Chapter 179 Hunting Operation in Full Swing

Chapter 179 In full swing! Hunting operation!

Jiujiang at this time is in full swing.

There are more boats on the river than before.

The cotton purchased before has been picked after it matures, and after drying, it is shipped back one by one.

All the cotton in Hubei Province has been bought.

The tobacco leaves from Yunnan and Guizhou provinces have been roughly dried and shipped over one after another.

The whole dock is piled up like a mountain.

More than a few thousand people transport countless goods from the dock to the warehouse every day.

In addition, there are countless steel and countless rubber shipped from overseas.

Bamboo, rainproof cloth, etc.

A few months ago, Su Ye’s 10 million taels of silver in Liru Bank were unblocked, and Su Ye once again made a large purchase.

Sister-in-law Bai Feifei, with hundreds of guards, boarded an armed freighter and took more than a dozen ships to Southeast Asia.

Purchase all kinds of raw materials.

Before, it was quite troublesome to purchase such materials. Basically, they had to be smuggled or paid a high price.

But with the official approval of the British Empire, it was completely possible to purchase through all normal channels.

Another thing to buy in large quantities is natural shellac.

This is currently the best material for making radio discs, and it will be like this for many years to come.

After a long month or two, Bai Feifei finally led the fleet back.

However, when the fleet entered the Yangtze River waterway from Shanghai, it was directly intercepted.

There were British ships and Qing Dynasty ships.

The other party carefully checked these materials and related documents, and serious differences arose.

The British side checked all licenses and all goods. ,

This batch of goods has been approved by the Shanghai Customs, and all taxes and silver have been paid.

And the customs receipt was also obtained, so the British ship chose to release it directly.

However, the officials of the Qing Dynasty's Trade Office disagreed.

"After you pay the tariff to Shanghai Customs, it is not enough. You need to pay us lijin again."

Bai Feifei said: "Which government office are you from?"

The official in front of him was a fourth-rank prefectural official and said: "We are the Yangtze River Lijin Bureau of the Liangjiang Governor's Office. I am working in the Governor's Office for Trade."

Bai Feifei said; "Look carefully, we purchase raw materials from abroad. According to the law, we only need to pay tariffs once. And these are raw materials, not finished products, so there is no need to pay any lijin."

Liangjiang Governor The trade official of the Governor's Office said coldly: "Everyone has to pay, and there is no reason for you not to pay. If you don't pay, don't even think about entering the Yangtze River waterway!"

"According to the value of your batch of goods, I will collect 10,000 taels of silver!"

Bai Qi next to him stepped forward and said, "What if we just don't pay?"

The governor of the Liangjiang Governor's Office said coldly: "Are you challenging us? If you don't pay, all the ships will be seized and all the goods will be confiscated."

Bai Feifei nodded and said, "Hang the flag!"

Soon, the flag of the Governor of Jiangxi was hung on the entire fleet.

In the Liangjiang area, there are three giants, the Governor of Liangjiang, the Governor of Jiangsu, and the Governor of Jiangxi.

The officials of the trade port of the Governor's Office of Liangjiang suddenly changed their faces, and the officers and soldiers of the Yangtze River Lijin Bureau also trembled.

Who hasn't heard of the name of Su Ye, the great killer?

Unexpectedly, the task they came to do today was this.

At the same time, the British ships retreated directly, anyway, they had received reasonable tariffs.

The official of the Liangjiang Governor's Office shouted: "Major Li De?!"

The Liangjiang Governor's Office and the British Customs have always cooperated for a long time. At this critical moment, the British fleet needs help.

And every time the silver is collected, the other party will not be less benefited.

But at this time, the British major raised his hands and said: "This is your Qing Dynasty's internal affairs, I will not participate."

Suddenly, the Liangjiang Governor, a lijin resident official, was embarrassed.

He remembered He Guiqing's instructions in his mind, his face eased a little, and he stepped forward and said: "It is the purchase of the Governor of Jiangxi, then it will be halved. I will report to the Governor."

Bai Feifei said: "According to the regulations, I will not give you a tael of silver."

"Get ready to sail!"

