[Note: In order to distinguish the time, all uppercase months and days are the lunar calendar, and lowercase is the Gregorian calendar, because considering that the time when the name Taiwan appeared happened to be more ambiguous, so the places involving Taiwan earlier were adjusted according to the plot name]

'My lord, do you really want to go to Dengzhou?' ’

At this moment, in the strait at the junction of the East China Sea and the South China Sea, which has not yet been named by the Ming Dynasty, a lucky ship is sinking and floating in the waves.

Now between the summer flood and the winter flood, although the sea is calm and the wind is not strong, it is because the sea ships that travel to and from the depths of the strait at the stall of the tide and the change of wind news do not seem to be much, which makes this lucky ship seem a little lonely.

The question was from a young man on the ship, and the adult he spoke of was his father. Before the Qing Dynasty, the word adult was the special name of the younger generation of the family to the elders, not the inferiority and humility of the officialdom.

The young man's name is Shen Shouyao, and he is the eighth son of Master Shen, who is called an adult, and the youngest in the family.

This old man Shen is famous and tolerant, he was born in the thirty-sixth year of Jiajing (1557 AD), and he just passed his sixty-third birthday not long ago. Maybe it's because Master Shen has been in the army for a long time, and his sword eyebrows and beard make him look a lot younger than his actual age, and there are still a few vicissitudes in his heroic spirit.

Shen Yourong's ancestral home is Xuancheng in Nanzhi, since he was a child, he likes to walk and fencing to study military strategy, and in the seventh year of Wanli (1579), he should take the fourth place in the Tianfu Wuxiang test, and was used as the general manager of Changping Qian. In the following decades, except for Ding Wei's free time, Master Shen almost traveled between various military towns.

From Jizhen to Liaodong, from Fujian to Zhejiang and back to Fujian, he almost set foot on the battlefield of aiding North Korea in the middle. The enemy was also changed from the Mongols to the Jurchens outside the Guan, and then the Japanese and the Hongmaoyi.

It can be said that Master Shen's life is a life of struggle in the forefront of the Ming Dynasty's defense against foreign humiliation, although he himself is indifferent to fame and fortune, but also because he is too decent and his career is more bumpy than his colleagues.

But Master Shen's experience is also extraordinary, and there are also many people who value him.

When Shen Shoujiao was a child, he heard some anecdotes about his father from the elders in the family.

At that time, my father became famous because he fought with Duoyan in Jizhen and won more battles with less, and then he was selected as a firearms instructor in Liaozhen with merit. In the rebellion of Pingye Hebu in Liaodong, he was the first to fall into battle and made great contributions twice in a row, but afterwards he gave it to the robe that was born and died together. Later, in Fujian to prevent the Japanese, the station had to be moved from Huyu (note: Kinmen) to defend Shihu, and the local people objected to building a city in Shihu because they thought that "the soldiers were afraid of their indesperation", only because they heard that their father was in charge of the army, and remembered that he was in charge of the army, and had asked for the people to reduce or reduce the harsh taxes, so they never said a word again.

Later, after the capture of Dongsha and the retreat to Penghu, there is still a stele of "Shen Yourong's Edict to Retire the Red Mao Fanwei Malang (Note: Wijbrant Van Waerwijck, Trade Officer of the Dutch East India Company)" on the altar behind the palace of the mother of the Penghu Military City.

As for stopping his subordinates from killing good people and protecting the Hanyi merchants in the past after many years of military career, it shows his father's virtue even more, and it also makes the word 'adult' in his son's mouth more solemn.

"You don't know your father yet? He is a hard worker, in addition to filial piety and loyalty in this life, where will he shirk. ”

The old man who spoke, Xiao Shen Yourong, was one year old, and he had been his friend for many years, if it weren't for Shen Yourong's constant help, he wouldn't even be able to read books, let alone be able to enter high school in the future. But it is precisely because of this affection that although he is now a scholar and a martial artist, and his status has long been transcendent, he still treats Shen Yourong as a brother.

Shen Yourong stood at the bow of the ship and looked ahead, and after a long time, he let out a long sigh and said: "It's only been a few years, and Jiannu has actually become a confidant of my dynasty. ”

He has a reason for saying this, more than 20 years ago when he was in the army in Liaodong, he followed Ning Yuanbo Li Chengliang's tent, at that time, Ye He's department gradually strengthened and did not listen to the Ming court's orders to attack and kill the Hada department, and repeatedly violated the border wall. Shen Yourong followed the army to break Ye He's troops in the eastern city of Nabulin Lu, and took the lead in blood. However, what I never expected was that the arrogant and domineering Yehe Department had now died at the hands of Nurhachi, who was not well-known at that time, and today's Jianzhou departments are no longer the raw and mature Jurchens who were scattered and allowed to be pinched and rounded by the Ming Dynasty, but have become the biggest border trouble outside the Guan, the officers and soldiers lost their divisions and lost their land, and the Tumu Fort was the most important after Salhu.

