On Tuesday, April 4, 1645, the eighth day of the third month of the first year of the Ming Empire, Qingming.

In the early morning, on the cliff mountain at the mouth of the Yamen Waterway in Xinhui County, Guangzhou Prefecture, a team of spring tourists appeared.

In addition to the leading Guangdong governor Zhao Youheng and other officials, there were a number of maritime merchants with status in Guangzhou, in addition to a large group of officers and soldiers of the Fubiao Battalion accompanying the escort.

“…… The northern soldiers went home for 8,000 miles, and everyone liked to drink alcohol. Only the lonely minister was crying, and he didn't dare to cry to others. The six dragons know where the sea is vast and the smoke is separated. I want to use the sword to kill the ministers, who is the gold belt? ”

Looking at the white waves outside the cliff in the south of the mountain, Zhao Youheng's face was solemn. After burning incense and praying, Zhao Youheng turned around and looked at the people behind him, and slowly read out a poem of Wen Tianxiang of the Southern Song Dynasty in his mouth.

Although everyone's expressions were different, the atmosphere at the scene had to make people take unanimous action, and they saw that both officials and maritime merchants bowed their heads one after another.

"Loyal martyrs take righteousness and become benevolent, and die as if they were home, which is really a model for our younger generations. The monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty were martyred here, and they were crowned by the monkey and stole from China. My Ming Taizu Emperor Gao recast Shenzhou for nearly three hundred years, and now although the country is tired, the monarch and the people are united, and the emperor and Ming Zhongxing are not far away. ”

In just one year, Zhao Youheng seems to be much older. Emperor Chongzhen has been dead for nearly a year, and nearly half of the country has fallen, and it seems a bit self-deceiving to say such words at this time, but Zhao Youheng still reinvigorates his spirits and speaks generously at the top of the cliff.

"You adults can rest in the pavilion under the mountain with everyone, and Mr. Zhao and I still have some gossip."

Seeing that many people were a little interested, Zhao Youheng couldn't continue to pull the big guy, but after a little explanation, he walked slowly towards the ancient battle site of Yamen in the distance alone.

Seeing that the other party seemed to have something to say to him privately, Zhao Mingchuan also hurriedly followed.

After a pillar of incense, Zhao Youheng and Zhao Mingchuan found a big stone to sit on, and the officers and soldiers of the Fubiao battalion who were in charge of guarding stood a hundred steps away.

"Mr. Zhao, I heard that your ancestors have been cultivating and studying in Xinhui for generations. It should also be after Song Zhao, right? ”

After looking at the scenery of half a pillar of incense, Zhao Youheng pinched his beard and turned his head to Zhao Mingchuan to the side, with a hint of a smile on his face.

In 1279 AD, the last force of the Southern Song Dynasty in exile at sea broke out a decisive battle with the Mengyuan army at Yamen (Yashan) in Xinhui County, Guangdong. The two sides invested more than 200,000 troops, more than 1,600 warships and more than 1,000 civilian ships, which lasted 23 days, especially the decisive battle on the last day of the sixth day of the second lunar month.

In this battle, the last main force of the Southern Song Dynasty was annihilated, and the little emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty, the empress dowager, the ministers of civil and military affairs, and hundreds of thousands of people were killed in battle or martyred in the sea. There are thousands of corpses floating on the sea surface of Yamen, and the sea water is red. The complete demise of the Song Dynasty, which lasted for more than 300 years, also announced the end of classical China, and the oriental civilization was brought into another fork by foreign rule.

However, the remnants of the Zhao family are not dead, in order to remember the homeland, with the ancestors, they came to Xinhui from all directions to take root, thus forming the Zhao family of Guangdong Xinhui.

"It's just a country horseman's house, and the great-grandfather moved to Xin'an County separately. Although they are all neighbors of the same house, they rarely come here in their lives. Zhao Mingchuan was stunned. Hung his head in embarrassment.

