Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, due to the Khitan cutting off the north, the Xia people entrenched in the northwest, so that the land Silk Road was cut off.

Since the Tang and Song dynasties, with the development of shipbuilding and navigation technology, maritime transportation and trade have also become increasingly developed. Mingzhou on the Liangzhejiang Road, Quanzhou on the Fujian Road, and Guangzhou on the East Guangnan Road, and known as the "three major trading ports" of the Song Dynasty, the scale and reputation of Banqiao Town in Mizhou are far inferior.

In addition to their role in trade, Mingzhou, Quanzhou and Guangzhou were also important bases for the domestic shipbuilding industry of the Great Song Dynasty, capable of building large sea vessels with a tonnage of "Wan Hu". In the fifth year of Zhao Jixuanhe, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, two "Wanhu Shenzhou" set sail from Mingzhou to Goryeo, causing a sensation, and the Goryeo people "towered over the country and cheered and sighed".

During the Northern Song Dynasty, Quanzhou's economy gradually developed, surpassing Mingzhou and Guangzhou successively, and becoming the largest port city in the Great Song Dynasty. The Great Song Dynasty set up a city department in Quanzhou to manage overseas trade, which was conducive to the further development of Quanzhou. As the capital city of Quanzhou, Licheng Town in Jinjiang County was very prosperous for a time, and had the reputation of "the sound of the rising sea in all countries, and the people of the world in the ten continents of the market".

Although the fighting in the north is in full swing, there is even news from maritime merchants that the Jin people invaded Jiangnan and burned the two cities of Hangzhou and Mingzhou, and Jiangnan East Road and Liangzhejiang Road were in shambles. However, Quanzhou is more than 1,000 miles away from Mingzhou, and the people of Quanzhou do not care about the war in the north.

Quanzhou Bay, densely packed, full of large ships from overseas countries, although the flags on the ships are different, but from the shape of the ships, most of them are made by the Great Song Dynasty. It is no wonder that the shipbuilding skills of the Great Song Dynasty were famous overseas at this time, and it is no wonder that these maritime merchants used the ships of the Great Song Dynasty.

In the hot season, the weather in the north is hot, but Quanzhou, located by the sea, is mild and humid, and there is no extreme weather of extreme heat.

The shores of Quanzhou Bay are bustling with coolies loading all kinds of goods onto ships, and on the embankment, you can see everywhere Persian, Dashi, Goryeo, Japanese Tianzhu and other strangely dressed Tibetan people, speaking a language that the Song people could not understand.

Qin Shiyou walked in the crowd, walking, and constantly greeting the surrounding merchants. He was the city's shipping officer, and was responsible for inspecting maritime vessels and cargo.

"The little lady with a big meal is really good. All of them are enthusiastic, compared to the Korean woman, that is much more active!"

Thinking of a soul war last night, Qin Shiyou's heart quickly warmed up. As he walked lazily forward, he saw the sergeants at the ferry panic and run in the direction of the city.

Qin Shiyou saw it clearly, and wondered in his heart, it was the public who raised the city's ship, what were they running?

"The boat is coming, run!"

A Song warship bravely rushed up, trying to stop the opponent's warship, and the small cannon on the ship was the first to go off, hitting the water and stirring up a wave.

"Pong! Disheveled! Ponto!"

The opponent's warship did not show weakness, and the guns on the ship immediately returned fire, ruthless and accurate, with more than a dozen iron balls at once, which was both barbaric and brutal.

The mast of the Song warship was broken, and several large holes were punched all over the body, and the ship began to sink downward.

There were screams everywhere, and on the ferry, merchants, coolies, and sergeants fled with their lives, people turned over on their backs, and goods were knocked down all over the ground, and the land was in shambles. Someone had already knelt down and started kowtowing.

"Fanzi"

Qin Shiyou was taken aback, and fled with his legs, stumbling, he turned his head and looked in the direction of the entrance of the bay. I saw many warships sailing in, and he could vaguely distinguish it, but what hung high on the mast was a big "Song" character.

"Don't run away on a dog day, it's a ship of the imperial court!"

Qin Shiyou immediately stopped. He gasped for breath, stopping the people running next to him.

Hearing Qin Shiyou's words, many fleeing sergeants and officials from the yamen next to him also stopped. Everyone turned their heads and looked in disbelief at the ships coming in from the harbor.

"The straight lady thief is really a ship of the imperial court!"

