The so-called shore defense fort is set up on the high place on the bank of the Nanxi River, there are on both banks, and only three cannons are placed on the south bank because of the low terrain, all of which are the original tiger squat guns of Shenjiabao. On the north shore, there are five, one of which is crowded. Quite a few people were busy in the fort.

The fort itself looked like a shallow pit, surrounded by low battlements, and Han Zanzhou could tell that it was made of cement.

Cement is a very magical thing, mud and paste, mixed with some sand and stone, and put it overnight, it becomes like stone, extremely hard, and it is perfect for building fortresses.

People standing in the fort can only see the part above the waist, but one of them is standing on the battlement, with his waist crossed, looking down, shouting five and six, and is directing the installers below to adjust the angle of the gun.

Han Zanzhou knew this person, but unfortunately he didn't have any friendship, he only knew that he was a master craftsman in the iron factory, Han Zanzhou guessed that Yang Bo must have a new type of artillery, otherwise Gan Xin would not appear here.

Shenjiabao originally had a fort, but all the tiger squat guns were used, the power was too small, and the range was not far enough to block the entire sea outlet.

Han Zanzhou guessed well, the artillery being placed is indeed Yang Bo's latest cannon run, this kind of artillery is made of molten iron smelted by Shimiao Iron Factory, cast by the lost wax method, compared with the Dutch copper cannon run, the weight is lighter, the accuracy is higher, and the range is not different.

This is all thanks to the alkaline iron-making furnace of Shimiao, the molten iron has been infinitely close to the molten steel, the stiffness and hardness are indeed not comparable to the iron tools of the world, the artillery produced has excellent performance, and the root of the barrel has also been thickened, which is not easy to explode.

It's a pity that there are too few of them, only two, one for testing, which is almost scrapped.

Now it is the remaining one that is installed, Yang Bo pulled it over and temporarily used it as a shore defense artillery, plus the original tiger squat cannon in Shenjiabao, it is not easy for enemy ships to break in from the Nanxi River.

Han Zanzhou wanted to take a look, but there was a sign at the entrance of the fort with eight big characters written on it.

'Military strongholds, forbidden to enter. ’

There was also a heavily loaded sentry guarding, the sentry had a bad face, his eyes were fierce, staring at the two of them, Han Zanzhou estimated that he would not let people approach easily.

Last time, the emperor asked, how did Yang Bo capture the Dutch warship single-handedly? You must know that there are nearly 100 crew members on the July, Han Zanzhou was on the No. 1 ship of the Shen family's fleet at the time, and did not follow Yang Bo to the July, and asked Yang Bo afterwards, Yang Bo also refused to elaborate, and when the emperor asked, Han Zanzhou naturally couldn't answer.

The emperor's disappointed eyes made him not sleep well for a few days.

This time, no matter what, I will find a way to get a closer look.

"Brother Xiangwen, looking at Yang Bo's posture, he wants to run Shenjiabao into a country within a country, and the lower officials really can't stand it." Zuo Wencan said indignantly with a dark face.

Han Zanzhou glanced at Zuo Wencan with reproachful eyes.

What's going on with Yang Bo, isn't it clear to Han Zanzhou?

But Yang Bo is a head snake in Shenjiabao, and it is difficult for a strong dragon to suppress the head snake.

You, Zuo Wencan, are going to be promoted in Shenjiabao in the future, and you fell out with Yang Bo, how do you promote?

This man is really pedantic, he only has resentment in his heart, and he simply does not understand current affairs.

"Lord Zuo.." Han Zanzhou said in a deep voice: "If it's useless, it's better to say less." ”

"Yes.. It is the students who are speechless, and the students are willing to listen to the teachings of Han Gonggong. ”

It's bad, this eunuch is angry, Zuo Wencan immediately coaxed, and he actually called himself a student, and his posture was low enough.

"Forget it.. Be cautious when you speak, be careful that the wall has ears, and you will have to work with Yang Bo in the future, you should be clear. Han Zan waved his hand on Monday, walked back and forth a few steps with his negative hand, and sighed: "Yang Bo really didn't take the imperial court to heart, how can our family not see it?" However, he is also not overtly hostile, in his words, people do not offend me, I do not offend people, and that is enough, at least for now. ”

Han Zan leaned down on Thursday, thinking about finding an acquaintance to take him to the fort to have a look, but he saw three people coming from the east, two of whom were really acquaintances.

