followed the Cai family's descendants to Ningbo to start a new business. This Cai Tao is Cai Qian's grandnephew, but he is not as powerful as Cai Qian. This man has a notorious evil record.  , sometimes even women and children were not spared when plundering ships. Li Jiandian hated his reputation and had no contact with him."

    Xiao Yungui snorted and said: "This kind of pirates must be eradicated resolutely. If they stay, they will be a scourge. Even if they come to invest in this king, they won't do it! Where is the other one?"

    Lin Qirong said: "There is another group of pirates who are the remnants of the Guangdong giant Cheung Po Tsai who roamed the seas decades ago. Their tribe inherited Cheung's mantle and used the red flag as their flag. They are also called red flag pirates. After Cheung was recruited by the demon, he  , settled in Xiamen, many of his pirates became good friends, but some of them went north to Ningbo to find a living. Now the leader of the red flag pirates is named Zhang Guiping. He claims to be the grandson of Zhang Baozai, but there is no way to verify it. Although this pirate also makes a living as a pirate  , but their reputation is not as bad as that of the Cai family pirates. Because Zhang Baozai once served as an official at Qingyao, this pirate is much closer to Qingyao. Hearing that they receive a lot of government funding, they are planning to collude with the government to counterattack Ningbo from Dinghai."

    Xiao Yungui stood up and said: "Immediately send an official document to Li Xiucheng and ask him toJoin forces with Monk Tongbao to eliminate the other two groups of pirates as soon as possible. Monk Tongbao wants money for money and food for food. In short, these two groups of pirates must be eliminated.  At the same time, let Monk Tongbao prepare more sea-going ships, and let Li Xiucheng negotiate with the foreigners in Ningbo to rent more merchant ships and cargo ships. In short, rent as many ships as there are. After the sea-going ships are ready, immediately go south to Xiamen, and the Xiamen knife will be  Rescue the besieged tribesmen!  "

    Wang Kaiyun was slightly startled, clasped his fists and said: "Your Highness the King of the West, Xiamen has been besieged for ten months. Although there are many casualties and many people fleeing, there are still at least 20,000 people. To rescue so many people, we need sea ships and merchant ships."  There are no more than 600 ships, and I'm afraid it will be difficult to gather them together in a short time."

    Qian Jiang also said: "Yes, King Xi, the Xiamen Swordsman Association is not the Holy Soldier of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the members are mixed and impure. It may be difficult to control them when they are rescued. It is better to hire some foreign ships to take out Liu Lichuan and others."

    Xiao Yungui pondered for a moment, stared at the crowd and said: "In the nearly two hundred years since the Qing army entered the customs, the Han people have rebelled against the Qing Dynasty every year. The Han people in the world are dozens of times more than the Manchus, but why have they repeatedly rebelled against the Qing Dynasty?  And failed again and again? The reason is simply that the Han people in our world have too strong a sectarian and regional view. Tiandi Hui, White Lotus Sect, Tianli Sect and other sects started to rise, but they did not help each other, so they were defeated by Qingyao one by one! Xiamen's Xiaodao Hui  This king must be rescued. Since our kingdom of heaven holds the banner of anti-Qing, we must treat the anti-Qing rebels as our own. This king wants to use this move to tell the anti-Qing rebels in the world that our kingdom is their backbone!  This king will not give up any rebel army against the Qing Dynasty. I will not ignore them even if they die!"

    Hearing this, everyone was silent and thought about it. Sure enough, the King of the West was right. The Han people were so ununited that for more than a hundred years, they continued to rebel against the Qing Dynasty, but none of them succeeded.

    Xiao Yungui continued: "Now that Ningbo has arrived, the obstacles to the sea route southward have been basically lifted. I intend to recruit the pirates Monk Tongbao, supplemented by Lu Shunde and Zhao Shunping's navy warships to form a southward fleet escort. If we are at sea  If you meet a clear demon, then give it a damn! Shanghai and Ningbo recruit and hire ships and merchant ships to go to sea. Later, I will notify the ministers and consuls of Britain, France and the United States, and hire their merchant ships and warships to also participate in this event.  This rescue operation. Wang Kaiyun and Qian Jiang, you two are responsible for the allocation of money, food and hired ships, and make arrangements for receiving the people of Xiamen after they withdraw. Lin Qirong, Zhou Lichun, you are responsible for the deployment of naval ships. I don¡¯t care this time  No matter how much it costs, we must rescue all the rebels in Xiamen! I will give this operation a code name. Call Thunder for reinforcements!"

    Wang Kaiyun, Qian Jiang, Lin Qirong, Zhou Lichun and others all bowed to accept the order.  Then everyone started busy according to their respective duties. Wang Kaiyun, Qian Jiang and others discussed with the officials of various ministries for a long time, began to plan various details in detail, and sent official documents to Ningbo.  Lin Qirong and others also began to mobilize naval warships and recruit crew members to go south.

