New Shun 1730

"Besides, you have the title of a baron of the Celestial Empire. With this status, it is difficult for Petersburg to take any action against you."

"The French also said that your classmates from the Paris Military Academy are also at the French Embassy. Princess Elizabeth is also active there. As long as you are a little bolder, it is actually very easy."

"I have analyzed it with you. Now both the New Party and the Old Party are quite dissatisfied. Even the Old Party is willing to make a concession and pursue Princess Elizabeth as the orthodox. After all, he is more Russian than those Germans who can't even speak Russian."

Liu Yu's comfort did not make Hannibal feel much relieved Anxiety, seeing Liu Yu's good intentions, he had to force a smile and said: "As long as Elizabeth is still healthy when I answer Petersburg, I don't worry about the rest."

"When I was in Europe before, I often heard people talk about 'Byzantine conspiracy'. But I read a lot of history books in the capital and found that the Byzantine conspiracy is nothing."

"It's like the 'intrigue' in the language of the Celestial Empire, which was originally used to describe the building of the Afang Palace, but now it has become a meaning of power struggle. I have lived in the capital for more than ten years and have grown a lot."

Hearing this, Liu Yu didn't know how to respond. Is this a compliment? Or a criticism?

I could only smile awkwardly, stretched out my hand and shook his, saying: "It's good to grow up. No matter what, we will go our separate ways in the future, and I hope we will never see each other again."

"After all, if China and Russia go to war again, if you help Elizabeth to ascend the throne successfully, with your understanding of China and the long supply lines of both sides, the most suitable fortress to delay the logistics and retreat tactics, you should be the main general of the Russian side."

"And I, as the one who is best at siege, will inevitably have to go to war. I hope that we will never see each other again after we say goodbye in the future."

Hannibal did not say anything to thank the Celestial Empire, which completely cut off his retreat back to the Celestial Empire. He also shook Liu Yu's hand vigorously and said: "I know the future of Russia, just like my father As you said, in the West. I also know that the military and financial strength of the Celestial Empire are not comparable to Russia. "

"If I can really assist Princess Elizabeth to ascend the throne, I will try my best to persuade her to give up the idea of ​​the East-West double-headed eagle. Russia's future lies in Poland and Germany, not in the East."

"I also hope that we will never meet again. As you said, if we go to war again, I am afraid that you and I will be the main generals of both sides. And I... can't beat you."

The last few words made Liu Yu laugh. Regardless of whether he was complimenting or speaking from his heart, he let go of his hand and smiled: "Okay, I accept your compliment."

The two smiled at each other. On the surface, they completely resolved the personal grudges on the banks of the Heilongjiang River.

At this time, it is not possible to say the real heartfelt words, and even if the diplomacy of the two countries speaks the truth from the heart, the other party may not believe it.

Liu Yu went there to reverse the diplomatic situation. Russia's attitude is related to whether Dashun can put all its limited financial and material resources in Nanyang.

It does not take more than ten years of life in the capital to train Hannibal to be pro-China. Of course, it is unlikely.

At this time, the cultural system and advancement of Dashun were not bad, nor were they without progress, but they no longer had the crushing advantage over the surrounding ethnic groups as in the Han and Tang dynasties.

In the Han and Tang dynasties, I was thirteen or fourteen years old, while others were three or five years old; now I am thirty years old, while others are twenty years old.

As long as Hannibal understands how great the war potential of Dashun is, it will be enough to make him a sober faction.

Russia needs someone who truly understands the national strength of Dashun, so that they will neither be arrogant nor belittle themselves.

As long as Russia is neither arrogant nor belittles itself, it will wisely choose the correct attitude towards China.

…………

When everyone who should have waited had waited, this fleet, which was far smaller than Zheng He's voyage to the West, slowly left Guangzhou.

A battleship, four cruisers, and a transport ship carrying the Marine Corps as escort forces will always follow Liu Yu to comfort the Chinese in Southeast Asia and send them to Ceylon.

By the way, survey the sea charts and sea conditions along the way, collect intelligence along the way, and show the maritime power of Dashun, forcing the Netherlands to use limited ships to compete with Liu Yu.

Liu Yu's entourage took a total of five ships, plus three merchant ships jointly owned by Dashun and Sweden to trade in Gothenburg.

