Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 169 Ye Chenglin

Sun Bin led a small group of people, and after entering Annan, for the sake of safety, he did not pass through several other Han forces along the way and the areas controlled by local forces in Annan to meet Liu Yongfu directly. Instead, he first visited several familiar small armed forces leaders, subdued them, and then decided on the next move when the opportunity arose.

Sun Bin had understood Ye Chenglin's attitude after hearing his words, so he went a step further and asked, "May I ask, Chief Ye, are you willing to surrender to the Qing government and be a pawn of the Tartars in exchange for your life?"

"The Qing government is unjust. After the Battle of Changzhou, tens of thousands of surrendered soldiers were killed. If I give up my hiding place in Annan and surrender, wouldn't I be courting death? Although I, Ye Chenglin, am not a very smart person, I also know the intentions of the Tartar court. They have suppressed the Heavenly Kingdom uprising and will never let us, the old Heavenly Kingdom subordinates, go."

"Even if Chief Ye is unwilling to surrender to the Manchu Tartars, can you still consider yourself a soldier of the Heavenly Kingdom?"

"The Kingdom of Heaven has long been destroyed. Why are you saying this, Mr. Sun?"

Ye Chenglin replied unhappily, and suddenly remembered that there were thousands of Taiping remnants who sailed to South America with Sun Bin. Could it be that they had made some career in South America, otherwise how could Sun Bin and his group have the money to equip themselves with good swords and guns?

The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. Turning his head to look outside, Ye Chenglin discovered that the two men standing outside the wooden house had a short gun hidden on their waists. Short muskets were suitable for close combat and were expensive. Ye Chenglin had only seen a few of them from passing French merchants. He did not expect that Sun Bin's two guards were each equipped with one.

I thought the long swords carried by Sun Bin and his companions were already excellent weapons, but when I observed them inadvertently, I found even more powerful weapons. Ye Chenglin was surprised: "Sun Bin has been out for a few years. Why has he changed so much when he came back? How many unknown secrets does he have that he hasn't revealed?"

"Chief Ye, are you interested in the pistols worn by the two brothers outside? I carry one with me. Since you like it, I will give it to you as a gift." Sun Bin carefully observed the changes in the other party's expression. When he saw that he was looking at the pistols worn by the two guards outside, he took out his own pistol and placed it on the table.

"The short gun is a good thing, but if Mr. Sun keeps hiding it from me, I dare not accept Mr. Sun's gift."

Ye Chenglin pushed the pistol back in front of Sun Bin and spoke.

"It's not that I don't trust Chief Ye, but I have important matters to attend to in Nanyang this time, so I have no choice but to be careful and cautious."

Sun Bin clasped his fists in apology and continued, "Four years ago, His Royal Highness the Prince of Shi lost the battle against the Qing army. After the fall of various places in southern Fujian, hundreds of His Royal Highness the Prince of Shi's personal soldiers escorted His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to escape the pursuit of the Qing Dynasty and traveled to South America. Since then, the last Heavenly Kingdom army has disintegrated on the mainland, and the Heavenly Kingdom's power has been completely destroyed. Does Chief Ye still remember this incident?"

"How could I not know that Prince Shixian and Prince Zhong were the two pillars of the Heavenly Kingdom in the south. Although I did not follow the two princes to fight after I joined the Heavenly Kingdom army, I often heard about their deeds of defeating the Qing army. Unfortunately, God did not bless the Heavenly Kingdom. Prince Zhong was defeated and killed, and Prince Shi was betrayed by a traitor. Hundreds of thousands of Heavenly Kingdom soldiers disappeared in the blink of an eye, and people like me who were lucky enough to escape had to live overseas and dared not set foot on the mainland. Every time I think of this, I can only regret and sigh."

"The fall of the Heavenly Kingdom is a thing of the past, but not all of us Heavenly Kingdom soldiers have disappeared. A year ago, His Royal Highness the Prince of Attendant led the remaining Heavenly Kingdom soldiers to launch a rebellion. After half a year of fighting, we have now established a foothold in the South American continent. The 100,000 brothers who followed His Royal Highness the Prince in the uprising have all been allocated hundreds of acres of land. This time, I took a ship back to the Nanyang region because of His Royal Highness the Prince's request to summon all the old Heavenly Kingdom brothers to South America to share the wealth and rebuild the Heavenly Kingdom!"

