New Shun 1730

It was getting late, and a group of people who had never seen a volcano slowly descended from the volcano.

In the camp at the foot of the mountain, a large scarlet flag fluttered in the wind.

The four big characters of "Practice for Heaven" are looming.

Even if you are uneducated, you still know that the big flag in Water Margin is apricot.

However, the composition of the rebel army is too complex, and most of the core personnel are "undercovers" of the imperial court, so no one dares to use apricot yellow.

Huang Ban and others, on the other hand, saw the imperial court as the officials and gentry from their hometown in Fujian who colluded to frame their family, and they did not want to be emperor at all.

But he couldn't defeat those "undercover agents" of the imperial court, or people like Lian Huaiguan who were determined to recruit people, so in the end the apricot flag was not raised.

Di Qing's story is known to some extent by people within the system, especially military officers. When there was a fire in Kaifeng, Di Qing was wearing green clothes and commanding people to fight the fire. However, because the green color faded and turned yellow, he was considered to be wearing a "yellow robe".

Don't look at officers like Niu Er who are so arrogant on the top of the mountain, ambushing the Dutch pursuers, pointing out the country, and criticizing people. That's because here, besides being transformed into kings, the natural spring breeze transforms into dragons.

But once the court is involved, everyone will immediately become as timid as a dog.

In Java, you can call the wind and rain, and you can think that you can become an army by spreading your beans. But what if it's in the middle of the court? The group of staff officers in the Privy Council are all junior officials of sixth, seventh and fifth and sixth grades, nothing more than sesame seeds and mung beans. Moreover, the Navy and the Privy Council have been so popular in recent years, so many pairs of eyes are watching.

The scarlet red flag of Dao Tian Dao is still flying, and simple fortifications have been built outside the flag. More than 400 selected Chinese, either Bugis slaves or Javanese slave workers, are using wood there. Stick training queue.

Those officers from Little Java who did not climb the volcano spent the whole day training this group of people.

I ambushed Xiao Sheng before, but it was just a small victory. In hand-to-hand combat under such circumstances, many of these unorganized and poorly trained people still died under the bayonets of the Dutch.

Those who originally thought that the Dutch could defeat Batavia with just a few more guns and a head on one shoulder, all became honest after this battle and understood the difference between them and the regular army. What a big gap.

When Huang Ban and others saw Niu Er's group coming down from the mountain, they hurried over to greet them, but they were even more confused.

This group of people...if they are capable, they really are.

But if you say they are reckless heroes, they really are not.

Don't dare to hang the apricot-yellow banner; don't dare to take names like Thirty-Six Tiangang.

They all seem to be full of pride, but they always feel like they are like the Sun Wukong who is under a tight spell. They have thousands of spells and abilities, but they no longer dare to make trouble in the Heavenly Palace. It is indescribably awkward.

After the ambush was successful, Huang Ban once again mentioned his previous hope of moving to the northeast, near the northern coast, and to areas with more Chinese people.

Huang Bantou has no strings attached to him and is a real man.

Those who are not my race who value loyalty, affection, and simplicity must have different minds.

He still hopes to save more Chinese brothers, that is, to send troops to attack Cirebon, Semarang and other places, and rescue those Chinese brothers who work as slaves in spice planting hills and sugar factories, instead of squatting in this rarely seen situation. Chinese place.

But from the actions of Niu Er and others, it can be seen that they are not planning to leave at all, but are stationed here for a long time. They are going to build high walls and slowly become kings. They are actually starting to get involved in rural laws. They are obviously preparing to Take control of the surrounding villages.

The two sides are of the same mind to counterattack, but how to counterattack and where to fight in the future are not the same.

In addition, although they won the ambush battle, the casualties on their side were not small. From the beginning, Huang Ban was ambitious and thought that it would not be a problem to attack Batavia with all his strength, at least capturing Bekasi; to now, he felt that the gap with the Dutch regular army was real. It's huge, but it's too close to Batavia. If we attack with a large army, it might be difficult to support it.

After welcoming them, under the banner of Dao for Heaven, he whispered: "Brother Niu, actually you want me to say that we can't stay here for a long time. We still have to go north and east. To Tammu, Surabaya, Cirebon, Semarang and other places. I have many brothers there, and many of them are bloody men. As long as we go there, they will follow us."

"If we can draw a tie with the Dutch, we will stand on our own. If we really can't beat the Dutch, there is a way out."

"If it really doesn't work, just find someone to connect with, find Bugis pirates, give them money, and ask them to send our brothers to Borneo."

"In the story, the gangster Li Jun also became king overseas in Borneo. Why can't we? There are also many Han brothers in Borneo who are digging gold and mining there. It is not the territory of the Dutch. , Brother Niu’s brothers are capable again, we will use the whip to do great things together in the future.”