"Master Xu?"

Han Zanzhou recognized that person was Xu Ji, the eldest son of Xu Guangqi, the left attendant of the court's ministry, and exclaimed.

The other two people, one is Su Luoer, of course he recognizes, and the other is Xu Ji's eldest son Xu Erjue, although he has never seen it, he can roughly guess seven or eight points.

At the beginning in Nanjing, Han Zanzhou and Xu Ji met a few times and drank wine together, but they didn't expect Xu Ji to come to Shenjiabao?

Xu Ji was able to come to Shenjiabao because of a letter written by Su Luoer to Xu Erjue earlier.

Su Luoer was very famous in Yangzhou back then, played the piano well, and was born beautiful, Xu Erjue went to Yangzhou to find Su Luoer, both of them liked music, they were familiar at first sight, and they talked about music endlessly, and finally formed a bit of incense.

The Shimiao Academy sent a principal, and Yang Bo learned that Su Luoer had an old friendship with Xu Erjue, so he instructed Su Luoer to write to Xu Erjue to ask if his father Xu Ji was willing to come to Shenjiabao to be the principal.

Shenjiabao is located in a coastal apartment, it is a barren place, Xu Ji looked down on it, so after getting the invitation, he didn't think about it at all, until his father who was far away in the capital wrote a letter, asking him to find a chance to go to Shenjiabao, and then he remembered that Su Luoer had an invitation earlier, which was also the name of his visit this time.

Xu Guangqi in Beijing, Yang Bo's deeds are also heard, the initial solid alcohol has not yet aroused his interest, until the stone temple out of the match, he took a look, although the match is small, but it is extraordinary, immediately write home, let Xu Ji go to Shenjiabao as soon as possible, to see how Yang Bo made matches.

Later, Yang Bo fought with the Dutch at sea, and captured a lot of prisoners, the captured Dutch captain Wan Baine was a Tianzhu Catholic, Xu Guangqi himself was also a Ming official, and the median number of Ming officials did not enter the Catholic Church, and a Taixi missionary came to the door, for God's sake, asked Xu Guangqi to come forward to help redeem Wan Baine, so Xu Guangqi wrote a letter home, asking Xu Ji to inquire about the Dutch captives by the way.

For God's sake, with two letters from his father in a row, can Xu Ji not come?

Yesterday, Xu Ji and his son had already arrived in Meizhen, and they got up early today, and rushed to Shenjiabao, just in time for Shenjiabao's first-level combat readiness, like Han Zanzhou, led by Su Luoer, and rushed to the dock to find Yang Bo, Yang Bo just said a few polite words to Xu Ji, but hurriedly got on the boat and left.

The military situation was urgent, but Xu Ji didn't blame Yang Bo for being rude.

"Brother Xu, your father Master Xu has learned both Chinese and Western, and the Xu family has a deep education, this Yang Bo will pick people." Han Zanzhou said with a smile.

Xu Ji is just forty this year, but there are many older Han Zanzhou, and it is appropriate for Han Zanzhou to call him a brother.

"Brother Xiangwen, I just wanted to come and see, the principal's business... It's hard to say right now. ”

Xu Ji didn't say that he came at the request of his father, and he didn't have to be the principal of this school, and then looked at Zuo Wencan and asked, "This benevolent brother.."

"This is Lord Zuo Wencan, Lord Zuo was originally in the position of Haizhou Zhizhou, and the emperor planned to set up the City Department in Shenjiabao without exception, and Brother Wen Can came to serve as the promotion of the City Department of Ships. Wen Can, this is the eldest son of Lord Xu Guangqi, the left attendant of the Ministry of Rites, Xu Ji, this little brother is the eldest grandson Xu Erjue. ”

"Long admiration, long admiration." The crowd bowed their hands one after another.

"Lord Zuo, the slave Su Luo'er is polite." Su Luoer also bowed to Zuo Wencan.

