Time goes back to March this year.

The Liu Xiang Group, the only remaining big pirate group at that time, was forced to move south from its home base of Chaoshan area due to pressure from the north, and eventually settled in the Pearl River Estuary area.

This incident was actually planned by Chuan Chuanzhong. The purpose of letting Liu Xiang go south was to divert trouble to the south, forcing the Guangzhou officialdom to react under pressure and invite the Cao family to join the Guangdong Ping Tie.

So what exactly happened to the Guangzhou officialdom during this period of time that prompted them to rush to issue official documents to borrow help from their teachers?

Regarding this matter, it is inseparable from Liu Xiang’s own efforts and the strong support from the public.

What is different from history is that the Liu Xiang Group has occupied the Pearl River Estuary this time, and the depth and breadth of its plunder has far exceeded that in the past.

Historically, Liu Xiang and Zheng Zhilong turned against each other after being recruited, and the two sides were always hostile along the coasts of Fujian and Guangdong. It was not until seven years later that Zheng Zhilong eliminated other gangsters and finally freed up his hands to kill the last pirate Liu Xiang.

In this process, Guangdong, as Liu Xiang's rear area, did not have a strong feeling. Liu Xiang usually retreated to the Chaoshan area during the rest period. At this time, he would divide his troops to plunder some ships at the Pearl River Estuary and collect some by the way.

Travel expenses.

However, these acts of harassment in Guangzhou were much less intense than Liu Xiang's invasion of Fujian, Zheng Zhilong's home town of Min'an County, and looting, which resulted in "burning, looting, killing, emptying all houses, townspeople fleeing, and shock to the provincial capital."

Not high.

Because Liu Xiang's strategic focus has always been on Fujian: fighting for control of trade with Japan, attacking Zheng Zhilong's trading ships, plundering coastal towns in Fujian, and causing discord between the government and Zheng Zhilong, all for the sake of trade routes.

But in the plane of time travel, history has been completely changed.

This time, Liu Xiang, at best, was forced to go south under pressure; at worst, he was driven to the Pearl River Estuary like a lost dog.

From the moment he left Chaoshan, Liu Xiang never had the chance to return to his hometown. The small gunboats with white sails had already included the surrounding area of ​​Nan'ao Island in the scope of exploration. At three o'clock, they would wander around Shantou Port, provoking the suppressed people.

The taste is very strong.

Under such circumstances, it was naturally impossible for Gang Leader Liu to think about any bullshit trade with Japan. What faced him was another very real problem: How to survive?

Although the Pearl River Estuary area is a maritime trade hub and a place where wealth flows, Lu Xun said it well: If you can't catch a sheep, you can plunder it. If a large group of pirates have been entrenched in the Pearl River Estuary for a long time to extort merchant ships and go ashore to plunder, then other forces will

Nature will react to this and respond.

This includes not only the Guangdong garrison and the military training of various local police stations, but also the Portuguese in Macau and other forces that rely on the sea trade. In addition, the business travelers are not fools. They knew that there were car bandits and road bullies who went to die, so the sea trade was hit.

Trade also began to shrink, and the forces behind the merchant travelers began to become resentful.

Therefore, the longer Liu Xiang stays in a certain place, the lower the marginal effect will be, and he will be attacked by other forces in the future.

Normally, Mr. Liu Xiang and Mr. Liu would pat their butts for a few votes and then leave. The above situation would not happen. Historically, he traveled around Fujian, Zhejiang, and Guangdong, and it would take him a year just to grab a few things along the way.

But now he is in trouble: a certain force has spread the fog of war north of Chaoshan, and there is no way he can go there again.

So what about going south? Going south is also a dead end: Vietnam, Khmer, Siam, Luzon, and Java. Just look at these names and you will know that they are foreign lands where savages are entrenched.

Even though it was on the verge of collapse, the Ming Continent in the seventeenth century was still the birthplace of wealth and a true paradise of products. Businessmen from all over the world were trying their best to obtain goods, raw silk, porcelain, and daily necessities from the Ming Kingdom.

There is nothing that cannot be obtained, and nothing that cannot be sold.

In contrast, there is a group of peripheral brothers, including those tribute swindlers from Japan and South Asia. Over the long years, the daily necessities markets of all these small countries have been occupied by Ming products, such as Manila and Batavia.

Not to mention the emerging cities. Can you expect the savages who were naked just a few decades ago to produce iron nails and gold-painted fans?

Therefore, for a large pirate group like Liu Xiang, going to South Asia with poor resources is equivalent to being hit by dimensionality reduction.

In the Ming Dynasty, Liu Xiang could grab silver, daily necessities, silk and porcelain in weakly defended towns and villages once he went ashore. In South Asia, Malay pirates could grab everything except coconuts and sago.

The brown-skinned female savage with her breasts hanging down her belly is a good thing.

The bigger the plate, the stronger the parasite. The wealthy coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty not only supported Liu Xiang, but also supported more pirate gangs in history.

In South Asia, except for those few cities, it is not good to say that in other places, even if the savage tribes do not resist, it is not enough to let shopkeeper Liu grab it. As for those cities blocking Manila Bay

It is possible to seize merchant ships, but in addition to merchant ships there is also a Spanish fleet in the bay. Shopkeeper Liu probably does not think he will live long.

