There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 347 Pirate King

Jinhua.

"Your Excellency, urgent report from Wenzhou!"

"Read!"

Ruan Yuan, the Zhejiang governor who was in Jinhua Prefecture suppressing the Eighteen Bureaus of Rebellion, frowned and said with some impatience.

The messenger hurriedly reported: "The Prefect of Wenzhou reports that a treacherous man named Qu Wenguang has rebelled in Yueqing County, calling himself the Great Han Wenzhou Red Turban Army. He has already captured Yueqing County, and the magistrate of Yueqing County has died in battle. The rebel army is currently besieging Wenzhou Prefecture. Please, Your Excellency, send troops to rescue us immediately!"

After the messenger finished speaking, Ruan Yuan, who had been somewhat impatient, suddenly stood up straight, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Ruan Yuan stepped forward, snatched the report from the messenger's hand, and immediately felt dizzy. He barely managed to stay upright and shouted, "Someone, quickly go and invite General Li to see me!"

"Yes!"

Before long, Li Changgeng, the Zhejiang Provincial Commander-in-Chief, dressed in military uniform, arrived at the government office: "This humble official greets the Governor!"

"General Li, something terrible has happened in eastern Zhejiang!"

Ruan Yuan, no longer bothering with formalities with Li Changgeng, handed him the letter from the prefect of Wenzhou requesting assistance.

At first, Li Changgeng was unaware of the situation, but after reading the letter requesting help, his expression instantly became extremely solemn.

Li Changgeng said, "Commander..."

Ruan Yuan nodded: "General Li, I won't beat around the bush with you anymore. Although the Eighteen Bureaus of rebels in Jinhua Prefecture have a large following, you and I both know they are just a bunch of rioters, easily wiped out. But the Red Turban Army in Wenzhou Prefecture is different. They've raised the banner of the pseudo-Han people, and whether it's true or not, neither of us can afford to gamble. So I'm ordering you to lead your troops there immediately and suppress the Wenzhou rebels at all costs. I'll stay here in Jinhua Prefecture to take care of things!"

Without hesitation, Li Changgeng cupped his hands and replied, "Your subordinate obeys!"

On that day, the Qing army in Jinhua Prefecture split up, with Li Changgeng taking away the Green Standard Army troops from Wenzhou and Huangyan, bringing the total strength to over 18,000 men.

Ruan Yuan stood on the city wall and watched Li Changgeng lead his troops eastward until he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, I felt a wave of fatigue and couldn't help but yawn.

He quickly entered the city gate, and his attendant, familiar with the place, took out a wooden box from it. From it, he retrieved a beautiful and exquisite copper pipe that looked like it cost a lot of money, as well as a box of dark, fragrant ointment (added with spices).

The servant scooped a spoonful of tobacco into the mouthpiece of the pipe, lit it, and then held the pipe to Ruan Yuan's lips.

Ruan Yuan slumped onto the bed on the city tower where people could rest, and with the help of his attendants, he began to smoke. Before long, his eyes became glazed, drool dripped from the corners of his mouth, and he kept muttering and chuckling to himself.

Outside the city gate, several Qing generals waited for a long time before Ruan Yuan's attendant came out.

The servant carrying the box containing the ointment said, "One tael of silver per box, no bargaining!"

"Hey, Old Xu, you're really ripping me off!"

"Take it or leave it! If you don't, forget it!"

"Yes, yes, yes, here's the money, give it to me quickly. Damn it, I've been craving this for so long, I feel really uncomfortable if I don't smoke for a day."

"Could we sell two boxes? One box isn't enough!"

"Two boxes and a half taels of silver."

"It's not you..."

After some haggling and bargaining, several Qing army generals each paid Xu Changsui and bought a box of ointment.

Then, unable to wait any longer, he found a place to curl up and started puffing away.

Pang Wencai truly deserves to die!
Seeing that Da Han's sex business was no longer viable, this guy not only didn't give up, but instead secretly went to Jiangsu and Zhejiang to sell sex.

