In June, in order to strengthen the production scale of Shilu Mine, Chen Kai transported 3,000 prisoners of war from Chaozhou to serve as miners. At the same time, he transferred some craftsmen and mechanical apprentices from the Manufacturing Bureau to manufacture hydraulic machinery there for further development.

of enhanced production capacity.

Soon, the personnel were in place, and Du Hui mobilized a thousand local soldiers from Qiongzhou to assist in the defense. Coupled with the supervisors responsible for managing the coolies, production at the Shilu Mine began in an orderly manner.

The miners dig the ore into the hole, carry it out on their backs by manpower, and transport it to the hydraulic workshop on the bank of the Changjiang River. The newly built water cone uses water energy to drive the hammer to break the ore, and then transports it along the Changjiang River to the smelting plant in Changhua County.

Ironworks. At present, the iron materials refined can only be transported to Chaozhou by water transportation, and the manufacturing bureau's ready-made hydraulic workshops on the banks of the Han River are used to make iron products. This is very troublesome, but at this stage, Qiongzhou's steel smelting capacity

It is not enough to swallow Shilu's limited output. Everything is still in the initial stage, so it is inevitable.

In the Shilu mining area, new hydraulic machinery is still being built, and craftsmen and mechanical apprentices are very busy. In Changhua, more iron smelting plants are being built. The steel production area from Shilu to Changhua

It is still being built slowly but methodically.

This is just a corner of Qiongzhou Prefecture. As for the entire Qiongzhou Prefecture, Chen Kai's strict principles have been reflected. Hair shaving and changing clothes have been cancelled. Han people have restored Han attire, and both raw and mature Li people have also put on their traditional costumes.

, the way of life was restored to its original state, and people's hearts naturally settled down. At the same time, officials were constantly replaced. Officials from southern Fujian, Chaozhou, and Guangzhou were popularized in the states and counties on the island, and local scholars from Qiongzhou also began to serve as officials.

In Chaozhou and southern Fujian, serving as an official in a different place is also an ancestral system, and it has even been a custom that has been followed for more than a thousand years since the Western Han Dynasty.

Production and restoration have been the main theme since Chen Kai regained Qiongzhou in the seventh year of Yongli. Everything on the island is unfolding in accordance with this theme. Compared with the destruction of the Qing army, everything seems to be prosperous. Across the Qiongzhou Strait, on the contrary,

It has become a lonely paradise in troubled times overseas.

The Ming army gradually regained the entire Qiongzhou Prefecture in March and April. With Lin Cha's navy, it was gratifying. Geng Jimao and even the governor Li Qifeng could only watch helplessly as the territory of this prefecture was lost. It was really...

It was unable to recover. At this time, the Ming army in western Guangdong was beyond the reach of the ministries in Guangzhou and southern Zhaoqing. The Ming army in Gaozhou, Leizhou and Lianzhou were still organizing their navy to go north to Zhaoqing to join forces with Li Dingguo until they came back.

Only then did I realize that Qiongzhou Prefecture, across the water, had changed. Everyone was dumbfounded.

At that time, it was already May. In June, Zhang Xiaoqi, the governor of Gao Lian and Lei Qiong's Fourth Prefecture, sent a note to the Ming army and officials in Qiongzhou Prefecture, asking them to accept his unified command according to the division of Ming court jurisdiction and cooperate with Guangdong Province.

The Ming armies from various western ministries cooperated to regain the counties north of Qiongzhou Prefecture.

Zhang Xiaoqi's letter was filled with enthusiasm, and he was very optimistic about the recovery of the prefectures and counties north of Qiongzhou, and he expected the generals to be granted titles and titles. However, the result of such efforts was as if everything disappeared into the sea.

In July, Zhang Xiaoqi couldn't wait any longer, so he took a boat to Qiongzhou Prefecture in person, but was directly stopped at sea by the patrolling Ming army. In the words of the captain of the Ming army warships, he knew a governor.

Chen Fujun is the Qiongzhou Prefecture that Chen Fujun led them to recapture. I have never heard of Zhang Fujun. If he dares to make noise again, he will be regarded as a trickster who sank the boat with random cannons and fed the fish.

thing!

How could Zhang Xiaoqi endure such an attitude? Although he couldn't afford to offend these "pirates" who spoke with Minnan accents from Fujian and eastern Guangdong, he had to stay away for a while, but no matter what, he was the senior official appointed by the Ming court.

Lian Leiqiong, the governor of the four prefectures, has the right to control local areas. Even if most of the generals do not listen to him, they often go their own way in military affairs. However, his status as governor must be discussed, but face is always important.

Give it to him.

Since the Ming army in Qiongzhou Prefecture did not give face, Zhang Xiaoqi simply did not hold back and directly summoned the naval Ming army vassals in Gaozhou, Leizhou and Lianzhou to discuss the matter.

