On August 25, 1685, on the south bank of the Pearl River in the scorching heat, Colonel Lan Fei was lying under a large banyan tree to enjoy the coolness.

It was too hot in Guangdong in August, and it would not last long to march under the sun, and even the officers and men of the well-trained and adapted Taiwan Marine Battalion could not stand it, let alone the "Wuling youths" from the capital on the east coast under his command. The second generation of these young officials are huddled in the temporary barracks one by one, sticking out their tongues and panting like dogs. I can't help it, I'm choked enough by the weather, I can't stand it.

Because of the supervision of the armistice in Guangdong, the east bank army led by Lieutenant Colonel Lan Fei had been stranded on the south bank of the Pearl River opposite Guangzhou for more than half a year (in order not to provoke Li Yuanhao too much). For most of the year, they occupied the town of Foshan, south of Guangzhou, and used it as a base to continuously search for local residents who were willing to go to sea to immigrate in the surrounding area to replenish the migration inventory. At this time when the clouds of the civil war in Guangdong are thick, there are quite a few people who are willing to emigrate to the sea under the "deception of rhetoric" on the east coast, and the total number is probably more than thousands, which is a surprise.

In addition, when the 4,000 cavalry artillery men on the east coast set out from Xiangshan and Macao, although they did not encounter major obstacles along the way, there were some "stubborn people" who could not recognize the situation clearly, and actually gathered men and horses to resist stubbornly, which surprised Colonel Lan Fei and was also a little angry. After these people were defeated and captured, they and their families were all taken captive, first sent to the collective farms in the area under the jurisdiction of the Heishui Pioneer Team for labor reform, and then sent to the mainland in batches to be received by the Ministry of Immigration.

Even, under the pressure of the immigration gap, Colonel Lan Fei also carried out "expansion" without psychological pressure, and punished the local residents for small mistakes at every turn, and the punishment was to arrest and exile. These small mistakes are a little ridiculous and even terrifying to think about, such as who and who colluded with Li Yuanhao's forces nearby, which seems to be unfavorable to the east coast, regardless of whether there is conclusive evidence or not, the old friends of the whole clan are directly arrested together, and then loaded into the ship and transported north. And if someone helps to resist or hide in the process, it is even better, and immediately plundered as a colleague, without mercy at all.

In fact, if you think about it carefully, people are the courtiers of Huiguo Gong Li Yuanhao, isn't it normal to do things for him? On the contrary, in the name of mediation and peacekeeping, the people on the east coast directly sent troops into Guangdong, plundered everywhere, and intimidated the "local legitimate government". It is not wrong to say that the people of the East Coast are the invaders of Guangdong! Therefore, is there any problem with the Cantonese people working for the "Imperial Army" during the day and fighting with the "Eighth Road" at night?

But the people of the East Coast naturally don't care! They were already anxious to collect the population, but if they had no reason, they would not be able to come here in the "friendly country" of Guangdong, fearing that it would affect their business in the future. Now is the right time to take advantage of this opportunity to mediate the Erli War and make a big deal in Guangdong. It doesn't matter if it looks a little ugly, such an opportunity doesn't happen very often, and I don't know when I miss this next time.

According to incomplete statistics, the East Coast Army entered Guangdong to mediate, occupied Shunde, Foshan and other prosperous places along the way, and captured more than 60,000 people (most of them were surrendered soldiers and their families), as well as a large amount of grain, livestock, gold, silver and other commodities, with a total value of no less than 300,000 yuan. If you count the grain, grass, pigs, sheep and cash donated by the local big households, this total amount will probably be 600,000 yuan, which is completely worth the cost of sending troops this year, which makes Colonel Lan Fei very proud, and at the same time has a new understanding of the rich people in Guangdong.

Such a rich place has been occupied by Li Chengdong, an old farmer in Shaanxi, for so many years. Based on the current situation, how rich the old Li family in Guangzhou should be, and they must "see and see" when they have the opportunity in the future!

"Battalion Commander Lan, you're really interested." Just as Lan Fei was fanning his pu fan and drinking herbal tea to escape the heat, a burst of laughter sounded outside the door.