At his command, the entire fleet started immediately, ignoring the inspection fleet of the Liangjiang Governor, and directly entered the Yangtze River waterway.

"How dare you, the Governor's Office of Jiangxi, just ignore the Governor's Office of Liangjiang?" The official of the Governor's Office of Liangjiang shouted sternly: "Come on, intercept them!"

"Stand up the cannons, raise the foreign guns!"

With an order, the red boat of the Governor of Liangjiang opened the gun cover.

Dozens of soldiers raised their muskets.

All of a sudden, the surrounding merchant ships pushed away.

To avoid being affected.

It's bad, the Governor's Office of Liangjiang and the Governor's Office of Jiangxi are fighting.

The British ships retreated a few hundred meters, and then Major Li De even raised a cup of coffee, ready to watch the show quietly.

"Miss, what should we do? This is the Governor's Office of Liangjiang, and it is the boss of Lord Su Ye." The shopkeeper next to him said: "Otherwise, give them five thousand taels of silver to get rid of them!"

Bai Feifei said: "No!"

"In fact, the other party has long known that we are the goods of the Governor's Office of Jiangxi, and they did it on purpose."

"In the future, we will import a large amount of various materials from overseas. We will also frequently enter and exit the Yangtze River Estuary. If we pay money this time, we will have to pay it every time in the future."

Since Lei Yicheng invented the lijin system, the Qing court's provincial governors have used various methods to make money.

There are countless tax cards on various business routes.

In the last few years of the Xianfeng Dynasty, the number of tax cards nationwide reached 3,000.

There are not only live ones, but also sitting ones.

Basically, it's one draw per hundred, but in actual operation, it is extremely flexible.

The Governor of Liangjiang blocked Su Yi's cargo ship just to set a precedent.

In this way, Su Yi will need to collect taxes on every goods entering and exiting the Yangtze River Estuary from now on.

For future financial resources, and for the dignity of the governor of Liangjiang.

But Su Yi absolutely cannot hand it over. If he hands it over this time, will he hand over the mountains and seas of goods in the future?

"Comprehensive interception. If there is resistance, open fire directly!" the Taoist priest from the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion shouted loudly.

Suddenly, these inspection ships at the Yangtze River Estuary formed an interception array. All soldiers raised their muskets and took full aim.

It's a direct stance to open fire.

Bai Feifei said to Bai Qi: "Open all the gun jackets and tell the brothers to prepare for battle!"

Following Bai Qi's order.

The two hundred merchant ship guards all raised their rifles neatly.

The muzzle of the black hole was aimed directly at the Taoist priest in the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion.

On the armed merchant ship, the four naval guns suddenly tore off their gun jackets.

Several gunners began to change direction and aimed at the inspection red ship of the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion.

The fourth-rank Taoist priest shouted loudly: "I am a fourth-rank official of the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion. Do you dare?"

Bai Feifei said coldly: "If you stop me, I will open fire. At worst, Mr. Su Yi and Mr. He Guiqing will take the lawsuit to the court."

The fourth-grade Taoist priest of the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion said: "Your governor has fallen out of favor and is going to be in bad luck."

Bai Feifei said: "Really? Even if I kill you, your death will be in vain!"

Then, he directly ordered: "The fleet sets off and enters the Yangtze River. If there is anyone who blocks it, fire and destroy it!"

Then, the entire fleet immediately moved forward at full speed.

The inspection ships from the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion in front still set up interceptors and did not disperse.

"Fire!"

With an order.

One hundred guards opened fire fiercely.

"Bang bang bang..."

Bullets rained down, shooting at the inspection ship of the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion.

A moment...

These inspection ships dispersed desperately to make way for Bai Feifei's fleet.

Behind him, the fourth-grade Taoist priest from the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion shouted: "I want to join you, I want to join Su Yi."

His whole person was furious.

This trip failed to complete the mission of the Governor.

Who knew that this woman could be so crazy and just open fire like that.

He is a fourth-level Taoist priest and does not have the right to fire.

If the two sides really open fire, not to mention whether he can win, if there are dozens of casualties, a huge conflict between the governor of Jiangxi and the governor of Liangjiang will become public.

