? Hongji Coal Mine was right next to Hongji Harbor, which was about 200 li away from the Sino-Vietnamese border.
This was a mountainous area near the border, and the economy was not developed. Normally, there would not be any large scale merchants coming here to trade. At this time, Hongji Harbor finally existed, but it was just an ordinary little fishing harbor. At this time, Hongji Harbor finally existed, but it was just an ordinary little fishing harbor.
On the 1st of April 1859, the sound of cannons broke the peace near Hongji Harbor. The Vietnamese people at the harbor saw a few small boats trying to escape towards Hongji Harbor, and behind these small boats were the silhouettes of a few larger ships. Be it in terms of numbers or tonnage, the larger ships had the absolute advantage. If the larger ships were not leisurely following behind, and had pursued with all their might, these small boats would have long since been destroyed.
The people on the small boats finally got close to the shore, and the crew members took up their weapons and jumped into the waist-deep water, trying their best to escape to the shore. The large boats had a deeper draught, and they did not dare to get too close to the shore. They only set up the cannons and fired a few shots at the shore.
Those who managed to escape to the shore immediately increased their speed, and finally managed to escape inland before the large ships could release their boats, disappearing into the mountainous area.
Not long after, the Liberation Army soldiers waving the red flag set up camp near Hongji Harbor. At sea, the large ships anchored at a small island near Hongji Harbor. Middle-sized ships patrolled the perimeter of the fleet, sealing off the route from Hongji Harbor to the island.
At this time, the Nguyen Dynasty that ruled over Vietnam had used military might to unify the North and South. Thus, the status of military men was very high, and the leaders of the various towns were all military officers. China's army suddenly attacked from the sea, and set up camp near Guangning Town's Hongji Harbor, scaring the Vietnamese commander of Guangning Town.
20 years ago, Zhang Guoliang, nicknamed "Big Head Sheep", had rebelled in China's Guang Xi, and led his troops to kill his way into Vietnam. When the Vietnamese army fought against Zhang Guoliang, they initially used elephant soldiers to attack, and gained a slight advantage. When Zhang Guoliang used fire tactics to scare away the Vietnamese elephants, the Vietnamese army was immediately defeated.
Now that the Liberation Army had rebelled, the Vietnamese knew about it. This was because the Liberation Army had also sent many merchants to do business with Vietnam. They bought rice, sold cane sugar, and iron farming tools in Vietnam, which made them more and more conspicuous. Of course, the Vietnamese officials knew that the Liberation Army was China's rebel army. However, they had no intention of intervening in China's civil war. At this time, they were under tremendous pressure from France, so the Vietnamese side turned a blind eye and did not talk about the identity and origin of the Liberation Army businessmen.
Knowing that China's army was stationed in Hongji Harbor, a poor place where even birds were unwilling to defecate, Guangning's commander-in-chief sent a deputy general with five hundred people to inquire about what had happened.
The Navy of the Liberation Army had transported 1,000 troops and horses to be stationed at Hongji Harbor. Seeing the 500 people coming from afar, the troops immediately lined up in formation. However, the war between China and Vietnam was over 50 years ago, and there was no real enmity between the two sides. Seeing that the Liberation Army was ready to fight, the Vietnamese officer immediately sent someone to negotiate.
At this time, France had not ruled Vietnam yet. The Vietnamese Bombardment Harbor was very close to the China border. Guangxi's locals could basically communicate near Hongji Harbor. The Vietnamese side quickly understood that the Liberation Army had come here in pursuit of the pirates.
The officers on both sides brought five or six subordinates to meet. The Vietnamese Deputy Commander-In-Chief's guards carried matchlocks and swords at their waists. On the other hand, the Liberation Army's side all had matchlocks and revolvers at their waists. Looking at the old-fashioned matchlocks, the Liberation Army's commander's eyes were filled with contempt.
On the other hand, the Vietnamese Deputy Commander-In-Chief was rather polite. He asked: "Sir, there have been no pirates here for decades. Our Guangning spared no effort in fighting the pirates! "
More than half a century ago, when the Tay Son Dynasty ruled northern Vietnam, they colluded with the South China pirates to wreak havoc in Guangdong and Fujian. When the Qing Army chased after them, the pirates fled to Vietnam to avoid the limelight. When the Nguyen Dynasty was established, in order to express their goodwill to the Manchu Qing, they worked together with the Manchu Qing to exterminate the South China pirates. By 1810, the South China pirates, who were in an increasingly difficult situation, accepted the Manchu Qing's offer of amnesty. One of the famous pirates, Zhang Bao Zai, defected to the Manchu Qing court and changed his name to Zhang Bao. He was successful in his career and died in the third year of Daoguang. During his tenure as the Fujian Min 'an Association's Deputy Commander-In-Chief, he was promoted to second-rank. If Lin Zexu had not petitioned the Emperor to stop all promotions for Zhang Bao, Zhang Bao Zai would have become the Commander-In-Chief.
After 1810, although there were occasional robberies on the sea, professional pirates had never become popular. They were basically solo training. At this time, the China's Liberation Army, the Vietnamese Deputy Commander-In-Chief of Guangning, was simply baffled by the fact that they were pursuing the pirates.
The Liberation Army's officer obviously did not accept the Vietnamese side's explanation. He said angrily: "Do you think they're gone just because you say they're gone? If they're not, then who are the people we've been chasing all this time? "
The Vietnamese Deputy Commander-In-Chief of Guangning thought to himself: How the f * ck would I know who you're chasing? It's none of my business! However, looking at the thousands of Liberation Army troops who were at daggers drawn, he was also afraid. The Deputy Commander-In-Chief cupped his hands and said with a smile: "Even if there are really pirates, that's our business. It's not good for you to attack us like this!"