Soon, Lu Xiaozhong, who was wearing a sky-blue navy summer uniform, strode in, picked up the herbal tea on the table, and drank it all before he said: "Do you know that you are going to work in a bitter cold place, so you miss the flower world of Guangdong?" In fact, it's completely unnecessary, why don't you have it in the jurisdiction of the Blackwater Management Committee? The whales, volcanoes and geothermal hot springs of the Black Blind Harbor, the salmon, moose and seals of Sakhalin, the galloping horses of Ezo, and the intoxicating scenery of the Kuril Islands dancing with bears are all enviable. Oh, by the way, the summer is not so hot, it is a good place to escape the heat, and the environment is beautiful, even in the harsh winter, you can skate and ski, not too cozy. ”

"I still remember the last time I went north to report to the headquarters, and it was really evocative." Lu Xiaozhong pulled over a chair and simply sat down in the shade of the tree opposite Lan Fei, sipping tea while sipping tea and said with a smile: "My friends and I were fishing in Dabo Bay, where there are surprisingly many flounders, and we even got sea urchins, real 'first minute' sea urchins, sprinkled with lemon juice and eaten, the taste is great." By the way, there are still a lot of seals, sea lions, and fur seals there, and they can't be driven away, so stupid, all of them are moving money bags, haha. ”

"I also went to Black Blind Harbor a few years ago to deliver supplies. The exiled Qing prisoners intermarried with the local natives and established a small city, and over the years there were some normal immigrants who passed, and the whole city became more and more excellent. What's more, it's not cold, it's not cold at all, and it's a year-round ice-free port. I remember that time we were guests of an obedient tribe of natives, swimming in a wild geothermal lake, it was winter, haha. Later, having dinner with a bunch of reindeer and dogs (huskies) on the shore was a truly novel experience that I still remember to this day. Lu Xiaozhong continued.

"You're in a good state as a businessman who runs a steamer, a flight, or a hotel." Lan Fei glanced at Lu Xiaozhong and teased: "It's a pity that our country has not developed tourism as a pillar industry. So, those personal experiences of yours are not of much use. Of course, as the incoming director of the Blackwater Management Committee, I will certainly visit every piece of land in the jurisdiction during my tenure, and I will inspect everything to make sure that nothing is missed. ”

"Of course—" Lan Fei stretched out his voice at this point, and finally said with a smile: "I will try the flounder, salmon, cod, king crab, sea urchin, sea cucumber or something you recommend, after all, this is also part of the work." The Heishui region has endless resources, not only mineral resources (coal, gold), forest resources, but also rich animal resources, especially local rich seafood, which can be said to be sold at home and abroad. When I was in Yantai, I heard that every child in Denglai grew up eating dried salted fish in black water, which is already very revealing. Moreover, the potential of the Blackwater region is far from being realized, and I have heard that the whaling industry has been developing for so many years, and it is still the same as before, and the production is very low, how can this work? The same is true for the leather industry, which is unreasonable and needs to be changed if it is satisfied with the current low level. ”

"Say you're fat, you're still panting, hehe." It is said that Commander Lu Xiaozhong, who is about to be promoted to commander of the Okhotsk Sea Detachment of the Third Fleet, immediately said with a smile. Once Lu Xiaozhong became the chief officer of the Okhotsk Sea Fleet, he automatically entered the Heishui Management Committee, ranking fifth among the members, and he was also one of the local leaders.

Although Lan Fei didn't know some of the movements within the navy, he looked at the retirement of the old guys in the navy in the Far East, and the return to their homeland, there were only a few people in the younger generation who had some ability and fame, so they also knew it in their hearts. Therefore, he is also willing to accompany Lu Xiaozhong here for a while, and it should be regarded as communicating in advance for future work.

"By the way, how should the mess in Guangdong end now?" After the joke, Lu Xiaozhong asked about the business of this trip. He had just returned from Fujian, and with great effort, he finally negotiated the conditions with Zheng Jing, and Zheng withdrew from the chaos in Guangdong. In exchange, the East Coasters needed to fully support the Zheng family's pioneering career in Dayuan (Taiwan) by providing tools, medicines, tents, cloth, household items, and even weapons and ammunition at preferential prices, and helping the Zheng family shield themselves from the pressures they might face diplomatically. In addition, the Zheng family wants to join the Shandan trade that the people of the East Coast are doing and hope that the people of the East Coast can give some help.

These two conditions, in fact, the second one is easy to say, after all, people on the east coast often need to get goods (raw silk, tea and sugarcane) from Fujian, relying on the Zheng family in many places, and it is not impossible to bring them into the business circle of Shandan trade. Everyone sits down and talks about it, it should be able to talk about it together, the only difference is how big it is to take you.

But the first one fully supports the Zheng family's development on the island of Taiwan, and this needs to be cautious. You see, as the East Coasters took more and more goods from the Dutch (mainly spices, rice, sugar, and other tropical goods) and the amount of money increased, the position of Formosa, which could steadily supply the East India Company with large quantities of rice, cane sugar, and leather, became more and more important. If we add in the entrepot trade with the Zheng clan and Japan in Fujian, as well as the smuggling trade with the local government in Guangdong, the island once accounted for nearly one-third of the profits of the East India Company, which is very staggering.