The most important thing is the problem of channels. The pirate group seems to come and go thousands of miles like the wind, but it still needs logistical support. The "nest owners" all along the coast of the Ming Dynasty help the pirates sell their stolen goods, and at the same time provide the pirates with supplies and intelligence to leave these places.

The den owner, the pirate group has become deaf and blind. In addition, shopkeeper Liu can't let his men fill their stomachs with porcelain? This kind of den owner does not exist in South Asia.

All in all, in short, as a decision-maker in charge of a large group of thousands of people, Liu Xiang is actually in a dilemma regarding his future strategy after occupying the Pearl River Estuary: if he goes north, he will be taught how to behave, but if he goes south, let alone he can't take him with him.

There are many people, even if he can take them away, these people will be consumed like sand in the islands of South Asia, surrounded by savages and diseases, and there will never be a comfortable life like the Ming Dynasty.

So soon after settling in Guangdong, Liu Xiang immediately made a series of decisions: first, layoffs. A large number of small shopkeepers were immediately let go to make a living on their own. This kind of gathering and separation among pirates was normal, so soon there were

More than half of the troops scattered and went their separate ways.

Next, Liu Xiang contacted the Portuguese. In addition to hoping to get some military support, Liu Xiang also tried to get some business cooperation from the Portuguese.

In addition, Gang Leader Liu also considered an escape route: the Portuguese and Spanish, who also believe in Catholicism, have always had a relatively close relationship. Liu Xiang believes that if there are more contacts with Spain and Portugal through the bridge of Macao, if it comes to having to choose

On that day, he would at least have one more way to go to Manila to work for the Spaniards, instead of having to surrender to those thieves.

Of course, while looking for a way out, Liu Xiang was still carrying out his main business: robbery.

It's impossible not to plunder. Even if more than half of the pirates are released, Liu Xiang's men still have 4,000 people and 200 ships. The supplies consumed by these men and ships every day are astronomical figures. If they don't

If you buy or sell, you will soon be left with nothing.

In addition, the thousands of people who were let go will not disappear out of thin air. Most of these people will still form scattered gangs to "do business" nearby. Therefore, for the prefectures and counties in Guangdong, it is equivalent to reducing the original bandit troubles.

Basically, a gang of ten thousand people suddenly increased in a short period of time, and the situation suddenly became bad.

Soon, a flurry of reports and documents flew into the offices of the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, the Chief Envoy, the Inspector-General, and the General Military Office. These documents included reports from local officials and county officials, as well as letters of complaint from maritime merchants and people with strong backgrounds behind the maritime merchants.

, the contents are surprisingly consistent: Liu Xiang invaded prefectures and counties, and also set up blockades on sea roads to pump water, causing people everywhere to suffer, and businessmen and travelers to complain endlessly. I hope you can quickly come up with a solution.

However, the big bosses had an idea. The governor's office of Guangdong and Guangxi could not come up with any good ideas except strictly ordering the various military posts to strengthen their defense and add beacons.

As for Liu Xiang setting up a trap overseas to draw water, let him go. Anyway, without Liu Xiang, Wang Xiang and Ma Xiang at the Pearl River Estuary, it would be better to "see it self-defeated" given the strength of the naval force of the imperial court.

However, Liu Xiang could not "defeat himself" this time, because the road to the north had been blocked by the Kun thieves, and Gang Leader Liu did not want to go south. The Liu Xiang Group, which could not even stay in its home base of Chaoshan area, quickly brought it to Guangdong.

The amount of looting far exceeded that of the same period in history.

Of course, a certain vicious nun was indispensable in this process: the actions of Liu Xiang's gang in the Pearl River Estuary only brought scale effects, but for Guangdong official circles to feel the word "pain", it depends on the romantic figures.

The "Debon" special pirate team, which was originally fighting against the hostile Jinshen trade routes along the coast of Zhejiang, had been transferred to the Pearl River area by the Intelligence Bureau before that. Since the meeting gift was relatively generous, the team was sent to Guangdong after Gang Leader Liu came to Guangdong.

, he successfully joined the gang immediately.

The original pirate team, with Mr. Chen as the captain, now has Comrade Ma Liu as the captain, and the rest of the sailors and ships have been updated several times. The strength of the small fleet can be said to have been completely reborn.

After this order was placed under the command of shopkeeper Liu Da, the Debon team began a precise strike full of technological content. The agents at the Guangzhou Station would telegraph the travel information of certain specific sea ships to the team, and then these ships would

They will be intercepted accurately, regardless of day or night, regardless of location, and they will be robbed even before they leave the Pearl River.

Naturally, the ship that was robbed did not end well. The cargo was robbed, the ship was towed away or scuttled, and the vicious "pirates under Liu Xiang" might even kill two merchants for drinking.

After this, the rest of the unlucky ones will be let go. Soon the shopkeeper of the firm will learn the news, and then the major shareholders of the firm will also learn the bad news. Unsurprisingly, these major shareholders are officials and gentry in Guangzhou.

It is impossible to collect the goods on a sea-going ship without tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. Therefore, whenever the team easily makes a transaction, there will always be a "powerful person" in Guangzhou city.

Heartbreaking.

So when Gang Leader Liu's large-scale operation and the small team's precise strikes were carried out simultaneously for several months, Comrade Wang Zunde, "Governor-General of the military affairs of Guangdong and Guangxi, in charge of food and salary management, salt law, governor of Guangdong, right minister of the Ministry of War, and right minister of the Metropolitan Procuratorate"
Chapter completed!