He really couldn't figure out what was going on outside the gates.

I am afraid that this is also one of the reasons why he chose to go to Dengzhou to take up his post, not long ago, the imperial court set up a deputy general army in Shandong, stationed in Dengzhou, although the name of the deputy general soldier, but it is rumored that it will not be controlled by Shandong, but under the command of the new governor of Denglai. Whether it was the governor of Denglai or the deputy commander-in-chief of Shandong, the purpose of the imperial court was to prepare a naval division to respond to the land in southern Liaoning. And Shen Yourong was also naturally appointed to this position because of his past merits and 'being known to the world'.

Therefore, although this general soldier is only a deputy position, it is almost the same as the ordinary Zhengyin, and it is because Shen Junmen was finally able to open a government and build a tooth in the year of the sixtieth year to reach another height in his career, it is no wonder that whenever there is something in the world, the imperial court will always think of those who are capable, not the only one.

And this time to go to sea is his decision after accepting the appointment, without him, all because since last year, Dongfan (note: Taiwan's other name) has appeared Australians.

As the supreme commander of the Fujian Naval Division, coastal defense is responsible, and it is natural to be particularly concerned about the new forces that appear in this sea area.

Originally, the official army had a military village in Penghu, but due to the inconvenience of supply between the two floods and many typhoons, the sergeants would withdraw to the mainland at this time of year, and there would only be some Tanhu fishermen around Penghu who migrated with the season. However, the appearance of Australians is very different from the previous Wakou and Hongyi, and not long ago, fishermen who returned came to report that several Australian patrol boats appeared in the waters off Penghu. Moreover, the sailors also sporadically captured some pirates who fled back to Fujian, and several of them said to Shen Yourong that they were caught by thieves (note: pirates are contemptuous of Australians), and now Fujian's big gang can no longer survive at sea.

In recent days, not only have illegal salt and sugar from Dongfan appeared in various coastal areas of Fujian, but also many boats that have smuggled people out to sea have been seized. In the past, both the Japanese and the Hongyi had to rely on the coastal plunder, and I heard that some good people were captured and sold to Haojing in Guangli, and some were directly transported to Nanyang to work as coolies. But this time, many of them were voluntary, and most of the boat owners were local people from Fujian, which made Shen Junmen even more interested, what kind of temptation made these Ming people so eager to the other side of the sea, there was not even rice in Dongfan, except for the deer herd and sugar cane, he really couldn't think of anything else to leave an impression. And the Australians are still fighting bandits, and their military strength is obviously not to be underestimated.

With the appearance of the Australians, the whole strait has become unusually peaceful, and there are many fewer things for the sailors, and the Yuan Balao (Yuan Jin) gang that raged along the coast of Fujian last year was driven to Guangdong by the Fujian sailors and there was no news of them.

Therefore, in any case, Shen Yourong wanted to visit Dongfan in person before going to Dengzhou to see what was going on in this barren land with water, so that he could go north with peace of mind. After many years in Fujian, Fujian seems to have become his second hometown, and he is determined not to leave any troubles here after leaving.

And the friend who is one year younger than him is surnamed Qiao Yuan, since the twenty-fourth year of Wanli (1596) after being tired of other people's mistakes and being experienced by the Guangxi Political Division, he invited him to return to his hometown in Quanzhou, and he has lived in the country for more than 20 years. Not long ago, he was summoned by the new emperor as the Shaoqing of Guanglu Temple, and he thought that this was because of the reason of Emperor Daxing, and he resigned for no reason.

But because of the kindness of the early years, He Qiaoyuan has been in contact with Shen Yourong after returning to Fujian, this time just in time for his new compilation of "Min Shu" 150 volumes are about to be published, but I also heard about the Australian occupation of Dongfan, if Dongfan is really a force that can not be underestimated out of thin air, his "Min Book" will naturally be included, just out of the mountain and Shen Yourong to the east.

Shen Yourong and his family are all dressed as business travelers in folk clothes, and the owner of the ship is also an old man who has traveled back and forth several times, and the sea boat rested overnight in Longmen Port in Penghu, and went southeast through Citrus Island early the next morning. At this time, although the winter flood has not arrived, but the wind hyacinth from the northeast has gradually risen, all the way to the south under the careful steering of the steering is also faster, and this trip to see more and more lucky ships, it seems that the merchant ships from various private ports along the coast of Fujian have chosen to transit in Penghu overnight, but now this typhoon infested season, the ship is inevitably more.