Among the five official ships, one was loaded with ginseng pickers, textile craftsmen, blacksmiths and other technical craftsmen; one was loaded with naturalized Cossacks recruited by Hannibal in the Dashun official army.

One was the official ship, the flagship.

The remaining two ships were either loaded with entourage, gifts from the Dashun court to the courts of various countries, and a group of officials going to Ceylon to supervise the implementation of the Dutch immigration plan.

When setting sail from Guangzhou, a Dutch armed merchant ship sent by Batavia also joined the fleet to lead the way for Liu Yu and his party.

This Dutch ship had to leave the fleet and go to Batavia before Liu Yu arrived in Batavia to inform the news and make time for the reception.

The huge fleet went south all the way and when it arrived at Bangka Island, it made a short stop on Bangka Island for supplies.

The larger the fleet, the more supplies it needs.

Opposite Bangka Island is the old port Xuanweisi of the Ming Dynasty three hundred years ago, which has now declined.

This place is at the checkpoint of the Strait of Malacca. More than 200 miles to the south is Batavia and the Sunda Strait; more than 100 miles to the east is Borneo.

When the fleet stopped in Bangka, many local Chinese flocked to the port to visit the fleet of the imperial court.

The local Chinese gentry also prepared wine, food, gongs and drums to welcome them.

The warships fired salutes, and the accompanying marines held a drill on Bangka Island.

Although the local Chinese showed some curiosity about the fleet of the imperial court, they were more afraid and scared.

I thought that the sound of the fleet's guns and the military drills of the marines would make the local Chinese people cheer, but I didn't expect this result.

After seeing the military drills, many Chinese working here were so angry that their teeth itched.

In the crowd, several Chinese miners with protruding muscles and severely hunched backs looked at the marines exercising in the distance and couldn't help cursing.

"Officials and businessmen protect each other, and these blue-clothed dogs are here, making our life even more difficult. Damn, blue dogs ran here?"

If these veterans who participated in the Eastern Expedition to Japan heard such words, they would be furious and feel insulted.

But at this time, they were at the dock, performing drills according to the officers' orders, and did not hear such words.

The local Chinese merchants, or the mine owners who are called "tiko", managers, big brothers, or contractors here, were burning incense and firing cannons at the dock to welcome the troops from the Celestial Empire, and they were having a great time.

The miners who were cursing in the distance saw this happy scene and cursed the Marines as "blue dogs".

There are rich tin mines in Banga, which is also the local economic pillar. Every year, Chinese sea merchants come to Banga to purchase some tin blocks and send them to Suzhou to burn tin foil during the Qingming Festival or the 15th day of the seventh lunar month.

The reason why these miners cursed these Marines who participated in the war against Japan and made outstanding contributions was not because of personal grudges, but simply because the officials at the port were having a great time with the Chinese managers who the miners hated to the extreme.

When they were in their hometown, they had seen the scene of officials protecting each other and officials and businessmen protecting each other.

Now that I have come here, I have suffered the oppression of my compatriots, but after all, there is no government here, and I can organize strikes and uprisings to resist. I didn't expect that the blue dogs of the court would actually run here?

What is this to resist? How can they beat the army?

Dashun is not the Qing Dynasty. There is no decree that you must return from the sea for no more than two years. Except for those big merchants who have tens of thousands of taels of shares in Songjiang, there is no such requirement for the people who normally go to sea to make a living.

So in the sugar factory in Batavia, the classic repertoire of Chinese workers in the 18th century is missing: near the end of the year, they began to smash and loot for wages, forcing the sugar factory owner to settle his wages to facilitate returning home.

As for why they smash and loot for wages?

The routine of American capitalists a hundred years later was staged among Chinese capitalists in Southeast Asia a hundred years ago: they issued vouchers that were circulated internally, and they could only consume food, drink, defecation, clothing, food, housing and transportation internally. And this voucher, or currency, is made of lead. Let alone taking it back to Dashun, it is not worth a dime even if it is taken outside the sugar factory.

Food, drink, and defecation can only be purchased internally, and the price is what it is set.

Too expensive? Take the voucher to buy it outside.

Can't buy it? Then just buy the goods inside, everything is available, gambling, opium dens, brothels, food, drinking... As long as you want, there is everything. If you can save a penny for the New Year, I am not a bourgeois.