Although it was initially said that it would only be sold to civil officials and gentry, this stuff is too addictive and the money is too easy to make. Once it starts selling, it's impossible to stop.

In less than six months, the influence of the Zhejiang military had spread from civil officials to military commanders at the rank of general.

The administrative system in Zhejiang is rapidly decaying!
……

Meanwhile, this area along the Fujian-Zhejiang coast was also the residence of the puppet Qing dynasty's Fujian-Zhejiang governor.

The Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang was initially the Governor-General of Fujian, and later concurrently the Governor-General of Zhejiang. During the reigns of Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong, the position was merged and then separated several times until the third year of Qianlong's reign when the Governor-General of Zhejiang was abolished and merged into the Governor-General of Fujian, thus establishing the established system.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, what wonderful news!" A pirate excitedly rushed onto the deck and said to "King of the Sea" Cai Qian, who was enjoying the sea breeze and gazing into the distance.

Cai Qian, with disheveled hair and no braid at the back of his head, turned around and asked, "What good news?"

The pirate, panting heavily, said, "Your Majesty, there's been a rebellion in Zhejiang!"

Cai Qian said nonchalantly, "So what if they rebel? What's so strange about that? We also came from our hometown in Fujian to make a living at sea in the 59th year of Qianlong's reign. I just don't know how long these brothers from Zhejiang who rebelled can hold out."

The pirate said, "Your Majesty, this time it's different. Those rebels in Zhejiang claim to be the Red Turban Army of the Great Han."

Cai Qian hadn't paid much attention at first, but upon hearing the words "Great Han," his eyes sharpened immediately: "Are they really soldiers of the Great Han?"

The pirate felt uneasy under his king's gaze and quickly bowed, saying, "I don't know if it is, but the Han Red Turban Army sent an envoy here, saying they want to discuss cooperation with Your Majesty."

"Why the hell didn't you say so earlier that there was a Han envoy?!" Cai Qian cursed angrily.

After finishing his rant, he hurriedly disembarked and headed to their old hideout on the Fujian-Zhejiang coast.

Sure enough, a young man dressed in Confucian robes arrived. Cai Qian sized him up for a moment and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Because the other party was bald—no, he should have shaved his head—combined with his handsome, scholarly demeanor, Cai Qian, this rough pirate, found it quite amusing.

Cai Qian was smiling, and the young man opposite him was also smiling, bowing as he smiled, "Shen Hongwen, envoy of the Great Han Dynasty, greets the King of Zhenhai of Fujian and Zhejiang!"

Cai Qian's smile faded, and he asked, "Aren't you afraid of me?"

Shen Hongwen retorted, "Why should I be afraid?" Cai Qian revealed a cruel smile: "I am a pirate, a ruthless pirate. That big man sent you, a scholar, aren't you afraid I'll throw you into the sea to feed the fish?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Hongwen solemnly replied, "Although the Prince of Zhenhai is a pirate, he does not wear the gold-tailed braid. Moreover, he joined the pirates in the 59th year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign to rebel against the Qing Dynasty. He should be considered a righteous anti-Qing hero at sea. Since he is a righteous anti-Qing hero, why should I be afraid? It is impossible for the Prince of Zhenhai not to fight against the pseudo-Qing Tartars, but instead to kill me, who is also a righteous anti-Qing hero."

After such a round of flattery, all the pirate guards who had come with Cai Qian couldn't help but nod in agreement.

If they had a choice, who the hell would want to be a pirate here? They were all forced into rebellion by the government because they couldn't make a living anymore, and became the largest anti-Qing pirate group that roamed the Fujian and Zhejiang coast.

Although Cai Qian was the pirate king of Fujian and Zhejiang, he was not a pure pirate. His pirate career was basically either about fighting against the Qing Dynasty or on his way to fighting against the Qing Dynasty.