After fighting bloody battles with the Qing army on the ground in western Guangdong in 2001, the Ming army from southern Fujian and eastern Guangdong seized Qiongzhou Prefecture first. Zhang Xiaoqi claimed that he originally planned to go to the island to discuss with the civil and military officials of Qiongzhou Prefecture about assistance to other friendly forces in western Guangdong.

On the contrary, the island was not even completed, let alone negotiated.

"...If things go on like this, Qiongzhou will no longer be owned by the imperial court." Having said this, Zhang Xiaoqi still felt that it was not quite right, so he quickly added: "When Chen Kai and Zheng Ci have established a firm foothold in Qiongzhou, I am afraid that Gaozhou will be destroyed by then.

Lianzhou and Leizhou have no place for us to stay!"

Zhang Xiaoqi was very angry, and his face was one of them. Earlier, regarding Chen Kai's occupation of Hong Kong Island, the Ming army in western Guangdong also established a joint opposition to the Ming army in eastern Guangdong entering western Guangdong.

This is the collective will of the civil servants of Guangdong and Guangxi. Guo Zhiqi, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Lian Chengbi, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Zhou Tengfeng of Hokkaido, plus him, the noble and honest governor of Lei Qiong, the old civil servants of the Ming Dynasty in Guangdong have strongly intervened in Guangdong affairs.

There has always been a lot of dissatisfaction. This is also the general attitude of the various departments of the Ming Army in western Guangdong, because they are also very unhappy with this behavior of overstepping the boundaries.

Assuming that if the Ming army regains Guangdong, the power of the Zheng Group in eastern Guangdong will affect their actual rights in Guangdong Province, not to mention that they cannot trust the Zheng Group and Zheng Chenggong at all. People like Chen Kai will compete with them.

One-mindedness may even push them out of western Guangdong, or even annex them, which they cannot tolerate.

However, Zhang Xiaoqi so excited the generals, but these Ming army generals were like old monks in trance, without saying a word. It was not until a long time passed, when Zhang Xiaoqi was so angry that his face was as red as pig liver, that anyone mentioned Lin Cha's

The practical problem of the fleet's survival was so straightforward that everyone nodded.

Lincha, Hou of the Ming Dynasty, was the commander-in-chief of Guangdong at that time and the pillar of the Shaowu Dynasty. With this man, the Shaowu Dynasty, which only occupied half of Guangdong, was able to conquer Huguang, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi

and the Yongli Court in the other half of Guangdong fought inextricably, and in the end even defeated the Yongli Dynasty's army. If Li Chengdong had not succeeded in the surprise attack on Guangzhou, it would have been a question whether the Yongli Court could continue to exist.

Such a famous navy general now still has the Zheng Group as his backer. Not to mention Zheng Chenggong from far away, Chen Kai from eastern Guangdong has been full of tricks for many years, and has never been an easy character to deal with. With their strength, I am afraid that

Even if they stick together, they may not be able to solve it. Instead, they have to worry about the consequences of irritating Chen Kai.

"Zhang Fujun, didn't the general who assisted Minghou say that it was Chen Fujun from eastern Guangdong who brought them here. Otherwise, why don't you send someone to contact Chen Fujun and explore Chen Fujun?

What's the tone of the army?"

This kind of timidity was frequently praised by the generals. For a time, mature country-strategizing remarks such as "The Ming army will not fight the Ming army" and "Internal strife at this time will only make the Tatars more advantageous".

If Zhang Xiaoqi forced them to accompany them to Qiongzhou, it would be as if they were going to fight a civil war.

"I am the governor of Gao Lian Lei Qiong's Fourth Prefecture. How could I have made a mistake in taking people to my jurisdiction?!"

Zhang Xiaoqi was very depressed, but he couldn't say these words. Faced with the generals' desire to unite, Zhang Xiaoqi had no choice but to say that he would discuss it with Guo Zhiqi and Lian Chengbi, and even report it to the imperial court and let the superiors decide how to deal with it.

good.

"Zhang Fujun takes the overall situation into consideration and is really a role model for our generation. If that fellow Lin Cha saw Zhang Fujun like this with his own eyes, he would not be so ashamed that he would find a way to sneak in!"

After a while of flattery, the generals dispersed on their own and returned to where they should go. Only Zhang Xiaoqi was left speechless in astonishment. He picked up a pen and wrote a letter to Guo Zhiqi and Lian Chengbi, asking for advice on countermeasures.

The letter was passed between Lianzhou, Gaozhou and Wencun in the south of Guangzhou in July and August. Speaking of which, Zhang Xiaoqi’s official position is true, as evidenced by the Ming court’s edicts and the archives of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. But these days, civil servants can still

It is rare to be able to command an army. The various vassals and towns in western Guangdong are like this. Even Chengbi has tested Wang Xing, Chen Qice and Li Changrong, but even his most trusted confidant Wang Xing does not think they can do anything to win over Chen.

Kai and Lin Cha, not to mention Chen Qice, who is very close to Chen Kai, have a firm negative attitude.

