[Happy Qingming, all book friends]

"Are they really loading the ship?"

"It's true, I have a detailed list of what Kun gave here, a total of three big boats, all of which are densely loaded, and cotton accounts for at least eighty percent, and it is set to be released to the ocean after three days."

"Eat things inside and out, how did you get him to say it?"

"Yang Yuanxi's people blocked him in Wunijing Town, and after scaring him, he told him that many of the workers who are helping to carry them in Hong Kong are now recruited by him, and this news should be true."

Guo Zengfu snorted coldly when he heard this, and was silent.

The conversation took place in the backyard of Deyun Hall, and even after knowing this important news, Guo Zengfu still couldn't understand the hatred in his heart. He Kun didn't say any hello that day, so he pulled dozens of weavers to go to Wantong, and later recruited one or two hundred people one after another. And the incense burning oath he arranged was gone, so Guo Dongzhu lost his temper a lot, but this time Steward Ding finally got some useful news from He Kun's mouth, it seems that this person's temperament has not changed, and he still looks like he can't afford to be early, and finally gave him some opportunities.

"There is one thing I hope the owner will understand."

"Say."

"Thinking about this, He Kun still has some use, and the villain made his own decisions and didn't press his money anymore."

Yinzi really couldn't continue to urge, I believe that He Kun also learned smart and didn't dare to come out alone easily, but what was found from him at that time really fell into the hands of Steward Ding and Yang Yuanxi.

Guo Xingshou did not doubt Ding's words, and said: "This thing is well done, by the way, when will the cotton boat go to sea in three days." ”

"This is exactly what matters, according to He Kun's confession, those ships plan to go to sea in the middle of the night, and I asked someone to go to the Haidao Yamen to ask, and the survey of the three ships going to the sea is indeed correct, and there should be no trick on me."

"That's right, it seems that Hu Ba is indeed smart." Guo Zengfu slapped his face and said with a cruel smile, "But since I already know about this matter, I can't give him another chance, how did the matter of Wang Zhong and Wang Jin you said last time go?" ”

"The line has been hit, and one of their tongues has now settled in Fucheng all year round, and I will go to him to pass the word when I turn around."

"Be fast, three days is not a long time, and there must always be people in Hong Kong."

"Save."

"You go to the counter to pay 1,000 taels of silver, even if you give the Wang family's big gang a fixed money, let them not spare their efforts, after the matter is completed, I will have a reward here, tell the Wang brothers, this time don't leave a living, don't be stingy with the ship and goods, all burned a hundred."

Steward Ding's mouth was a little dry, in the past, he had arranged to kill people and sell goods, but he had never seen the master so straightforward, he also understood, things have come to this point, there is no way out, if you can't intercept the three cotton boats this time, then you don't have to do the livelihood of this cloth shop in the future, this is not how many goods go to sea, but once this mouth is torn, the confidence of those small households in the cloth shop will be completely gone, maybe they will be pulled over by Wantong soon.

However, he thought about it again, the previous Zhang family pirates could succeed, and with this plus a big gang, no matter how you look at it, it is a foolproof strategy, so he will leave with peace of mind.

Back in the study, Guo Zengfu asked his mother-in-law to call Shanniang again, and asked her to go back to her mother's house again, and briefly told her the news brought by Fang Cai Ding, although the strength of the Zhang family is not strong, he will not abandon it either, and compared to the Wang family, he is obviously more willing to call the forces that his family can control, and he has also given Zhang Lei some silver to let him add people and cannons some time ago.

…………

A gentle sea breeze blows the stiff sails of the white trough boat, which is not yet full, and under the action of the current, the large ship moves south at a speed of two to three knots.

Ma Qianhu sat on the recliner at the bow of the last boat, enjoying the afternoon sun, and it was extremely pleasant to sail in this monsoon season. It has been almost 40 hours since the departure from the pier outside the Baodai Gate, and after passing Nansha (Chongming Island), the sailboat took advantage of the current to go southeast.

One night and most of the day's sailing, when it comes to this season, the distant Flower and Bird Mountain has been in sight, that is the northernmost island off the coast of the Shengsi Islands, Ma Qianhu remembered that there was a lighthouse built there in later generations, and at this time there have been perennial people in the nearby waters to catch mussels, seaweed for the consumption of Nanzhi and Zhejiang. However, now that the harvest season has passed, there are not many fishing boats in the surrounding waters, including the nearby islands such as Luohuashan, which looks very desolate.

"Old horse, the flies in the back are following."

Qian Suiting handed the binoculars to Ma Qianhu, he was the temporary captain of this lucky ship, and Ma Qianhu, like Ma Qianhu, was the first time to come to the Ming Dynasty in this time and space, but the difference is that he has no experience in military service, and he can be selected only because he has a wealth of navigation and weapon use theory, as for practice, the elders are insufficient, but no one has any objections to his 'professionalism'.

"It's really patient." Ma Qianhu got up from his recliner, took the binoculars, and glanced at the 'black spots' on the sea level in the distance, and a flotilla of ships of various tonnages appeared two or three nautical miles to the north.

"It's more than expected, didn't Hu Barong say that the other party only had seven or eight ships last time, and there are no less than ten of them I saw here, and there seem to be more than one that can't be seen in the back."

Ma Qianhu didn't talk nonsense, and in the short time he was observing from the telescope, another ship kept appearing from the sea level behind.

"Will there be other fishing boats or merchant ships?"

"It's not like we're going to the open sea with the current this time, and besides, the fishing season has passed, and even if there are fishermen around who go to sea at this time, they are still doing business, and it is difficult for these boats to get to this route if they don't follow us all the way." Ma Qianhu looked at it for a while and said, "Send a signal to let the other two ships go first with full sails, and we will lower the sails and observe." ”

Qian Suiting said: "Is there anything wrong? ”

The other two cargo ships in the same company were temporarily hired white troughs, and they were not very armed, and they had nothing to do with this plan, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that they were bait, and at this time, Ma Qianhu kept them away from the obvious sense of crisis.