"You're still not convinced?" The Liberation Army officer asked with a fake smile.
Hearing this, the Vietnamese Deputy Commander-In-Chief of Guangning said with a straight face: "What can I do even if I'm not convinced?"
"Very well! Then I'll show you what you can do if you're not convinced! "The Liberation Army officer turned around and ordered," Show them what we're made of! "
"Yes!" The communications staff officer immediately replied. A moment later, the Liberation Army's artillery began to fire 50 meters to the left and right of the Vietnamese troops.
The Vietnamese naturally had cannons, but their cannons that fired solid shells were not even comparable to the cannons of the Manchu Qing, and they had never seen real cannons fire. The shells exploded as soon as they landed on the ground. The distance of 50 meters did not cause any casualties to the Vietnamese troops, but it scared them so much that they turned around and ran.
The Liberation Army's artillery immediately extended their firepower, and the shells continuously exploded on both sides of the fleeing Vietnamese troops. This caused the Vietnamese officers who were running like rabbits to be scared witless, and only wished that their parents didn't give them a few more legs.
Without waiting for the Vietnamese Deputy Commander-In-Chief's bodyguards to understand, the Liberation Army's guards had already pulled out their revolvers, and forced the Deputy Commander-In-Chief and his bodyguards to stop.
"Pa Pa Pa", seeing that the Deputy Commander-In-Chief's bodyguards didn't know the power of the revolvers, one of the Liberation Army's bodyguards fired three consecutive shots at the ground. Seeing that the revolvers could actually fire continuously, the Deputy Commander-In-Chief and his bodyguards all became obedient.
The Liberation Army officer smiled insincerely at the Vietnamese Deputy Commander-In-Chief of Guangning Town and said: "Don't worry, we don't have any intentions of harming anyone. We didn't even fire at your people. But look at that tree. "
As he said that, the Liberation Army commander pointed to a tree that was about 10 meters tall a mile away. "We'll let the artillery hit that tree, then you'll know if we really want to kill people!"
Although he was forced by the enemy's surprise attack, the Deputy Commander-In-Chief of Guangning Town actually wasn't really convinced. Seeing the tree a mile away, hearing the Liberation Army officer's words, he actually wanted to use the artillery to break the tree. Even though there was a black muzzle in front of him, the Deputy Commander-In-Chief couldn't help but laugh coldly. To the Vietnamese soldiers, this was simply a fantasy.
The Liberation Army's artillery quickly adjusted the position of the cannon, and after a while, they first fired at the tree, and the artillery shell landed not too far away from the tree. The Deputy Commander-In-Chief of Guangning Town saw the artillery shell explode beside the tree, and the sneer on his face lessened.
After a while, he saw the artillery shell that had fired just now start firing continuously. The artillery shell continuously exploded beside the tree, and with each explosion, the tree would sway a little, and the further back it went, the more violently it swayed. Finally, following the sound of an explosion, the tree's trunk actually slanted to one side, and slowly fell down.
Witnessing such accurate artillery fire, as well as the immense power of the artillery fire, the Vietnamese Deputy Commander-In-Chief's face no longer had a smile on it. Shock and fear caused his eyes to widen perfectly round.
"Set up a few targets!" The Liberation Army commander ordered. Very quickly, a dozen human-shaped targets were set up 50 meters away, and a row of 40 Liberation Army soldiers lined up. Following the order to "fire", the soldiers started firing rapidly at the targets.
The Vietnamese army didn't have as many firearms as the Qing Army. Their troops did indeed have matchlocks, but the ratio of broadswords and spears was also quite high. Seeing the Liberation Army soldiers fiercely firing at the targets at an unimaginable speed, the Deputy Commander-In-Chief's face quickly turned from white to green.
When the smoke from the shooting started to fill the air, and started to affect the vision, the Liberation Army officer brought the Vietnamese Deputy Commander-In-Chief of Guangning Town to look at the targets. He saw that every target had at least 7 or 8 shots. Out of these 7 or 8 shots, four or five of the places hit were fatal.
"Commander-In-Chief, if we really fight with you, how long do you think your men can last under our attack?" The Liberation Army officer said earnestly to the Deputy Commander-In-Chief of Guangning Town, whose face was full of fear.
The Liberation Army was stationed at Hongji Harbor for more than 10 days. In these 10 days, the Liberation Army and Guangning Town's commander-in-chief had several rounds of negotiations. Regarding the "pirate problem", both sides roughly reached an agreement. Guangning Town couldn't obstruct the Liberation Army navy from suppressing the bandits nearby, but the Liberation Army also couldn't station here for a long time.
Of course, under this agreement, there was a supplementary agreement. "The Liberation Army merchants can rent land near Hongji Harbor for 5 years. Within 5 years, the Liberation Army merchants can do whatever they want on the rented land. Guangning Town can't stop them for any reason. "
After the agreement was signed, the Liberation Army troops withdrew from the harbor. As for the "Liberation Army merchants", they brought tools and began to land and explore. Vietnam was too far from Luoyang, China, so they didn't recognize the tool commonly known as the "Luoyang shovel".
Hundreds of people spent nearly half a month drilling nearly a thousand holes in the ground, and finally marked out about 2 square kilometers of land. This land was considered relatively barren in the local area. With the intervention of the local officials, the Liberation Army also offered a high price of 6,000 taels of silver a year. The landlords and owners of these small pieces of land were also relatively satisfied.
Especially after the Liberation Army privately gave the commander-in-chief of Guangning Town 5,000 taels of silver, the lease contract was signed at a very high speed. On June 15, 1859, a large number of Liberation Army ships arrived at Hongji Harbor with a large amount of equipment. More than a thousand people transported the equipment ashore, and immediately began to develop the coal mine.
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