"Peng" The wine glass in Ye Chenglin's hand fell to the ground and broke into dozens of pieces.

"Everything Mr. Sun said is true!" Ye Chenglin ignored the wine glass that fell on the ground and grabbed Sun Bin's hand and asked loudly.

"It is absolutely true. The fleet carrying immigrants will arrive in Southeast Asia in three months. Then Chief Ye will be able to tell the truth."

South America is tens of thousands of miles away from Annan, and with Li Mingyuan's intentional blockade, the news of the Chinese founding a country in Rio Grande do not reach here, so Ye Chenglin was so surprised when he heard it. Ye Chenglin had dealt with Sun Bin before, and knew that the other party would not deceive him with such things. Therefore, although he had a lot of doubts in his heart, he still chose to believe what he said.

After a brief introduction to the basic situation of Rio Grande do Sul, Ye Chenglin was amazed and showed great interest in Li Mingyuan's acquisition of gold.

"Mr. Sun, did His Royal Highness discover the golden treasure with the guidance of Heavenly Father?"

"That's true. Otherwise, how could five hundred tons of gold be hidden by the lake for hundreds of years without being discovered? How could the prince find the treasure as soon as he arrived? The prince is a man of great fortune. If you follow him, you will definitely achieve great things."

After Sun Bin explained, he looked at Ye Chenglin and said, "What do you think, Chief Ye? Are you willing to serve His Royal Highness?"

"Mr. Sun has come a long way to personally persuade Ye, so I will serve His Royal Highness the Crown Prince at his utmost."

"Haha, Chief Ye is a fierce general in the army. His Royal Highness will definitely be very happy to hear the news that Chief Ye has joined the army."

"I'm not worthy of your kindness, sir. There are only a few dozen young and strong men in my village, and I'm afraid I can't be of much help to Your Highness." After agreeing to join the Nanyang troops managed by Sun Bin, Ye Chenglin suddenly remembered that there were only two or three hundred old and weak men under his command, and no more than a few dozen young and strong people. He felt a little insecure.

"Chief Ye has been a member of the Tiandihui for many years. He must have a few true friends. Chief Ye might as well ask someone to send a message to invite them to join the National Defense Force to work together for the great cause."

Ye Chenglin did not hold a high position after joining the Taiping Army, but he had a long history in the Tiandihui and had extensive connections, so Sun Bin visited him first.

"Now that Mr. Sun mentioned that, I can think of several suitable candidates." After Sun Bin's reminder, Ye Chenglin thought for a moment and selected several reliable people.

First of all, there were the brothers Chen Shangfa and Chen Zongbai, with whom he had a very good relationship.

The Chen brothers were born into a poor family. When they were young, they studied under the southern-style boxer Huang Guangying and became fellow apprentices with Huang Guangying's son. The three of them practiced martial arts together for several years. After they had mastered martial arts, the Chen brothers returned to their hometown. Because they offended the local government, they were forced to join the anti-Qing armed forces. Then, they followed the defeated anti-Qing armed forces to settle in Annan.

The second is Wu Fengdian. In 1861, Wu Fengdian participated in the anti-Qing uprising. After the uprising failed, he fled to Annan and occupied the small border town of Dongchao as his base. He had about sixty or seventy young and strong men under his command.

After Liu Yongfu's power grew, the Chen brothers and Wu Fengdian successively joined the Black Flag Army, while Ye Chenglin, in the original history, joined Huang Chongying's Yellow Flag Army because he was a member of the Tiandihui. Because they were in different camps, Ye Chenglin and his former friends had to fight against each other, but now they are still in a state of independent development and their relationship has not been broken.

The Chen brothers and Wu Fengdian are all in the northern part of Annan, so it is relatively convenient for Ye Chenglin to contact them. As for some other old brothers, it is temporarily inconvenient to contact them because they are far away.

After Ye Chenglin introduced the situation of the three people to Sun Bin, Sun Bin nodded in agreement, and then sent a few capable men to contact the three people. The two or three hundred old and young people in the village evacuated to Natuna Island under Ye Chenglin's arrangement, leaving only forty or fifty young and strong men to guard the village.

(End of this chapter)