    Xiao Yungui and Hong Yun'er notified Wen Han, Marsali, Blomble and others to go to the Customs Yamen to discuss matters in Ningbo.  After Wen Han and others arrived, Xiao Yungui and Hong Xuanjiao met them together.

    Wenhan is very troubled by the recent development momentum of the Taiping Army.  Shanghai was occupied by them, and Xiamen was also occupied by the rebels. The banner of the rebels in Xiamen was also that of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Now Ningbo has also been captured.  The Manchu Qing Dynasty lost three of its five treaty ports.  Although Xiamen is still surrounded by water and land from Manchuria, trade there is almost cut off. Fortunately, Xiamen is not an important port, otherwise the trade losses would be unbearable.

    Ningbo was captured by the Taiping Army as expected by Wen Han and others. Both Suzhou and Hangzhou were lost. Ningbo was the next target of the Taiping Army. Judging from the strength of the Taiping Army, it was only a matter of time before Ningbo fell.  However, the ministers of the Three Kingdoms were still surprised by the speed of the Manchu and Qing defeats. The Manchus and Qing Dynasties sent many notes asking for borrowing troops to assist in the suppression, and also asked other countries not to trade with the Taiping Army. Naturally, the ministers of the Three Kingdoms would not agree.  Such an important port in Shanghai was captured by the Taiping Army. Not allowing other countries to trade with the Taiping Army meant that all countries gave up Shanghai, an important trading port. Of course, the great powers would not agree.  They politely replied to the Qing court that they remained completely neutral and would neither send troops to help the Taiping Army nor the Manchu Qing Dynasty. The Chinese should resolve their own affairs, but they should not affect the commercial interests of various countries.  However, out of the need to give an explanation to the Qing court, the three consuls in Ningbo helped the Manchu officials escape from Ningbo city, which also alleviated some of the dissatisfaction of the Qing court.

    Wen Han and others were invited to come today, and they also thought that Xiao Yungui might blame the Ningbo consul for helping the Manchu officials escape, but they did not expect that Xiao Yungui did not mention a word. The two sides talked about how to stabilize Ningbo's trade. The ministers from the three countries all  Agree that Ningbo¡¯s customs duties, commerce, etc. shall be handled in accordance with Shanghai¡¯s system.

    ¡°Then Xiao Yungui changed the topic and talked about the rebellion in Xiamen.  Wen Han politely said that they could ship out the Xiamen rebels to take refuge in Nanyang, but Xiao Yungui refused.

    Xiao Yungui proposed a plan. The Taiping Army would pay for merchant ships from various countries to go south to Xiamen and evacuate all the rebels in Xiamen.?When coming to Shanghai, you can even hire warships from various countries as escorts.

    Wen Han and others were surprised. They did not expect that the King of the West could think of such a large-scale maritime withdrawal operation. After the three people discussed it, they rejected Xiao Yungui's request. Warships from various countries cannot be used as escort fleets to avoid conflicts with the Qing army.  , but merchant ships and cargo ships can be rented by the Taiping Army, but the rental fee is indeed not cheap.

    Xiao Yungui and Hong Yun'er spent a lot of time bargaining with the ministers of the Three Kingdoms, and finally settled on a slightly cheaper charter price. Moreover, if there were not enough seamen on the ship to hire foreign seamen, they would have to pay extra.

    Xiao Yungui cursed in his heart that the three foreign devils were adding insult to injury, and finally spent a huge sum of 190,000 taels of silver to rent more than 300 merchant ships and cargo ships from the Three Kingdoms to participate in the rescue operation.

    Finally, Xiao Yungui also proposed that the envoys of the Three Kingdoms come forward as a mediator to let the Qing army in Xiamen release the sea encirclement and let the fleet pick up the people in Xiamen. After the people were picked up, Xiamen could be returned to the Qing army.

    Wenhan immediately agreed. He wanted to restore Xiamen's trade as soon as possible to prevent Xiamen from being destroyed by the war. He agreed that the three countries would jointly negotiate with Wang Yide, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, and Li Tingyu, the governor of Fujian.

    ¡°Then it was time to prepare the fleet to go to sea. After the hired ships arrived, Lu Shunde and Zhao Shunping returned to Shanghai from Chongming to take over.  The battle on Chongming Island is not worth mentioning at all. Before the Taiping navy arrived, the Qing troops on the island retreated to Yangzhou by boat. Lu Shunde and Zhao Shunping just took the fleet for a walk.  After stationing 2,000 people on Chongming Island, the two returned to Shanghai to accept the rescue mission south.

    Six days later, after Lu Shunde and Zhao Shunping obtained the supplies they needed at sea, they set sail to sea with more than 300 large and small merchant ships, sea ships, large sand ships, and hundreds of navy red single ships, fast crab ships, and war ships.  The couple went to the dock to see them off, and Xiao Yungui told them that they must bring back all the people in Xiamen, and the Taiping Army's largest maritime evacuation in history began.  (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature. The novels will be better and updated faster!
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