"Hehe, don't hide it from Mr. Zhao, the contemptible ancestor went to Kaifeng, Henan, and moved to Qinghe, Shandong during the Hongwu period. If you study it carefully, you can also count the descendants of the former Song Bianjing and Zhao surnames. I can't say that you and I were a family hundreds of years ago, haha! However, Mr. Zhao does not need to be restrained. This time, I feel it by hanging the cliff door, and it is not a big rebellion. I want my emperor to inherit the mandate of heaven and succeed the Han dynasty. Presumably, the ancestors of the Zhao family are also gratified to know and feel relieved. ”

Today's Zhao Youheng seems to be a little different from usual, and he actually talked about the former Song Dynasty in front of Zhao Mingchuan. Seeing the other party's mysterious smile, Zhao Mingchuan had a trace of doubt in his heart.

"Mr. Zhao, I remember chatting with the head of the Huamei sect in Xinzhen the year before last, and there was a Confucian general in the Huamei Navy whose surname was Wen Mingtuo, who was said to be the queen of Wen Zhonglie. I heard that this person has a brilliant record, and he is proud of the Xihai ......" Zhao Youheng's expression gradually became stricter, and the words he said were a little heavy, "The first emperor died, and now he is hunting in the south, and the people of the world are all looking forward to reviving the northern land, but the princes of the court and the central government are fighting more than once...... After hearing about the beauty for a long time, the remnants of the Song Dynasty regarded themselves as self-reliant, and when the old country was in danger, did they really just care about running around the East and West Nanyang commercial camps and ignoring the East and the East? ”

Speaking of this, Zhao Youheng remembered the official document transferred from the imperial court a few days ago, and learned that he had tried his best to persuade the imperial court to "accept" Huamei's diplomatic failure, and even had the meaning of reprimanding, and his heart ached faintly. And Zhao Mingchuan finally understood the reason why Zhao Youheng took Wentuo as the beginning.

"The governor was worried about the world, stated the key points, and vigorously pushed the Ming court and the Huamei government to join forces to capture the captivity. However, the imperial court did not weigh the weight, listened to biased words, regarded the beauty as a disdain, and only talked about tribute, and some people repeatedly obstructed and treated foreign envoys coldly. This time it was fruitless, and the fault was not in the adult...... "Zhao Mingchuan has not been in a good mood these days, and he is very angry that the Ming magnates in Nanjing are actually blind and do not take Huamei to take the initiative to come to the door this time, and now he can only tell the truth hard, "Zhao Da has also known that China and the United States are extraordinary for several years, and they have been born and raised overseas for hundreds of years. If you can wait for it equally, form a brotherly alliance, and trade to welcome help, what is the danger in the world! ”

"Benfu also knows these truths." Zhao Youheng interrupted Zhao Mingchuan's complaints, sighed and shook his head repeatedly, "Now I only hope that Mr. Zhao will maneuver around one or two...... In the future, this Fu plans to inform the Governor of Liangguang, Lord Ding Chukuiding, and the Governor of Guangxi, Lord Qu Shiyun, and wait for the affairs of the court to calm down, and then write to the court, making it clear the seriousness. If you can get the help of the two, there must be a turn for the better. ”

No matter how influential Zhao Mingchuan is in front of him, after all, he is still just a businessman, but before Zhao Youheng gets a clear affirmation from the imperial court, he can only maintain indirect contacts with the Huamei official through Zhao Mingchuan. Therefore, giving the OUCC Group as much preferential treatment as possible in business is the best way for Zhao Youheng to shorten the distance between him and Huamei officials, and prepare for the day when he will have direct negotiations.

Before Zhao Mingchuan could get up and thank him after being overjoyed, he saw a staff member of the governor's yamen hurrying from the path, his face was very nervous.

"Adults be careful with your step......" Zhao Mingchuan quickly got up from the boulder and bowed to the officials who ran.

"Lord Futai, something is wrong!" The staff was also so anxious that they forgot the etiquette at this time, and walked directly in front of Zhao Youheng, "Nanjing has a Beijing envoy and Jinyi Weiti who have arrived in Guangzhou and will go to Qiongzhou to arrest Lord Shen!" ”

"Huh?!"

