"Baoshun" ship: the legend of the private **, the first ship in the late Qing Dynasty.
In China's modern history, there is a steamship named "Baoshun", which has made outstanding contributions to the sea many times during its 30-year sailing career, exterminating pirates, ensuring the safety of the country's maritime transportation, and resisting foreign invaders.
What is particularly unique is that this ship is actually a "private" "* and what kind of historical story is hidden behind the glory of "Baoshun Ship"? Today, let's step inside this legendary ship and delve into it and the story behind it.
Baoshun Ship, this unique ship, originated from the history of transportation in the Qing Dynasty. Cao Yun was the main mode of transportation for grain and rice from the south of the Yangtze River to Beijing, and once occupied a vital position in the economic life of the Qing Empire.
The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal traverses the north and south, crossing the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, and the early Qing Dynasty followed the Ming Dynasty system, and the special canal was used for grain transportation, although the canal market was shallow and blocked, but the transportation route did not change significantly.
In the prosperous era of Kangqian, the treasury was abundant, and a large amount of manpower and material resources could be invested every year to dredge the river, and the canal was basically kept unimpeded. However, in the Daoguang period, due to the country's economic recession, the Qing court could not afford the huge cost of dredging, which made it more and more difficult to transport grain by the river.
Under this pressure, the Qing court began to experiment with sea transportation, and gradually realized the situation of parallel river transportation and sea transportation.
In 1851, after the Taiping Rebellion, the Yellow River burst its banks and the war caused the southern grain transportation route to be blocked. Zhejiang is an important grain in history, accounting for nearly 1 4 of the country's grain.
In order to solve this problem, the imperial court decided to change all the grain to sea transportation, which also marked the Qing Dynasty waterway transportation into a new stage of maritime prosperity.
Ningbo, located on the coast of the East China Sea and the southeast of the Yangtze River Delta, has a superior geographical location and developed sea and land transportation. Ningbo has a long tradition of shipping, and its merchant ships were once the main force of Cao Yun.
The people of Ningbo divided the coast of China into "South Sea" and "North Ocean", with Zhoushan and Dinghai as the dividing line. The ships of the South Sea and the North Sea are called "South Ship" and "North Ship" respectively, and the merchants engaged in the South Sea and North Ocean ** are respectively called "South Ship" (or "South Gang") and "North Gang" (or "North Gang").
During the Xianfeng period, the development of Ningbo's Nanbei merchant ships reached its peak, and the number of seagoing ships it owned exceeded six or seven hundred, plus the ships of other merchants, the number of local ships sailing along the coast of Ningbo at that time had exceeded 3,000.
This prosperous wealth filled the shipbuilders in Ningbo with joy and excitement.
If the biggest challenge to inland waterway transport is the smooth flow of the river, then the biggest challenge of maritime transport is piracy. Especially in the middle and late Qing Dynasty, from the south to Guangdong and the north to Liaoning, there were pirates infested, and some places were even very rampant.
Due to its distance from Beijing, the political center, the strength of the army is relatively weak, the construction of naval divisions is relatively lagging behind, and the replacement of warships and weapons is relatively slow (sometimes even lagging behind the military strength of pirates), which makes piracy more unscrupulous.
In desperation, Ningbo's ** and the Boat Gang hired Guangdong pirates who were recruited by the imperial court to fight against Zhejiang pirates. Subsequently, they hired Portuguese, American, Dutch, and British sailors to eliminate the pirate threat and protect the voyage.
While this led to a period of calm, it wasn't long before the drawbacks began to show. After all, people who do business want to maximize their profits.
The pirates have to act, too, and this behavior is almost trying to rob me of my livelihood! So, they united and started a fierce battle with foreigners in the waters near Ningbo.
They managed to sink three British ships, killed three Britons, and also captured six foreign escort ships. So, the foreigners who escorted came to Ningbo to ask for compensation, but Ningbo ** said that the pirates have always been fierce, and you can't settle it, how can I settle it?