"What kind of dog day is shouting and running around?"

Seeing clearly that it was really the ships of the Great Song Dynasty that entered the harbor, everyone was relieved. Many people cursed and cursed.

The coolies shook their heads, got up to work, and began to pack up the goods that had been overturned in the streets, and some of them were ready to reload the ships and finish the work at hand.

The opposing ship began to stop and rescue the Song soldiers who had fallen overboard on the sea. The Song soldiers were scooped up one by one, wet, and followed the other party's boats to the shore together.

Qin Shiyou scolded twice in his mouth and wiped the sweat on his head. It is said that the warships of the imperial court were burned down by Fanzi in the south, and I can't imagine that there are still twenty or thirty left.

I don't know who called blindly and caused this unnecessary panic.

These ships, of course, are the ships of the sailors of the Loyal Army.

They entered the sea from the Donghai Gate of Yangzhou, along the coastline, all the way through Mingzhou, Taizhou, Wenzhou, trekked thousands of miles, and then arrived in Quanzhou.

The purpose of their arrival here was to welcome back the warships, and to occupy the Penghu Islands and Liuqiu, and by the way, there were some other miscellaneous things.

Not only did they have to worry about the interception of the Jin warships, but they also had to deal with the investigation of the Song army's sailors. Fortunately, the Jin navy had retreated, and the Song army's warships were also in the battle with the Jin people, and they were completely lost, and they did not encounter much trouble all the way south.

"Deputy Dutong Huang, you bring some brothers ashore and contact Huang Yuanwai as soon as possible. My brothers and I were in Quanzhou Port to supply Qingshui grain. If there is any accident, send someone to report it. ”

Li Bao discussed with Huang Feihu and others, Huang Feihu took some people ashore, and Li Bao led people to moor the ship to the outer harbor and waited alone.

When Qin Shiyou came to these Song army sailor warships, the sergeant who lifted the city division had already greeted the other party. From the conversation between the two sides, it was learned that these ships were dispersed from Mingzhou.

There are only three battalions of officers and soldiers of the Naval Division on Fujian Road, and they are often not fully recruited, and they basically exist in name only. During the Battle of Mingzhou, the ships of the Fujian Navy Division were basically mobilized by Han Shizhong to Mingzhou, and after the defeat, they were all anchored in the Zhoushan Islands with the Great Song Dynasty and were under the control of the Great Song Dynasty that fled to the sea.

Li Bao calmly commanded the sergeants to go ashore and replenish fresh water and vegetables. None of the sergeants who came to inspect it suspected that it was a warship of bandits or gold.

Historically, it was not until the fifth year of Shaoxing that Li Bing, a scholar of the Southern Song Dynasty, went to the Southern Song Dynasty to prepare for the establishment of the Fujian Navy Division, which was used to fight against a large number of pirates operating on the southeast coast.

Qin Shiyou was very interested in the artillery on the other side's ship. The opponent's military appearance is neat, the sergeants are all dark and fierce, and at first glance they are well-trained, and the hundreds of stragglers of the Quanzhou Navy Division are brave, crooked melons and cracked dates, and they can't be said to be the same at all.

Some merchants in the port looked at the warships in front of them with great interest, and some merchants brought cakes, meat, and local specialties to sell, but they were separated from each other and traded on the shore.

It seems that the other party's sailors are strictly disciplined, which is not the same as the ordinary Great Song sailors.

"General, how did I hear about the war in Mingzhou I heard that the official family fled to the sea, Fanzi burned Mingzhou, and slaughtered Hangzhou, and the imperial army in Zhenjiang won and lost each other."

Since last year's winter, the Jin people attacked the city and pulled out the village, attacked the south of the Yangtze River, first besieged Tanzhou, broke the city on the eighth day, and the Jin soldiers plundered Tanzhou on the sixth day, and slaughtered the city.

Subsequently, Jin captured Mingzhou and burned the city, and only the southeast corner of the city survived a few Buddhist temples and the residents of the hidden alleys. Jin was guarding Mingzhou for 70 days and returned to the north. Wanyan Zongbi led his troops north, to Hangzhou, set fire to and plundered, and the baggage obtained was inconvenient to transport by land, so he returned north via Xiuzhou. Entering the Pingjiang River, garrisoning the government, plundering women's wealth, setting fire to the city, shining for hundreds of miles, the fire began to be extinguished in five days.