At this time, the Lan Fong Company had not yet been established, but the Chinese already had some influence in Borneo.

Some are transformed pirates who do both robbery and farming; some are digging for gold there, and by building a good relationship with the local chiefs, they have established a place similar to a "leased land"; some are opium farmers, like those in East Holland. Indian companies have already started smuggling opium on a small scale, and there is even a special tax in Batavia.

Historically, in the seventh year of Yongzheng's reign, Yongzheng issued the "Regulations on Promoting the Sale of Opium and the Opening of Opium Lairs" and the "Edict on the Prohibition of the Sale of Opium and the Opening of Opium Lairs".

The order said: Those who engage in opium trafficking will be punished by buying prohibited items, and will be put in shackles for one month and sent to the border guards as soldiers. Those who privately open opium dens and lure children of good families will be sentenced to prison according to the law of misleading the masses with evil cults, and will be punished with 100 strokes of the cane and exiled for 3,000 miles. Boat owners, local security guards, and neighbors will all be punished with 100 strokes of the cane and two years of imprisonment...

At that time, Britain was still unable to get involved in China. After all, India had not yet established a firm foothold. Instead, they issued a special warning within the company, prohibiting merchant ships from carrying this stuff to China.

Once the Industrial Revolution was completed and India established a firm foothold, Britain immediately abolished all its own isolation orders and did not care about the opium ban at all. The strength had changed, and the words were just farts.

The Dutch did not care about this. Anyway, they had established a firm foothold in Southeast Asia and could smuggle through Chinese merchants as intermediaries.

The earliest large-scale opium transaction documents in history were used by the Dutch East India Company to offset debts, which was more than ten years ago.

At this time, opium was still a special drug. Most of the poor people could not afford to see a doctor, and those who could afford to see a doctor were mostly quacks, and opium was indeed a miracle drug at that time. Stomachache, toothache, joint pain caused by labor, just a little bit of it can "get better". Although it only suppressed the pain and did not get better at all, it quickly became popular in this era of 35 years of average life expectancy and infant mortality.

Some people in Borneo also started out by doing this, including Lan Fang, which was later called the Lan Fang Republic. In those days, they also planted a large amount of opium and sold it to Guangdong. Half of the opium production was enough to pay the head tax of tens of thousands of Chinese to the Netherlands. People have to bow their heads under the eaves. The Dutch Sultan collected the tax from the pagans, and it was really impossible not to pay it. Who told the court waste to be unable to go to Southeast Asia?

Of course, their main business is to dig for gold. A group of miners are also quite good at fighting in the surrounding areas. Miners, and gold mines, if they can't fight, they would have been robbed by others long ago.

Originally, in history, 20 or 30 years later, the Tiandihui planted rice and sugarcane in Borneo, monopolized rice and sold it to mines at high prices, and as a result, the mines united to revolt and beat up the Tiandihui.

Practice has proved that under the basis of natural organizational strength, farmers really can't beat miners who go down the mines.

Niu Er and others can be said to have "seen" gold mines in Wendeng, Qixia and other places, and they know the level of miners in the gold mining area.

Niu Er also understood what Huang Ban meant.

This place is too close to Batavia, it is a remote and poor place, and there are few Chinese.

But if they move to Borneo, with their skills and means, how can they not grab all the local gold mines?

Moreover, the miners are good at fighting, and they are famous in Nanyang. Who among the gangsters and the grass-roots doesn't know? Without nine points of courage, who dares to dig gold?

Who digs gold not to hide it and bring it out? If caught, they will die. The boss knows this, and the miners know this. They all use their own means. If they are incompetent and afraid of death, they will work honestly. If they are capable and not afraid of death, they will steal the gold at the risk of their lives.

There are several "leaders" with nicknames among the rebels, and they all made their first pot of gold that way. Huang Ban is more familiar with them, so he always thinks that he should move to the northeast.

If he wins, he can gain a firm foothold. If he loses, he can ask the pirates to help him cross the strait and move to Borneo. The Bugis pirates are quite trustworthy, and the Dutch on the sea here also need to be polite to them. The pirates also do things for money.

Huang Ban did not know the news that the court would definitely send troops, so his strategy was actually right.

Especially after fighting with the Dutch with real swords and guns, he was a little afraid of the Dutch's fighting power, or the fighting power of the regular army.

To the north, there are more Chinese there, and many Chinese live a much harder life than the people in the villages here, and their foundation is also better. If they could stop the Dutch, they could establish a separatist regime in the northeast. If they couldn't, they could cross the sea to Borneo and stay away from the Dutch.