In the fifty-ninth year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign, Cai Qian led his old brothers from his hometown of Tong'an to rise up against the Qing Dynasty and set sail to form a pirate group with more than 10,000 followers.

In the seventh year of the Jiaqing Emperor's reign, Cai Qian landed and attacked Xiamen, capturing thirteen cannons from the Qing army's coastal defenses. This shocked the Qing court, which dispatched the Zhejiang Admiral to build 30 large warships and cast over 400 cannons to attack.

In the ninth year of the Jiaqing Emperor's reign, Cai Qian was ambushed by the Qing army and suffered a crushing defeat. He then feigned surrender to recuperate and rebuild his strength. That summer, he defeated the Wenzhou navy, killed the Wenzhou commander-in-chief Hu Zhensheng, and burned 26 warships.

In the tenth year of the Jiaqing Emperor's reign, he amassed over a hundred warships, captured Taiwan Prefecture, and gained the support of the Taiwanese people. His forces expanded to over 20,000 men. The Qing court urgently dispatched General Sai Chong'a of Guangzhou as Imperial Commissioner to Taiwan to oversee military affairs, and also ordered Li Changgeng, the Zhejiang Admiral, to lead a naval force of 3000 men across the sea to fight.

In the twelfth year of the Jiaqing reign, Cai Qian inflicted a major defeat on the Qing army, killing Li Changgeng, the Zhejiang Admiral, and Zhang Jiansheng, the Fujian Naval Admiral, was defeated and fled.

The Qing court was furious!
In the fourteenth year of the Jiaqing Emperor's reign, Li Changgeng's generals Wang Delu and Qiu Liangong, appointed as the commanders of Fujian and Zhejiang respectively, joined forces to besiege Cai Qian once again. Cai Qian had suffered heavy losses in the battle the previous year, and internal power struggles had also occurred. He was outnumbered and ultimately defeated.

Even at the very end, this guy didn't surrender; instead, he blew up his flagship and committed suicide.

Nie Yu knew that there was such a person on the Fujian-Zhejiang coast. He originally planned to contact and win him over first, to see if he could incorporate the other party's pirate fleet into the Han Dynasty's naval fleet, as a backbone force to contain and fight against the puppet Qing Dynasty's Fujian navy.

Although the Han Dynasty had also established a navy, and the number of sailors had long since expanded to two divisions, these were all inland waterway naval forces, and they were not even equipped with enough warships.

The time was too short, the territory too small, and they were all inland provinces, so there simply weren't enough warships available.

The newly expanded Second Naval Division of the Han Dynasty even used warships that were discarded by the First Naval Division.

The First Naval Division replaced the original civilian warships with the warships of the puppet Qing Yangtze River Navy that had been captured earlier.

The Han Dynasty's naval command has already drafted a plan for building ships, and the shipyard has been completed for quite some time.

The reason it hasn't started yet is simply because we're waiting for the timber in the shipyard warehouse to air dry.

If the Han Dynasty were to build ships in the future, they certainly couldn't be riverboats; they had to aim for ocean-going warships. And the timber used to build ocean-going ships not only had to be of high quality, but also had to be air-dried for at least ten years.

There are no shortcuts. If the air-drying process is not done properly and there is not enough time, the warships built will rot and their structure will deteriorate.

In short, the Han Dynasty originally intended to incorporate Cai Qian, but the Zhejiang uprising was launched ahead of schedule, which made the Han Dynasty determined to launch a general offensive against Jiangnan.

The Han Dynasty was no longer in a hurry to incorporate Cai Qian's pirate fleet. The point was to get him moving as well, to keep the Qing army in Fujian, especially the Fujian naval fleet, in check.

After hearing Shen Hongwen's purpose, Cai Qian sneered, "I've been living a carefree life on this sea. You think you can make me work for your Han people just because I'm an anti-Qing patriot?"

