Chapter 132 The roar, fireworks on the coast!
The bright moon hung high above the sky, and the brilliance of the stars was covered by the brilliance of the round and bright moon and became a little dim. The waves of the sea breeze beat the beaches and reefs, stirring up layers of foam, and scattered the moonlight on the sea like ps, which was beautiful and quiet.
"What a beautiful night, which reminds me of my hometown, the beautiful beach night view of the beautiful Mocum Bay." Hong Kong football businessman Shielka? Bendeet stood on the towering bow and looked up at the wonderful night sky and marveled.
The so-called port merchants refer to those who trade between Guangzhou and the South China Sea. From the end of the 17th century to the middle of the 19th century, the trade between India, the East Indies and China is called port trade. These merchants are called Hong Kong merchants, which are mainly licensed by the East India Company. Private business of trade.
They are mostly opium smugglers and free traders who were the first to bring British cotton textiles to the Chinese market. Their trade activities have gradually changed the monopolistic Sino-British trade pattern composed of East India companies and Guangzhou firms, making it develop in the direction of free trade.
Before the Opium War, they actively advocated the war against China and opened the door to China to expand Sino-British trade, especially the opium trade. The British political axe's policy towards China has been deeply influenced by them. The battle plan of the British army in the Opium War and the important provisions of the Treaty of Nanjing were determined according to their recommendations.
And Shirka? Bendeai is also one of the most powerful port merchants. At present, at least half of the opium smuggled by the East India Company to the Qing Dynasty flows to the Qing Dynasty through his hands.
In the past, he was just a small port merchant who made a living by selling British textiles, but he continued to lose money. Finally, he passed a friend and received the opium trade rights of the East India Company. From a small port merchant with only a small boat, he became the current East India. Dudu is the main trading partner of opium sales.
Now he is no longer like the smuggling of one ship, one box, two boxes, or even two or three hundred. The small-scale opium smuggling method was Shielka three years ago? Bendeier already felt that he could not satisfy his appetite. From the year before last, he used the wealth he obtained from his trade and bought three new armed merchant ships. In the past two years, every time he went to Qing, he would carry about 2,000 to 3,000 boxes of opium, except for a part of the transaction with Zhao Fengbao, a merchant of the Qing Dynasty, here in Xin'an. In addition, he will continue to go north to trade with another group of smugglers from the Qing Dynasty in the waters of Fujian and Zhejiang.
This time, his five armed merchant ships loaded 3,600 boxes, which is almost half of the output of the entire East India Company in the past three months.
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"Mr. Shilka, you see, there is a fire on the beach." At this time, the captain came over and reported the latest situation to Shielka.
Sharka picked up the monoculars and looked at the firelight on the coast. After observing for a while, a satisfied smile appeared on his face: "Don't worry about my captain. It's them, our dear Qing friend Mr. Zhao's caravan. Besides, those Qing sailors, do you think they will have sperm? Do you want to patrol the coastline at night?
"Of course not. Those sailors of the Qing Dynasty are the laziest and most greedy army I have ever seen. I really don't know how this huge empire lasted until today." The captain shrugged his shoulders with a relaxed face. I doubt that if the East India Company could send a small fleet or a thousand, no, 500 soldiers, it could occupy Guangzhou, that beautiful city.
"You are the same as I thought, you know, I have never seen a country more corrupt and greedy than this huge empire. As long as you give enough money, those officials can protect our smuggled vessels, and even let those official ships in charge of anti-smuggling positions escort my merchant ships. This is the privilege I got by spending 100,000 silver dollars in Zhejiang last year. The corners of Shilka's mouth bent, arrogant and reserved.
"But Mr. Shielka, you really have the means. Even their officials can buy it to this point." The captain couldn't help smacking his tongue. He worked under Mr. Sherka for the first time this year. He never thought that Sherka's smuggling business could do this.
Shalka laughed: "Dear captain, this is nothing. The officials of this empire, as long as you give enough price, they can even sell their national interests at any time." The gray pupils looked at the fire on the coast, and the laughter was full of contempt and contempt for these Qing people.
"Captain, tell the ship in front of you to let the Little Eagle and Cherry dock to unload the cargo. We will anchor here for warning. Damn it, it's unloading in the middle of the night. It seems that we can't sleep peacefully tonight."