To be honest, a third of the share of profits, in the opinion of the Batavian side, is enough to do anything for it. Anyone who dares to threaten this part of their interests will be hit by their madness, unless you can prove that you can bring them more benefits; Or simply prove that you are better than them, and you can easily knock them down and make them suffer even greater losses than they can afford.

Fujian Zheng's previous development in the northern part of Taiwan Island has already made them unhappy! If they hadn't taken a large amount of Wuyi green tea, raw silk, porcelain and other commodities from the Zheng family every year to export to the Japanese, Vietnamese or European markets, they would have turned against Zheng Jing a long time ago, and how could they have dragged on until now! Of course, perhaps the overt or implicit support of the East Coast people is also one of the important reasons why the Dutch are hesitant to take action, and the binding of interests between the East India Company and the Bank of Taiwan is really too deep, and it can be said that it is a typical example of two benefits and two defeats for cooperation, and neither side can easily make up their minds to turn their faces. Therefore, as long as Zheng Jing's subordinates were confined to the northern part of Formosa (which had been a Spanish colony many years ago, and had little profit) and did not seriously threaten the rule of the Dutch East India Company in the southern core of the island, then they would continue to endure and not overreact.

But what does the Zheng family want to do now? It is clear that they have lost interest in the development of the wild and dangerous northern part of Dayuan Island at great cost. Now, they want to go further south, because the further south they go, the higher the degree of development, the larger the population, and the higher the degree of environmental improvement, which is indeed more attractive.

Zheng Jing is now focusing most of his attention on operating Fujian's basic plate, and the development of Dayuan Island is just a retreat operation. At this stage, he doesn't have any incentive to put much resources into it, that's unrealistic. Therefore, instead of smashing limited resources into the north, where there is no splash, it is better to concentrate resources and focus on the south-central regions close to Dutch domination, where the environment is better and it is easier to obtain benefits. As for the threat of the Dutch? Isn't this going to have to be done by you Dongguo people to mediate!

Lu Xiaozhong told Colonel Lan Fei about this situation, and both of them immediately hesitated. Why is there so much in this Zheng Jing? Don't you know how much it will cost and risk to support your expansion throughout the island of Taiwan? A bad one is a war, can your Zheng family afford it? If the Dutch start a war against you, don't even think about selling a pound of tea to Japan, wouldn't it be fun?

The people of the East Coast are dying, so they will help you prepare more things necessary for tropical pioneering, and there is nothing else you can do. If you want to provoke the Dutch, the East Coast side is supportive in their hearts, but they will not give too much obvious assistance in action, at most they will sell some weapons. But now Zheng Jingming wants the people on the east coast to come forward directly to escort their pioneering cause on the island of Taiwan, and the cost to be paid is high, and it is not something that the two of them can decide, they must discuss it with several others, and then make a decision collectively.

"Is Zheng Jing a little too arrogant now?" Lan Fei put the teacup on the coffee table, then stood up, and after taking two steps, said, "Where did he get his confidence?" Think you're taking advantage of our shortcomings? Now that the Erli war has basically subsided, the possibility of a comeback in the short term is not great, even if he attacks Chaozhou Mansion now, does he really think that he can turn the situation around? In my opinion, Li Yuanhao in Guangzhou has broken his courage, and he doesn't dare to go against us at all now. This will be even if Zheng Jing's envoy came to Guangzhou to talk about it, I don't think it will be possible to say that Li Yuanhao will restart the war again. Therefore, the Zheng family can't help but think too highly of their energy! ”

"However, the Zheng family is also a rare force that we can look at, and it still has a certain effect on balancing the situation on the mainland, and it can't be killed with a stick." Lu Xiaozhong also stood up and said with a smile: "There is some dirty work and wet work, and I have to rely on the Zheng family to do it in the future, let's discuss it with Denglai and Ning Shao first, and then talk about it if there is a conclusion." I heard that the southern development team is planning a southward trade strategy, because of the lack of strength, they intend to pull the Zheng family to do it together, what their attitude is, it's hard to say, let's be patient first. ”

Hearing Lu Xiaozhong mention the so-called southward trade strategy, Lan Fei also nodded lightly and agreed with his opinion. In fact, the main operators of this southward expansion were the Bank of Taiwan and the Haizhu Island Trading Station, that is, they went south to enter the sphere of influence of the non-Dutch East India Company, including the Indochina Peninsula, the Philippines, and Timor Island, to carry out trade and many cooperations, and obtain commercial benefits.

This strategy has actually been planned for some years, but it has not been implemented. This time it happened to negotiate peace with the Qing court, and it was seen that there was no possibility of a major war in the next ten years, so the Southern Pioneer Team and the Bank of Taiwan also began some other attempts, and this southward trade was obviously one of the attempts.