Chapter 161: Illicit Salt and No Smoking

More than 1,000 regular company guards suppressed the Annan mob riot of more than 2,000 people, which was simply devastating, and everywhere the escort team went, it was like a steel knife cutting into tofu, and the Annan mob retreated one after another. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

In the midst of the mob crowd were several Japanese samurai wearing clogs at their feet and their hair shaved in three strands, but the back was tied in a bun, wearing samurai uniforms and wielding swords. These Japanese were fierce, and when they saw the convoy advancing forward, they did not dodge or dodge, but swung their katanas and slashed at the convoy.

Rows of spears stabbed at him, and the samurai swung his sword to parry this one, only to be stabbed by the other. In the blink of an eye, all the Japanese samurai who resisted fell in a pool of blood.

Liu Qi didn't think it was strange that there were Japanese people among the mob in Annam, and there were many Japanese people who came to live and do business in Annam, Jiaozhi and Champang, and there were also many broken samurai who settled in Annam.

"Get ready to arrest someone! All the rioters who participated in the riot were not allowed to run! Liu Qi gave the order.

At this time, when Nanyang Company happened to be short of manpower and slaves, the Annan people who didn't know whether they were alive or dead actually started a riot, didn't they send slaves to Nanyang Company? Although the Annan men were lazy, greedy, and did not like to work, Liu Qi believed that the whip and hunger would definitely teach the Annam captives to become diligent.

Looking at the local employees in Annan pushing heavy vehicles and lifting heavy loads in the wharf of the mining area, most of them were women, Liu Qi sighed very much in his heart: How can the same kind of person, women are so diligent, but men are so lazy?

Wang Xinyu from later generations is very clear about this, he has been to Vietnam before, in Vietnam, generally speaking, it is women who work to make money, but men smoke and chat, enjoying the money earned by women to support themselves. On a construction site, Mr. Wang saw a group of Vietnamese women carrying heavy transformers and installing wiring them, while their men sat smoking, drinking tea and chatting.

It is precisely because the men of Annam are lazy that many of the most fertile fields near Champa in the south do not produce much harvest, and the best land is developed and cultivated by the Han people who live there.

In the past few days, Liu Qi has suppressed four riots and arrested more than 5,000 Annan mobs before and after. It is conceivable that the Annamite mob will be honest under the whip and starvation.

About half a month later, Bai Wenxuan's cavalry arrived in Jiaozhi Kingdom.

Bai Wenxuan's troops were not very large, only 5,000 cavalry. However, the 5,000 cavalry were clearly armoured, and the clear and rigid military appearance and solemn military discipline shocked the Jiaozhi generals who went out of the city to greet them, and felt a little chill on their bodies. Although Jiaozhi claims to be the Kingdom of Dayue and is a hegemon in the Indochina Peninsula, compared with Bai Wenxuan's elite cavalry, it is not even enough to see.

Since Bai Wenxuan owned a part of the shares of Nanyang Tobacco Company, life is getting better and better, originally his army was not even complete armor, and many people's weapons only had a wooden stick, but now, every cavalryman has been replaced with the latest rattan armor, and there is a silk lining in the rattan armor, which is especially suitable for use in the hot south. These Guizhou rattan armors bought from Wu Sangui are extremely strong, they can't penetrate with knives, guns, and arrows, and they can even resist gunfire at a long distance! Moreover, the silk lining inside the rattan armor can also reduce the effect of bullets.

In the event of a bullet penetration, the silk lining protects the body from the possibility of lead poisoning, and can pull out the bullet that has entered the body as soon as the silk is pulled.

The weapons of the cavalry have also been greatly improved, all of them have been replaced with sophisticated sabers, and each of them has two short guns, which are much stronger than the three-eyed guns of Wu Sangui's cavalry in terms of power and accuracy.

Seeing that the cavalry of the Ming army was so mighty, the generals who were a little impatient did not dare to take risks, so they had to put away the idea of trying to get a handful of money from the Ming army.

Li Weiqi, the lord of Jiaozhi, met Bai Wenxuan in the Tokyo Palace, because Bai Wenxuan is the king of Shang, although he is only the king of the county, but he does not need to kneel when he sees the lord of Jiaozhi, and the two can sit on an equal footing.

"When the lord arrived, Xiao Wang has been in war here for many years, and even the palace is shabby; If there is any rudeness, I hope that King Shang will bear with me. Seeing Bai Wenxuan, Li Weiqi said enthusiastically on the surface.

More than two years ago, Bai Wenxuan and the Qiongzhou army attacked from two directions, invaded Tokyo, and drove away the station emperor Zheng of Jiaozhi. Who knew that whether it was Bai Wenxuan or Wang Xinyu, they did not stay in Jiaozhi as the station emperor, but let the weakest Mo clan in Annan be the station emperor.