"Oh, you're Miss Su?" Zuo Wencan was overjoyed, and said again and again: "In the past, Miss Su's reputation spread all over Jianghuai, and today I can see it, and it is really gorgeous and famous. ”

Zuo Wencan saw that Su Luo'er was really as rumored, and her life was extremely beautiful, which can be called the beauty of the country, and when she looked at it, she couldn't move her eyes, and immediately opened her mouth to the lotus, and the sycophants slapped loudly.

Su Luoer is used to seeing this situation, a typical sour and rotten literati style, with a wind and snow on her lips, and her heart is still greedy for her beauty, this kind of person, she throws it over with an eyebrow, just like a hungry dog meets a bone, bites it, and refuses to let go of her mouth when she dies.

What she thought in her heart naturally would not be shaped by her face, but Su Luo'er smiled and said reservedly: "Lord Zuo, it's too famous, and the slave family can't bear it." ”

After the greetings, Xu Ji finally understood that Han Zanzhou had also come to find Yang Bo, and laughed: "It's a coincidence today, it turns out that we are all here for Yang Bo." ”

"Unfortunately, unfortunately, the Dutch are coming, and we haven't found it, hahaha." Han Zanzhou also joked.

When Xu Ji heard this, his heart moved, his father asked him to inquire about Wan Baine's whereabouts in Shenjiabao, although he didn't say it, but the meaning was quite obvious, that is, he wanted him to try to rescue Wan Baine, and now...

Maybe the Dutch couldn't wait and actually found Shenjiabao, in case the two sides fought, Wan Baine's matter would be difficult to handle.

Yang Bo's temperament, Xu Ji has also inquired with others, but he knows that he is a master who is unwilling to suffer.

Xu Ji raised his eyes and looked at the sea to the east, it was a sunny day today, the wind was not strong, the sea seemed to be calm, Xu Ji guessed that since the Dutch wanted to rescue Wan Baine and other prisoners, they should not open fire rashly.

"But, what will Yang Bo do?" Xu Ji asked himself in his heart.

Xu Ji's heartfelt words, Yang Bo, who was watching the enemy situation with a telescope in the command cabin, naturally couldn't hear it.

In the command cabin, Lei Qizi was directing the boat, this was a rare opportunity to observe, He Qifeng was naturally there, and there was another person, but it was Lu Guangyuan, a timber merchant in Nanjing, and the news that the Dutch fleet blocked the mouth of the Nanxi River was the first thing he discovered.

Because the Dutch stopped his ship and did not give it to his fleet, but his fleet was full of timber, which was the clinker that Yang Bo had specially requested, which could be used directly for shipbuilding, and Yang Bo urged again and again and was anxious to use it.

Lu Guangyuan also used all kinds of shady means to smuggle it out from the government-run Taicang Shipyard in Suzhou Prefecture, and the price was naturally much higher, but Yang Boken paid twice the high price, and Lu Guangyuan still made a lot of money.

Now that the fleet was stopped by the Dutch warships and refused to come over, Lu Guangyuan was naturally the most anxious, and hurriedly took a small boat along the coast in the dark and rushed to Shenjiabao to report the news.

Yang Bo: This is just early in the morning in Shenjiabao to announce the implementation of first-level combat readiness.

Yang Bo had been observing for a long time, the Dutch were hiding far behind, even with binoculars, they could not see the number of the Dutch ships, and the front were all Chinese ships, according to Lu Guangyuan, these Chinese ships came from the coastal area of Guangdong, and the leader was a pirate leader named Liu Xiang.

The pirate gang in Guangdong came so far to come to Shenjiabao?

That's true, and Liu Xiang's arrival, speaking of which, has something to do with him.

The three cannons given to Zheng Zhihu earlier worked, and the Zheng family not only used them to imitate, but also used them to deal with the enemy, the pirate Liu Xiang, and after several naval battles, Liu Xiang gave Zheng Zhilong a fear.

Liu Xiang went to the Dutch for help, and the two sides hit it off, this time the Dutch came to Shenjiabao and felt that Liu Xiang might be useful, so they brought his fleet over and let them take the lead.