It is indeed not a good idea to start internal strife. From the bottom of their hearts, they are not willing to do this. At most, they just want to pull the generals' tiger skin so that they can have a better speaking position.

Now that the anger has been said, look at the tide of opposition from the generals, and the little water in the head of General Lin Cha who was so angry at sea has evaporated. Regarding this, the book editor Zhang Xiaoqi along with his two

All the officials felt that Chen Kai's story should be probed. However, before Zhang Xiaoqi could send someone to set off, Cheng Bangjun, the head of the Ministry of War sent by the Yongli court to contact Li Dingguo, arrived first and explained to them that the Yongli court decided to unite with Li Dingguo to fight against Sun Kewang.

The big picture.

"Please ask Chief Cheng to convey it on your behalf. I will contact the generals myself and will be the forerunner for King Xining at that time."

If the emptied Yongli court was the core of the royalist faction in the Ming court, then people like Guo Zhiqi, Lian Chengbi, and Zhang Xiaoqi were the peripheral organizations extending from there.

In the current situation, the southwest has been controlled by Xiying, and the authority of the imperial court has been emptied out. In the southeast, they cannot trust people with Tang vassal backgrounds like Zheng Chenggong and Chen Kai. The situation is not good for the Yongli court. Fortunately, the divine right of kings

The legitimacy of Li Dingguo still played a certain role. At least Li Dingguo was willing to join forces with them. The civil service group in western Guangdong was naturally very happy about this, and their energy was quickly focused on preparations for Li Dingguo's eastward march next year.

It was already September when Cheng Bangjun arrived in Wencun. After confirming the next strategic direction, they naturally had to use all their strength. However, the area they controlled was really small, with mountains, forests, islands, and harbors. Just based on these marginal areas, potential wars

Resources are limited, especially in this year's Battle of Zhaoqing. They already had news that Li Dingguo withdrew his troops due to lack of food and grass, and they were even more worried about this.

In this way, Zhou Tengfeng of Hokkaido rushed to Chaozhou to discuss with Chen Kai on the orders of three superior officials. He set off from Lianzhou and traveled across the sea. By the time he arrived, it was already mid-October.

When Chen Kai got the news that Zhou Tengfeng came to visit, he already understood why. So, Chen Kai did not ask him for some time. Instead, he met Zhou Tengfeng at the governor's office in Chaozhou as soon as possible. This Taoist priest

Tai Jiang explained the ins and outs of the matter clearly and was just waiting for Chen Kai's answer.

"Zhang Fujun has done something rough in this matter. He should go to the island first and then discuss it with Lin Hou and Du Shuai. If the negotiation can be concluded, it will naturally save trouble; if the negotiation cannot be concluded, he must stay on the island shamelessly.

, even if it is just to maintain a sense of existence, it will be stronger than it is now."

Chen Kai looked indignant about what happened to Zhang Xiaoqi. Regardless of whether it was true or not, at least this attitude made Zhou Tengfeng feel a little more at ease. But who would have thought that when Chen Kai opened his mouth, he actually scolded Zhang Xiaoqi.

They even shamelessly analyzed Zhang Xiaoqi's appropriate handling from their point of view, which really left Zhou Tengfeng dumbfounded.

"Chen Fujun, I am here to ask for a military order from you under the orders of Governor Guo, Lien Zhijun and Zhang Fujun. I hope you can separate some prefectures and counties in Qiongzhou Prefecture to accommodate the king of western Guangdong.

It’s hard for your division to make a lot of money if you feed the division, so why not just watch the divisions’ king divisions in western Guangdong go hungry like this?”

Zhou Tengfeng said sincerely that for him personally, this job is really not easy to get. He does know a little bit about Chen Kai. He did not mention the matter of Wanli going south to join Master Wang at that time. He only said that there was a good man in Chaozhou.

Later, he also performed a heroic deed of righteousness to save the people in Guangzhou, and also had a good reputation within the Yongli court. Until he led the Zheng Group's army to Hong Kong, which made the civil servants and generals in western Guangdong feel that they came from the East.

Faced with the powerful threat, the good words among people gradually became less and less.

It is difficult to say what such a person thinks deep down, but according to some civil servants in the imperial court, Chen Kai married the daughter of the Zheng family. Naturally, he spoke to the Zheng family group and was separated from the Yongli imperial court.

At this moment, as he expected, Chen Kai actually shook his head like a rattle, but the words he said still made Zhou Tengfeng think more deeply.

"Although my wife is the daughter of Ding Guogong, I don't hide it from Zhou Daotai. I have a bad relationship with the Zheng family because of the battle between Zhongzuo. Trust me, this is accumulated over the years. But

Over at Qiongzhou Prefecture, Fu Minghou is the admiral of the left army of the Navy under General Guo Zhao, Du Shuai is also Guo's old subordinate for many years, and Vice General Cai is the deputy general of Rongqi Town, a member of the personal army of Guo.
Chapter completed!