Bai Wenxuan sat up straight, and just arched his hand slightly: "This domain is here, it's just a loan." Our Ming Dynasty is about to attack Guangdong and Guangxi, and this domain will stay in Annam for a few days, and then march from Guangxi to Guangxi. ”

Hearing that Bai Wenxuan was going to stay in Jiaozhi for a few days, Li Weiqi's face was a little unpleasant: "Lord, Xiao Wang is the lord of a small country, and you also know that our Jiaozhi country is poor, but I am afraid that we will not be well entertained." ”

Bai Wenxuan laughed: "This clan knows that your country is small and short of silver. Rest assured, the army of this domain has its own Daming Hall and merchant entertainment. ”

Hearing that there was no need to pay money and food to entertain the Ming army, Li Weiqi's heart was relaxed: "Shangguo Guild Hall and merchants are rich and rival the country, and with them to entertain your army, Xiao Wang will be relieved." It's just that the Zheng lord has not been destroyed, and the little king is like a thorn in his back. I wonder if the prince can send troops to help Xiao Wang deal with Lord Zheng? ”

Bai Wenxuan said with a smile: "It's also a good thing for you to keep this Zheng master!" If Lord Zheng is destroyed, the Mo clan is weak, and it will definitely be defeated by the Ruan clan, do you want to see the Ruan clan become the station emperor of Jiaozhi? ”

"The prince has taught him a lesson!" Li Weiqi hurriedly bowed his hand.

Bai Wenxuan did not stay in Tokyo for long, but led his army straight to Hongji Castle.

"The prince is here, because of the suppression of the riots, he is a step late, and I hope the prince will forgive his sins." Liu Qi made a big gift when he saw Bai Wenxuan.

Bai Wenxuan set up camp outside the city, and the expenses of the army here were paid for by the Nanyang Company. The army was temporarily stationed in Annam, waiting for the catamaran to deliver the war report, and after receiving the news that the Qiongzhou army had invaded Guangdong, the Bai Wenxuan troops stationed in Annam would set out from Annam and enter Guangxi.

The biggest enemy of the Ming army in Guangxi is the line Guoan department, which was a strong Qing army that had defeated Li Dingguo, in addition to the old department of Kong Youde who originally came down from the north, the line Guoan also recruited a large number of Guangxi locals who can fight well to form an elite green battalion, plus his own Han Eight Banner firearms army, is Bai Wenxuan's number one enemy.

As for Kong Sizhen, although he is very insidious and cunning, all Kong Sizhen can control is Sun Yanling's department, and the main force of Sun Yanling's department has been sent to Fujian, and at this time, there is only one big enemy left in Guangxi.

However, there are various contradictions between Lian Guoan and Kong Sizhen, Kong Sizhen is supporting the Qing court to cut the domain, so it is naturally impossible to agree to rebuild the army of the Dingnan Wangfu, and the current Dingnan Wangfu is inhabited by Kong Sizhen's husband Sun Yanling.

Sun Yanling is very talented and sparse, nominally Kong Sizhen's husband, but he is actually Kong Sizhen's puppet.

In terms of qualifications, if the Dingnan Royal Mansion is formed again, then the most qualified person to be the king of Dingnan is Lian Guoan instead of Sun Yanling, because the main army left by Kong Youde is basically controlled by Lian Guoan.

According to Wang Yuyou's plan, it was to take advantage of the contradiction between Lian Guoan and Kong Sizhen, and to use Lian Guoan's son to rebel and take this Guangxi Qing army for his own use. At this time, Lian Guoan was already old and sick, and the military power was actually in the hands of his son and daughter. If Wu Sangui's side can come forward, it is very likely that Lian Guoan and his son will cooperate with Wu Sangui to oppose the Qing Dynasty.

The point is, will Wu Sangui take this opportunity to rebel?

In the capital, ten-year-old Kangxi sat on the dragon chair and listened to the music of the ministers of civil and military affairs below. During this time, most of the games were fought in the south.

Suddenly, Wang Xi said: "Your Majesty, Weichen heard that in recent days, due to the large inflow of illegal salt from the Nanban Haikou, the activities of illegal salt dealers have been rampant, and the price of salt has plummeted. Even the salt envoys secretly bought the salt brought in by the pirates, and then sold it as official salt! ”

As soon as this sentence came out, the court was silent. In fact, most of the Qing court officials already knew about this matter, and even the important ministers of the Eight Banners were involved in this matter, and how much benefit they received from the salt merchants. Since there are benefits to be gained, who will break this matter, and only a stunned young man like Wang Xi will say it.

Although Kangxi is not yet eleven years old, after years of training by Bumu Butai and Su Malagu, he is already very scheming, and his inner maturity is not proportional to his age. However, his scheming is all focused on the emperor's tricks and intrigues, and he is a mediocre talent in terms of real governance of the country and expansion of territory.

When the ruthless Kangxi heard this, he was furious: "The Southern Barbarians deceive people too much!" Why is there so much illicit salt flowing in? What is the history of the two Huai's salt patrols? What do you eat with those diced salts? ”

Although the civil and military officials below did not dare to speak, everyone knew in their hearts: the salt coming in from the south was snow-white, smooth, and the quality could be compared with the salt from Shaanxi Jing, but the price was cheaper than the ordinary salt produced by Lianghuai itself! Only a fool would not buy salt that is so good and so cheap.