Britain, France and other countries also felt helpless about this, and finally had to give up.
The piracy in the sea off Ningbo has intensified, seriously affecting the route of the Ningbo North Cao Yun ship, and the owners of the ships have been demanded huge ransoms, and even more, the pirates have come directly to Ningbo City to negotiate the ransom with the owners or their families, which has brought great trouble to the Ningbo Boat Gang.
In order to protect their own interests, the Ningbo Boat Gang decided to unite against the pirates.
In the cold winter of 1854, shortly after the completion of the Qing'an Hall in Jiangdong, Ningbo, three prominent people from Cixi and Zhenhai – Fei Lunjun, Sheng Zhiguan and Li Yeting – made a far-reaching proposal.
They pointed out that the existing escort methods were unreliable, so they suggested that funds be raised to purchase foreign ships to protect them. This idea was enthusiastically supported by everyone, because it was clear to the people at that time that the strong ships and cannons of foreign devils could not be resisted.
If the Chinese themselves could have a powerful Western steamer, then there would be no need to worry about Caoyun being robbed.
Now that the decision has been made, the next question is funding. At that time, Duan Guangqing, a Taoist in Ningshaotai and the prefect of Ningbo, who was very supportive of the purchase of ships, proposed a solution, arguing that the government and merchants would each bear half of the costs, and that the government could gradually return this part of the money from the annual freight revenue of merchant ships.
At the same time, the government can also set aside a part of the tax to pay the salaries of the crew, the purchase of livery, food and *** plan has been set, the funds have been raised, and now it is necessary to find a suitable person to be responsible for specific affairs.
Everyone unanimously recommended Ningbo hometown Yangfang.
Yang Fang, a giant merchant in Shanghai in the late Qing Dynasty, was proficient in promissory notes and **, and was favored by the British Jardine Matheson and became a comprador of a foreign firm. In the early 50s of the 19th century, he was already a business leader in Shanghai.
After the Ningbo shipbuilder talked about this matter, Yang Fang immediately agreed. He managed to do it with great talent and experience, and he was the best person to do it.
In the winter of 1854, Yangfang matched, and Ningbo shipbuilders sent Zhang Sizang, a native of Cixi, and Yu Bin, a native of Zhenhai, to buy a steamer from the British merchants in Guangdong, and modified it according to the requirements of the Ningbo shipbuilders, and installed 9 advanced guns, the price was set at 70,000 silver yuan, and it was named "Baoshun".
In order to better manage the ship, the Ningbo North shipbuilders also set up the "Qingcheng Bureau" and the Hailong Ferry Port.
In order to protect their own interests, in addition to purchasing ships, Ningbo shipbuilders also recruited more than 70 capable sailors who were familiar with the nature of the water, and hired foreigners to train them to improve their skills.
However, the pirates were unaware of this and continued to carry out robbery in the waters around Fujian and Zhejiang.
July 1855 was the busiest time for grain shipments. On the afternoon of July 7, a Ningbo merchant ship loaded with grain sailed into the sea of Fuzhou in Dalian, Liaoning Province.
When the grasshopper boats of more than 20 pirates in the distance quickly approached from different directions, the previous ships would definitely turn around and speed up their escape. Now, however, the situation is different.
The pirates were puzzled to find that the ships did not flee, but slowed down and stopped. They were overjoyed. However, suddenly, from the northwest, a steamer with black smoke and full sails came galloping.
This surprised them very much, because the escort of the foreigners invited by the Ningbo people had not been defeated? A pirate picked up a monocular to observe the ship, and suddenly shouted in shock: "There are foreign cannons on board!"
The pirates panicked and turned their ships to flee, but the wind was not in their favour and the ship was winding. The distance between the two sides is rapidly decreasing.
In the battle when the pirates tried to attack the Cao transport ship, the "Baoshun" ship, which participated in the escort for the first time, showed great strength. In this asymmetrical battle, 5 pirate boats were sunk and 10 destroyed, leaving only the pirates to panic and flee to shore.