Shen Hongwen shook his head: "It's not about risking my life. I'm just pointing out a clear path for Prince Zhenhai. Your current situation, Prince Zhenhai, may seem like you're living a carefree life at sea, but you're also a thorn in the side of the pseudo-Qing. Sooner or later, the pseudo-Qing will take action against you. Even if you can defeat the Qing army once, can you stop them every time? Pirates have no foundation, and you have no powerful backer. Within ten years, your end will surely be tragic."

Hearing this, Cai Qian's expression turned rather unpleasant, but he still suppressed his anger and asked with a smile:
"So, you're saying you're doing this for my own good, that's why you want me to join your Han Dynasty and become your Han King's dog?"

Shen Hongwen said, "It's not about being a dog, it's about submitting to the emperor. Prince Zhenhai, let's not beat around the bush. If you are willing to submit to my Great Han, the King of Han can grant you the title of Marquis of Zhenhai. The situation in the world is still uncertain, but the situation in the south is already very clear. The King of Han is the true Son of Heaven in the south!"

"Moreover, those pirates who have submitted to our Great Han, Marquis Zhenhai, will henceforth be officers and soldiers of our Great Han's navy. Not only will they no longer have to wander at sea, exposed to the wind and sun, but they can even return home in glory, bringing honor to their ancestors!"

"Returning home in glory, bringing honor to one's ancestors..."

Cai Qian realized what was happening: "You're planning to attack Fujian?"

Shen Hongwen said, "We're not making preparations for now, but it's almost time. This year, the King of Han has decided to personally lead an expedition to Jiangnan. At least south of the Yangtze River, including Nanjing, our Great Han will surely take it. If we cut off the Yangtze, Fujian will be nothing more than a piece of our own!"

After saying that, Shen Hongwen paused, then suddenly stared at Cai Qian and asked in a low voice, "So... will you continue to be the King of Zhenhai for these Fujian and Zhejiang pirates, or will you become the Marquis of Zhenhai for my Great Han, so that you can return home in glory and bring honor to your ancestors!"

"..."

Cai Qian didn't speak; he was indeed somewhat tempted.

Before the rebellion, all he wanted was a peaceful life with his wife and children. After the rebellion, he wanted to lead his brothers back to the mainland and overthrow the government.

Now, those thoughts are still there, but while he still commands a pirate crew of tens of thousands, his mindset has changed somewhat.

With his current abilities, trying to seize the opportunity to go ashore and fight for supremacy would basically be suicide, and there's really no future in going to sea either.

The ultimate fate of pirates is either to be granted amnesty, to be wiped out by government troops, or to be killed and usurped by their own men in their old age.

Cai Qian's current title of Zhenhai King sounds impressive, but it's a self-proclaimed title, making him a nobody. The Han Dynasty, on the other hand, promised him the title of Zhenhai Marquis, which is a real and tangible noble title.

As long as the Han Dynasty continues to exist, and even overthrows the pseudo-Qing Dynasty and seizes power, Cai Qian will be a nobleman who shares the fate of the nation, and his old brothers will be able to return home in glory and bring honor to their ancestors.

The latter is the most important. Fujian people value ancestral halls and clan halls, and bringing honor to one's ancestors is of paramount importance!

Cai Qian frowned: "Why should I believe you?"

Shen Hongwen laughed and said, "If the King of Han wanted to deceive you, wouldn't it be better to just make you the King of Zhenhai and grant you a fiefdom? Why would he take away your title of king and only give you the title of Marquis of Zhenhai?"

Yes, that makes a lot of sense, Cai Qian believed it.

Since that was the case, Cai Qian immediately resumed his smile, took Shen Hongwen's hand and said, "Lord Shen, what does the Prince of Han want me to do?"

Goodness, they've changed pretty quickly; they've even learned to submit.

"Marquis of Zhenhai, please immediately mobilize your fleet and join me in attacking Hangzhou!"

"it is good!"

……

(End of this chapter)