Sharka's order was quickly implemented. Three armed merchant ships full of opium anchored more than a mile from the coast, and Charka's right-hand man Carter's armed merchant ship and another were sailing quickly towards the simple wharf.
At this time, they could already see that the Qing people next to the bonfire on the shore were standing on the shore, waving and cheering desperately to this side.
"Look, they are like heroes who welcome the victory." The captain said a witty word, which immediately provoked the laughter of the sailors. Shilka couldn't help laughing, as if he remembered something, and took out a small cardboard box from his arms. Under the moonlight, the paper box showed several Chinese characters above: Baiyun Mountain Cigarettes.
Shalka talked about the cigarette and took a deep breath. The smell of smoke really made him feel happy and relaxed. He bought it in India. It is said that it was made by the Qing people in Guangzhou.
Just as Sherka was tasting cigarettes leisurely, a bonfire suddenly lit on the coast, almost illuminating the whole coast into daylight. Seeing the strangeness on the coast, Shirka's eyes widened and his mouth widened, and his heart couldn't help beating. Even the cigarette in his hand slipped into the sea from his fingers and fell into the sea, because he saw clearly that there was a dark cannon beside the pile of burning bonfire.
Charka's right-hand man Carter, standing on the edge of the front armed merchant ship, was also completely stunned by the sudden change on the shore.
Just as all the British' attention was focused on the coast, what they didn't expect was that not far behind them, nearly 20 warships, large and small, like wolves entering the ambush circle, quickly besieged behind them. All their naval guns have been loaded and pushed out of the gun windows, like a wolf showing ferocious fangs.
The British on the two armed merchant ships that had approached the dock suddenly felt the hull trembling violently on their bodies, and then made a sore squeak and slowly stopped less than 50 yards from the dock.
No matter how the panicked British on the armed merchant ship played with it, the boat on its body seemed to have taken root and stopped motionless, like a sheep falling into the hunter's trap, without resistance.
"What the hell is going on?" Sharka roared angrily. By his side, the men who were leisurely talking about cigarettes and bragging also became nervous. They hurriedly picked up their weapons and shouted loudly on the deck.
"Mr., the back, look at the back. There is a boat!" A sailor suddenly ran over, gasped, and nervously shouted at Shierka.
"My God, the Virgin Mary..." Sherka turned around. The gray pupil almost shrank into a needle eye, and his heart almost stopped. In the rear, more than 20 warships of all sizes had traveled to a distance of less than 500 yards from his armed merchant ship.
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Liang Pengfei stood on the rock and looked at the British who were running in a hurry on the armed merchant ship. He waved his hand behind him with a cold face: "Fire, blow up these two ships first, and then let those British guys stop taking chances."
"Yes!" Wu Liang nodded and turned back. Looking at the more than 50 cannons from 12 pounds to 8 pounds and even 6 pounds that had already entered the standby state on the beach, his heart was also full of fighting **. The guard ordered to fire!"
Dozens of sudden flames were brilliant and deadly, just like the white lightning that tore the dark clouds almost made the bright moon in the sky lose its luster, almost illuminating the whole night sky. The deafening roar, like the gods in the sky suddenly became angry, and the two ships were not far from the dock. Almost in an instant, the 100-yard armed merchant ship smashed the dozens of cannonballs into a pile of rags.
Carter held his head tightly and lay on the deck. His heart was as desperate as if he had been strangled by fear. With the roar, every time the merchant ship was hit, it would produce a violent and terrible shudder.
"Get out of here, damn it, let's get out of here!" Shirka screamed desperately, waving his hands aimlessly, and the corners of his eyes were dancing wildly. He was also scared to death by the terrible artillery shooting.
"We're working hard, but the damn anchor seems to be stuck." The captain's loud answer is almost no different from the cry.
It's getting closer and closer. On the battleship, on the tall mast, a big beam flag is spreading fiercely in the wind. On the deck, there are countless strong men with wild and blood-eating eyes. They are naked and reveal their rock-solid chests, as if the turbulent The sea breeze can't blow out the battle in their chests**.
In their hands, Xue Liang's sword has come out of its sheath, and on their waists, there is a handle of fire that has been seated. Wu Qianjin stood on the bow of the front warship, allowing the sea breeze to blow his chest. He took a deep breath, as if the night, this beautiful bay, was full of blood and killing that made him intoxicated.
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(to be continued)