Then Su Yi fought with He Guiqing. He, a little fourth-level Taoist priest, could easily become cannon fodder and be sacrificed.

After passing the level.

The fleet successfully entered the Yangtze River waterway.

……………………………………………………

Recently, the Yangtze River waterway has been uneven.

The reverse navy had attacked Su Yi's fleet before.

The day before yesterday, another fleet in Jiangnan Camp was attacked.

It feels like Tianjing's reversal will break some of the previous balance of the Yangtze River waterway.

Moreover, the main force of the navy that is now rebellious is very strong and is attacking everywhere.

Therefore, when there were still hundreds of miles away from the Taiping Navy's sphere of influence, Bai Feifei ordered the fleet to stop.

We waited until dark before continuing our journey.

really!

When passing through the Zhenjiang area, they ran directly into a powerful Taiping Navy navy.

"Prepare, prepare!"

Soon, Bai Feifei's fleet was surrounded.

A moment later, Bai Feifei boarded a Taiping battleship alone.

"General Zeng, the last ship is all your cargo. You can rob it." Bai Feifei said.

Zeng Tianyang said: "Okay, thank you for your hard work, niece."

Then, he directly brought over a box of gold.

This is also a shundaozi transaction.

"That's right." Zeng Tianyang said: "I made some jewelry, you give it to Wan'er."

Zeng Tian took care of an old general, and when he got older, he got a daughter and a baby.

"Okay." Bai Feifei took it.

"Old General, it's so late, why don't you rest?" Bai Feifei asked.

Zeng Tianyang said: "There is a special operation, and we are always cruising on the Yangtze River waterway, waiting for the signal from your commander."

Special operations?

What action?

Bai Feifei doesn't know and can't ask.

She returned to her ship and continued her return to Jiujiang during the night.

…………………………………………

At this time, Jiujiang has become a huge construction site.

Construction is happening everywhere.

More than tens of thousands of people are working in full swing.

Build various warehouses and factories.

Because the silver poured down like water, construction was extremely fast.

Su Yi had been away for more than half a month, and this large construction site had already undergone tremendous changes.

It has been more than half a year since Su Ye took office as the governor of Jiangxi, and the entire Jiujiang City has completely changed.

The area of ​​the city has almost doubled.

Various large buildings and large factories have sprung up.

There are three or four brick-making sites around Jiujiang alone.

In addition, it is already planned whether to build a cement plant directly.

Sixty to seventy percent of the 300,000 immigrants of the Hunan Army have arrived.

Half of the hundreds of acres of land are planted with grain and various cash crops.

With more than 10 million silver coins, the entire Jiujiang City immediately experienced unprecedented prosperity.

There is no need for forced immigration. Many people who have a hard time in other places and those who hide in the mountains to avoid war have returned to Jiujiang Prefecture with all kinds of hopes.

At this time, the population of the entire Jiujiang Prefecture should have exceeded 600,000.

Compared with the heyday, it is of course much less.

Before the war, the population of the entire Jiujiang Prefecture was about 1.4 million people at its peak.

But a year ago, due to large-scale wars, the population of Jiujiang Prefecture was probably less than 100,000.

Because of this prosperity, all kinds of merchants were attracted to do business.

In everyone's eyes, Jiujiang was thriving and prosperous.

Only Shen Baozhen, Bai Yan, Hu Xueyan and others were worried about their hair turning white.

Because all this prosperity was achieved with money.

Money was spent like water every day.

Su Ye wanted to expand the army and planned to expand it by 5,000.

But...

In the end, he fought hard and found that he could only expand the army by 3,000 at most.

The military expenditure was too expensive and the finances could not bear it.

No matter how it was calculated, the investment in the first year of expanding the army by 3,000 would be about 1.3 million taels.

At this time, even if you tear down the east wall and fill the west wall.

It is really difficult to squeeze out more than one million taels.

But... everyone began to tighten their belts and squeezed out more than one million taels to expand the army.

But guns, weapons and ammunition encountered problems again.

Because Earl Elgin had completely banned Su Ye, Su Ye could not buy any weapons and ammunition in Shanghai or Hong Kong.