Zhao Youheng and Zhao Mingchuan let out a cry of surprise at the same time.

……

From the end of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen to the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, the refugees from Liangguang migrated, and they were finally caught. Zheng Zhilong, who tore his face because of Huamei roundabout diplomacy, went behind the scenes, and Nanjing's first "fine" against Guangdong was finally issued.

To the west is Zuo Liangyu, who is about to move, and in the southeast, there is the position of Zheng Zhilong, who is eager to win over. With such "righteousness" in hand, the Donglin Party launched an aggressive questioning. In order to ease the internal pressure, Ma Shiying, who was firmly in power, also had to give in.

Regarding Zhao Youheng's helpless and even a bit of "ghostly mind" at the beginning, Shen Tingyang also had difficult persuasion, but in the end he acquiesced to Zhao Youheng's behavior. Most of the refugees from Huguang, Jiangxi, and northern Liangguang in Guangdong flowed to Nanyang through Qiongzhou, thus returning a large amount of silver grain.

Probably because he was afraid that the scope of the impact would be too wide, Nanjing's "fine" this time was very well handled. No one on both sides of the struggle has really made up their minds to move Zhao Youheng himself, and at present, these papers can't contain the inside information of the fire, so they follow Zheng Zhilong's name and surname, and very cleverly fall on the heads of Shen Tingyang and Qiongzhou Nanhai Firm.

seems to have been aware for a long time, after Shen Tingyang received some rumors, he committed suicide in the official office on the day Nanjing Jinyiwei arrived in Qiongzhou, leaving a "letter of repentance", almost all the blame was taken on himself, in order to save his best friend Zhao Youheng.

Probably got Ma Shiying's reminder that Ding Chukui, the governor of Liangguang, acted faster, and immediately put aside his relationship with Zhao Youheng, and took the first step to impeach Zhao Youheng and Shen Youlong, the former governor of Liangguang, who was already guarding filial piety at home.

Historically, Shen Tingyang actively participated in the anti-Qing and restoration movement after the fall of Nanjing, and his ambition was unrewarded. And in this time and space, he also walked into the fork of fate, and his long-cherished wish of "rejuvenating the country with the sea" followed. Zhao Youheng himself was severely reprimanded for the crime of not being strict with the emperor, and he ordered the dismissal of the official on the spot, which can be said to be the ebb and flow of the tide only in a thought.

Even on the day that Zhao Youheng was dismissed from office, Ding Chukui sent people to seal off the shops of Qiongzhou Nanhai merchants in many prefectures and counties in Guangzhou, Qiongzhou, Zhaoqing, and Huizhou, cut off the Kowloon trade port leading from Xin'an County to Hong Kong Island, and confiscated 20,000 stone refined salt purchased from Hong Kong by Guangzhou maritime merchants in Panyu under the high-sounding pretext of prohibiting smuggling salt.

In the end, Ding Chukui also sent someone to send an official document of "righteous words" to Elson, the governor of Hong Kong, strictly prohibiting Chinese and American merchant ships from entering Guangdong, and ordering merchants who were already on land to leave the country.

Fortunately, soon after Zhao Youheng became the governor of Guangdong, he moved his orphan mother from his hometown in Shandong to Qiongzhou. Now that Shandong has long fallen, Zhao Youheng has nowhere to return to his hometown, and he can only stay in Qiongzhou after the dismissal.

According to Nanjing's instructions, the 10-year concession treaty between Guangdong and Huamei will not be renewed. In other words, in August 1647, if Huamei was to respect the diplomatic treaty, it had to withdraw from Hong Kong Island. As for the trade between Fujian and Zhejiang, or Huamei's willingness to send troops to help the Ming Dynasty resist the Manchus, it has become a breeze in the back of the head.

On the same day that Shen Tingyang committed suicide by poisoning, the last group of officers and soldiers of the Brown Bear Brigade of the Chinese Foreign Legion had just arrived at Pearl Island through the Guò Temasek Strait. (To be continued......)