So in Batavia in history, this scene would be staged every year: when the New Year was approaching, Chinese workers began to gather and revolt, burning sugarcane fields and destroying workshops, demanding to exchange the worthless vouchers and lead coins for copper and silver coins that can be spent, so that they can go home for the New Year.

However, the Dashun did not have a decree that no more than two years of going out to sea must be returned, and even encouraged the Fujian people to go out to sea to make a living. The vision of returning home was not so urgent. Living anywhere is not living? It is difficult to organize a united uprising, and of course there is no classic scene in Java in the 18th century.

Just this routine, in 1700, it had already caught up with the routine of internal gunmen and internal voucher exploitation of the big American trust groups in 1870. This was no longer a bud, but had directly risen to the level of the trust.

Such routines are also being played out in Banga.

It's just that it needs to be adapted to local conditions. Banga is a tin producing area, so unlike the sugar factories in Batavia that use lead coins, it uses Banga's specialty tin as currency.

The local Chinese capitalists contract their own territories and mine here, which is actually like a cyberpunk company.

They have their own weapons, their own territories, their own mines, and their own gunmen.

In other words, it is the remnant of the Song and Yuan Dynasty's buying system in Southeast Asia.

The local chieftain or leader contracts a certain place to the Chinese manager and prepays a certain amount of money.

For example, if a prepayment of 8,000 silver coins is made, according to the price of 8 silver coins per dan of tin, 100 dan of tin blocks need to be paid at the end of the year.

The rest is more production, more gains. If you have the ability to dig out 10,000 dan, that's your ability.

The Chinese managers naturally hope that the workers will only work and not eat. In order to squeeze out the last bit of value of the Hailufeng workers, they also learned the advanced experience of Batavia and issued internal currency to the workers.

It was artificially stipulated that 40 tin coins could be exchanged for one Spanish silver coin.

According to the price at that time, this tin coin must weigh at least 12 taels to reach the exchange rate of 40 tin coins for one Spanish silver coin.

Who would mint a 12-liang coin? Bangka's tin coins are the size of copper coins, how could they weigh 12 liang?

So, this tin coin is basically a blank note and can only be circulated internally.

When recruiting workers, they recruited according to the price of silver coins. It sounds really profitable. Work hard for a few years, go home to marry a wife and buy land, and good days will come.

However, when paying, it is paid according to tin coins - one silver dollar is paid according to 40 tin coins.

Many workers found that the money they earned after working for a year was not as much as waiting to wait for July 15 to burn paper for ghosts to steal ashes and tin.

Almost every Chinese from Hailufeng became a slave laborer with heavy debts under the calculation of their compatriot managers.

After working for a year, they still owe money.

This may sound incredible, but from 1700 to 1820, this was the norm in Bangka - almost no Chinese worker could take their wages home and fulfill their dream of buying land and marrying a wife.

On the contrary, after three to five years, the free laborers who had just come here became debt slaves who owed the company a large sum of money.

The food expenses should be deducted, right? Why is the food expense so expensive? Look at the company gunmen holding muskets outside. If anyone has any questions, those company gunmen will tell you why.

You have made money, why not gamble a few rounds? Take a gamble, and the silver dollar will turn into a gold cake. Don't gamble? You are not giving face to the manager. If there is a danger of collapse in the mine tomorrow, go there.

Opium den, come to enjoy; brothel, come to relax.

Whether it is a casino, opium den, or brothel, they are all company properties, and the internal currency can be circulated. This is fair.

If this continues, can you still get the money? Then there is one last trick: the account book.

How many people who come to work in the tin mine can read? Once the account book is shaken, the food expenses and daily consumption are recorded. If you can take a penny, the accountant can pack up and go home.

After three or five years, the "tiko" patted the miners on the shoulders and told them that they owed the company a large sum of money and that they should work until they died to pay it back.

When the Dashun fleet was about to arrive in Bangka, the miners in Bangka were planning an uprising. When they saw the officials of Dashun and their "tiko" having fun at the dock, it was natural for them to curse "blue dog".

"Did someone leak the news? Did the tiko ask the court to suppress it?"

Looking at the court troops on the dock, the leading miner cursed angrily and thought... it's over.