Subsequently, the sailors of the ship "Baoshun" took advantage of the victory and pursued it, destroying six pirate ships and capturing one. After a short rest and adjustment in Shanghai, on the way back to Ningbo, they attacked again, successfully annihilating more than 20 pirate ships and eliminating more than 300 remaining pirates.
Baoshun"Within four months, 68 pirate ships were sunk and captured in Zhoushan, Ningbo and other places, and more than 2,000 pirates were captured and annihilated.
People began to realize the great power of steamships, and Shanghai merchants bought one and named it"Balances"wheel, and agreed with Ningbo merchants"Balances"Wheel patrol Beiyang,"Baoshun"The ships patrolled the Zhejiang Sea, and since then the pirate trails have been greatly reduced, and the sea has gradually become peaceful.
In 1856, the Taiping army Qin Rigang and Shi Dakai successfully joined forces and destroyed the Jiangnan camp in one fell swoop, thus ending the Qing army's three-year siege of Tianjing, and the power of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom reached its peak.
In order to counter the Taiping army, the Qing court had to further increase its investment. In this context, the "Baoshun" ship, which was selected to be responsible for the protection of the grain, was requisitioned by the Qing **.
At the end of 1856, the "Baoshun" ship, which was converted into a battleship in West France, was equipped with heavy cannons and a large number of gun holes and gun walls. Since then, the "Baoshun" ship has become a secret in the hands of the Qing army, and has become the "fire brigade" of the Eastern Front battlefield, and has undertaken emergency rescue tasks many times in the Battle of Zhenjiang, the Battle of Songjiang, the Battle of Gaoqiao, and the Battle of Jinling.
In July 1860, the ship "Baoshun" took on the important task of escorting the Qing ** representatives to Tianjin to negotiate with Britain and France. In 1861, when Hangzhou was besieged by the Taiping army, the ship "Baoshun" bravely carried relief supplies, but failed to succeed due to the ship's grounding.
Time flies, and when I hear the news of the "Baoshun" ship again, it is already the end of the Sino-French war. At this time, the "Baoshun" ship has been in service for 30 years, and the former glory has become a thing of the past.
It was recalled again and took part in the Battle of Jinhae.
An old "Baoshun" ship carries the heavy responsibility of defending the customs of Ningbo outpost. Despite its age, it remained at its post, ready to stop the French invasion by sinking the ship.
However, Feng Zicai's victory at Langshan in Guangxi and the heavy losses of the French army at Zhenhaikou caused both French attacks to fail. In this case, the plan to sink the ship was canceled, and the once old ship "Baoshun" was saved.
In July 1887, with the dismantling of the "Baoshun" ship, its relics - ropes, sampans, lifebuoys, etc. were auctioned one by one on the auction house, thus announcing the end of the "Baoshun" ship in the last journey of its life, carrying the glory of the Ningbo merchant gang in China's modern history, witnessing the social turmoil and backwardness in the middle and late Qing Dynasty, and the sadness of being beaten if it is backward.
The joys and sorrows of this scene have become witnesses of history.
Baoshun"The introduction of ships opened a precedent for the use of steamships in China. Despite the positive impact, people of insight in China have realized the importance of technology.
He Guiqing, the governor of Zhejiang, said in private that "ships cannot win without steamers", and the government and the opposition also began to realize the urgency of possessing Western technology. In March 1861, Tsang stressed that the purchase of foreign ships and guns was "the first priority to save time today" and predicted that in the near future, steamships would become a tool of passage between China and foreign countries.
Li Hongzhang also purchased the "Fei Laifu" the following year. In 1865, the Governor of Liangguang, Ruilin, raised funds to purchase six large steamers to patrol the ocean. Here it is"Baoshun"The far-reaching impact of the wheel.
By the 70s of the 19th century, hundreds of steamers had sailed in China's rivers and seas, which were the precedents created by the "Baoshun" ship.