Han Shizhong and Wanyan Zongbi fought on the Yangtze River, Han Shizhong won first and then lost, a large number of warships were burned, Wanyan Zongbi escaped by luck, and almost couldn't return to the north.

Fortunately, the generals of the Great Song Dynasty Navy lifted the sea boat Zhang Gongyu and led his troops to block the sea near Taizhou, so that Zhao Ji and his son were spared, otherwise, I am afraid that the court has been in chaos.

"Han Shizhong led the giant ship of the navy to fight with the Jin people on the river, and there is no reason to be invincible."

Li Bao shook his head secretly. Han Shizhong's department is all huge ships, and the ships cannot move without wind, which is clumsy and difficult to walk. On the Yangtze River, small warships and sampan boats are the king, Han Shizhong was defeated by the Jin soldiers, who were mostly small boats, and the boat army was destroyed, Han Shizhong could only avoid himself, which was also reasonable.

A few Persian merchants came up and chattered, and the accompanying interpreter said that the merchants were very interested in the guns on the ship, wanted to buy a few and went back, and were willing to pay a very high price.

The artillery of the Great Song Dynasty has been transmitted from Lianghe to the south, but because of Wang Song's self-cherished broom, the Great Song Dynasty only has small cannons in its hands, but no heavy artillery. These well-informed merchants knew that artillery was a sharp weapon, and that there were many pirates on the sea, so they began to buy guns to prevent theft.

There is no doubt that Li Bao refused the request of these merchants. Artillery is a weapon of the country, how can it be casually sold outside the Great Song Dynasty?

"Dutong, the two rivers are now short of money and food, and so are cloth and other things, so it is better to grab it, and take the grain and the boat together."

Li Zhuang looked at the thousands of sea ships moored in Quanzhou Bay, and couldn't help but widen his eyes, and greed arose in his heart.

"Don't take it away, haven't you forgotten the military rules of the Loyal Army?"

Li Baobao's face darkened.

"What should the people of Quanzhou City do with your robbery, who will come to the Great Song Dynasty to buy things in the future, and who will dare to do this business on the sea?"

A few big food merchants were anxious, and they chattered and said, and the general matter was translated again.

"The merchant said that he is willing to exchange the big food and good horses for artillery, and the price can be negotiated."

"Big Eater"

Li Bao couldn't help but be stunned.

The big food horse is born in the big food area, growing in arid and rainy areas, so that the horse's physique, endurance and speed are very outstanding. Not only do they rarely get sick, but they also live a long life.

What's more, the Great Eater is kind, intelligent, and alert, making it ideal for raids and wars.

The battle between the Tang Dynasty and the Great Eclipse of Talas decided the fate of the Western Regions. The Tang army had a large number of horses, and many elite troops were almost all on horseback, with 2-3 horses for cavalry, and the infantry could also get a pack horse. Although the number of Great Food Cavalry is not as good as that of the Tang Army, it is equipped with Great Food Horses, and its endurance and impact are extremely strong, which the Tang Army cannot compare at all.

In the end, the Tang army was defeated and withdrew from the Western Regions, the Islamic civilization entered the Western Regions and the Han civilization withdrew.

"If you want artillery, please bring good horses to Haizhou or Banqiao Town, Jiaozhou, and we will send sergeants to escort them."

Thinking about it, Li Bao still didn't reveal the information of Liuqiu.

He believed that the idea of exchanging guns for horses would definitely be supported by Wang Song.

"Haizhou, Jiaozhou"

Several merchants looked at each other, and they all shook their heads.

"Haizhou, Jiaozhou, is still at war, if we go in the past, wouldn't it be a sheep in the mouth of a tiger, and there is no way to live, no, no!"

A big eater spoke in stiff Song dialect and said straight to Li Bao.

"There is still a war going on, and the next time you come, you will be safe and sound."

Li Bao said confidently. As long as everything goes well and leads the navy and sailors, he doesn't believe that the loyal army with the power of artillery can't deal with the navy of the Jin people and the robbers at sea.

He thought for a while, looked up and said: "Let's go to the Penghu Islands and Liuqiu first, and then divide the troops into two routes, Huang Feihu will go all the way to the Ryukyu Islands, and I will garrison in Liuqiu, then go to Guangzhou, Qiongzhou, and finally return to Haizhou, and familiarize myself with the sea route by the way." ”