Many big salt lords simply stopped making salt themselves, but directly bought the salt from the south, and then turned it into official salt, which was shipped to various places for sale.

Now that Wang Xi has pierced this layer of paper, these officials are all thinking in their hearts about how to make this Wang Xi unlucky. As the saying goes, cutting off people's wealth is like killing their parents, people like Wang Xi are really hateful! If he wants to investigate, then let him meet at Lianghuai and break the blood!

But before these officials could react, Wang Xi threw another bombshell: "Your Majesty! Now the Eight Banners special offerings in the capital are harmful poisons! Our army suffered a fiasco in Zhejiang, all of which were harmed by the special offerings of the Eight Banners! This Eight Flags special offering, if you smoke it for a long time, it will be addictive! Once you don't smoke, you will be tired; When the addiction is too big and you stop smoking, you will have a runny nose and pain all over your body! According to the report of the surviving soldiers in the south, because many people did not bring enough special offerings of the Eight Banners, and it was rainy in those days, the officers and men of our army cut off the special offerings of the Eight Banners, and their combat effectiveness declined, and they were slaughtered as a result! These special offerings of the Eight Flags are poisonous substances that must be banned! ”

There was a sudden exclamation in the court, in fact, after the Qing army was defeated in Jinhua, Ao Bai had already received the battle report, and he also knew the harmfulness of the special offerings of the Eight Banners. But the profit of these Eight Banners special offerings is too high, and how many officials in the imperial court rely on this thing to make a fortune!

Ao Bai knows that if this matter is pursued, I don't know how many people will be offended. Since the Eight Banners special offerings can't be cut off after they become addicted, they can simply prepare more in the army. It's just that this way it's cheaper, Wu Sangui's kid. As for Wu Sangui, Ao Bai was ready to send someone to talk to him and raise the tax on the special offerings of the Eight Banners, on the one hand, to increase the income of the imperial court, and on the other hand, to let Wu Sangui not earn so hard, and at the same time beat Wu Sangui.

The person Wu Sangui is most afraid of is Aobai, before in Liaodong, Wu Sangui was defeated by Aobai many times.

Therefore, if Ao Bai comes forward, Wu Sangui will definitely have some scruples, so he can only obediently obey Ao Bai and pay more taxes.

But now that Wang Xi has directly stabbed this matter, Kangxi is naturally furious.

"In that case, can this harmful poison still be kept? It must be strictly forbidden! Kangxi said angrily.

"Your Majesty!" Feng Quan hurriedly played, "This Eight Banners special offering can't be banned!" Our soldiers are already addicted, and once they are cut off, they will not even be able to pick up weapons! ”

Sun Tingquan also played: "Your Majesty, the special offerings of the Eight Banners cannot be banned!" It can only be taxed and slowly eliminated. Once it is banned, the soldiers in front of you will not fight! ”

Bahana, the great scholar of the Eight Banners, also played: "Your Majesty, the special offerings of the Eight Banners cannot be banned!" If it is banned, our army will no longer have the strength to fight! ”

Even Sukh Saha, who has always been at odds with Aobai, also played: "Your Majesty, please think twice!" If these Eight Banners special offerings are banned, the world will be in chaos! The thieves will be overwhelmed! ”

Wang Xi said: "Your Majesty! Eight Flags Special Offerings Must Be Forbidden! As for the thieves, the emperor doesn't have to worry! The new army trained by Zhou Peigong in Huguang will not touch the special offerings of the Eight Banners! As for the soldiers who are infected with the special offerings of the Eight Flags, they can replace them with cigarettes first, and then slowly quit this harmful poison! ”

The Eight Banners special offerings are in the capital, and I don't know how many officials have benefited from this kind of commodity, if it is banned, it will undoubtedly cut off the financial route of a large number of people. This time, Wang Xi offended a large number of Qing court officials.

Suna Hai played: "The slave implores the emperor to think twice, if the special offerings of the Eight Banners are banned, I am afraid that Wu Sangui will be forced to rebel!" Now the situation in the south is critical, and it is all supported by a few loyal ministers of the Qing Dynasty. That Wu Sangui guards Yungui, the land of Yungui is barren, and even the soldiers can't support it, so he only relies on these eight banners to make a profit, if he rashly bans it, I'm afraid Wu Sangui will rebel! ”

Sonny played: "The slave implores the emperor to think twice!" ”

Kangxi, who had a very small stomach and couldn't listen to others at all, stood up angrily: "Sony! Sukh Saha! It's enough for a few of you to have important affairs in the court, so why do you want me to do it? After saying that, Kangxi turned around and left.

In fact, Kangxi is not in power at present, and Wang Xi proposed these things at this time to poke the hornet's nest. But he saw the danger and knew that if he didn't stop these things, the Qing court would be in danger. Although Kangxi is not in power yet, he will definitely tell the Empress Dowager about these things. (To be continued.) )