Sir Henry had already drawn a line with Su Ye and banned the sale to him.

There are two ways now. One is to buy these weapons and ammunition through Zeng Guofan.

Another way is to let Bashali and Bowring buy them in the UK or other colonies.

Su Ye chose the latter, but the cycle would take a longer time.

"Sir, this is too much silver invested every day." Hu Xueyan said: "Now there are many people coming to Jiujiang to do business. Why don't we open a lijin bureau?"

Over there, he just complained about the Governor-General of Liangjiang's ugly way of making money.

Here, Su Ye couldn't wait to make money this way.

After thinking for a while, Su Yi shook his head and said, "Jiujiang's business is still too small. Let's wait until it grows fatter before we kill it."

"Sir, we can't continue like this. With such a continuous investment, our money won't last long." Shen Baozhen said, "I calculated that the current income is too low, almost nothing, and the expenditure is too high. The money we have on hand can only support nine months at most, but it will take at least 14 months for our factory to be fully operational and generate income."

"We must generate income early, otherwise the money will still be cut off."

Su Yi said, "According to Deadline, when will Bashali and Baoling come back? "

Shen Baozhen said: "About next month, they will come to Jiujiang with the first batch of machines, engineers, and related materials."

"Of course, the money from the British consortium will also come in by then. But every pound of theirs has a special use, which is completely separate from our finances and cannot solve our problems. "

Shen Baoer stepped forward and whispered: "Sir, the time has come, you should go to the textile factory and cigarette factory to comfort the female workers."

At this time, Shen Baoer, in addition to being Su Ye's concubine, was also her female official, responsible for his itinerary.

Textile factory, cigarette factory.

Now there are a large number of female workers working inside.

Although the advanced textile machines have not been shipped yet, the backward looms will be used first.

As for cigarettes, they are purely handmade.

More than 10,000 female workers roll cigarettes manually every morning.

There is no machine for the gorgeously printed cigarette boxes yet, and the relevant paper has not been shipped, so they are now packed in bamboo tubes.

Before these factories were fully put into production, Su Ye's money was in jeopardy, and he had to recover some of his money first.

It all depended on the cotton cloth woven from these textiles, and the cigarettes rolled by the hands of tens of thousands of female workers.

These female workers worked day and night, made great contributions, and made great contributions.

Because after they earned their salaries, they basically did not spend them, but directly deposited them in Su Ye's bank.

After Su Ye received this deposit, he could directly take out a large part of it to spend, as long as it did not cause a bank run crisis.

This means that these female workers not only worked hard to weave and roll cigarettes, but also lent all their salaries to Su Ye after earning them.

Therefore, Su Ye must go to express his condolences for such a great contribution.

The huge factory was filled with the smell of cigarettes.

These female workers cut the tobacco into pieces quickly, rolled them with white paper, and put them in bamboo boxes in groups of twenty.

This efficiency is already very fast.

There were hundreds of people in a large factory, and they were vying for the first place.

Su Ye, the handsome young governor, immediately caused a sensation when he entered the group of female workers.

"Sir, you said before that you would send us men, when will you send us men?" A bold female worker shouted.

They were usually very timid, but when there were many people, and Su Ye had visited them several times, his attitude was very friendly.

Over time, they were no longer afraid.

Su Ye said: "You have no future, what is the meaning of sending men. Next month, the first batch of blind dates will be organized. Some are future workers, and some are soldiers of the new army. You must choose carefully, but don't be anxious. You must choose the one you like, who is pleasing to the eye, and who is strong."

"Sir, if you like each other, what will happen to the wedding if you don't have parents?" Another female worker said.

Su Ye said: "After you like each other, I will hold a wedding for you and let all the brothers and sisters come to have a drink. And see these houses, are there a large number of houses under construction? Only married families are eligible to buy them, and they are very, very cheap."

Suddenly, these female workers were overjoyed.

"That's great, so glorious, generations of people will say that the governor, such a high official, is holding our wedding."

"We've seen the house, it's so great, the emperor's throne room is only as good as this."

"I never thought in my life that I could live in such a house."