In the stories of the West a long time ago, there were also slave rebellions and volcano uprisings. And if the pirates had kept their promise and sent those people to Sicily, they might not have been able to establish a country overseas and establish their own kingdom.

However, the dream of Niu Er and others was not to establish a country overseas and establish their own kingdom.

It was not because they were so loyal to the emperor, but because they knew what level of military strength Dashun had. They even witnessed the new army and navy of Dashun being built from scratch, and they were full of awe and fear for Liu Yu.

It was clear that proclaiming oneself a king would not end well, especially when the court was sure to go to Southeast Asia.

Twenty or so people were all from the court, how could they be of one mind?

Niu Er was well aware of the contradictions in himself.

He had long lamented that they were just a brick in the original imperial system from scratch after leaving the huge imperial system. It was too difficult to leave the old imperial system.

Without the support of the court, it is difficult to gain a foothold here; without the court sending guns and cannons in the future, it is even more impossible to succeed. How can I really declare myself king? Is that because I am tired of living?

Even if I have this idea, I will go to America, not within the range of the gunboats of the Weihai Navy. If Liu Yu does not nod, who dares to declare himself king?

Niu Er thought, if I declare myself king, wouldn’t that be a slap in the face to Ying Suobo?

Even if it is to prove his loyalty to the emperor, to prove that the navy is controllable, and to prove that the navy should continue to develop instead of throwing food out with the bathwater, Ying Suobo must personally lead the army to wipe out the "traitors" of the navy. Although I, Niu Er, think I have some ability, I also know my own weight. How dare I confront him?

If Ying Suobo is gone in the future and replaced by someone else, I can consider it...

Or, if the imperial court really doesn’t want to go to Southeast Asia anymore and treats us as abandoned pawns, it won’t be too late to think about establishing our own kingdom then.

Thinking of this, he still tried to persuade Huang Ban: "Brother Huang, I think I have some ability in fighting. In any case, the northeast is a dead end. Without the navy, the Dutch can easily play out tactics such as multiple points of blossoming, advancing in parallel, landing with more people to fight fewer people, and holding on to wait for help."

"In your eyes, the Chinese there are suffering more, which is an advantage. But in my eyes, it is close to the sea, the Dutch have been operating there for many years, and it is convenient to transport troops, which are all disadvantages."

"Didn't we agree? Let's stay here for a few years first. In the future, when the Dutch army comes to encircle and suppress, if we can let them come in several directions, I will only fight one way and break one way, and we will have nothing to worry about; if not, we can jump out of the encirclement and suppression of their army, and then it won't be too late to go to the northeast. Brother Huang, can you trust our brothers' abilities?"

Huang Ban was absolutely convinced of this point, and he also knew that if others were willing to say something, they would say it, and if they were unwilling to say it, they would not say it even if asked, so now he didn't ask them what they did.

If it's just about ability, he will be convinced, so he nodded.

"Who doesn't believe it?"

"That's it. We have the ability to train soldiers. There are many volcanoes here, and it's mostly mountainous areas. It's not easy for the Dutch to attack. Let's not discuss this matter in the short term. I think it's better to train soldiers, store food, and do justice first."

Huang Ban knew that he had to rely on this group of people to fight the war, and there was nothing he could do, so he had to comply: "Okay. Brother, I don't mean anything else, I'm just thinking about the future of the brothers."

After saying that, he looked at the more than 400 people who were selected, who were practicing formations with sticks, thinking that this place is so close to Batavia, how long can the banner of justice fly?

If they can't even equip 400 guns, can they really beat the well-trained Dutch who will be reinforced by thousands of troops to encircle and suppress them?

The people on Niu Er's side looked at these people practicing formations with sticks, but felt inexplicably cordial, as if they were back in Weihai ten years ago.

When we didn't buy French guns at that time, we also practiced marching with wooden sticks. Didn't we also fight in the Altai Mountains and drink from the Maysyk-Kul Lake afterwards?

Moreover, although there are not many core personnel, they are small but well-equipped. Many of them are military academy students, and each has their own skills and means.

Although they are all third-, fourth-, and fifth-rate characters in Liu Yu's mouth, it is still easy to deal with the seventh- and eighth-rate people in the villages and communities here who are not even village heads or community heads. Even Governor Valknier is just a third- or fifth-rate character in their eyes. If there is no company with hundreds of millions of funds behind him, he will also start from scratch. What is he?

Many people have also participated in the activities of Yongdian, land inspection, and statistics in Wendengzhou at that time. Although they are not well-trained in internal affairs, they can still beat those village heads and govern the villages without any problems.

Looking up at the banner of acting on behalf of heaven, I thought there is a lot to be done here. As long as... the court sends another batch of guns and cannons.

Accustomed to fighting battles with artillery suppression, they really don't feel confident without artillery.