"The speed of those ships is starting to pick up." Ma Qianhu said solemnly, since last night when passing through Nansha, he found that a ship followed, and there was not much difference in the speed of the two sides, and the distance naturally did not change much, and now the speed of the other party suddenly increased naturally for some reasons.

"Are they really all pirates?" Qian Suiting's words were a little nervous, but also a little excited, and the fierce battles he had experienced since the crossing were limited.

"It's not good to say, for the sake of safety, let's send a report to the sixth column first, and wait until the distance is shortened."

"It was sent an hour ago, and they haven't reached the intended sea yet."

"Let the sailors rest on deck and the gun emplacements ready."

When the Fubo army came, some elite sailors were specially selected to serve as sailors on the ship, and these days have not been exposed, and as soon as the ship came out of the mouth of the Wusong River, the cannons and muskets that were originally hidden in the bottom of the ship were also lifted up by Kaifeng.

Although they were only four 12-pounder cannons temporarily transferred from the Beiwei Army, these 12-pounder Jialong cannons were all built according to the army's combat needs after the Ordnance Supervisor came to this plane. Its prototype was a field weapon in the American Civil War, although it was only a smoothbore gun, but after the improvement of the range, it can still reach an effective distance of nearly two kilometers, and this kind of accuracy is definitely a weapon that other forces cannot reach at this time.

It can be said that in addition to the weight of nearly half a ton, this gun has almost no shortcomings in dealing with various combat requirements at this time, and now it is fixed in the middle of the front and rear decks with a metal turntable gun carriage that can recoil and reset, making the combat power of this ship very impressive.

In terms of a single ship, this firepower is extremely powerful on this plane.

"Old horse! Get ready for battle! A voice came from the mast, it was the veteran Zhang Daoyong who was observing from the observation cabin, and he was also a sniper in the team.

"What's wrong?" Seeing Zhang Daoyong say this, Qian Suiting's face changed again.

"Six nautical miles away from me, a large number of ships are approaching me, about forty or fifty." Standing on the ten-meter-high observation cabin, the distance that can be seen is naturally a little farther than on the deck, but even through the telescope, about six nautical miles is the limit, but at this limited distance, the number of ships gathered is a little abnormal.

At this time, the ships were much closer, and Ma Qianhu could see more clearly through the telescope.

"They are rocking the oars, there must be no doubt that they are pirates, hurry up and send another report to the Sixth Column, more than 40 enemy ships have appeared sixteen nautical miles north of Bird and Flower Mountain, and they are rapidly approaching us, only two nautical miles away from our ships, let them speed up and come to support."

In the telescope, the ship that rushed to the front had already hung up its full sails, and it could be seen that there were at least eight moving oars, and in less than half an hour of observation, the fastest ships approached almost half a nautical mile, according to this relative speed, the speed of the opposite side at this time has been up and down four knots, even if the lucky ship under its feet is also hung with full sails, and a few more hours in this windless weather will be enough to be caught up by the other party, unless all the things on board are lost.

"What about the captain?" Qian Suiting was a little anxious.

Ma Qianhu only handed him a standard steel helmet and a set of 'stab-proof suits' filled with shear thickening liquid, "Maintain this speed, delay for another hour, buy some time for those two ships, if the distance is too close, we will hang it for a round first, and drag it until the sixth column arrives, and you can quickly strengthen the gun position." ”

When Ma Qianhu said this, the ship's warning bell had already sounded rapidly, and the sailors were preparing in their respective battle positions in an orderly manner.

Sandbags and straw mats had already been stacked, steel shields had been erected around the gun emplacements, and various areas on the deck had been planned in good order.

Two piston pumps were lifted up from the lower cabin, and the hoses at the lower end of the pumps extended into the sea, and as the sailors pressed the connecting rods again and again, the seawater was continuously poured on sandbags and straw mats, forming a simple fire barrier.

With all that done, the pirate ships were already closer, and a few clippers were even closer to a nautical mile.

Ma Qianhu could even see the gun emplacements on the other party's ship from the telescope, which made his heart sink, and the other party's armament did not seem to be weak.

Although I thought that letting He Kun pass the word could reduce the suspicion of the cloth line, I didn't expect to catch such a big fish, and it would be really terrible if this feudal guild fought hard.

He looked at the two cargo ships heading towards the depths of the ocean in the distance in front of him, and said decisively: "We can't give the other party a chance to help, hang up the sails, and maneuver in the direction of Chen Qianshan." ”

It was the meeting place scheduled with Liu's column, and he only hoped that the back hand arranged by the Senate would really arrive on time, and he would not have to take risks with a group of elites on his side.

Thinking of this, he adjusted the automatic rifle in his hand again, and looked at the pirate ships that kept appearing in the distance.

[References]

1, "Daming Huidian"

2, "Records of Emperor Mingshen Zongxian"

3, "History of the Late Ming Dynasty" Fan Shuzhi

4, "Wanli Ye Ed" Shen Defu

5. "The Record of Crimes: The Biography of the Economic Ministers"

6, "Jinjiang County Chronicles"

7, "The Biography of Erchen"

8, "Examination of the Origin of Science in Fujian" Li Qingfu and Xu Gongxi

9, "Weiya Anthology" Huo Tao

10, "Wan Department Miscellaneous Notes" Shen Bang

11, "History of the Ming Dynasty, Volume 240, Biography 128"

12, "Jinling Trivia" Zhou Hui

13, "On the Process of Processing Cannons" Wen Liqin

14, "Fortune Boat Source Examination" Liu Yijie