Not long after heading southeast from Citrus Island, the twists and turns of the coastline finally came into view.

At this time, the wind and the sun were beautiful, Shen Yourong and He Qiaoyuan and a group of family members were all on the deck to breathe, only to see the gradually backward cottages and granges on the left shore one by one, not surprised, Shen Yourong asked the owner of the ship: "Where is this?" ”

He hadn't been here for a few years, and he didn't think that Dongfan would have such an idyllic scenery.

"It's already past Beigang, and it's a big man to enter Luermen in the west, and it's a thoroughfare to Kaohsiung Port after passing the reef here."

Shen Junmen naturally heard the name of the Luermen waterway, but ......

"Kaohsiung Port? Is it an Australian water village? "He obviously hadn't heard the name.

"Kaohsiung Port is the former Dagou Island, after here, it will not take two hours to see Dagou Mountain."

Shen Yourong suddenly heard the words, he has always been well-informed, and he once heard an old friend talk about the story of Dongfan. The word "dog" is the Chinese character of the so-called "Zhuzhu" in the natives of this place, and it is planted around the house to ward off the enemy. This ocean faces many sea bandits, these bandits in the coastal area of Fujian is not good to get supplies, so they put their minds on the head of the Dongfan natives, whether raw or cooked, there are few iron weapons, and the enemy is often surrounded by stone axes and bones, so they are naturally not the opponents of the bandits. When the pirates came ashore to replenish supplies, they would burn, kill and plunder among the natives, and in addition to taking away food and livestock, they would also take away women and children and sell them overseas.

That old friend's name is Chen Di, who was originally a general under Qi Jiguang, and met Shen Yourong when he was in Jizhen, and was cited as a confidant. Later, he once entered the East with him, and then stayed in the East for a long time, and knew a lot about the slang of the Fan. It's a pity that this prince has been immortal for several years, otherwise he is an excellent guide, and He Qiaoyuan's "Book of Min" has many references to the description of Dongfan.

But how did this dog fight become Kaohsiung Shen is a little confused, he suddenly remembered something between his thoughts, he has been dealing with the Japanese people for many years, he can also speak some Japanese, if the Japanese pronunciation of the word dog, it is the word Kaohsiung, is this Australian who is entrenched in the east is also a kind of Japanese people?

Thinking of Pingwu, I couldn't help but sing the ocean-wide lyrics that were the same as Chen Yiyi when Pingwu passed through Penghu.

'The water is also the land, the boat is also the house, rather than die and abandon it, why choose the foot of the mountain and the belly of the sea. If you don't learn enough, you will be ashamed of using it; Those who use it but can't, and those who are useless are despised. Those who are useless and do not waste time, whose son is Xi! ’

In the middle of the deep groaning, I saw a dhowing boat in the south breaking the waves, Shen Yourong had been in the sailor for a long time, and he found the problem with just a glance - this ship type is not the style of the Ming Dynasty - but it is like a Taixi style, but it is different, in short, this ship is particularly eye-catching among the lucky ships of the same peers, and it is oncoming, which naturally makes him pay attention.

"What kind of ship is this?" He asked, pointing to the incoming ship.

"That's the patrol ship of the Ao-Song Fubo Army." The shipowner glanced at it and was not surprised, "This area is all the territory of Aosong." ”

At the moment of seeing this ship, the Australian in the mouth of the owner of the ship became Ao Song......

[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. "Examination of the Origin of Science in Fujian, Volume 75, Mr. Situ He Jingshan, Qiao Yuan"

6, "History of the Ming Dynasty • The Biography of Shen Yourong"

7, "History of the Ming Palace"

8, "Chronicles in the Middle" Liu Ruoyu

9, "Tao'an Dream Memories" Zhang Dai

10. "Analysis of the Inspection System of the Ming Dynasty Guozi Supervisor" Yang Wanhe

11, "A Preliminary Study of the Ming Dynasty Guozijian" Yan Lijun

12. "Research on Folk Literature in the Ming Dynasty" Zhang Bo

13, "Records of Emperor Mingguang Zongzhen"

14. "Ming Dynasty Guozijian's Prison Points and Internship Calendar System" Wang Linghao, Liu Shulan

15, "Book of Min" He Qiaoyuan

16, "Quanzhou Mansion Chronicles"

17, "Dongfanji" Chen Di

18, "Minhai Gift" Shen Yourong