"For the house, I'm going to catch a man and marry him. If we save money for two years, we can buy the house."

Su Ye continued to talk to the female workers affectionately.

Suddenly, Li Qi came running from behind.

Su Ye whispered, "Sir, the poisonous snakes are coming, not only poisonous snakes, but also tigers, coming to the Yangzhou Spear New Army."

A big event is coming!

The poisonous snake is Weng Tongshu.

The tiger is Dexing.

Su Ye nodded.

Li Qi retreated quickly.

Shen Baoer whispered: "Sir, should the condolences from the textile factory that year be cancelled?"

Su Ye said: "No, no, we can't favor one over the other!"

Next, Su Ye, still smiling, entered another factory area to condole the textile workers inside.

Their work became harder and more difficult.

The cotton cloth woven here piled up into mountains.

Next, they had to enter the dyeing room and dye it into various colors.

At this time, the scale of Su Ye's textile factory was already astonishingly large in the entire south.

Some of these textile machines were collected from the public, and some were bought from Tianjing at super low prices.

When the most advanced textile machines issued by Britain arrived, these textile machines would be eliminated and sold collectively.

And when the most advanced Jenny machine arrived, Su Ye's textile factory would be a real giant.

It crushed the entire Suzhou weaving and Hangzhou weaving super giant.

Su Ye and these textile workers also talked and laughed intimately.

There was no impatience at all, and it seemed that there was no rush.

Even, he answered every question they asked seriously.

Completed the whole process.

But...

After leaving the factory, Su Ye's expression suddenly became serious, and he started running.

Shen Baoer, holding up her skirt, also started running and followed behind.

After returning to her room!

Su Ye ordered: "The plan is started!"

"Notify Hong Renli."

"Notify the Secret Service."

"Notify the Second Battalion to start assembling!"

"Send a pigeon to notify Tianjing to check the time with General Zeng Tianyang!"

"Seventeen hours later, he and I will meet on the Yangtze River!"

And Shen Baoer, who was next to her, changed Su Ye's clothes as quickly as possible.

Then, she began to pack Su Ye's box.

All kinds of camouflage, various medicines, and guns were neatly packed.

In just a few months, she became Su Ye's indispensable assistant, and he did many things better than Su Ye himself.

After packing up quickly!

Hong Renli said outside: "Sir, my team has been assembled."

Lin Li said: "The second battalion has been assembled."

"The secret service has set off in advance and will continue to report the enemy's position!"

Su Ye glanced at the sky outside and said: "How is the other dock being cleared?"

Li Qi said: "It has been cleared!"

Shen Baoer put a coat on Su Ye's boat.

Su Ye ran away.

She chased him and couldn't help kissing him on the face: "Husband, try not to take risks."

Su Ye said: "Next, try to create the impression that I am still in Jiujiang."

Shen Baoer said: "I know what to do!"

When Su Ye walked out, six hundred people had gathered outside.

The elite second battalion, the secret service, and Hong Renli's assassination team.

With Su Ye's order.

These are all Su Ye's most elite forces.

The imperial guards used to hunt the Qing court, the lion fights the rabbit, and also uses all their strength!

Su Ye led 600 elite soldiers to another dock and boarded several merchant ships.

Taking advantage of the night, they followed the Yangtze River and headed towards Yangzhou.

Because according to detailed intelligence, the people coming this time are not only Weng Tongshu, but also De Xing'a.

The two of them have about 500 people.

Among them, 300 are soldiers.

The opponent's formation is so large, so it is not possible to leave it entirely to Hei Gong, Su Ye needs to go out personally.

In this way, he killed the two enemies with his own hands, which is also a blessing for the opponent.

According to Su Yi's plan, only Weng Tongshu was killed.

But he didn't expect that Dexing'a would also come.

It seems that someone in the court is running out of patience.

Not only must Weng Tongshu be sent to Jiujiang to destroy Su Yi's career and find evidence of Su Yi's crime.

We also need to send Dexing'a to Yangzhou and take his new army to Tianjin to be used as cannon fodder.

Let his new army go to Tianjin, the other party is indeed ruthless.

A real blow to the bottom of the cauldron.

If Su Yi stops him, the new army will not go. That proves that Su Yi has different intentions and is disobedient.

And you keep saying that you want the new army to defend the capital, but now it doesn’t count?

Are you loyal and patriotic? Where did it go?

When the foreign barbarians invaded and the country was in danger, instead of helping the country, you came out to obstruct it.

Traitor, scum.

Therefore, the only way is to kill!

Come and kill!

Then two of them will be killed.

Come five hundred and still kill them.

Is the patience of the court and the emperor lower than expected?

Have you been stimulated by anything? So impatient?

……………………………………………………

Night!

Su Yi's fleet sailed silently on the Yangtze River.

After dawn!

This fleet is still extremely low-key, just an ordinary-looking merchant fleet.

Night falls again!

Another fleet appeared on the river.

The leader is Zeng Tianyang, the naval general of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!

The two fleets started waving signals a hundred meters apart.

Torch signal.

The signal response was successful.

Su Yi stepped forward and took six hundred people with him, all of whom boarded Zeng Tianyang's fleet.

"Old General Zeng, you are well and well. I miss you very much."

Zeng Tianyang stepped forward, hugged Su Yi's shoulders and said, "Master Su, I miss you very much."

Then, Zeng Tianyang said: "Mr. Su, you brought so many people? I also brought more than a thousand people and six artillery pieces."

Su Yi said: "There are more than 500 people coming from the other side. We must be fast and resolve the battle within half an hour and kill everyone."

"Moreover, we must be prepared for possible support from Jiangnan Camp at any time."

Then, Su Yi found a map.

"The imperial fleet of Dexing'a and Weng Tongshu is currently in the north of Suqian, about 160 miles away."

"And we, in the middle section between Yangzhou and Huai'an, robbed and killed them!"

"The problem now is that our fleet has to cross the Yangzhou river and enter the canal."

It was thought that there was only Weng Tongshu, so the plan was to rob and kill in the Yangtze River waterway.

This is much safer.

Because it is normal for the Taiping Army to appear on the Yangtze River waterway.

But now, Dexing Ayi is here, and his destination is Yangzhou, and he does not need to go to the Yangtze River Channel.

Therefore, it is necessary to ambush them in the canal section.

The Taiping navy has not failed to enter the canal section, but the risk will be relatively high.

Because most of the canal sections are still under the control of the Qing court.

Therefore, when entering the canal section, try not to attract the attention of the Qing army.

Now we are faced with two choices. One is to disguise as a merchant fleet and enter the canal?

Or, rush into the canal as quickly as possible, and once it is intercepted by a Qing army ship, kill it immediately.

Just to make it clear, attack the canal.

"The second kind!" Hong Renli said: "It's easier to just kill and enter."

"The navy of the Qing army in the canal is not very powerful, so it can kill them by surprise."

Zeng Tianyang said: "I agree, just go in."

Su Yi said: "Okay, let's fight in!"

…………………………………………

After the two sides meet up!

In the pitch-black night, the hunting fleet left the Yangtze River directly from the Mangdao River and entered the Yangzhou river system.

When passing through the Shao Bo Town camp, Su Yi and others felt as if they were facing a formidable enemy.

Two Qing army ships also came forward to question him.

Su Yi, on his side, immediately prepared for battle.

Destroy the enemies as quickly as possible and then leave the area.

As a result, with one hundred taels of silver, the problem was completely solved.

The patrol boats at Jiangbei Camp were not even inspected.

Just let it go.

I...my day!

In this way, Su Yi and Zeng Tianyang's fleet passed through Gaoyou Lake and entered the canal section.

And this time!

The imperial fleet of Weng Tongshu and Dexing'a, ignorant of the danger, was going down the river.

Su Yi's hunting fleet sailed upstream along the canal.

The distance between the two fleets is getting closer and closer!

…………………………………………

Note: I wanted to finish writing Hunting in one go, but it was already ten o'clock in the morning and I couldn't take it anymore. I finished the next half chapter.

I'm going to bed, see you tonight. I still ask for monthly tickets in a low voice, please, thank you all.